Under the cover of nearly twenty heavy machine guns, the Japanese army's first round of attack began.
There was no movement on the smoke-filled blocking position. It wasn't until they rushed to a position 70 to 80 meters in front of the formation that sporadic gunshots rang out.
"Division commander, there are not many Eighth Route Army troops on the ground!" the chief of staff said happily.
But soon, these smiles solidified on his face.
"Bang bang bang..."
When the attacking troops were less than fifty meters away from the position, the gunfire on the position suddenly became louder and bullets flew over like a rain of bullets.
In just a few seconds, the imperial army's casualties exceeded the losses in the two-minute attack.
"It must be the reinforcements of the Eighth Route Army coming up on Bageya Road!" the chief of staff replied with a stern face.
Then he immediately ordered: "The attacking troops will retreat fifty meters, and the artillery will continue to fire. Another two minutes of rapid artillery fire!"
The losses of the troops are too great. If the losses continue, the troops will be completely consumed before they reach Taiyue. Therefore, Fujino must find a way to reduce the casualties!
"Boom boom boom~"
Soon, explosions became the protagonist of the battlefield again.
But as quickly as it came, it ended very quickly.
As soon as the blocking position was shrouded in smoke, Fujino ordered with a stern face: "The troops continue to attack and attack with all their strength... This time, no one can take a step back without my order!"
"The grenades equipped by each squad must be used together. Without artillery support, those grenade launchers are their best supporting firepower!"
Obviously, the two-minute artillery attack just now worked!
The troops rushed thirty or forty meters in front of the formation, but the firepower fired from the position was still very sparse...
"Division commander, the troops are charging forward!" Soon, a lieutenant from the front rushed over with excitement.
A smile quickly flashed across Fujino's tense face, and then he ordered: "Follow up the offensive troops immediately~"
"The troops will set off immediately, pass through the Eighth Route Army's blocking position, and continue heading north!"
But the joy didn't last long, as the gunshots that had just stopped were heard again.
A lieutenant rushed over panting, with a very complicated expression on his face. When he found Fujino, he reported: "Division commander, there is another position behind the blocking position. It was just built by the Eighth Route Army. The offensive troops are assaulting!"
"Baga! Why are they so fast!" Fujino cursed.
Followed the order: "Follow-up troops, two heavy machine gun squadrons, follow immediately, strengthen the firepower of the offensive troops, and strive for a quick victory and rapid breakthrough of the position!"
After saying that, Fujino led the guards and rushed forward.
He had just walked for less than ten minutes when a sound that made him change his color came from above his head.
His face turned pale, and then he shouted loudly: "Baga! It's a shelling, everyone take cover~"
"Boom boom boom..."
As soon as he finished speaking, an explosion sounded from the position less than two hundred meters ahead.
A fireball mixed with a large amount of black smoke rose into the sky. Under the light of the fire, the picture of soldiers being blown away clearly appeared in his field of vision.
Fujino was very lucky that he was not in the bombardment area, otherwise under such fierce artillery fire, he would have been torn into pieces no matter how many guards protected him.
"Division commander, the Eighth Route Army has used at least thirty mountain artillery and infantry artillery pieces, and nearly twenty mortars!" The chief of staff looked at everything in front of him and shouted with a look of shock on his face.
"Where did they get so many artillery pieces? When they attacked us with armored troops, they had more than twenty artillery pieces. Now there are more artillery pieces. The number of artillery pieces is even more than that of the Imperial Army. Is this still the Eighth Route Army we know?
?”
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army has rushed out and wants to cut off the connection between us and the attacking troops!" A fearful voice suddenly shouted from the combat staff nearby.
"Baga!" Fujino finally reacted despite his lingering fear.
"They want to eat our attacking troops. Chief of Staff, how many troops just crossed the blocking position where the Eighth Route Army is counterattacking!"
The chief of staff frowned and replied: "Two infantry brigades...one for the offensive force and one for the follow-up force!"
"The purpose of the Eighth Route Army's counterattack now must be to separate the two brigades and then kill them!"
"We must not let their purpose succeed. Contact them immediately and retreat!"
"The artillery fires, and then an infantry brigade goes up to stand in front of their attacking troops, hold the gap, and be sure to rescue the two infantry brigade in front of me!"
"There are not many people left in the army. If we lose two more infantry brigades, even if we go to Taiyue, it will not be of much use!"
"Boom boom boom..."
The Japanese artillerymen reacted very quickly and fired in less than a minute.
But they only had enough artillery shells left to fight for three minutes, so the Japanese followed an infantry brigade and charged forward.
"Boom boom boom..."
"Division commander, the Eighth Route Army wants to use artillery fire to block our response troops!" Seeing the hilltop shrouded in artillery fire again, the chief of staff reminded him with a worried look.
Fujino's already frowning frown deepened now.
He watched helplessly as the responding troops were bombed, but there was nothing he could do about it.
“Rumble… da da da…”
At this moment, a familiar yet worrying roar sounded behind Fujino, followed closely by the sound of gunshots.
"Division commander, the Eighth Route Army armored forces are chasing us!" a lieutenant rushed over and reported with fear.
"So fast!" exclaimed the chief of staff next to him.
Lieutenant General Fujino forced himself to calm down, frowned and ordered: "The rear guard brigade will block the Eighth Route Army armored forces on the spot... Don't we still have a rapid-fire artillery squadron in hand? Reinforcements will come over immediately and resolutely block their armored forces!"
"The supporting troops have also withdrawn. The Eighth Route Army's artillery fire is too fierce. There is no difference between attacking rashly and facing death!"
"Order the two infantry brigades separated by the Eighth Route Army not to retreat along the same route, but to find a way to bypass the Eighth Route Army's intercepting troops and break back!"
"Without the advantage of artillery fire, it is too difficult to break through the Eighth Route Army's interception through a strong attack, and the casualties will be heavy, so it is not cost-effective. Therefore, we will not leave tonight, but stick to the spot. After dawn, under the cover of aviation, we will continue to go north!"
At the temporary headquarters of the Eighth Route Army on the front line, Rong Jun and Yan Song were very excited.
The regiment leader Wang Ping's method was so good that he separated two infantry brigades from the main Japanese army in less than an hour.
The next thing the two battalion commanders need to consider is how to kill these little devils before dawn with minimal casualties.
"Old Yan, the Japanese support troops have retreated and are in a defensive posture. This way we can mobilize all the main forces to participate in the encirclement and annihilation battle!"
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