On both sides of the high ground defended by Yuan Qingfeng, a cavalry company stood ready.
As soon as the guns fired on the high ground, the horses under the warriors began to become restless.
Five minutes later, the dull sound of anti-aircraft machine gun fire stopped.
The leader's eyes lit up, and he raised his saber decisively and ordered: "Comrades, it's our turn to go to the battlefield, all follow me..."
He kicked the war horse's belly with both feet, and the painful war horse quickly ran out like a leopard...
On the battlefield, the Japanese army's offensive vigor had been defeated.
A lieutenant followed the chief of staff, shouting as he retreated in order to attract more soldiers.
"Sir, here, protect the Chief of Staff and retreat..."
The chief of staff was still immersed in the battle just now, and his face was full of pain.
The battle just now was terrible. In just a few minutes, an infantry squadron suffered fifty or sixty casualties.
The other two squadrons also had anti-aircraft machine guns participating in the battle, and their losses must have been similar.
More than a third of the more than 500 people who were finally brought out from Chentouling were lost in the blink of an eye. The frustration and anger in the chief of staff's heart can no longer be described in words.
Now he only has one idea: use all his strength to bring the remaining people back to Datong City without any further losses.
Otherwise, the brigade commander will definitely be disappointed with himself, no, he will be disappointed with himself and let down the chief of staff's love for him.
Fortunately, everyone retreated less than 30 meters and the terrifying anti-aircraft machine guns ceased firing. The subsequent retreat will definitely be much smoother.
As I was running, the sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded behind me.
"Rumble..." Just like thunder, the sound is getting louder and louder, approaching here quickly.
I don't have any cavalry, so the cavalry that appears behind me must be from the Eighth Route Army. If they come out now, they probably want to beat up the drowned dog.
The chief of staff's slightly relieved nerves became tense again, his face turned pale, and he cried out: "We are retreating, and the cavalry is chasing us to kill us. The Eighth Route Army definitely wants to annihilate us here!"
"There's only one way to escape from here."
"We formed a team of five or six people, led by officers above Commander Cao, and broke out separately. We got rid of the cavalry and ran towards Datong. One by one we could go back."
On the field battlefield, the infantry with three times the numerical advantage could not stop the cavalry assault, not to mention that the enemy's current strength was not as good as that of the cavalry company.
But they were also lucky to meet an officer who responded quickly and did not follow the rules.
The terrain here is hilly. Although there are no dense woods for them to hide, the undulating terrain still causes great trouble for the cavalry, who dare not attack with all their strength.
After the troops were divided, many Japanese soldiers headed for areas with rugged terrain, making it even harder for the cavalry to pursue them.
We can only pick up the weak ones, give up some of the hard-to-chased ones, and pick and kill the Japs that are easier to chase.
At the Japanese Army Brigade Headquarters in Datong, it was already late at night, but the brigade commander was not sleepy at all.
With a complex expression of anxiety and worry, he walked back and forth between the office and the war room.
Every time I walked into the war room, my eyes would intentionally or unintentionally glance at the telecommunications room not far away, hoping that some good news would come through.
After entering the war room again, the brigade commander just turned his attention to the door of the telecommunications room when a figure rushed out of the room and ran into the war room in a hurry.
"Do you have any news from the Chief of Staff?" the brigade leader asked from a distance, with an expectant expression on his face.
The communications staff officer ran and replied: "Not the chief of staff!"
"The stronghold in Wufeng Town in the south of the city received an urgent call. A small coal mine in their defense area was attacked. More than a hundred people were sent there for reinforcements. As a result, the mine protection team and reinforcements were all killed by the enemy. Now the stronghold is also surrounded and is being attacked.
"
"The enemy's attacking firepower is very fierce. They are equipped with a mountain cannon. The garrison has suffered heavy casualties. Please support us."
The combat staff reacted quickly and marked the specific location of the Wufeng Town stronghold on the sand table on the spot, and then analyzed: "General, the Wufeng Town stronghold is a medium-sized stronghold in the south of the city. It is stationed with two squads of imperial troops and one
The company's Imperial Army, plus artillery and heavy machine gun troops, total 250 people."
"The stronghold has three gun towers and eight machine gun bunkers. It is very strong."
"Even if the Eighth Route Army attacking the stronghold is equipped with mountain artillery, it will still require a strength advantage of more than three times to defeat it."
"The main force of the Eighth Route Army is clearly besieging the Chief of Staff in Chentouling. Why are there so many troops operating in the south of the city? I can't understand it!"
The brigade commander shook his head and replied: "We don't need that many troops."
"The Eighth Route Army did not directly attack the stronghold. It first sent reinforcements through the encirclement point, killing nearly half of the stronghold's troops, and then attacked."
"If I were to take command, two hundred men and one mountain cannon could capture the stronghold."
"You immediately formulate a battle plan, mobilize troops from surrounding strongholds to reinforce Wufeng Town, and annihilate the Eighth Route Army operating there."
"Call back to the Wufeng Town stronghold: let them wait for help."
Several staff officers immediately got busy, making phone calls and sending telegrams.
Ten minutes later, the highest-ranking staff officer came over and reported: "General, we have mobilized 600 imperial troops and imperial alliance troops from the surrounding area to reinforce the battlefield."
"The fastest one can arrive in one and a half hours, the slowest one can arrive in five hours. There is also a cavalry team that can arrive on the battlefield in half an hour, which can slightly relieve the defensive pressure on the stronghold and allow them to hold on longer."
A battle involving hundreds of people could not catch the eye of the brigade commander, so he replied without hesitation: "I will do as you say!"
After it was over, the brigade commander turned his attention back to the Chief of Staff who had not heard from him, and hesitantly ordered: "Let the radio station contact the Chief of Staff. Why has it been so long and there is still no news!"
Half an hour passed, and the headquarters radio kept calling the chief of staff, but there was no response.
However, they received another telegram.
"General, there is an urgent call to the stronghold in Zhouji Town in the north of the city. They were also attacked by the enemy. The troops suffered heavy losses. Please ask for reinforcements." The communications staff rushed in to report anxiously.
"Why are there Eighth Route Army activities there..." the combat staff officer exclaimed with a look of shock on his face, and then began to look through the documents.
Reported after a minute: "General, the Zhouji Town stronghold is also a medium-sized stronghold, with 250 troops stationed, equipped with a mortar and two heavy machine guns."
The brigade leader did not speak, but his heart was not at all calm. It was as if a huge wave had set off, shocked and puzzled.
If only a stronghold in the south of the city was attacked, it could be treated as an accident.
Now the two strongholds in the south and north of the city have been attacked one after another, and both are medium-sized strongholds with more than 200 troops stationed. That is very strange.
No matter how courageous and powerful the Eighth Route Army in Datong was, they would not dare to launch three battles at the same time.
But now it has been done.
At this moment, the thought of attacking Datong City by the garrison suddenly came to mind.
This was my judgment about heavy artillery more than two hours ago, and I had made a lot of preparations for it.
If this judgment is true, then the reason why these two strongholds were attacked successively can be easily explained.
If the garrison wants to capture Datong, they must first clear out the strongholds outside Datong City to ensure that they have a safe future and turn Datong into an isolated city, so that they can safely decide the outcome here...
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