"Captain, the main force of the Japs has retreated." Hong Linfeng shouted excitedly on the hilltop where Li Hao was, and his tense nerves relaxed.
Although the Zhonggu Regiment suffered heavy casualties, compared to the garrison regiment with only over a thousand people, it was still a giant, and it had to be divided into three mouthfuls to swallow it all.
Eliminating their attacking troops was the first step. Li Hao used more than two-thirds of his troops to fight this encirclement and annihilation battle.
There were only two reinforced companies providing reinforcements.
If Colonel Nakatani had not been frightened by these two reinforced companies and reinforced the attacking troops at all costs, the ambush would have turned into a chaotic battle.
The Japanese have the advantage in strength, so the final outcome will definitely be for the garrison to turn pale and disengage from the battle like a bereft dog.
Fortunately, the Zhonggu Regiment had been beaten into a state of shock. The two reinforced companies that had been killed were regarded as reinforced battalions. In order not to be completely annihilated here, they finally chose to cut off their wrists and retreat by themselves.
Li Hao couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered: "The secret service battalion and the independent battalion speed up their attack. The shelling just now killed and injured at least a hundred little Japs, and there are less than 400 people left in the attacking force."
"Their two battalions combined have nearly 800 people. The battle must be ended within half an hour, and then the 23rd Battalion and the Mobile Battalion will be reinforced."
"All the heavy mortars are for me to keep an eye on the Japanese retreating troops, and cover the second battalion to guard the mountain pass and block their retreat."
Colonel Nakatani is surrounded by hundreds of guards, so his safety is definitely no problem.
Under their protection, while retreating, I recalled the entire battle process in my mind, trying to figure out where the problem was, and then solve the problem in a targeted manner to turn defeat into victory.
"Sir, the mountain pass where we retreat is blocked by the Eighth Route Army." A second lieutenant rushed over and reported, with panic on his face.
"Da da da... boom boom boom..."
After listening carefully, I realized that the sound of the firefight in front was already loud, but it was covered up by the sound of artillery fire and did not attract the attention of Colonel Nakatani.
"Concentrate all our remaining artillery fire, heavy machine guns, and troops, and kill them at all costs." Colonel Nakatani ordered without hesitation.
After pausing for a few seconds, he continued: "Tell the attacking troops that only by taking down the mountain pass will we have a chance to break through and survive."
"If we can't take the mountain pass, all of us will die here, including me, the captain."
Artillery is the god of war. This sentence is absolutely true.
In order to survive, all the little Japanese who participated in the attack fought hard. They held guns and white cloth strips tied to their heads, and charged towards the mountain pass with a completely fearless attitude.
The soldier in front died, and the soldiers behind stepped on the corpse and continued to attack forward.
The heavy machine gunner who provided fire cover pulled the trigger frantically, firing out bullets at the fastest rate of fire to cover the infantry assault.
He was not afraid of the bullets fired by the Eighth Route Army. When the first machine gunner died, the deputy gunner took over. When the deputy gunner died, the second deputy gunner continued.
In order to keep the machine gunner alive longer, the ammunition man next to him pushed the corpses of soldiers directly in front of the machine gun without sandbags to build a bunker, forming a wall of corpses to protect the machine gunner.
But all these efforts were in vain in the face of heavy mortars.
After more than 300 elite Japanese troops had assembled and just started to attack, a group of more than a dozen heavy mortar shells fell from the sky like rain.
Round after round, densely packed, they finally broke through the interception of artillery fire. More than half of the more than 300 Japanese soldiers were injured and killed, and the offensive formation was also blown to pieces...
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army's blocking artillery fire was too fierce. They were all heavy mortars. The attacking troops suffered heavy casualties and could not get close to the mountain pass." the chief of staff reminded with a heartbroken look on his face.
In less than twenty minutes, at least 300 of his men fell under the gunfire of the garrison.
After finally organizing the offensives, the offensive troops were disintegrated before they reached the mountain pass. The chief of staff had fought countless battles in his life, and he had never been so aggrieved.
Seeing that the regiment commander was sullen and silent, the chief of staff continued to shout: "As long as the garrison regiment has enough artillery shells and we continue to attack like this, they can wipe out all the remaining troops of ours with just shells!"
Colonel Nakatani suddenly put down his telescope, his deep eyes shot out two rays of light, and then answered.
"You're right. Even if the warriors die on the battlefield, they can't die in such a miserable way. They can't even see the shadow of the enemy and be blown up to death."
"The troops stop attacking!"
"Have you seen the hills in the northwest? I just heard that the gunfire in this direction is the weakest, and the Eighth Route Army must have the fewest defenders."
"The troops immediately turned and broke out from the northwest."
"If it goes well, we will fight out. If it doesn't go well, the troops will directly seize the mountain high ground and rely on the mountain high ground to wait for reinforcements."
"It's getting dark, and it's impossible for the aviation force to come to reinforce us now."
"But as long as we hold on until tomorrow morning, the aviation force will be able to return to the battlefield, and we will still have a chance to break out."
At the Japanese division headquarters in Laiyuan City, the division commander was eating dinner when he received the news that the Zhonggu Regiment had been encircled and annihilated. The bowls and chopsticks he was holding in his hand were so frightened that he dropped them to the ground.
This result is so surprising.
The main force of the garrison has come out, which is the consensus of everyone at the division headquarters.
But this judgment was wrong, and very wrong.
Not only did they not leave the mountain, but they also kept moving around the Zhonggu United Army, waiting for the opportunity to pounce on them and deliver a fatal attack to the Zhonggu United Army.
"Is there any troops that can reinforce the Zhonggu Regiment?" The division commander was not in the mood to continue eating dinner and strode into the war room, asking as he walked.
"The closest one is the Lichuan Regiment, but it will take nearly twenty hours to reach the battlefield." The chief of staff thought for a moment and replied.
"That's not as fast as the plane passing by." The division commander retorted with a frown.
The chief of staff lowered his head and said nothing. The battlefield was in the hinterland of the garrison base and deep in the mountains. The imperial army's power there was almost zero and there was not a single garrison. How could reinforcements be sent.
"Order..." the division commander suddenly spoke while staring at the map.
"Send a telegram to the commander of the Zhonggu Regiment. If there is no chance to hold out until dawn tomorrow, I agree that they will divide their troops to break out at night. How many can break out, but the regiment flag must be sent back to me. The Zhonggu Regiment must not be separated from our division.
It was erased from the organization of the regiment."
After finishing speaking, he stared at the chief of staff and continued: "Our original battle plan can no longer be used."
"Even if the Zhonggu United Force successfully breaks through, it will be left with nothing but an empty frame and will completely lose its combat effectiveness."
"This means we only have two infantry regiments left to continue participating in the war."
"Although I have great confidence in the combat effectiveness of my men, the possibility of using two regiments to kill the garrison is almost zero."
"They are so mysterious. Until now, we don't even know how many troops they have. How can we fight this battle?"
The chief of staff nodded and affirmed: "We must first find out how many people there are in the garrison, otherwise this battle cannot be fought."
"If the main force of the garrison is still in the mountains, then where did the more than 2,000 people who attacked the Lichuan Regiment this morning come from."
"According to intelligence, there were less than 4,000 people in the garrison a few days ago. In yesterday's battle with the Zhonggu Alliance, a lot of people must have been lost. After deducting the logistics organization and technical arms, the combat force still has 2,000 people.
."
"But their exposed strength in the past two days is at least 4,000."
"The intelligence must be wrong, otherwise we would not have ordered the Zhonggu Regiment to venture into the mountains and then be surrounded by the garrison and be in danger."
"Division commander, I suggest you report to the headquarters and ask the Special High School Division to collect information about the garrison again, and then decide on the next step."
"Okay!" The division leader nodded in reply, then changed the topic and continued.
"However, this battle cannot end like this."
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