The Japanese army increased its strength and adjusted its deployment, and once again launched the most ferocious attack on the positions of the 81st Division and the 17th Division that were holding the closed gate defense line, and extremely fierce battles were launched on the whole front.

In the face of the enemy's powerful attack, the two divisions worked together to frantically block the attacking enemy.

Under the personal supervision of the two division commanders, the closed door defense line fought bloody battles with the enemy, and the position was lost and regained many times, and the troops who fought for the position suffered heavy casualties, and the reserves of the 17th Division had to participate in the counterattack.

After a day of fierce fighting, the two divisions of the National Revolutionary Army destroyed nearly 400 attacking enemies at 7 p.m. at nightfall.

The night is cloudy and cold, the horse leather shroud does not return, I have many ambitions for my family and country, and I will drive away the Tartars and return to the rivers and mountains.

Although it was late at night at the front-line headquarters of the 17th Division and the 81st Division's joint operation, Division Commander Zhao and Division Commander He were still studying tomorrow's battle plan for meeting the enemy.

Just when the two division commanders were about to report to the commander of the Zhongtiao Mountain Theater that they had blocked the enemy's repeated attacks on the closed gate defense line, and that the troops had suffered heavy casualties and asked for reinforcements, the staff officer of the 17th Division's war room hurriedly walked into the headquarters and handed over a telegram to Division Commander Zhao.

After reading the telegram, Division Commander Zhao immediately forwarded it to Division Commander He, and the urgent telegram sent by the highest commander of the theater clearly instructed:

In order to completely wipe out the Suzuki Division and other units of the enemy attacking westward in the Xiyang River Valley, the Zhongtiao Mountain Theater ordered the Li Division of the 14th Army, which surrounded and attacked Houma, to rush to the front line of the Xiyang River as quickly as possible to reinforce them.

The 17th and 81st Divisions were ordered to continue to carry forward the spirit of bloody fighting, stick to the closed position, and once the enemy was defeated, they could fight and retreat to the areas of Shaoyuan, Cuijiazhuang, and Liujiazhuang as appropriate, so as to stop the Japanese troops advancing westward.

The pre-dawn light had not yet appeared, but in the gray and humid weather, the Japanese Suzuki Division once again launched a ferocious attack on the closed line.

First, the Japanese bombers in the air brutally bombed, followed by the Japanese concentrated artillery and mortar bazookas of all calibers to carry out artillery bombardment, and the destroyed positions of the 81st Division were in flames.

The 17th Division and the 81st Division resisted bravely under the enemy's powerful firepower, but in the end, due to the lack of weapons and ammunition, the gap between them and the enemy's combat effectiveness was too large, and the troops participating in the battle lost more than half of the enemy's outnumbered troops.

The Japanese Suzuki Division found that the firepower of the National Revolutionary Army holding on to the closed front was weakened, and the division commander ordered all brigades and regiments to launch a general attack on the closed front with the most ferocious firepower, and they must destroy the remaining enemy.

Division Commander He held a telescope and saw that after dawn, the Japanese army launched the most ferocious attack again, and the offensive front was in full swing.

At this time, the 81st Division, which had covered the retreat of the 17th Division to Shaoyuan, should have deployed its position according to the time.

In order to alleviate the casualties of the troops, and at the same time complete the task of covering the transfer of the 17th Division to Shaoyuan, Division Commander He ordered the troops to immediately launch the most crazy counterattack against the attacking enemy, as long as the enemy attack was repulsed, the cross-cover quickly withdrew from the position and moved to Shaoyuan.

Shaoyuan is only a small township, less than 100 miles away from the assembly area of the Japanese army in Yuanqu, and if the enemy in Yuanqu rushes to reinforce it, it will add great trouble to the ambush warfare deployed by the theater in the Xiyang River.

The 17th and 81st Divisions, which retreated to Shaoyuan, had not yet completely completed the battlefield deployment of the two troops, and the Suzuki Division pounced on them with great momentum.

The commander of the Suzuki Division rode on his war horse and said to the division and brigade commanders beside him: "The Chinese army sent two divisions to lay down a defensive line at Huling and Fengmen at the foot of Wangwu Mountain, in an attempt to block our Japanese Imperial Army's westward advance to occupy the Xiyang River, and then capture Yongji and Fenglingdu.

Hahaha, it's just wishful thinking, ordering the troops to break through the Shaoyuan defense line of the Zhina troops within two hours, and I will bury the pot in Shaoyuan at noon. ”

The Japanese troops were ordered to launch a fierce attack on Shaoyuan, and were told that as long as they broke through the Shaoyuan line of the Chinese troops, they would treat the officers and men of the troops in Shaoyuan.

The officers and men of the 17th Division and the 81st Division, in the face of the frenzied attack of the Japanese army, worked together to kill the enemy, but in the end, because they were outnumbered, under the strong offensive of the Japanese army, the positions on the outer line of Shaoyuan were lost one after another, and the troops retreated to the villages and towns of Shaoyuan.

The Japanese commander, who had broken through the outer front of Shaoyuan, ordered his troops to launch an even more frantic attack on the 17th and 81st Divisions that had retreated to the village and town of Shaoyuan.

The officers and men of the two divisions who retreated to Shaoyuan Village and Town engaged in street battles with the Japanese troops who broke through the outer positions and rushed into the town.

In front of every door, in front of every ruined wall, every platform and ridge came from the sound of screaming and killing at this time, blood splashed everywhere, and the fallen body was either missing arms or legs.

Due to the close combat with the enemy in the villages and towns, the casualties were heavy, and the corpses could be seen everywhere, stacked horizontally and vertically on top of the walls.

The warriors fought bravely with the enemy and fell into the blood, and the splashes of blood were as bright and magnificent as the blooming blood plum blossoms.

The enemy and us launched an unprecedented bloody battle at Shaoyuan, both sides inflicted heavy casualties, and fought bloodily until noon, when the staff officer of the 17th Division's war room received an urgent telegram order from the Supreme Commander of the Zhongtiao Mountain Theater:

Order the 17th Division and the 81st Division to cross cover, 'within ten minutes, send a telegram to Division Commander He and Division Commander Zhao, and the Li Division of the 14th Army to reach Gaoluo Town within a time limit, and it is expected to advance to the vicinity of Puzhang in the cold day, and your division must fight hard at Shaoyuan to prevent the enemy from advancing.

When the Li Division of the 14th Army arrives, the divisions participating in the battle will enter the line of Puzhang, Shuangmiao, Nanyangquan, Cuijiazhuang, Caizhuang, Youfang, Ruicun, and Beizhai, and make way to lure the enemy westward. ’

At that time, in the encrypted messages exchanged between the Supreme Commander of the Zhongtiao Mountain Theater and the divisions, the names of gray day, real day, yuan day, and cold day were used, and the purpose of this was to strengthen the level of secrecy of the secret telegram.

The unique use of these names is mainly to avoid being intercepted and deciphered by the Japanese spy agency to leak secrets, and the secret time name is set up specifically. The last sentence of this secret telegram is impossible to decipher if it is not the party who received the message and is very familiar with these titles, especially the time of these special titles, which is even more difficult to decipher.

The 17th and 81st Divisions fought a bloody battle with the attacking enemy at Shaoyuan for two days, and the two divisions fought to the death with the enemy in Shaoyuan for every street and alley, suffering extremely heavy casualties, and the defensive line of the occupied positions was gradually narrowed by the enemy.

If the first line of Shaoyuan is not withdrawn in time, the two divisions are very likely to be surrounded by the enemy in Shaoyuan, and even if they try their best to rush and kill, it will be difficult to fight a bloody way to withdraw from Shaoyuan, and they will arrive at the battle line designated by the supreme commander of the theater as scheduled to fortify in order to meet the ambush set up by the 14th Army.

The two division commanders stood at the headquarters with anxious expressions on their faces, and they already realized that if they continued to fight with the enemy in the Shaoyuan defensive line, the tragic result would be the annihilation of the entire army.