"The city gate is in sight, speed up!"

"Machine gunners, grenadiers, fire cover!"

"Quick!"

"Hurry up and drop! ——”

The devil captain who led the team, although he was taken aback after the troops were suddenly blocked by fire, he still quickly took contingency measures.

When the devil riflemen heard the order, they immediately raised their guns and opened fire while charging forward at an accelerated pace.

A small number of devil machine gunners with light machine guns lay down on the spot, set up crooked light machine guns, and launched strafing together with the heavy machine gun teams behind them to suppress the defenders on the city walls.

Some of the grenadiers, also crouching down to aim, fired a grenade with a grenadier.

It is worth mentioning that the fighting qualities of the light machine gunners and grenadiers of the devils are very high.

A dense stream of bullets swept over, and many of the infantry of the Tiger Regiment who were firing at the head of the city were unfortunately shot, and they promised the country with their lives.

"Boom!"

"Boom, boom! ——”

Small grenades were fired into the city, causing considerable casualties to the defenders.

In the violent explosion, the soldiers fell in pools of blood.

Some of the soldiers were even swept away by the huge shock wave generated by the explosion, and smashed under the city wall more than two feet high, and died heroically on the spot.

The defenders' blocking fire also stalled!

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a large number of devil infantry, speeding up under their feet, swarmed over.

The momentum is like a bull in heat seeing a herd of heifers.

However, when the devil soldiers rushed into the city less than 50 meters away.

Dozens of bombardiers who had been hiding on the city wall before pulled grenades and grenades one after another, and then rounded their arms and threw out a large number of grenades and grenades.

In the face of the sudden grenade and grenade swarm, the devil infantry who were charging did not react at all for a while.

The grenades and grenades flew over in the blink of an eye, and the little devils in the city didn't have time and a chance to dodge, and before they even had time to lie down on the spot, they were enveloped by a violent explosion.

"Boom!"

"Boom, boom, boom! ——”

Clusters of dazzling red light rose one after another, kicking up large expanses of dirt and scattering them with countless grenade fragments.

In the explosion, hundreds of devil soldiers fell down in pieces with screams.

"Ahh

"Ahhh ~~~”

"My eyes! ……”

"My legs! ……”

"My ass ......"

"I don't want to die, save me, Tada-kun, save me!"

In the smoke and dust, the screams and wails of the devil soldiers came and went, one after another.

"Brethren!"

"Hit! Keep calling me! ”

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the soldiers of the defenders who had been suppressed just now got up again, and opened fire one after another with the same machine guns, rifles, and submachine guns, pouring a dense rain of bullets towards the little devils who were in chaos under the city.

"Da Da Da!"

"Tubu! ——”

"Smack!"

"Bang bang bang! ——”

Dense gunfire ensued.

This time, both the Devil Grenadier and the Machine Heavy were temporarily blocked from view by the fire and smoke from the explosion of the grenades and grenades, and they were unable to carry out timely and effective fire support and suppression.

In such a situation, the soldiers of the 1st Company can calmly pour more bullets out as much as they want.

The devil, who was already killed and injured by the grenade, was hit by a dense bullet that was almost devastating.

They were shot one after another, and they fell down in rows and pieces.

Because the soldiers of the 1st Company were on the wall more than two battles high, they were condescending.

Some of the little devils on the ground subconsciously crouched on the ground, which increased their target.

Keep their entire backs in the range of the defenders.

Many devils were shot in the back, and their bodies were directly pierced, and after lying on the ground and convulsing a few times, there was no movement.

Under the stubborn and dense fire of the defenders, the tentative attack of this devil finally ended in failure.

As they retreated, they were killed and wounded by the extended fire of the defenders.

Of more than 500 little devils, less than 150 people were left in the end and fled back in a hurry like lost dogs.

Not long after the battle broke out, Bi Yuntao withdrew from the city tower and returned to the battalion command post.

Soon after the gunfire stopped, Lu Fang, the deputy regiment commander who stayed on the city tower to observe the battle situation, hurriedly ran down the city tower, came to the command post with an excited face, and said to Bi Yuntao, who was smoking: "Battalion commander, the devil has retreated!" ”

Bi Yuntao extinguished the cigarette butt and threw it away, stood up and said: "Order the 1st Company, pay attention to the anti-artillery, the little devil has suffered a big loss, and the next will definitely be bombarded by artillery fire!"

All but the necessary observers were removed from the walls! ”

"Yes!" Lu Fang suddenly agreed, immediately walked to the desk, picked up the telephone, and conveyed Bi Yuntao's order.

In several other directions, the battles that took place were much the same.

All three Japanese divisions sent a small force to carry out a tentative attack, hoping to lure the defenders to expose their firepower. It is easy to use artillery fire to strike them accurately and eliminate them at fixed points, so as to clear the obstacles for large-scale infantry attacks and reduce casualties.

However, without exception, all of them were easily defeated by the battle-hardened defenders.

Even the east and north gates guarded by the Independent Regiment were easily defeated back by the oncoming little devils because of Yang Jing's tactical guidance.

The inducement failed, and the three old devils Ito Masaka, Inaba Shiro, and Matsuura Junrokuro were all annoyed and angry.

Their artillery wing was immediately ordered and a massive artillery strike began.

…………

The south gate of the county seat.

Li Erwa was one of the vigilant sentinels who ventured to stay on the city wall to observe the enemy's situation.

At this time, he was lying on his stomach at the head of the South Gate, holding his breath, not even daring to breathe.

Although they were far apart, Li Erwa held a telescope and could clearly see the field artillery positions of the 101st Division of the Japanese Army through the battlements of the city wall.

When Li Erwa saw the cannon barrel of the steel giant beast slowly raised, the blood on her body froze in an instant.

Although Li Erwa has been in the army for less than half a year, she has already experienced the lethality of devil cannons more than once.

Although the 75mm caliber field artillery and the 105mm caliber howitzer are far from being comparable with the 150mm caliber heavy artillery.

But if a cannonball landed on his side impartially, it could also blow him to pieces, leaving him with not even a whole arm left.

However, no matter how scared she is, Li Erwa must grit her teeth and hold on!

As a soldier, especially a soldier of the glorious division of the Tiger Ben Regiment, how could Li Erwa escape on the battlefield?

"Daddy! Mother! Grandparents! You have a spirit in the sky, you must bless the second baby safe and sound, otherwise our old Li family will be dead! ”

"Hurricane! ——”

Just as Li Erwa was muttering and praying to herself, a whistling sound suddenly sounded in the sky that tore through the air.

The howl was long and low, and it could be judged from the sound that this cannonball would definitely not fall beside her, and Li Erwa couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, about a few seconds later, on the field about 200 meters away from the South Gate Building, there was a "boom", and a huge cloud of smoke and dust was raised.

However, Li Erwa's heart quickly rose to his throat again, because he knew very well that this was just a test firing of the little devil, which was used by the artillery group to correct the shooting parameters!

Sure enough, after a few more simple test firings, a continuous scream of shells sounded over Huoqiu County.

"Hurricane!"

"Hurricane, hurricane! ——”

Moreover, the screaming sound of the cannonball that sounded this time was short and sharp, just like screaming directly in Li Erwa's ear.

Li Erwa immediately lay on the broken quilt in front of her, closed her eyes tightly, and handed everything over to fate and heaven.

"Boom!"

"Boom, boom, boom! ——”

The next moment, Li Erwa's ears burst into a huge rumbling sound, and the explosion was rolling like a wave, endlessly, and it was about to tear Li Erwa's eardrum in an instant, making his head hurt and almost suffocated!

Almost at the same time, the city wall under Li Erwa also shook violently!

It's like an earthquake!

……

The cannonballs of the little devils are like those that don't want money, one after another, row after row.

"Buzz!"

"Buzz! ——”

And at this moment, there was a loud roar of fighter engines in the eastern sky.

It's a pity that Li Erwa is in the midst of the continuous explosions, and his ears have already been temporarily deaf in the shelling of the devil, so he can't hear the roar of the devil's fighter plane at all.

Nearly 50 devil bombers and fighters, after arriving in the sky above Huoqiu County, directly swooped down to the ground with the momentum of goshawks fighting rabbits.

The dense rain of bullets and aerial bombs continued to pour down.

The entire Huoqiu County was suddenly bombed into smoke and flames.

Most of the houses and buildings in the city were civil structures, and they could not withstand the bombardment of the devil's shells and aerial bombs, and a large area collapsed in an instant.

All kinds of masonry, rubble, and wood planks scattered along with the shock wave from the explosion, scattering them everywhere in the surrounding streets and alleys.

Among them, the inflatable artillery positions of the Tiger Regiment, as well as the inflatable car positions, have once again become the key targets for the bombing and dive strafing of the little devils.

…………

"Boom!"

"Boom, boom, boom! ——”

The joint ground-air bombardment of the little devils continued, and artillery shells and aerial bombs of various specifications continued to fall down as if they did not need money.

Yang Jing stayed in the underground headquarters, feeling that the entire earth was constantly shaking, and the chandelier above his head was constantly swinging from side to side.

All kinds of dust "swish" kept falling from the ceiling, scattering everyone's heads and faces, and after a while, they became groundhogs and embarrassed.

However, Yang Jing turned a blind eye to this, and after snuffing out the cigarette in his mouth, he picked up the telephone on the desk and dialed it quickly.

The phone was quickly connected, and the voice of the rake ear rang: "Tuanza, what do you command?" ”

Yang Jing said straight to the point on the other end of the phone: "I estimate that after this wave of ground-air joint bombing, the little devils should attack in a big way!"

Your artillery battalion must be ready to provide artillery support at any time, and at the same time, you must also pay attention to guarding against the air attack of devils! ”

Bi Yuntao patted his chest and promised: "Don't worry, our artillery battalion has five companies, in addition to the artillery support in four directions at the same time, there is also an extra five companies for backup!" ”

"The task of your artillery battalion is mainly to stop the attack of the devils with artillery fire, and to support our 1st and 2nd battalions, as well as the battalions of the independent regiment to hold their positions, and the firepower is scattered to no problem." After a pause, Yang Jing continued: "Divide our Flying Thunder Cannon into four parts and divide them equally among the defenders.

Tell them that when the devils shell, they hide the flying thunder cannons.

When the devils charge intensively, pull out the flying thunder cannon and bombard the little devils fiercely! ”

Rake ears roared: "Yes! Humble duty understood! If there is nothing else, the humble post will arrange it first! ”

Yang Jing said: "Well, okay, pay attention to safety!" ”

After speaking, Yang Jing hung up the phone.

The reason why Yang Jing arranged it this way, and did not put the little devil into the city to fight in the street at the beginning, firstly, the devil's troops were too much, and in the face of absolute strength, any exquisite plan would seem pale and powerless.

Second, I don't want the little devils to find out that they are digging tunnels.

……

The picture pulls to the Japanese Joint Command.

Shiro Inaba and Junrokuro Matsuura had already rushed to their division headquarters to take command, so at this time, there were only Ito Masaki and the two brigade commanders under his command, as well as a few brigade chiefs of staff.

As for his chief of staff, and the operational staff officers of the division and regiment headquarters, they had already been served by Yang Jing as early as the first-line gorge.

At this time, Masaki Ito, Shozaburo Sato, and Noboru Miyamoto were also discussing how to attack.

Major General Masasaburo Sato, the commander of the 101st Brigade, suggested to Masaki Ito: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, according to the reports of the 6th Division and the 106th Division, their tentative attacks have also ended in failure!

The Tiger Regiment of the Chinese Army is really difficult to deal with! Cunning big drops!

It seems that we can only rely on the advantage of overall strength to take a strong attack! ”

Noboru Miyamoto, the commander of the 102nd Brigade, said: "Our strength is 10 times that of the Shina Army, and now the 13th Division of the Imperial Army has successfully taken Gushi and Mall, and is moving deeper into Gwangsan, Huangchuan and other places.

The retreat and reinforcements of the Tiger Regiment and the Independent Regiment of the New Fourth Army have been cut off! Even if we are sleepy, we can trap them alive! ”

Ito Masaki's face was solemn, and he gritted his back molars and said slowly, "The Tiger Ben Regiment of the China Army has brought me a great humiliation to the 101st Division, and we must use a hearty victory to overcome the shame and reorganize the army!"

What's more, the base camp set us the ultimate goal is not only to eliminate the Tiger Regiment, but also to defeat the Zhina Army in the northern foothills of Dabie Mountain, capture Xinyang, and go south along the Pinghan Railway to attack Wuhan!

Therefore, we can't delay here for too long, otherwise it may affect the entire strategic situation of the imperial army! ”

After saying this, a grim smile appeared on the corner of Ito Masaki's mouth, and he continued: "Inform the 6th Division and the 106th Division that after the combined ground-air bombardment of the Imperial Army is over, they will launch an attack immediately!"

After breaking through the Chenghuan defense line of the Chinese Army, it is necessary to annihilate the Tiger Ben Regiment of the Chinese Army and the Independent Regiment of the New Fourth Army.

I want to use the blood and lives of these Chinese soldiers to comfort the Chiefs of Staff and their souls in heaven!

However, Yang Jing is extremely cunning!

Remind all participating troops to pay attention to one point, we have enough troops and firepower superiority, since we are attacking, then we must concentrate absolutely superior forces to launch an all-out onslaught! Don't give the enemy any respite!

With the most fierce offensive, capture Huoqiu County as quickly as possible, and annihilate all the Chinese army in the city, so that no one can escape! ”

"Hay!" Shozaburo Sato paused suddenly, then turned around and picked up the phone, conveying Ito Masaki's order.

With the death of Fukutaro Nishisan, Shozaburo Sato temporarily took on the post of chief of staff of Masaki Ito.

…………

…………