"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the other side has anti-aircraft heavy weapons, I'm afraid the caliber is more than eighty millimeters! Moreover, the rate of fire is extremely fast, and the firing height is probably more than 8,000 meters. Kitaoka Maki's fighters can only get rid of the opponent's ground artillery fire, otherwise they can continue to be in the sky over the canyon and can only become a live target for the opponent's anti-aircraft artillery. Ueno, chief of staff of the division, exclaimed.

Itagaki Seishiro also came back to his senses at this time, and heard the deafening sound of a new group of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns that was still shelling the sky overhead, and the old devil also understood how powerful the opponent's anti-aircraft fire was at this time.

"Damn!" Itagaki Seishiro clenched his fists fiercely and slammed it on the table placed in the military tent of the headquarters and said angrily.

Kitaoka Maki's bombers were all blown up in the sky, and one after another fell down in black smoke. The few remaining fighters, under the gaze of Seishiro Itagaki and Ueno Masa and other Japanese officers of the 21st Brigade, fled out of the canyon in embarrassment, and it was estimated that it would be impossible to return for air support.

Li Yunlong's hand suddenly caught Itagaki Seishiro off guard. Moreover, the opponent's anti-aircraft firepower was so strong that it suddenly broke out, and it was easy for Seishiro Itagaki to believe that the other party had already prepared for air defense. And it is clear that the ambush is ready, just waiting for Kitaoka Maki's fighter formation to throw itself into the net.

"Baga, does the new regiment know the news that my Xinkou fighter plane has taken off to attack? How can it be? Seishiro Itagaki muttered to himself.

Ueno, the chief of staff of the division and regiment, who was standing closer to Seishiro Itagaki, heard the old devil's muttering, so he shook his head in a low voice and said, "Your Excellency, the division commander, I think it's impossible. The formation of fighters that took off from Xinkou was temporarily ordered by His Excellency Commander Yoshio Shinozuka to reinforce us, and the order was given directly through the headquarters. I guess it should have been guessed by the other party. ”。

However, at this time, there is no point in discussing these things, and I saw Seishiro Itagaki say: "Now the fighter formation is almost completely annihilated by the other side, although there are still a few fighters. But it can't be of much help to us, the opponent's machine gun fire is enough to block the few remaining fighters of Kitaoka Maki, and even low-altitude strafing is enough to cover our infantry attack. Contact Kitaoka Maki and ask them to withdraw Xinkou! ”。

"Understood, Your Excellency the Division Commander!" Ueno Zheng nodded, and casually summoned the Japanese signal corps on standby in the military tent headquarters to send a telegram informing Kitaoka Maki's remnants of fighters to withdraw directly to Xinkou.

When the arrangements were completed, Ueno was walking up to Seishiro Itagaki and said in a condensed voice: "Your Excellency, division commander, air support has been lost. What do we do now? The other party's bunkers are locked at the mouth of the canyon, and there are trenches with barbed wire in front of the bunkers, and several trenches seven or eight meters wide, although the depth is only five or six meters. But it was enough to hold off our infantry attack. It's too much trouble. Under the onslaught, we must have suffered heavy casualties. ”。

"A strong attack will not work, if we attack by force, even if we kill all the current soldiers, we will not be able to take the mouth of the canyon. The mouth of the Jinlong Gorge guarded by the other party is really steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, the opponent actually built reinforced concrete fortifications such as pillboxes, and without the support of heavy artillery, it was difficult to blow up the opponent's strong fortifications. And we only have more than 5,300 soldiers of the Imperial Army now, all of whom died here, which is a pity. ”

Itagaki Seishiro shook his head and said, of course he didn't want all the remaining 4,189 Japanese soldiers of the 21st Brigade to be thrown here, it was meaningless.

Attacking strong enemy fortifications is not Itagaki Seishiro's style. The style of the old devil is at least a flank sneak attack, which is mainly to be able to break through the opponent's defensive position. Otherwise, it would be useless to storm such a pass.

Ueno said in a condensed voice: "Your Excellency the division commander, what should we do?" There's no way we're going to stop here at the mouth of the canyon, right? ”。

Itagaki Seishiro was silent for a while, looked at the topographic map around Heng Mountain, and then said: "Ueno-kun, you find out the warriors of the Imperial Army who are familiar with the mountainous terrain from among the various troops, form a small army, and make a detour from both sides of the canyon to see if you can make a detour to the rear of the new regiment's Laochao Hutou Mountain to sneak attack." I command a large force to carry out a frontal attack, contain the opponent's frontal defenses, and cover you. Let's fight like this first! Otherwise, if we attack head-on and wipe out all the forces in our hands now, we may not be able to take down the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge. ”。

"Haiyi, Your Excellency the Division Commander, obey the order."

After a pause for a few seconds, Ueno was pointing in the direction of Taiyuan City and said in a low voice: "Your Excellency the Division Commander, have you reported the current situation to Your Excellency Commander Shinozuka of Taiyuan City?" ”。

"Debrief! Yoshio Shinozuka should also be let know about our current situation. If Yoshio Shinozuka wants us to storm a terrain fortification like the mouth of the canyon, we will have to obey the order! Itagaki Seishiro thought about it, but waved his hand and said.

"Okay, Your Excellency the division commander, I understand."

Ueno nodded, then walked to the side of the military tent headquarters and personally supervised the communication corps to send a report to Yoshio Shinozuka. Then, he walked out of the military tent headquarters, selected Japanese soldiers who were familiar with the mountainous terrain from the remaining Japanese troops of the 21st Brigade, and randomly detoured to both sides of the canyon to look for a mountain road that could sneak attack the rear of Hutou Mountain.

And just when Itagaki Seishiro saw that the Japanese fighter formation was beaten by the anti-aircraft artillery fire commanded by Li Yunlong, and suffered heavy casualties, he no longer continued to attack.

Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan City, received an urgent telegram from the Japanese troops of the 63rd Wing of the 33rd Brigade of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army in Pingxingguan from the east and west: The 63rd Wing was completely annihilated, and the Japanese corpses of the Japanese troops in the pass were scattered everywhere, and the stumps and broken arms were everywhere. Wing Commander Shinpei Fukuei and all the officers of the Japanese army at all levels below were killed in the battle, and none of them were spared.

After getting this emergency call, Yoshio Shinozuka almost fainted. There is no Japanese wing, and it is a full Japanese wing, which is more than 4,000 Japanese elites, and it is gone.

And not long after, Seishiro Itagaki's emergency call arrived. Yoshio Shinozuka, who hasn't eased his breath yet, suddenly became angry.

"Itagaki Seishiro, this waste, the small defensive position at the mouth of the Jinlong Gorge of the Golden Dragon Gorge, can't be breached!"

Taro Miyano, chief of staff of the headquarters, said with a wry smile: "According to the detailed report of Seishiro Itagaki's emergency telegram, the fortifications of Shina at the mouth of the valley of the Golden Dragon Gorge are indeed only capable of being blown up by heavy artillery shells and aerial bombs. Now that Kitaoka Maki's fighter formation has been damaged by enemy ground anti-aircraft artillery fire, it can only mobilize heavy artillery to reinforce Itagaki Seishiro's department. ”。