Zhao Manlu's sudden words made Nicholas a little unexpected, he glanced at the Chinese female officer in surprise, and said puzzledly: "Lieutenant Colonel, this sentence shouldn't come from the mouth of a beautiful lady like you. ”

"Mr. Nicholas, as far as I know, since the Germans were the first to invent this weapon in World War I, European countries have also begun to mass-produce this weapon, and even your country has not been less equipped, how did it become an inhumane weapon in the hands of our soldiers?" Zhao Manlu fought back sharply.

"This ......" Nicholas's face was a little embarrassed, he just casually said such a sentence to express his attitude, but he didn't think that he was immediately counterattacked by the other party.

Crawford also glared at his companion fiercely, this engineer is really good at finding trouble for himself, and he doesn't want to think about his ass is not clean, but he still wants to stand on the moral high ground to accuse others, isn't this a mistake? He smiled wryly and then said to Zhao Manlu: "I'm sorry ma'am, Nicholas is not accusing your army, you must know that he is not a professional soldier." The reason why he said this was because he was a little uncomfortable to suddenly see such a cruel scene, but in fact, he didn't have any malicious intent. ”

"I hope so." Seeing that Crawford apologized, although Zhao Manlu was still a little unhappy in his heart, he couldn't say anything, so he could only say lightly: "The reason why the war is cruel is because both sides involved in the war are using all means to attack the enemy, the Japanese are like this, and we are the same, if someone thinks that this is too cruel, I can only think that he is not suitable for coming here." Lieutenant Colonel Crawford, what do you say? ”

What else could Crawford say, he could only smile bitterly and say, "Miss Zhao, what you said is very reasonable." ”

The conversation between Zhao Manlu and Crawford was in Chinese. It was because everyone present understood, and these people all looked at her with admiration, this woman was so fierce that even Americans dared to scold.

For Zhao Manlu, she just said what she wanted to say, and there was nothing remarkable.

After such an incident, Nicholas no longer dared to make any sympathetic speeches. Honestly stood aside as a spectator, and at this time, the battle situation began to change. Since most of the Japanese firepower points were bombarded into the sky by this large-caliber heavy artillery of Stalin's hammer, and the resistance of the Japanese army was very low, the outer positions in the west of the city had been taken by the officers and men of the 348th and 349th Divisions one after another.

At this moment, a soldier panting ran to report: "Staff Officer Lin." The division headquarters transferred the news. The Japanese are withdrawing from their outlying positions one after another! ”

"What, the Japanese abandoned their outer positions?"

Everyone was shocked, they didn't expect the Japanese to give up the outer positions so quickly, but everyone reacted quickly. Crawford nodded: "The Japanese commander is right to do this, their fortifications are not enough to withstand the bombardment of large-caliber heavy artillery, if you insist on holding on, you can only waste your precious troops in those fortifications, it is better to withdraw the remaining troops to the city, but I think that after the Japanese have all withdrawn into the city." Your ordeal has only really begun. ”

After Crawford said this, everyone including Zhao Manlu and his party were silent. Perhaps Crawford's lack of practical experience. But as a professional soldier, his vision is still very good, and when the Japanese all withdraw into the city, the heavy artillery of the national * army will lose its usefulness, after all, no matter how frantic the troops are, they will not use heavy artillery to bombard their cities and civilians.

But what Crawford knew, how could Li Wei and Zhang Danian not know, as the Japanese army began to shrink, the soldiers of the 348th Division and the 349th Division did not stop attacking, but followed the footsteps of the Japanese retreat and rushed into the city, and for a while the flames of war began to sound in Jinhua City

As a large city with a long history, the population of Jinhua is still more than 800,000 even in this era of war, when tens of thousands of officers and soldiers chased the ass of the Japanese army into Jinhua City, a fierce and cruel street battle began to break out......

After the Japanese retreated to the city, the heavy artillery of the 348 and 349 armies lost its effect, and the soldiers began to fight with the Japanese soldiers house by street, and the cruelty of the street fighting was immediately manifested.

"Sir, the 562nd Regiment reported that the Japanese army had established a relatively solid firepower point in the Liuxiang neighborhood of Xicheng District, and the troops' attack was blocked." In a tent covered by tree branches and camouflage nets, a staff officer was briefing Li Wei on the latest progress of the troops.

"What about troop casualties?"

"The 562nd Regiment reported that the casualties are not large now, but the Japanese army has blocked our army in the area of Liuxiang Block with those fortifications, and if we want to launch a strong attack, I am afraid that the casualties will inevitably increase, and Regiment Commander Zhao asked to use heavy firepower to attack."

"No way!" Li Wei refused without thinking about it, although in the eyes of outsiders, the division commander who first followed Su Jin had a hot temper, but he was not a fool, he knew very well that once he started this way, the other siege troops would definitely follow suit, so that even if the Japanese army could be completely annihilated in the end, Jinhua City would definitely be bombed into ruins, and the casualties among civilians in the city would be amazing.

"You tell the 562nd Regiment that you must not attack the city with heavy artillery, this is a death order, and it must not be violated!" Li Wei said with a serious expression, then he thought about it and said: "Of course, although you can't use heavy artillery, some light artillery can still be used." Immediately ask your troops to mobilize a batch of PAK3850 mm anti-aircraft guns and mortars, send them all into the city, and cooperate with the infantry to attack the fortification. In addition, you told the troops below to fight steadily and steadily, and not to cause the soldiers to sacrifice senselessly for the sake of speed, understand? ”

"Yes!"

With the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army in the city, the offensive of the 348th Division and the 349th Division also began to slow down, and as the sun set, the gunfire that had been resounding for a day also began to stop, and the Japanese troops who had been resisting hard finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"The people of China have finally stopped attacking." Standing outside the window on the second floor, listening to the gunshots that slowly stopped, Taro Iwasaki, who had been nervous for a day, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, it seems that our decision was correct, and the people of China have already started to cast rat traps." Toyoshi Muraoka, who had regained his calm, also breathed a sigh of relief, and he said to the somewhat proud Iwasaki Taro: "The hypocritical Shina people pay the most attention to the word benevolence and righteousness, and their army will not use heavy artillery to bomb the city in the face of the world's condemnation, so as long as we can firmly grasp their weakness and use those people as our shield, I believe that the Shina people will not be able to conquer this city guarded by the imperial army in the short term." ”

Iwasaki Taro had an idea, and said tentatively: "Your Excellency Division Commander, since this is the case, then we might as well seize a group of people and put them in front of the position as meat shields, so that the people of China will not dare to attack us even more?" ”

"This ......" Muraoka Yutaka shook his head randomly and slowly, "No, if we do this, we will set a bad precedent, don't forget, the troops we are facing have the nickname of the Jingguan Army, and their supreme commander is a cruel butcher, if we do this, I am afraid that they will be completely angered, and it is difficult to say what will happen at that time." ”

"That's it!" Iwasaki Taro frowned, but he also knew that Muraoka Yutaka was justified in saying this, after all, the imperial army also wanted face, if they did this, once the matter was exposed, the face of the imperial army would be lost, and in the end he could only end the conversation with a long sigh.

As night fell, both sides of the day's fight began to retreat into relatively safe buildings and bunkers, licking their wounds in unison and preparing for tomorrow's fight.

In a tent outside the city, Crawford and other officers of the observation group were also discussing the situation of today's battle, and Crawford, as the highest-ranking officer in the observation group, took the lead in speaking.

"Gentlemen, although we have been here for less than ten hours, everyone has seen today's battle, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of these Huaxia people? Karl, you speak first. ”

Karl shrugged his shoulders: "Sir, although I am not very good at ground combat, I can still tell from today's battle that this army is a well-equipped and brave force, their attacks are very sharp, and they are very resolute in carrying out the orders of their superior officers, I think even those German army are not inferior." ”

Crawford frowned, the German Army is known as the first in the world, isn't Karl saying this to imply that even the U.S. Army is not comparable to them? He asked randomly, "Nicholas, you are a weapons expert, what do you think of their weapons and equipment?" ”

Nicholas affirmed: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, although I am reluctant, I must say that this force is very well armed, at least better than the army of the United States of America that I remember. Whether it is the G43 semi-automatic rifle they are equipped with or the Somi submachine gun of the Finns, it is better than the weapons that our country is equipped with today, and those heavy artillery pieces are also very elite. Strictly speaking, the armament of this army is a hodgepodge of weapons, which includes the weapons of several countries, and how harmoniously they can be combined to form a powerful firepower, which cannot but surprise me. ”

Hearing the two companions say this, Crawford couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, originally they had observed this army with a critical eye, but now they were surprised to find that the combat effectiveness of this army had exceeded their expectations, which also made them very unhappy with pride. (To be continued.) )

PS: Last night, I drank with a few old classmates who still stayed here and worked hard until midnight, although the years have left deep marks on our faces, but the friendship between the classmates has deepened, this feeling is really good!