Chapter 362: Night Battles and Street Battles Shocking

South of Lin'an County. Inside the north gate of Lin'an Town. Midnight.

After Han Dagang, deputy commander of the Eighth Route Army's Supplementary Regiment and commander of the Reinforced Battalion, stood in the north gate and carefully observed the enemy's actions from front to back, left and right, a new, bolder and more daring operational plan for effectively destroying the enemy was formed in his mind. He immediately called a dozen sharpshooters to his side, pointed to the houses on both sides of the streets leading to the town due east, and ordered the soldiers to step on the roofs in two parts and disperse to conceal the ambush, and wait until the battle broke out when the two armies confronted each other and fired at each other, and when our troops were at a disadvantage, they opened fire, and resolutely knocked out the Japanese machine gunners, gunners, commanders, and flag men, and they must be killed with one shot. The warriors understood and took their orders. Han Dagang called the reconnaissance platoon commander again, and ordered him to lead two squads of soldiers, each with twenty* guns, to kick on the roofs on both sides of the street, and wait until the street battle broke out and the enemy and us formed a stalemate and confrontation, and after the sharpshooters opened fire to suppress the enemy, they threw them into the dense crowd of Japanese troops*.

A big battle, street fighting, and night battle are about to begin.

Lin'an Town was once a thousand-year-old town, its history is longer than that of Lin'an County, and it covers an area about the same size as Lin'an County. In a large-scale and tragic war hundreds of years ago, the yamen of Lin'an County was completely destroyed. After the end of the war, the state government spent money to rebuild the county government yamen of Lin'an County (later the county seat of Lin'an County) more than 20 miles north of the original county yamen. After a long period of continuous restoration, the original Lin'an County was slowly restored in its original place, and was set up by the state government as Lin'an Town under the jurisdiction of the Yamen of the county government of Lin'an County.

In mid-October 1937, after the invading Japanese army attacked and occupied Lin'an Town, Lin'an Town has been declining day by day. However, Lin'an Town has a decisive strategic role and significance in military affairs. The Japanese troops stationed in Lin'an Town and the county seat of Lin'an County relied on each other and defended each other, echoing and supporting each other from the north and south. In addition, the Japanese troops stationed in several large towns and villages near the county town of Lin'an constituted an important military base of the Japanese army in the western Hebei region, effectively blocking the military operations of the Eighth Route Army, guerrillas and other anti-Japanese armed forces in the western mountainous areas from advancing eastward into the Great Plain of North China, and basically relieved the worries of the Japanese army in the central and eastern parts of North China.

Lin'an Town is the largest town in western Hebei in addition to Lin'an County. The Japanese army stationed a semi-brigade in Lin'an Town, with six squadrons and nearly 1,000 infantry. It is equipped with an artillery squadron, a cavalry squadron, and heavy equipment such as tanks and armored vehicles. One regiment of the Imperial Allied Army, about 1,500 people. The detective team is fifty or sixty people. It can be described as well-armed, with a large number of soldiers and sufficient materials.

Hegu Shaozo immediately ordered two squadrons to be dispatched to quickly reinforce and counterattack at the north gate of the town.

The north gate of the town was suddenly attacked at night, and the commander Hegu Shaozuo was not panicked, he quickly made a judgment: This was just an attack by a small group of troops of the Eighth Route Army, insignificant and insignificant, and sending two squadrons of infantry could completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army in a short period of time.

Han Dagang stood behind the broken wall of the collapsed and ruined gatehouse more than a meter high, staring eastward at the street in front of him, with two Czech light machine guns set up next to him. The soldiers lay on their stomachs behind the fan-shaped fortifications made of sandbags and masonry under the gatehouse. Some of the warriors scattered and hid in the darkness on both sides of the street.

The Japanese soldiers who had just gotten out of bed in the front and the back of the two squadrons lined up in six columns, striding quickly with rifles and crooked machine guns, and rushed towards the north gate of the town with great momentum.

"Rifle ready!" Han Dagang shouted. The fighters pulled the bolt bullet to load.

When Han Dagang visually inspected the Japanese army about one hundred and twenty meters away from the position, he ordered loudly:

"A platoon fires!"

A platoon of soldiers armed with rifles in the position below the gatehouse opened fire together, and more than a dozen Japanese soldiers who rushed in front immediately fell to the ground and died. Although the light is dim, it can effectively kill the enemy even if the marksmanship is not very accurate, and it can effectively shoot the enemy by shooting at the dense crowd of enemies in the street barrel less than 10 meters wide. Suddenly attacked, corpses strewn across the streets, and the Japanese army immediately scattered left and right to hide, leaning against the doors and windows of the houses on both sides of the street, bending over and attacking and advancing. The two armies fired fiercely at each other. Suddenly five or six well-trained devil soldiers ran out, stood in the middle of the street and fired, and then quickly ran back and hiddenly pulled the bolt to load the bullet. The devil soldiers went back and forth to reduce casualties. The two crooked light machine guns of the Japanese army also fired wildly, so that the soldiers in a row could barely raise their heads, and the gunfire gradually thinned out. The Japanese army was getting closer and closer to the reinforced battalion position, and it was getting more and more frenzied. With the cover of powerful firepower, the Japanese soldiers emerged from dark hides one after another and took to the streets, with bayonets on them, ready to launch a cluster charge. When the two armies were seventy or eighty meters apart, Han Dagang ordered the second and third platoons, which were located north and south of the first platoon position, to open fire immediately. He then ordered the four machine guns lying in ambush above and below the gatehouse to open fire at the same time.

The powerful and fierce firepower of the Eighth Route Army caught the dense Japanese troops in the streets less than ten meters wide by surprise, and the devil soldiers fell down one by one, one by one. The Japanese commander ordered the rest of the soldiers to immediately stop advancing, lie down on the spot, disperse and hide, and shoot back. Mortars were ordered to immediately set up artillery to bombard the positions of the Eighth Route Army at the North Gate. The sharpshooters of the Eighth Route Army, who had been ambushed on the rooftops on both sides of the street in advance, had already aimed at the Japanese commanders, machine gunners, gunners and flag fighters, and the soldiers suddenly opened fire at the same time, and the Japanese soldiers on the street fell again, and the ghost soldiers who did not die were suddenly blinded and stupidized by the fierce attack from the overhead, and were about to raise their heads to find the target and raise their guns to shoot back, but they were shot and killed by a row of bullets of righteous revenge. Receiving fierce blows from three directions, the Japanese army gradually could not hold on, and while frantically returning fire on the narrow streets, they crowded each other and collided with each other and retreated eastward in confusion. Soldiers from two reconnaissance squads lying in ambush on the rooftops of the streets threw themselves into the dense crowd of Japanese troops who were retreating in a panic.* The Japanese troops were immediately bombed with heavy casualties, and they had no strength to fight back, so they threw away their armor, made a mess, and fled eastward in disarray. Many of the ghost soldiers who ran at the back were hit by the chasing bullets and fell, and the street floor was almost covered with the corpses of the ghost soldiers, and the blood flowed all over the ground, which was unbearable.

Han Dagang ordered the artillery behind a platoon of positions to fire two shots 400 meters ahead, and then two more shots at an extension of 100 meters. The only mountain cannon had already been set by the soldiers to shoot at the ruler, height, direction, etc., and they immediately loaded the cannonballs and opened fire. The shells exploded like eyes in the dense crowd of fleeing Japanese troops.

Han Dagang walked down the collapsed and dilapidated gatehouse, ordered the soldiers of the second and third platoons to pursue 300 meters to the east, destroy the remnants of the enemy, collect the weapons and ammunition discarded by the Japanese army, and then quickly withdraw to the position, build fortifications and prepare for another battle. The warriors roared and scrambled eastward.

Han Dagang ordered the messenger to inform the sharpshooters on the roofs on both sides of the street and the soldiers of the reconnaissance squad to move a hundred meters to the east to conceal themselves, and to replenish them with ammunition and *. Han Dagang did not order the use of the Flying Thunder Barrel, because the destructive power of the * packet launched by the Flying Thunder Barrel after explosion was too great, and it would cause great damage to the houses and buildings on both sides of the street. If it falls a little off, it will blow up the whole house.

Han Dagang took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and after calculating the time, he called three correspondents, and ordered one of the correspondents to run to the west gate of the town to inform the commander of the second company that he would attack the west gate in half an hour, and he must fight fiercely and hard. After attacking and occupying the West Gate, they resolutely blocked and destroyed the enemy and collected weapons and ammunition in accordance with the tactical tactics of the first company fighting at the North Gate at night and street fighting. Forty-five minutes later, the 4th Company launched an attack on the south gate. An hour later, the 3rd Company launched an attack on the east gate. The same tactical tactics. Han Dagang repeatedly stressed to the correspondents that they must tell the three company commanders that they must fight skillfully, and they must not act recklessly and recklessly, so as to minimize the casualties of the soldiers. Three energetic correspondents led the way to run. Han Dagang ordered the instructors of the first company to count the number of people, replenish ammunition, and check the casualties. Sent the wounded fighters outside the north gate for treatment and bandaging.

After the arrangement and deployment were completed, Han Dagang lit a cigarette, and while smoking, he looked at the soldiers who were building the fortifications, thinking about how to fight the battle in the future. Thinking about it, suddenly he couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart about Yu Genshan: Alas! This Yu Tuan, what's going on? It was strictly forbidden to fight bayonets. If you don't fight bayonets, don't slaughter a few little devils with your own hands, and don't see blood, it's so unrelievable and unpleasant. This will not work, and in a while I will personally lead my troops into battle to fight with bayonets. Shooting devils at a distance and killing devils with a knife face to face are absolutely different for soldiers to improve their combat skills, boost morale, enhance courage, and temper their will. It's been so long, I should have moved my skills a long time ago, and my good work will be wasted if I don't use it anymore. Yes, it must be done, it must be done. However, this matter must not be known to the head of the regiment. Otherwise, the battlefield regulations, disciplinary punishments, and military legal dispositions of the Eighth Route Army are not trivial matters.

The first counterattack of the Japanese army at the north gate was completely disastrous and the entire line retreated. A captain squadron leader who had been shot in the back fled unkempt and bloodied back to the headquarters with the support of two soldiers, and reported the battle to Kazuya Shaosa weakly and falteringly.

Hegu was shocked and puzzled when he heard the report, he didn't believe it was true, and he was not willing to fail. He immediately ordered the ranks to be reorganized and sent another squad to launch a counterattack. Two squads of infantry were also sent to attack from the streets north and south of the North Gate, forming a simultaneous siege on three sides to resolutely annihilate the Eighth Route Army. The artillery squadron was also ordered to sortie. Because the road was narrow after dark, the valley did not order tanks and armored vehicles to dispatch.

Hegu picked up the pistol and command knife and walked out of the headquarters angrily and aggressively, he wanted to personally go into battle to supervise the battle and command the counterattack, and vowed in his heart to recapture the north gate of the town.