Despite the meticulous tactics deployed, the extremely ferocious attack of the Japanese army also put Li Ziyuan under tremendous pressure. Even the eastern line of defense once rushed into the village in a conical offensive launched by a Japanese army. In this kind of plain terrain, the Japanese army's charge under the cover of artillery fire is absolutely extremely lethal.

did not expect the first wave of the Japanese offensive, so he tore through his own defense line in the east and rushed directly into the village of Li Ziyuan. After several hard battles and paying a certain price, they repelled the first attack of the Japanese army, and beat out the Japanese troops who rushed into the village in the first round of attacks.

Li Ziyuan planned to consume the Japanese army's vital strength in the street fighting, but he did not plan to put the Japanese army into the village to fight in the first round of the Japanese army's attack. In the absence of a certain number of casualties to the attacking Japanese army, the first-line defense system was prematurely abandoned. Let the vitality of the Japanese army enter their own depth in the first round of attack without harm, and it is easy for their own defense system to be divided.

Therefore, when the Japanese army rushed into the village in the first round, Li Ziyuan could be said to have fought hard, and even did not hesitate to mobilize the reserves in advance and beat the Japanese army out. Street battles must be fought, but they must ensure the integrity of their own defense system, at least the initiative of the battlefield in the village is firmly in their own hands.

If the Japanese army was so rampage, and they attacked the village in the first round, once their defense system was disrupted and the troops fell into a separate battle situation, then they would not hold out until dark. This is also what He Sanliang reminded him again and again before the battle started.

Before the battle began, He Sanliang repeatedly warned Li Ziyuan. No matter how dangerous the situation is, the entire defense system must ensure that the advance and retreat are orderly. In particular, when the strength of their own defense is too small, and there is only one reinforced company, the connection between the various directions must not be divided by the Japanese army.

Once the entire defense system was disrupted by the Japanese army, the troops fell into a situation of fighting on their own. Given the strength and firepower of both sides, there is almost no possibility that the troops will regroup. In this way, the entire defense system will be directly overwhelmed by the Japanese army.

Although the tactic that Li Ziyuan was determined to adopt avoided the effective killing of Japanese artillery fire, it was also an extremely risky way, and it was easy to defeat the tiger and be divided by the enemy instead of himself. Not only do they have high demands on the psychological quality of the troops, but they also have quite high demands on the commanders' ability to adapt to changes.

If you want to hold out here until dark, then the whole system must not be disrupted. Especially Li Ziyuan's tactical arrangement of topping one side and letting go of one side requires extremely high control ability of the defense system. Once one direction falls into chaos, the whole system will have the possibility of a total collapse.

Especially under the premise that the troops simply cannot withstand too many casualties. Even if a squad is divided, it will bring considerable danger to the defense. Whether the entire defense system can remain intact under the onslaught of the Japanese army depends on whether it can withstand the first round of attacks by the Japanese army.

Therefore, no matter how great the pressure is, if you want to ensure that the entire defense system advances and retreats in an orderly manner and is not disrupted by the Japanese army, Li Ziyuan must drive out this Japanese army that broke into the village. Fortunately, the Japanese troops who broke into the village were not many, and only reinforced a rifle detachment of more than ten people with a light machine gun.

Liu Lianming's platoon, under the cover of broken walls, used grenades and shell guns to drive them out, captured a wounded Japanese soldier and captured a Type 96 light machine gun. The Japanese troops who infiltrated the village were driven out, and Li Ziyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

However, although the first Japanese attack was repulsed, the Japanese did not withdraw too far. Just 500 meters away from the village, they readjusted their deployment and waited for the artillery to stop again before preparing for another charge. At this moment, the dense artillery shells of the Japanese army once again fell into the previously exposed positions.

The walls and ruins that were originally used as bunkers were completely smashed into a pile of ruins. In particular, the former defensive positions in the east were blown into ruins by Japanese artillery fire. Several Japanese 92 infantry guns, under the cover of mountain artillery and mortars behind them, advanced their artillery positions to a position only 200 meters away from Li Ziyuan's defensive position.

Prepare as direct fire to support the second round of the Japanese offensive. This position is generally OK as a light machine gun position, and it is a little too close as a heavy machine gun position. But the Japanese army put on such a posture, but Li Ziyuan understood that the Japanese army was preparing to break the boat.

Looking at the situation in front of him, knowing that this kind of desperate work was not maintained, Li Ziyuan, who could not maintain it, immediately adjusted his deployment. In addition to the troops commanded by Zeng Sheng in the south, the east side of the Japanese army's main attack adopted the method of shrinking the defense, which means that Li Ziyuan was going to put the Japanese army in the east into the village to fight this time.

Li Ziyuan adjusted the defensive system, and the Japanese army in front of him was also adjusting the focus of the attack. This time, although the Japanese army was under the cover of artillery fire, they were still preparing to attack from the east and south. However, it has significantly strengthened the artillery support in the east, as well as the investment of troops.

Li Ziyuan here stepped up his time and took advantage of the gap covered by the Japanese artillery fire to adjust the firepower and troop deployment. And over there, looking at the village that was once again covered by artillery fire, the commander of the 22nd and 2nd Wing, who was ordered to command the clean-up, Naokayuki Katsume, showed a smug smile on the corner of his mouth.

Putting down the telescope in his hand, this Katsume Naoyuki Dazuo was triumphant, and said to Tsuruta Numan beside him: "The empire is mighty, invincible, invincible, and a Tubalu actually dares to use the mantis arm as a car?" Now that we've caught this group of bug-like troops this time, let's wipe them out completely. ”

After that, he turned his head to a captain beside him and said, "Tell the artillerymen not to care about the consumption of shells." As long as this dirt road can be eliminated, His Excellency the division commander will not care about the number of shells consumed. Command the artillery, in the hit half of the base of the shells. When the gunfire stopped, I didn't want to see any houses standing in the village. ”

"Order the troops in front to intensify their attacks, and this time they must completely disintegrate the defense line of the Eighth Road. What a battalion, in my binoculars, is no more than a reinforced company of eight roads. So many of my imperial troops actually have to make many assaults to break down the enemy's defenses, where is their face, and where is the majesty of the imperial army? ”

"I'm giving them an hour, if it doesn't work out. After attacking the village, if you are driven out by Tubalu, then ask the two squadron leaders to explain to the division commander themselves. The Imperial Army does not need such a waste, and even less an army with such a garbage. ”

Naokayuki Katsume's words, but Tsuruta Numa, who was also holding a telescope to observe the results of the artillery coverage, did not answer. But for the order he gave to the troops in front, although Tsuruta Numan did not express his position, he shook his head in private. Tsuruta Numan has always believed that this kind of extremely cunning Tsuchihachi Road cannot be judged by convention.

This dirt path is extremely cunning, and it is almost difficult to catch. Previously, Luo Hekanshiro had concentrated the garrison in the Ludong area many times, wanting to completely solve this dirt road, but they still slipped away. He also tried his best to mobilize troops and besieged it many times.

However, under the repeated sweeps and eradications of the division and regiment, this Tubalu army was not only weakened, but even grew under the noses of the division. On many occasions, they even carried out sneak attacks in key areas where divisions and regiments were deployed, causing serious losses to divisions and regiments. The Jingjiazhuang field airfield was attacked, and the Baijin railway line in Pingchuan Town was seriously damaged many times.

He even dared to sneak attack a special train transporting senior officers under the noses of the division and regiment, killing the inspection regiment of senior officers of the front army. The more tightly guarded the area, the more daring this dirt road is. For such an opponent who is cunning and ferocious at the same time, it is impossible to judge by convention.

If this dirt road is really vulnerable, there will be such a lot of trouble for the division there. This time, the division swept through the mountainous areas in the eastern part of Hubei, concentrated so many troops, and blocked all roads out of the mountains. But he was still drilled out by this dirt road, looking for cracks, and completely disrupted all the plans of the division.

Under the nose of the Pingchuan garrison, it was bold enough to sneak attack the division and regiment to win the gas transport team. As a result, the division, and even the entire First Army, lost the first major general officer since its formation, which became a great shame for the entire 36th Division. With such a dirt road here and you, the problem is certainly not as simple as it seems.

In fact, Tsuruta Numan believes that it is not a suitable choice for the division commander to send this Katsume Naoyuki Osa to command this purge of the purge . This Katsume Naoyuki Osa arrived in July, and he didn't have much experience dealing with these cunning Tsuchihachi. Moreover, this Katsume Naoyuki Osa is stubborn and rigid, and I am afraid it will be difficult to adapt to the changeable tactics of the eight roads.

Compared with the newly appointed Katsume Naoyuki Daisa, Tsuruta Numan thinks that the 223rd Wing Captain Takagi Masakumi Daisa, who has been in office for a longer time and is more experienced in the 8th Route Operation, or the 224th Wing Captain Kondo Shin Hachisa, is more suitable. However, the attitude of His Excellency the Division Commander was very resolute, and even His Excellency the Chief of Staff had no way to oppose it.

Looking at this Katsume Naoyuki Osa, who was very dissatisfied with sending himself to fight the Dirt Eight Road, and even disdainful of the opponent in front of him. Judging from the experience of Tsuruta Numan and this Tsuchihachi Road during this period of time, Tsuruta Numan thinks that this encirclement and suppression of such a stirring up of the army may eventually be smashed on this Katsume Naokayuki Daisa.

He was so stubborn that he only knew how to fight to the death using the tactics of the regular army of the Nationalist Government, but he ignored the completely different styles of the two armies. Tsuruta Numan didn't think that this Tsuchihachi Road would always stick to this small village. After taking advantage of the village street fighting to drag on until dark, it will definitely choose to break out.

Previously, he suggested that he should encircle on three sides and attack on one side, not only to be tightly defended on three sides, but also to send cavalry to blockade the north bank of the Zhuozhang River. It's a pity that this Katsume Naoyuki Dazuo is stubborn and thinks that there is no need for defense on the other side of the Turbidity River. Those dirt roads are not capable of crossing the river at all. It is enough to block the river with artillery.

Since this division and regimental headquarters are now besieged here, and the Tubalu that is bound to be wiped out is here, it is necessary to launch an attack as soon as possible while it is still dark, solve the problem as soon as possible, and rest early. It is impossible for the 36th Division to put too many troops in the territory of a county in Hubei. What should be done now is to strike while the iron is hot, so as to free up troops as soon as possible.

Faced with Katsume's insistence, Tsuruta Numan had nothing to say. He is the captain of the Dazuo Wing, and he is just an intelligence staff officer, and the status of the two sides is too far apart. It's just that there is one thing that Tsuruta Numan doesn't understand, as far as he knows, most of the cadres at all levels of the Eighth Route Army are from mud legs, and even some people can't read a single word before they become soldiers.