"Adjutant! Adjutant! What's going on? Ueda Kenkichi hurriedly shouted.

"General, yes, it's the armored assault force of the Chinese Army!" An adjutant ran over in a panic, and didn't have time to stand up and salute.

Ueda Kenkichi's face was very ugly, the chariot squadron of the cavalry wing had been sent by him to open the way, and there was nothing in the middle to stop the attack of the Shina army at the moment.

Where the hell did these damn China troops come from?

"Order the 6th Brigade and the 9th Cavalry Wing to quickly return for reinforcements, and the 18th Brigade to advance immediately, and then send a telegram to the 1st and 5th Divisions, asking them to return for reinforcements quickly." Ueda Kenkichi hurriedly deployed.

The adjutant bowed his head to receive the order, but before he could convey the order, he found that a group of flaming tanks and armored vehicles had broken through the resistance of the alert troops and rushed towards the division headquarters.

Several tanks even took advantage of the situation to open fire, and one after another high-explosive shells fell into the baggage ranks of the Japanese army on the road.

"Boom, boom, boom......" The violent explosion sound was accompanied by red light one after another, and the adjutant hurriedly protected Ueda Kenkichi's side, and said eagerly: "Your Excellency the division commander, it is too dangerous here, please evacuate immediately." ”

Ueda Kenkichi didn't know about the danger here, and he was already frightened, so he immediately got into the armored car and ordered the driver to drive immediately.

Bypassing the chaotic and crowded baggage troops on the road, they fled forward.

Kenkichi Ueda is not really an escape, he is very smart, there is the 6th Brigade and the 9th Cavalry Wing, the main force of the division, in front of him, and the only armored combat vehicle squadron in the whole division is also there.

As soon as he is out of the danger zone, he can immediately command the 6th Division and the 9th Cavalry Wing to return to the baggage troops.

However, his cleverness was mistaken by cleverness, and if he took advantage of the chaos to escape on foot in the dark night, no one would be able to detect him at all.

However, in a hurry to flee quickly, he chose to take an armored vehicle, and nearly 200 guards of the garrison squadron of his division headquarters were still protected around the armored vehicle and evacuated with the armored vehicle.

This anomaly quickly attracted the attention of the armored soldiers of the armored company, and it was immediately reported to the company commander Li Zhenyuan.

"That must be the big officer of the little devil, three platoons and four platoons of fire cover, one platoon and two platoons rushed up with me and killed that armored car." Li Zhenyuan quickly gave the order.

The third platoon and the fourth platoon were armored car platoons, which had a large number of vehicle-mounted machine guns, and the machine gun fire was very fierce.

The tanks in the first and second rows immediately took advantage of the situation and opened fire as they advanced, and from time to time shells fell around Kenkichi Ueda's armored car and exploded.

From time to time, the guards of the divisional garrison squadrons were blown out.

At the same time, a large number of infantry rushed in, and a large number of MG34 general-purpose machine guns, MP18 submachine guns, and the dense firepower composed of Garand semi-automatic infantry suddenly covered like raindrops.

The already chaotic Yue army was suddenly thrown to the ground in pieces like wheat.

More than 3,000 cavalry led by Sabuli also killed in two directions, and the cavalry first carried out a round of fierce fire with submachine guns, inflicting a large number of casualties on the army.

The heavy forces of the Japanese army, which numbered about a few thousand men, had been completely cut into sections by cavalry and infantry, and the dense fire of the infantry of the 701st Regiment was gradually destroying them.

Second, the tank troops led by Li Zhenyuan went on a rampage like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, pursuing them all the way.

Under the constant shelling of the tank crews, Ueda Kenkichi's guards were almost completely killed and wounded, and the armored vehicles rushed into a low-lying area in a panic and broke down on the spot.

Li Zhenyuan personally aimed a 50mm tank gun at the armored car in which Kenkichi Ueda was riding, and with a loud bang, an armor-piercing bullet whistled out.

In a flash of fire, the armor-piercing projectile hit the armored vehicle accurately, instantly piercing through its weak defensive armor.

The extremely high temperature immediately burned Kenkichi Ueda and the others inside, and the explosion that followed turned them and the armored vehicle into rubble.

A huge fire burst into the sky, and the few remaining devil guards next to the armored car were also blown up and died on the spot.

After killing this armored car, Li Zhenyuan did not know that he had already killed the command hub of the 9th Division, but led the tank crews to start firing at the heavy soldiers who were stubbornly resisting.

Tank No. 3 was invincible to the baggage units of the Syrian army, which lacked anti-tank weapons, and the 50mm caliber high-explosive shell was enough to destroy any recalcitrant Japanese army hiding behind the baggage vehicles.

The cavalry and infantry were also increasing the speed of their attacks, and the 6th Brigade in front and the 18th Brigade in the rear were alarmed by the sound of gunfire.

However, he was unable to get in touch with the division commander Ueda Kenkichi, so he had to lead his troops back to help.

The first to arrive was a chariot squadron of the 9th Cavalry Wing, and the appearance of the devil chariot squadron, Zhang Xinghan hurriedly ordered the Sabuli cavalry regiment to retreat, and Li Zhenyuan led the armored company to meet the attack.

The tank squadron of the 9th Division, except for two ** medium tanks (weighing 12 or 3 tons), the rest are all thin-skinned tanks, commonly known as the Type 94 light tanks of the Bean Tank.

This light tank weighs only 3.5 tons and has less than 12 mm of defensive armor, which can be easily destroyed by any anti-tank weapon.

In the historical War of Resistance against Japan, the Czech-style 7.7 mm light machine gun commonly equipped by the Chinese [***] team could dent the armor of Xiao Yueben's bean chariot by five or six millimeters with a shuttle.

Not to mention the No. 3 tank, which was armed with a 50mm gun.

Even the 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun equipped with the tracked armored vehicle can penetrate it.

Moreover, the No. 3 tank of the armored company together with the armored vehicles had 40 tanks, and the tank squadron of the 2nd 9th Division had only eight tanks.

Except for the two Type ** medium tanks, which are slightly more capable of fighting, the other bean tanks are barely vulnerable to attack in the Reader Division's armored company.

Their weak armor was as fragile as tofu under the heavy and powerful fire covering blows of the armored company.

Even if the medium tank they were proud of was less than half the weight of the No. 3 tank, the defensive armor naturally could not withstand the shelling of the No. 3 tank.

Twenty vehicles in a group beat two of these tanks, which can only carry light tanks all over the world, and the results speak for themselves.

The exchange of fire between the two sides lasted less than ten minutes, and the 9th Division, a valuable tank squadron, was completely annihilated.

All eight tanks were bombed to smithereens.

At this time, the infantry had basically wiped out all the stubborn and recalcitrant soldiers, and used grenades to ignite a large number of military supplies of the devils.

Seeing that the strategic goal had been achieved, Zhang Xinghan immediately ordered the infantry to withdraw first, and the armored company and cavalry regiment took cover, and later withdrew from the battle with alternate cover.

As Zhang Xinghan expected, after the reinforcements of the 9th Division, which had suffered heavy losses, arrived, they did not dare to send troops to pursue because they did not know the truth and the division commander had been killed.

Instead, they desperately rushed to the streets of the military supplies that had been ignited by the explosion, but with little success.

After leading the troops to quickly break away from the battle, Zhang Xinghan immediately commanded the troops to rush to Zhangwu County.

The 1st and 5th Divisions, which had advanced to the rear banner of the left flank of Horqin, received the news that the 9th Division had been attacked and that the baggage troops had suffered heavy losses.

In addition to the shock, they sent cavalry mobile units back one after another.

However, it was too late, and the baggage and supplies escorted by the 9th Division were almost completely lost in the fire.

About an hour later, Zhang Xinghan led his troops quietly bypassing the east gate of Zhangwu and came to the outskirts of the north gate of Zhangwu.

After some preparation, the artillery company directly under the 701 regiment pulled out several 105 howitzers with dozens of mortars and 70 field guns.

With 20 No. 3 tanks, the muzzles of guns were all aimed at the north gate of Zhangwu.

"Fire!" Zhang Xinghan stood on a military truck and waved his hand.

"Boom, boom...... Boom, boom, boom......, boom "Boom Boom Boom" shells whistled out, and smashed towards the north gate of Zhangwu under the coercion of the firelight.

The 9th Division did not have many troops left in Zhangwu, only one infantry brigade, after all, a large number of military supplies had to be moved forward to the rear banner of the left flank of Horqin, so there was no need for Zhangwu to leave more troops to waste.

When the 9th Division, which had just left the city, was attacked, the main attention of the Yue army in Zhangwu City was attracted to the southwest.

At this time, Zhang Xinghan's artillery suddenly opened fire, and immediately caught a small number of troops at the north gate by surprise.

After only three volleys, the army in charge of the defense of the north gate was completely killed and wounded, and Zhang Xinghan waved his hand.

More than 3,000 infantrymen from the 701st Regiment and the guard battalion, who had been waiting for a long time, suddenly swarmed up like a tide.

Under the cover of powerful fire from tanks and armored vehicles, they easily blasted open the closed city gates and stormed the city.

The battle lasted less than half an hour, and the remnants of the Yue army were expelled from Zhangwu County by the 701st Regiment and the guard battalion with strong firepower.

The Yue army, which suffered heavy casualties, fled in a hasty southwest.

When they met with reinforcements from the 9th Division and the 1st and 5th Divisions, which had rushed to reinforce after hearing the news, Zhang Xinghan ordered the troops to quickly withdraw from Zhangwu County.

Of course, during the evacuation, all the captured warehouses and field hospitals were destroyed.

When the reinforcements of the 9th, 1st, and 5th divisions returned to Zhangwu, Zhang Xinghan had already led his troops to evacuate Zhangwu.

In Zhangwu County, the commander of the 6th Brigade of the 9th Division of the Army looked at the Zhangwu Garrison Headquarters everywhere, and scolded angrily.

At the same time, the three divisions immediately reported the sudden situation to the Kwantung Army Command.

Inside the headquarters of the Kwantung Army.

Nanjiro, who was woken up by the communications staff officer, was dumbfounded: "Nani? The commander of Kenkichi Ueda's division was actually killed? ”

"Yes, Your Excellency General, the raid on the 9th Division was a well-equipped armored unit, and its combat power was even stronger than that of the Shenyang Garrison Brigade." The communications staff officer bowed his head and said: "However, Zhangwu County was also captured by the Chinese army later, but it has now been recaptured, but most of the baggage supplies of the three divisions of the imperial army have been destroyed, and the situation is not optimistic." ”

Nanjiro had a headache for a while, and immediately said, "Immediately inform Chief of Staff Ishihara to come and see me quickly." ”

"Hay!" The devil's communications staff officer bowed his head suddenly, and immediately quickly led the order to leave.

(To be continued)