As soon as dawn, the Japanese launched the first round of artillery bombardment, targeting the western pass of the Erlang Mountain Valley.

At the pass, the bandit battalion had built three ring fortifications on each side of the hillside, and the brothers had added several camouflage fortifications to the top and bottom of the three fortifications and in the middle of the three fortifications yesterday, which caused trouble for the preparation of artillery fire for the little Japanese.

But Matsui Ichiro was extremely well prepared, especially in terms of ammunition, and his basic ammunition carrying capacity turned out to be three bases. Since there are enough shells, then all positions are bombarded together.

For a time, the slopes on both sides of the pass were filled with fires and smoke.

The artillery fire lasted about five minutes, after which the first round of exploratory attacks were launched.

At 200 meters, there was no movement on the hillside.

At 100 meters, the hillside is still peaceful.

A Japanese second lieutenant commanding the tentative assault stopped, picked up a telescope and carefully examined the slopes on either side, but found no sign of defense.

Fifty meters more cautiously forward, the forward soldiers had reached the foot of the hill, and if there were still any remaining enemy troops on the position, this was the best time to block the attack.

However, the slopes on both sides were already quiet.

Could it be that the enemy has abandoned these positions on both sides? The Japanese lieutenant thought so, but he was still not careless.

According to the deployment of the commander before the war, this attack was only a tentative attack, or a feint, although the number of troops involved in this attack reached fifty men on each side, which looked like a real attack, but in fact it was only used as a bait for the second round of Japanese shelling.

This strategy was Takahashi's suggestion to Matsui Ichiro, and he said to Matsui Ichiro at the time: "Ye Tufei is very cunning, he will not put his soldiers on the position to meet the imperial artillery fire with flesh and blood, his soldiers must be lurking outside the position, when our infantry attack, they will fight with us, as long as they enter the position one step earlier than the imperial soldiers, it will cause greater damage to our imperial infantry." ”

Matsui Ichiro asked Takahashi Shin for his coping strategy, Takahashi Shin smiled faintly and said: "Feint, stop the attack when you reach the foot of the mountain, and cover it a second time with artillery fire!" ”

But now, the soldiers had reached the foot of the mountain, but the enemy still did not move, and the second lieutenant was a little overwhelmed.

Behind him, the Japanese squadron leader gave the order to move on.

One hundred Japanese infantrymen, in groups of five, scattered up the hillside, and saw that they were about to enter the first line of defense.

At this time, a charge suddenly sounded on the top of the mountain!

The Japanese second lieutenant was shocked and hurriedly commanded the team to quickly retreat to the foot of the mountain.

However, the trumpet sounded several times, but no one rushed down.

However, little Japan did not dare to slack off, and still carried out a second round of artillery covering.

Pity the hillsides on both sides, thousands of shells were received in vain, but there was not a trace of flesh and blood.

After the second round of shelling, it was the same 100 Japanese soldiers who again charged up the hillside. However, this time they did not have the same caution as last time, but howled and rushed to the top of the mountain.

Well, there were forty or fifty people crowded on the small flat ground at the top of the mountain, which was dense enough.

Ye Tufei finally made a move, and he personally pressed the mine detonator.

A series of explosions sounded on the top of the mountain on both sides at the same time, and the explosions were so violent that even the brothers of the bandit battalion who were ambushed on the mountainside of the back mountain could not stand it.

After detonating the mine array on the top of the mountain, Ye Tufei waved his hand and quietly retreated with a dozen brothers who were ambushed on the mountainside. On the other side of the mountainside, Zhang Luohui and Luo Zhonggang also quietly descended the mountain with seven or eight brothers.

This is Ye Tufei's means of dealing with Takahashi Shin, if Ye Tufei can know that Takahashi Shin lost the command of this operation because of the punishment, he will definitely arrange for the brothers to take advantage of the chaos on the top of the mountain to sneak back to the position, if so, it will definitely be able to inflict greater damage on little Japan.

Matsui Ichiro was not Takahashi Shin after all, not as cautious as Takahashi Shin, nor as suspicious as Takahashi Shin, he saw that the imperial warriors who attacked the top of the mountain had suffered a blow, and immediately ordered the second wave of attack echelons to quickly assault the hillside to meet the first wave of soldiers.

When they arrived, less than half of the 100 soldiers in the first wave were left to move freely, and the remaining more than half were either dead or wounded.

Without even seeing the shadow of a bandit, he suffered more than 50 casualties, a result that annoyed Ichiro Matsui. Only then did I think of why Takahashi Shin was so cautious about this Ye Tufei, it seems that he must re-examine this bandit, otherwise, it is very likely that he will fall short.

Annoyance is short-lived.

After all, the emperor's ** team still successfully won the entrance of the valley passage, as long as they adhere to the strategic policy of taking action step by step, they will definitely be able to successfully drive this group of bandits out of Erlang Mountain.

Thinking of this, Matsui Ichiro smiled and ordered the soldiers to rest for a while before continuing to move forward.

All the way forward, there was no resistance.

Matsui Ichiro couldn't help but be a little flustered, if he was replaced by Takahashi Shin, he would definitely order the team to stop, and then send a scout force to find out the situation ahead before making a decision.

However, Matsui Ichiro was accustomed to the tactics of slamming and rushing, and seeing that the surrounding environment did not look like an ambush, he held back the feeling of panic and ordered the troops to continue to advance.

On the top of the phoenix, Ye Tufei held a telescope and observed the dynamics of the Japanese army, but seeing that the Japanese army did not hesitate to drive straight in, Ye Tufei tightened his brows and said to himself: "Takahashi Shin took the wrong medicine?" How did you become so aggressive? ”

However, this anomaly did not arouse Ye Tufei's idea, and now, his attention was all on the Phoenix Peak.

If the mine attack on the hills on both sides of the mountain pass can only be regarded as an appetizer for Little Japan, then Ye Tufei's arrangement on the top of the phoenix is the first main course for the banquet of Little Japan.

The terrain of the Phoenix Summit, which was familiar to both warring sides, limited the power of Japanese artillery fire and would have caused too many casualties if it were attacked entirely by infantry.

Last time, Takahashi Shin used the Imperial Association Army as a meat shield for the attack, but Ye Tufei did not actively respond to the battle, so that Takahashi Shin successfully climbed to the top of the phoenix.

And this time, not only Matsui Ichiro rejected this method, but even the division commander did not agree to use the Imperial Alliance Army as a meat shield. The reason why these two people rejected Takahashi's suggestion was not because of the explosion of the bushido spirit or because they cherished the lives of the Imperial Army, but because Matsui Ichiro was worried that the participation of the Imperial Army in the war would form a weakness, and once the Imperial Army was defeated, the resulting wave of rout would cause greater trouble to the Imperial Army.

Matsui's strategy was to use poison gas bombs, which was the same as Koizumi's original method.

A year and a half ago, Masao Koizumi used poison gas bombs to attack the top of the phoenix twice, but he was driven down by the brothers of Tadayido before he could gain a firm foothold. This time, Matsui Ichiro carried far more poison gas bombs than Masao Koizumi, and he was completely sure that all the bandits guarding the top of the phoenix would be poisoned to death, or at least they would lose their combat effectiveness because of poisoning.

It's just that Matsui Ichiro didn't expect that half a year ago, Ye Tufei confessed to Zhang Luohui and made a lot of gas masks.

Although the gas mask designed by Ye Tufei is relatively simple in terms of production technology, it is ahead of the contemporary level in terms of design principle. And Zhang Luohui, who had a tendon, was also stupid at that time, and he used as much as Guo Zhonglin gave, and as a result, nearly 2,000 such gas masks were made at once.

The brethren of the bandit camp could still have hundreds left after each wore one.

Ye Tufei considered that little Japan was likely to use poison gas bombs to attack, so he asked the brothers to prepare gas masks early.

In addition, Ye Tufei also prepared several condiments for the main dish that Little Japan was about to enjoy at the top of the phoenix.

The first condiment was gunpowder mixed with sawdust for artillery battles, and it was paved with the necessary way to the top of the phoenix - Phoenix Ridge. This kind of gunpowder mixed with wood chips will burn as long as it encounters a star, and the speed of burning is extremely fast, if you accidentally fall, then the gunpowder mixed with wood chips will be stained all over the body, you can imagine how serious the consequences will be.

The second condiment is a poison that is extremely harmful to the skin. From Phoenix Ridge to Phoenix Peak, there is a rock step more than one person high in the middle, and if you want to come up, it is difficult to climb to the Phoenix Peak without holding the edges and corners of the rock with your hands. To do this, the Flat Sparrow has come up with a poison that is hot, painful, and rapidly swollen when the skin is touched, and these poisons are now smeared on the rocks.

If little Japan hadn't used gas bombs, they would have been able to enjoy a third condiment, the bandit camp's gas bombs, which were mixed with a lot of chili peppers.

As for the main course, it is the white-knuckle battle that best reflects the courage and bravery of an army!

The bandit battalion is no longer what it used to be, and the 100-odd special operations brigade alone can wipe out a squadron of little Japan with its ability to fight with hand-to-edge.

But the main dish of white-knuckle combat prepared by Ye Tufei for Little Japan is not just a simple white-knuckle fight, as long as Little Japan dares to use poison gas bombs, the brothers of the bandit battalion will use a special white-knuckle combat method to let Little Japan taste this big dish.

Now, the vanguard of Little Japan has reached the bottom of the Phoenix Ridge.

Matsui Ichiro knew very well that the Phoenix Peak in front of him was something he had to take, and from Takahashi Nobu's mouth, he also knew something about the special terrain of the Phoenix Peak, and knew that this 'convex' terrain would form a dead end for artillery fire. Therefore, he decided to use poison gas bombs as soon as he came up.

It's just that the wind seems to be a little strong at the moment, which is not conducive to the effect of the gas bomb.

Matsui decided to wait a little longer and wait for the wind to subside before attacking.

This is a matter of hours.

It wasn't until late afternoon that the wind was much lighter, and Matsui Ichiro decided to immediately attack the top of the phoenix.

In an instant, hundreds of poison gas bombs fell on top of the phoenix.