Just as the instructor launched the final attack on Sasaki's Ichibu, Lieutenant General Kimura Hyotaro also led his troops to Wu'an, which was less than fifty kilometers away from Mt. Ci. Due to the urgency of the war, he only brought two infantry wings and one cavalry wing this time, as well as a search team directly under the division.

Just when Kimura Hyotaro's headquarters was just about to bypass the 181st Division's defense of Wu'an County and go straight to Cishan, they received a farewell telegram from Major General Sasaki. After reading this farewell telegram, which was only a few hundred words, Kimura Hyotaro was completely stunned by Sasaki's description and analysis while grieving.

According to Sasaki Toichi's description, the Chinese army that besieged the 3rd and 4th Brigades of the Independent Hún Brigade was more than 40,000 people, and most of the troops were only equipped with the imperial standard, from the most basic Type 38 rifles to Type 92 infantry guns and 75mm caliber mountain artillery field guns, and there were also snipers equipped with máo sniper rifles The snipers of the team included not only engineers, artillerymen, but also machine gunners and bullet operators, and of course, the grassroots officers who commanded the operation on the battlefield were also the targets of the snipers of the Chinese snipers. And watching his companions being shot in the head one after another in front of him, and not knowing when he would follow in the footsteps of his comrades, this was a fatal blow to the morale of the troops.

Snipers on the battlefield are extremely difficult, and the general methods of dealing with such snipers will not work, in addition to the traditional tactics of the most common sniper confrontation, there is also the fact that only large-scale artillery bombardment of the area can eliminate such snipers. However, these two conditions cannot be met by Sasaki to the first department for the time being, on the one hand, the Japanese army does not have sniper rifles and trained snipers at the moment. At the same time, at the beginning of the sudden attack, Sasaki lost contact with the artillery position, and there is no need to think that those artillery must be more than lucky. Even if it is not completely wiped out by the squadron, the artillery unit will not be able to help much in the current situation.

Kimura Hyotaro now finally knows that the situation is out of his control, and the original 50,000 troops sweeping southern Hebei is not a piece of cake in his opinion, but now it seems that he has greatly underestimated the strength of the squadron. Needless to say, the troops of the Eighth Route Army armed with sniper rifles must have been under Han Yunhua's headquarters in Saibei. There are not a few troop instructors who can be equipped with sniper rifles, whether it is the Central Army of the National Government or the Jin Sui Army of Yan Xishan, the commander of the Second Theater of Operations, they can be equipped, but as far as the troops under the command of ** are concerned, there is really no one who can be equipped with sniper rifles on a large scale except for Han Yunhua's department, and the Eighth Route Army that can reach out to southern Hebei is only Han Yunhua's department.

What's more important is that this battle is clean and neat, and it is a thunderous blow as soon as he makes a move, which is clearly Han Yunhua's forte, and it is Han Yunhua's usual technique. To say that he does not regret it is to deceive himself, Lieutenant General Kimura Hyotaro's current expression is green sè's face and green sè's intestines, and his expression of self-blame and anger almost swallowed his heart.

Sasaki's destruction is a foregone conclusion, and even if the more than 10,000 people in his hands can rush to the battlefield now, I'm afraid it won't help. At the same time that he received a farewell telegram from Major General Sasaki to Major General Sasaki, news also came from his troops in Shahe and Yong'an, saying that Gao Shuxun, the commander of the new Eighth Army, was commanding two infantry divisions to march towards Yong'an, and that a regiment of cavalry troops had reached Chen Jiayu, more than ten miles away from Yong'an County.

Kimura Hyotaro knew that without the support of the Eighth Route Army, Gao Shuxun would be a dead man now, how could he dare to shout with the Japanese Imperial Army, the reason why Gao Shuxun dared to send troops to Yong'an was completely due to the instructions of the Eighth Route Army, and even in the southern Hebei battlefield, Gao Shuxun and the Eighth Route Army gave the Imperial Army a set.

But no matter what, Ji Nan can't stay now, especially the position he is in now is very dangerous, if he is entangled by the squadron, the result will be unimaginable. First of all, from a large scale, the main force of his 32nd Division is surrounded by the Chinese army, with Han Yunhua's instructor in the south, the 181st Division of the 69th Army in the west, and the new Eighth Army and the new 3rd Division of the 69th Army by Gao Shuxun in the east and north. ,

Kimura Hyotaro was also an expert in warfare, and after analyzing the situation they were in, he immediately ordered the troops to withdraw in the direction of Yong'an.

Kimura Hyotaro was extremely unwilling, and in just a few days, he lost two infantry brigades, and they were also independent brigades. But he also knew that the matter had come to this point and he had no power to return to the sky, but Kimura Hyotaro judged that the Eighth Route Army's troops in southern Hebei this time would definitely not be too many, on the one hand, southern Hebei has always been the center of gravity of the Japanese army's rule, and it is difficult for the local Eighth Route Army guerrillas to develop to a large scale, so the Eighth Route Army in southern Hebei is likely to be transferred to southern Hebei through other channels. Saibei is not close to southern Hebei, and the small force is fine, but once it exceeds 10,000 people on the march, it is impossible not to attract the attention of the special high-tech department, so Lieutenant General Kimura Hyotaro judged that there will not be too many troops of the Eighth Route Army in southern Hebei.

As the saying goes, kill 10,000 enemies and injure 8,000. Although Major General Sasaki Toichi fell into the trap of the Eighth Route Army, based on his own understanding of Sasaki Toichi, Kimura Hyotaro believed that Sasaki Toichi would not surrender to the Shina army, but would lead his troops to launch the most tragic counterattack against the Shina troops. Lieutenant General Kimura Hyotaro has reason to believe that the current strength of the Eighth Route Army must be extremely weak, and it will even be crippled by Sasaki's counterattack.

Therefore, Kimura Hyotaro took a fancy to the Gao Shuxun Department of Zhenghuan, who jumped, and he believed that even if Gao Shuxun pulled out all the troops that could be mobilized now, there would be only two infantry divisions, and Handan City would definitely leave a part of the defenders, so Kimura Hyotaro estimated 15,000 people to Gao Shuxun to attack Yongan County.

Kimura Hyotaro wants to fight a time difference, he believes that even if the strength of Gao Shuxun's department exceeds 15,000 people, but as long as it is well planned, it can annihilate Gao Shuxun's department before the Eighth Route Army comes to his senses, after all, in terms of combat effectiveness, the 20,000 people of Gao Shuxun's department are only slightly stronger than an infantry brigade of the Imperial Japanese Army, and now he has two infantry wings and a cavalry wing of more than 10,000 people in his hands, and there is also an infantry squadron in Yong'an County, Shahe, which is only two hours away from Yong'an County, is stationed an infantry brigade of the 35th Infantry Division, although his more than 10,000 people are now in the semi-encirclement of the Eighth Route Army, and Gao Shuxun's headquarters is not in the middle of the 32nd Division.

Kimura Hyotaro ordered the troops to abandon all unnecessary things on the spot, including some of the baggage was also burned, and he asked the troops to rush to Yongan County day and night. At the same time, Kimura Hyotaro also ordered Yongan's defenders to hold Yong'an at all costs, and authorized the leader of the infantry squadron of Yong'an's defenders to use all weapons and equipment, including special artillery shells, stored in Yong'an's warehouses if necessary.

At the same time, the 35th Infantry Brigade of the 35th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Shahe also received an order from Kimura Hyotaro, ordering the 35th Infantry Brigade to immediately move south to Yong'an.

At this time, Gao Shuxun didn't realize that the Japanese army didn't forget to clean him up in such an unfavorable situation, and he didn't know that Kimura Hyotaro was completely paying attention to the new Eighth Army this time. This time, Gao Shuxun's move to go north to Yong'an was not from Chen Guang or Han Yunhua's instructions, it was completely because Gao Shuxun saw that the main force of the Japanese army was transferred to Wu'an by the Eighth Route Army, and the Japanese defense in Yong'an County was extremely empty, according to the news from the spies of Gao Shuxun's department lurking in Yong'an County, the Japanese defenders in Yong'an County now have less than an infantry brigade, and it is even likely to be just an infantry squadron.

Although the Japanese army's combat effectiveness is strong, and the New Eighth Army has just suffered a big loss, but an infantry squadron Gao Shuxun really didn't pay attention to it, even if the little devil's infantry squadron is iron-clad Gao Shuxun, he believes that the New Eighth Army will be able to eliminate him soon. Moreover, all the fortifications in Yong'an County have already been destroyed by the Japanese army, so Gao Shuxun decided to take Yong'an County back for the time being, after all, the troops and territory are the foundation of their foothold, and the large number of military supplies hoarded in Yong'an County is also another factor that prompted Gao Shuxun to make up his mind to take Yong'an.

However, Gao Shuxun went north to greet Chen Guang, and Gao Shuxun also invited Chen Guang to send troops to participate in this "robbery" operation, but Chen Guang refused due to the safety of Handan City. Gao Shuxun knew that this time he and the entire New Eighth Army and the 69th Army had been completely tied to the chariot of the Eighth Route Army, so some unimportant things Gao Shuxun did not taboo the existence of the Eighth Route Army, and when he decided to fight Yong'an, Gao Shuxun gave the Eighth Route Army full authority for the defense of Handan City. And all the power in his hands was gathered by him and pulled to Yong'an, which also made Chen Guang even more uneasy about the defense of Handan City. ,

But Gao Shuxun never thought that Yong'an City, which had only one reinforced squadron to defend the army, would be so difficult to bite, and the two sides fought for an afternoon, and the New Eighth Army did not even tear the first line of defense of the Japanese army. However, Gao Shuxun had already seen from the binoculars that it was not that the soldiers of the New Eighth Army were not working hard enough, but that the Japanese firepower in Yong'an City was too fierce. Not to mention rifles, there are not even crooked light machine guns with slightly inferior firepower, the Japanese defenders Qingyisè's Type 92 heavy machine guns and Type 96 light machine guns, and they occupy the advantage of terrain, and the firepower is far beyond Gao Shuxun's expectations.

Gao Shuxun sent people to reconnoitre, and found that the Japanese army placed twelve tǐng heavy machine guns and ten tǐng light machine guns in just two sections of the city wall, what kind of concept is this, an infantry wing of the Japanese army will often equip a heavy machine gun squadron, and a heavy machine gun squadron will also be eight to twelve tǐng heavy machine guns, and the average unit is only eight tǐng, only a first-class division will equip a heavy machine gun squadron with twelve tǐng heavy machine guns. That is to say, the Japanese army has now placed a reinforced heavy machine gun squadron and a reinforced light machine gun squadron on a small section of the city wall, not to mention Gao Shuxun's subordinate with such dense firepower, even Han Yunhua's subordinate department, which has always been famous for its good equipment, strong combat effectiveness, and extravagance in fighting, is far from comparable.

Often a charge of the New Eighth Army has been broken up before it has rushed under the city wall, and in just two hours of fighting, the New Eighth Army has lost more than 1,500 people, which is equivalent to the strength of an infantry regiment, and such a rate of attrition is simply not something that Gao Shuxun can afford now.

However, Gao Shuxun did not order the troops to retreat, but commanded the troops to continue the attack. It's not that Gao Shuxun is unqualified as a commander, but that Gao Shuxun found that although the Japanese army's firepower was intensive, there were only dozens of light and heavy machine guns and no rifles, which was obviously not that the Japanese army could not be equipped with rifles, but that they did not have so many people in the city. What's more, an infantry squadron has so many light and heavy machine guns, which is obviously not that the Japanese army has the money to equip an infantry squadron with dozens of tǐng machine guns, but that there must be a large arsenal in the city.

Now what the New Eighth Army lacks most is weapons and equipment, a huge arsenal guarded by an infantry squadron, which is like a fragrant dumpling with Gao Shuxun. Even if he lost a lot of troops, Gao Shuxun decided to take Yong'an City.

Fortunately, the Japanese army is not a heavenly general, and the two-hour attack also caused huge casualties to the Japanese defenders, although the casualties of the Japanese army were much less, but more than 100 people lost their combat effectiveness in two hours, and now there are less than 120 Japanese troops in the city, although a reinforced squadron of the Japanese army is only about 230 people, plus a 19-person squadron headquarters is only 250 people.

Seeing that the firepower of the Japanese army was significantly weakened, Gao Shuxun knew that the Japanese army was already at the end of its strong crossbow, and as long as he increased his strength, the Japanese army would completely collapse. According to the number of light and heavy machine guns on the city wall, Gao Shuxun judged that the defenders of the Japanese army in the city were less than 100 people, so he decisively gave the order for the whole army to assault.

However, at this time, Zhang Michuan, deputy commander of the New Eighth Army, hurriedly walked over and reported in Gao Shuxun's ear that about an infantry brigade of the Japanese army was rapidly moving towards Yong'an, and the automobile soldiers of its vanguard unit, about an infantry brigade, had arrived at Liaojiamiao, thirty miles north of Yong'an City, and had an encounter with the cavalry regiment of the New Eighth Army, and both sides were killed and wounded. But in general, it was the cavalry regiment that suffered a small loss.

Gao Shuxun is as depressed as he wants to be in his heart, and he can wipe out all the Japanese troops in the city if he is given another half an hour, but an infantry brigade of the Japanese army is not a vegetarian, if the new Eighth Army is not afraid of an infantry brigade of the Japanese army, but now the new Eighth Army is also a tired army, and the soldiers who have been fighting hard for a long time have not eaten, and the soldiers are not carrying many bullets, so they can't hold on to the battle for a long time.

However, if the current situation is missed, Gao Shuxun believes that he will regret it for life, so he ordered the cavalry regiment to hold back the Japanese reinforcements at all costs and create conditions for the large army to annihilate the defenders in Yongan County.

At five o'clock in the afternoon of August 28, more than 10,000 people under Kimura Hyotaro finally arrived in Yong'an County, and at this time, Gao Shuxun's department had just taken Yong'an City, and the troops had not yet rested and received a telegram from the Eighth Route Army that the Japanese army was about an infantry brigade from the direction of Wu'an, and the troops in front of it had been thirty miles south of Yong'an. ,

Gao Shuxun was completely stunned at this time, and the speed of the Japanese army was too fast. Before attacking Yong'an, Gao Shuxun should have been prepared to deal with it, and he knew the news that Sasaki and two infantry brigades were surrounded and annihilated by Han Yunhua's department, so Gao Shuxun judged that Kimura Hyotaro should withdraw his troops as soon as possible as long as he was not too stupid, otherwise he would not mind uniting with the Eighth Route Army and swallowing this arrogant 32nd Division in one go.

Although he also expected that he might be attacked by the Japanese army in front and rear, according to the news from the 181st Division, the large force of the Japanese army was now on the outskirts of Wu'an, a full few hundred kilometers away from Yong'an County, and even a rapid march of the whole army would take at least a day and a half. Moreover, Gao Shuxun himself believed that with the strength of two infantry divisions, it would not take much effort to attack a small county town with only one reinforced squadron stationed.

But Gao Shuxun didn't expect the devils in Yong'an City to be so difficult, it was originally expected that the two-hour battle would last for a whole day, and Kimura Hyotaro's original one-and-a-half-day journey took only one day to complete the Japanese army, so unfortunately the New Eighth Army was blocked by Kimura Hyotaro in Yong'an City, and was attacked by the Japanese 32nd Division and the 35th Division.

This time, the Japanese army came with the momentum of revenge, and Gao Shuxun still understands the truth that the mourning soldiers will win. This time, the New Eighth Army was really dangerous, if it weren't for the fact that he had just captured enough weapons, equipment and food, Gao Shuxun would have even had the idea of escaping. But now it doesn't matter if you escape or not, even if you escape, what can you do, the large number of weapons and ammunition that have just been seized will definitely not be able to be taken away, which means that the results of the hard work of the whole day are gone, not to mention Gao Shuxun, even if he is replaced by any officer, he is not reconciled.

And although Yong'an County is already dilapidated, it still has a bit of decent city fortifications, which are much stronger than the unobstructed wilderness. The most important thing is that the two units of the Japanese army are only a few dozen or even a dozen miles away from the county seat, and it is too late to escape and say anything. Moreover, Gao Shuxun still recognizes the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army, especially the combat effectiveness of Han Yunhua's department, he believes that as long as the two infantry divisions in his hands can support two days, then the reinforcements of the instructor will definitely be reached, and the days of the Japanese army, especially the days of Kimura Hyotaro's department, will be sad, so Gao Shuxun ordered all the troops to immediately enter the city to set up defenses, and he will fight against Kimura Hyotaro in Yong'an City.