The actions of the Eighth Division all fell into Liu Yimin's eyes.

By this time the battle had been fought, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei and the Eighth Division led by him had already fallen on the chopping board, waiting for the instructor to slaughter them. The only variable is to see how many times the fish of the Eighth Division can bounce on the chopping board.

At this time, the army brigade began to cross the river, and the front was approaching the Daxu River. Half an hour later, it will engage fire with our Daxu River blocking troops.

Liu Yimin knew that after the blockade started, the first wave of attacks of the Yue army would be quickly repulsed, and then they would adjust their deployment and start to test the attack. After the tentative attack is over, the army is likely to launch a large-scale attack, and at that time, planes, artillery, and tanks will inevitably go into battle. If you quietly block the devil's retreat at this time, carry out a cavalry group raid behind the devil's back, and beat him off guard, it must be very cool.

According to the original battle plan, Liu Yimin was prepared to let the blocking troops repeatedly resist the enemy on the front line of the Daxu River, wear down the offensive spirit of the Eighth Division, and when it was dark, concentrate artillery fire to break the enemy's will to fight, and then carry out a north-south assault to completely destroy the enemy. This plan was mainly based on the large-scale bombing of enemy planes, and now that the devils only have four planes carrying out reconnaissance and patrol missions on the battlefield, Liu Yimin knows that the air units of the Kwantung Army have returned to their formation after bombing Shaanxi, and the devil air units in North China are probably busy rescuing the 14th Division, and the air cover of small-scale aircraft alone is definitely not the opponent of the air defense brigade. In this case, Liu Yimin was unwilling to delay, let alone let the devil's artillery cause too many casualties to the blocking troops.

Grabbing the phone, Liu Yimin ordered Zeng Zhongsheng to control the rhythm of the battle, stick to the devil's attacking troops, give them the illusion that the blocking force is limited, and gradually increase the number of troops. The Fourth Brigade of the Sect, which was hidden in the southeast of Gushan Mountain, was ordered to quickly attack and occupy the first line of Gushan, and march covertly to the front line of the Lihe River, establish a blocking position, and block the retreat of the devils. He ordered Han to advance, and after the large-scale attack of the devils began, he resolutely defeated the heavenly planes to provide air defense guarantee for the main force to encircle and annihilate the devils. The 1st and 3rd Brigades were ordered to prepare for an attack. Ordered Zuo Ye to command the 22nd Regiment to intensify the attack on Sasaki's position to the 1st Headquarters, forcing the enemy to desperately ask for help. The cavalry battalion of the 7th Brigade was ordered to stop blocking and harassing the Qingdao reinforcements on the east road, and let the enemy advance towards Weixian in great strides. The Seventh Brigade was ordered to move under the guidance of the No. 1 Special Operations Squadron this evening to seize Qingdao.

After giving the order, Liu Yimin answered the phone of Hu Laohu, the commander of the cavalry brigade: "Tiger, now the devils have begun to attack and advance towards the Daxu River, they have not found our army's intentions, and this is the perfect time for the cavalry group to attack the devil's back." You follow behind the Fourth Brigade and engage the enemy in concealment. After the 4th Brigade took control of Gushan, it immediately launched a decisive assault on the enemy, killed the devil's rearguard, and drove them all to the east of the Lihe River, so that the 4th Brigade could quickly occupy a position on the front line of the Lihe River, and then the troops withdrew from the battlefield and let the artillery cover the enemy with firepower. After the end of the firepower coverage, a second assault will be carried out on the enemy, completely disrupting the devil's system. The next thing will be easy to do, and the 1st and 3rd Brigades will be attacked from the north to the south. Do you understand my words? ”

As soon as Hu Laohu heard this, he shouted on the phone: "Thank you division commander for providing the cavalry brigade with the opportunity to attack the eighth division, I will guarantee you with my head that the cavalry brigade will resolutely complete the task and never disappoint the trust of the division commander!" After speaking, he no longer listened to what Liu Yimin said without saying anything, and put down the phone and yelled at the political commissar Bowen: "The division commander ordered, the cavalry brigade, attack!" ”

At this time, it is the season of lush trees, and the common people here like to plant sorghum, and the land is covered with green, which is very convenient for the mobility of the troops. The soldiers of the Fourth Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade wore straw hats woven with tender branches on their heads, wore cloaks woven of grass, carried weapons and ammunition, led their horses, and galloped towards the lonely mountain.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei, who used to be an instructor and president of the Army University, also talked eloquently in class, analyzed combat examples, and commented on gains and losses, but unfortunately he could not have dreamed that he and his Eighth Division had completely jumped into the trap that Liu Yimin had already dug. At this time, he was standing by the river, holding a telescope, observing the progress of the troops.

In Lieutenant General Maeda's telescope, all units of the army marched forward in battle formation. Tanks, armored vehicles, automobiles, cavalry, and infantry rolled eastward on the plains between the Li River and the Daxu River, and the common people's land was almost turned into a basketball court at the Army University. Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei not only muttered to himself: "The powerful Eighth Division, the iron is rolling, looking from afar, it is simply a thousand streams, so spectacular!" ”

As soon as the words fell, there was a fierce gunfire on the side of the Daxu River in the distance, listening to the sound, not only the Czech light machine gun that the Chinese [***] team liked to use, but also the crisp sound of the 38 big cover equipped by the imperial army, and occasionally the sound of the Taisho 11th year light machine gun firing.

When Maeda Toshiwei heard this, he knew that this was the Eighth Route Army that had begun to block it, and the vanguard was afraid that it would suffer losses again. However, listening to the sound of gunfire, although there are quite a few machine guns, there are no cannons, and there are no heavy machine guns, which should be a light firepower equipped troops.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei couldn't help but laugh, this Tuba Road blocked the attack all the way, seeing that the elite Eighth Division was about to arrive in Weicheng, Tuba Road actually wanted to rely on the small Daxu River to block the powerful imperial army, it was simply beyond the strength of the mantis arm. This Liu Yimin is known as the first general of China, don't his subordinates know that this is the dry season, and the Daxu River can't stop the advance of the imperial army at all?

After ordering Major General Misumi Suzuki to quickly break through the enemy's blocking position, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi sent another telegram to the headquarters of the Second Army, saying that the Eighth Division had arrived at the line of the Daxu River and that Weicheng was in sight, and asked them to urge Qingdao reinforcements to speed up their actions and cooperate with the Eighth Division to attack Weicheng.

The commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Higashijueriyaki King Kushihiko, read Lieutenant General Maeda's telegram, didn't think about it, and directly replied: "When will the elite Eighth Division need to rely on the cooperation of others to capture the enemy's position?" In addition to the Qingdao garrison, most of the Qingdao reinforcements were Zhang Zongyuan's Shandong Autonomous Coalition Army. Could it be that His Excellency Lieutenant General Toshiyu Maeda wants to rely on such troops to capture Weicheng? ”

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei couldn't imagine that Lieutenant General Tsugahiko of Higashijuer Palace would speak like this, and angrily pulled the staff officer who sent the telegram and crackled and slapped him. After the fight, he was asked to immediately go to Major General Suzuki Mijin, Major General Hayashi Maoqing, and Sato Fumiji Daisa, and attack on three fronts, so as to break through the defense line of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop.

Zeng Zhongsheng, instructor, chief of staff of the Shandong Military Region, and commander-in-chief of the Daxu River Blocking Force, was also observing the army at this time.

Just now, after the vanguard of the Yue army came up, it was attacked head-on by our army, and left one corpse after another and retreated. Zeng Zhongsheng knew that a new wave of attacks by devils was about to begin.

After observing his blocking position, Zeng Zhongsheng felt that the soldiers were too smart, and they actually used grass to weave mats and cover the position. Those heavy machine gun firing points and rocket launcher firing positions were covered with steel rails and sleepers, and the rails and sleepers were covered with door panels, and above the door panels were layers of soil, and on top of the soil layers were straw mats woven by soldiers. No one knows that this is a well-constructed heavy firepower position.

The devils came up, and this time the little devils chose six attack points on the Jiaoji Road, the Jiqing Highway and both sides, and attacked under the cover of infantry guns, mortars, grenadiers, and light and heavy machine guns.

Zeng Zhongsheng looked at the devil's offensive formation, and he was also secretly frightened in his heart, this little devil's permanent division is really powerful, not only the infantry and artillery are well coordinated, but the infantry squad tactics are also very good. Each squad has a machine gun and grenadier crew, which can provide close fire support to the squad infantry. The charging soldiers run quickly and powerfully, and their tactical movements are also very sophisticated, and they can shoot while running, and they can shoot accurately. Fortunately, they met the first-class main instructor of the Eighth Route Army, otherwise, it would not be easy to block their attack without the support of other troops without the support of Jiancheng and natural dangers.

Zeng Zhongsheng wanted to call the Engineer Regiment, the New First Regiment, and the New Third Regiment, telling them that this was a tentative attack by the devils, and that heavy machine guns, anti-tank weapons, and cannons should not be used, so as not to expose the fire points and arouse the vigilance of the devils, and put the devils within 30 meters before opening fire, and kill them with light machine guns, submachine guns, Bayi automatic rifles, rifles, and grenades, and that the devils must be made think that our army is a lightly armed unit, and the purpose of blocking the attack is to ensure that Weicheng can be taken in the end. Let them concentrate their main forces and attack in a big way, and provide an opportunity for the minefields and explosives packs we have planted to exert their might.

Bai Dagui is now the deputy company commander of the new regiment. Although he was originally illiterate, the teaching regiment itself was a big school, and learning has become a kind of system, and he is not only literate, but also has a primary school education level after several years of hard work.

When the new regiment was formed, he was sent to the second battalion and the first company of the new regiment as a deputy company commander. Now, he is guarding the east end of the Daxu River Bridge on the Jiqing Highway with a platoon.

At the time of the war, in order to facilitate the defense, the Daxu River Bridge had been demolished by the soldiers. However, there is no deep ditch in this Daxu River, and it is now the dry season, so the devil's tanks can easily cross the river to attack, and the infantry and cavalry are almost not blocked. After the new regiment took over the defense, it specially cut the east bank of the river into a section more than one meter high, increasing the strength of the defense, so that the devil tanks and armored vehicles could not jump directly onto the east bank after crossing the river, and the devil infantry had to stop running when they rushed here to ease the momentum of the attack. If the devil wants to cross the river and land smoothly, he must send sappers to carry out simple operations and make the flattened river bank into a gentle slope.

It was here that the devil's vanguard search team was beaten down just now, but across the river, some of the little devils still retreated.

Bai Dagui has been teaching a regiment for a long time, and his tactical level has improved rapidly. He placed the two heavy machine guns of the fire support squad, a flat anti-aircraft gun specially designed to fight tanks and armored vehicles under the command, and a rocket launcher group in the very strong fortress that was repaired. Artillery holes were also dug in the trenches, and when the devils fired artillery, the soldiers hid in the artillery holes, leaving an observation post to observe the enemy's situation.

The devils came up and set up a machine-gun and grenadier position on the other side of the river, and the heavy machine-gun bullets smashed the Eighth Route Army's position into chaos, and the grenadier grenades exploded incessantly, causing a miasma of smoke on the position.

Under the cover of fire, a squadron of devil infantry began to cross the river, and there were little devils who stepped on the mines by the river and were blown up so that their arms and legs flew straight into the sky.

Bai Dagui understood that the devil's machine guns and grenadiers had to be knocked out, otherwise the soldiers would not be able to raise their heads and would have to die when they went up to the trenches. However, the devil's grenadiers and heavy machine guns are all 400 meters away, and they can only be hit by high-level shooters.

He Bai Dagui called a platoon leader and three squad leaders together, ordered them to hold their positions, and beat back the devils who crossed the river, and brought three marksmen himself, specializing in heavy machine guns and grenadiers for devils.

After arranging, Bai Dagui picked up a Type 38 rifle and took the three selected soldiers to the position. After removing the straw mat covering the trench, Bai Dagui looked at the opposite bank, only to see three heavy machine guns lined up on the opposite bank, and there were four devils crawling next to each heavy machine gun, one shooting, one supplying ammunition, one acting as an observer, and the other being an ammunition hand. Next to the heavy machine gun position, there are six grenadiers, and the little devils are busy shelling!

Bai Dagui asked the three fighters to fight the grenadiers of the devils, and he was responsible for dealing with the devils' heavy machine guns.

Bai Dagui visually measured the distance, set the ruler, gently stretched out the rifle, put the head of the devil heavy machine gun shooter into the door of the 38 rifle, and then took careful aim, and then gently pulled the trigger. After the fight, he didn't see if it hit, he decisively withdrew the shell, loaded it, and aimed directly at the secondary shooter who had just received the heavy machine gun, and fired another shot. After four shots, the devil's heavy machine gun in the middle was dumb. Bai Dagui was about to aim at the heavy machine gun on the left, when grenades exploded one after another behind him, and there must have been a grenadier from the little devil.

Bai Dagui turned his head and saw that a soldier had fallen in the bunker, covered in blood, and it seemed that he was not going to work.

scolded "The dog said, the fight is really accurate", Bai Dagui directly shot out and knocked over a little devil who was putting cannonballs into the grenadier. There was another fight, and the devil's grenadiers and heavy machine guns chased him and two other fighters.

In just a few moments, a fierce battle began between the platoon and the devils who crossed the river, and the casualties began to rise.

Bai Dagui can't see if it's a way, he and two soldiers with good marksmanship alone can't knock out the devil's heavy firepower position, and if he doesn't use the heavy machine gun to destroy the devil's heavy machine gun position and grenadier position, the little devil will rush over under the cover of firepower. Therefore, he decisively ordered heavy machine gun fire to end the enemy's fire to cover the position.

The heavy machine guns had a long range and strong firepower, and in this fight, the little devils' firepower positions became a mess, and the little devils who were lucky enough to be alive hurriedly retreated with grenadiers and heavy machine guns. The devils who were crossing the river to attack immediately retreated.

However, the devil was not without a little gain, the little devil who had just crossed the river by luck dug a few small holes in the low section of the new flattened mass with a bayonet, stuffed it into an explosive bag and blasted, and after a few loud noises, the section became a gentle slope. Although these little devils are lying on the road they just blew up, after all, it is convenient for the devils' follow-up attacks.

After the devil retreated, Bai Dagui reported the battle process to the battalion headquarters, especially the little devil's machine gun and grenadier were particularly accurate, and if the devil was allowed to shoot calmly, the casualties of the troops would be very large.

After the devil's tentative attack was repulsed by the whole line, Zeng Zhongsheng ordered the first-line troops to immediately withdraw into the artillery hole, preparing to deal with the large-scale attack of the devil.

Major General Suzuki Mijin had already carefully observed the blocking position of the Eighth Route Army at this time, and now he felt that there was no need to have any more mushrooms with the Eighth Route Army, it was a pure waste of time. It was decided to launch an attack on all fronts and level the positions of the Eighth Route Army on the other side of the river in one fell swoop.

Major General Mijin Suzuki ordered the engineers to quickly clear the mines along the river, and ordered the 8th Field Artillery Wing to command all kinds of artillery of the brigade, each wing, and brigade, and prepare to cover the positions of the Eighth Route Army with artillery fire.

While waiting for the engineers to clear the mines, the herald sent by Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei, the commander of the Eighth Division, arrived, and Major General Mijin Suzuki told the herald after receiving the order: "Report to the division commander that our brigade will prepare for artillery fire for five minutes after 20 minutes, and launch a strong attack on the whole line after the shelling is over, and it will take another half an hour at most to break through the position of the Eighth Route Army." ”

After the herald left, Major General Mijin Suzuki kept urging the sappers to quickly clear the mines and clear the offensive route. Unexpectedly, these sappers had already been targeted by the Eighth Route Army on the other side, and some sappers were constantly knocked down. Seeing that the sappers were making slow progress and that it would be too late for aircraft support if they waited any longer, Mijini Suzuki decided to suspend the demining and the troops launched an attack along the route of the first tentative attack.

The devil artillery fired, and the swarms of shells blew up the smoke and dust of the Eighth Route Army's position, and Major General Suzuki Mijin, who was holding a telescope to observe the effect of the shelling, shouted happily.

After the shelling, there was silence on the position of the Eighth Route Army, and Major General Suzuki Mijin felt that most of the Eighth Route Army might have been killed, so he pointed his knife and gave the order to attack.

In fact, during the shelling just now, the devil's infantry had basically moved in place, and as soon as the attack order was reached, the twelve tanks of the little devil roared out of the starting position and rushed towards the Daxu River. Behind the tank, there was a squadron of devil infantry, wearing steel helmets and cats, divided into five straggler lines, like yellow water, and overflowed towards the Daxu River.

At the same time as the Fourth Brigade was launched, the right and left flank troops of the devils also began to launch a strong attack, and the west bank of the Daxu River, which was more than ten miles long from north to south, was full of devils like locusts.

Zeng Zhongsheng expected that the devils would attack on a large scale, but he did not expect that the elite Eighth Division would adopt bandit tactics and rush forward. In this way, the blocking force may not be able to withstand it. Therefore, on the one hand, Zeng Zhongsheng ordered the new 1st Regiment, the 3rd New Regiment, the Engineer Regiment, the Infantry Regiment of the Artillery Brigade, the Flying Thunder Artillery Regiment, and the Heavy Machine Gun Regiment to all enter the position and resolutely block the devils.

Liu Yimin was also taken aback when he received Zeng Zhongsheng's telegram, he didn't expect that the devil would be so desperate at the beginning of the official attack, and he made it clear that he wanted to break through the position in one fell swoop. If the position is breached, the 8th Division will be alive. The devil fought like this, which was beyond his expectations, and it seemed that the artillery brigade must be used immediately.

Liu Yimin no longer hesitated, and immediately ordered Li Chang to prepare immediately, and the artillery group opened fire 10 minutes later. The 1st and 3rd Brigades were ordered to immediately dispatch to attack the army from the north and south.

Just when Liu Yimin adjusted his deployment and ordered all troops to move, the Fourth Brigade had already occupied the front line of Gushan, and the devils of a squadron that would stay on Gushan to monitor the surrounding situation did not even have a little bone residue left.

By this time, the cavalry brigade that was following behind the Fourth Brigade no longer had to hide, they were already close to the enemy, and they were less than two kilometers away from the devils.

Hu Laohu gave an order, and the three main cavalry regiments formed three arrows, and the tigers went down the mountain to rush towards the devil's rearguard troops and baggage troops by the Li River.

At this time, Lieutenant General Qiancun Liwei had already crossed the Li River and set up the division headquarters at the Zhuliu Town Railway Station. Although the people in the town have long run out, this does not affect the mood of Lieutenant General Maemura Toshiwei. Because the main force of the division has been deployed on the front line of the Daxu River, it will soon be able to break through the defense line of the Eighth Route Army and enter Weicheng.

In the minds of Lieutenant General Maemura Liwei, the artillery fire of the Eighth Wing of the Field Artillery was so fierce, and with the artillery fire of two brigades, four wings, and major brigades, the blocking force of the Eighth Route Army on the other side was afraid that it would have collapsed, as long as the soldiers rushed to the position of the Eighth Route Army with the tanks and armored vehicles.

was thinking about how to divide the troops after the capture of Weicheng and gather and annihilate the Eighth Route Army, when the chief of staff of Dajiao reported that there were gunshots on Gushan. Lieutenant General Maemura was taken aback, could it be that the dirt eight roads that had been disturbed all the way turned back to Lonely Mountain?

Lieutenant General Maemura Toshiwei was full of suspicion, hurriedly got on the roof of the flat house of the railway station, held a telescope and looked at Gushan for a long time, but he didn't see what was going on, so he had to order to the chief of staff of Dajiao: "Immediately contact the troops left behind in Gushan and quickly report what happened." ”

Before the situation of the defenders of Gushan had been clarified, there was a scene in front of him that he could not have imagined: an imperial fighter plane dragged the billowing smoke and planted its head under the railway embankment less than 500 meters away from Lieutenant General Maemura Toshiwei.

Lieutenant General Maemura was taken aback, how could the Tsuchibachi Road in front of him shoot down the Imperial Army fighter? It's incredible.

Lieutenant General Maemura Toshiwei, who felt that something was wrong, raised his binoculars again to the east to observe, where was the shadow of the Imperial Army's fighter plane in the sky. Just now, it was obvious that four fighters flew over his head and flew towards the position of the Eighth Route Army, why did they disappear after a while? Could it be that they were all shot down by the dirt eight roads?

Just as he was about to order Major General Mijin Suzuki to report what had happened to the Imperial Army's fighter plane, he felt that the bungalow under his feet seemed to tremble.

Lieutenant General Maemura Riwei hurriedly looked in the direction of the river, and this sight almost made him fall off the roof.

(To be continued)