After a brief pause in the fighting, army commander Yang Dezhi and Li Yunlong briefly discussed and decided to send a tank to try it, and the order to attack was issued again. At this time, Liu Xiaofeng, the commander of the tank assault company, commanded the No. 01 tank to take the lead in the assault into the city. Liu Xiaofeng's mission was to take out the two reinforced concrete bunkers of the Japanese army at the entrance of the street, and the scene of the attack was somewhat incomprehensible. It stands to reason that the tank should rush to the front, but the strange thing is that the infantry rushes to the front, and the tank follows behind, and this tactic is the idea that Li Yunlong came up with.

As for whether it is ineffective or not, it can only be tested by battle. The soldiers who assaulted the front were agile, sometimes lying down, sometimes getting up and attacking forward. About 100 meters near the street entrance, the Japanese light and heavy machine guns formed a cross fire, the infantry artillery bombarded, and the attacking soldiers lay on the ground to hide. In the turret, Liu Xiaofeng said: "The army commander and the brigade commander are all looking at us, listening to my command, aiming at the pillbox on the left and firing. "Such a close distance, for the aiming is definitely a piece of cake, an armor-piercing high-explosive bomb flew out of the barrel in the blink of an eye, accompanied by a violent explosion, only to see the Japanese pillbox in the blink of an eye to make a dirt plane.

"Good fight, aim at the bunker on the right and shoot!" Liu Xiaofeng was overjoyed. There is no doubt that the second shell also missed, taking out another Japanese pillbox. The soldiers who attacked in front were demoralized and took the opportunity to attack. Immediately, Liu Xiaofeng killed two more Japanese bunkers, and the Japanese fortress that stood in the way of the advance was easily killed by tank shells, and the intersection in front of him was occupied less than half an hour ago.

This tactic has been preliminarily tested and effective, not only to protect the tanks from being blown up by the Japanese army, but also to play the role of clearing the Japanese fortress. Army Commander Yang Dezhi was overjoyed to receive the report and ordered this tactic to be popularized in all major street attack directions.

"Brigadier Li, no wonder Mr. Peng values you as the commander of the tank brigade, and they all say that you have a lot of ghost ideas, and you really live up to your reputation. This method is good, dispatch a small number of tanks, which can not only avoid battle damage but also improve attack efficiency, if it goes well, you will be fighting quickly tomorrow morning! A smile appeared between Yang Dezhi's eyebrows. Commander Yang, this new method of warfare is of great significance, and in the future, our tanks can fight street battles, but they must be completed with the strong cooperation of the infantry. In the future, I will submit a report to the higher authorities that the tank brigade will be accompanied by an infantry regiment to fight together. ”

At dusk, the attacking forces occupied one-third of the city. The headquarters of the 82nd Division of the Japanese Army was forced to withdraw to the east of the city. "Report, the cavalry brigade did not find that the Eighth Route Army was outflanked." A subordinate reported. "Your Excellency General, it can be concluded that the infantry of the Eighth Route Army is about 2 divisions. The enemy used tanks to suppress the formation and constantly destroyed our barricades. The defending forces reported that the enemy was very cunning, the infantry rushed to the front, the tanks followed behind, and could not blow up the enemy tanks. ”

Ohara was shocked and helpless, thinking that in a narrow neighborhood, a large number of enemy tanks would be blown up, and a death squad was organized for this purpose, but it was not used at all. For now, we can only watch the enemy advance step by step, unable to stop it. In particular, the enemy's strength is doubled, and the enemy's troops attack at many points, and their own forces are far from enough. "Report, the Taiyuan Command is calling!" The chief of staff hurriedly took the telegram and reported: "General, Commander Banheng ordered us to retreat after dark and retreat to Zhangjiakou via Tianzhen!" ”

The sluggish demeanor of the commander of the Ohara Division immediately came to his senses and said: "Order the death squad to immediately deploy north of the east of the city to prevent the enemy tanks from impacting." After dark, the forces gradually shrank eastward, and at midnight they completely withdrew from Datong City. "Lin's intention was not to eat the Japanese army in Datong at all, because the troops of the two divisions could not encircle Datong, and capturing the strategic place of Datong was the goal. In fact, Lin's eyes were focused on the Japanese army in Shuozhou, and Banheng Seishiro was on the road.

There is basically no suspense in the direction of Datong, and now we turn our perspective to the "main battlefield", just when the tank unit broke through the north gate of Datong, and when all the generals and officers of the headquarters, including the combat staff officers, were overjoyed, Lin Yi was unusual, suddenly stood up and walked back and forth on the ground. Everyone stopped talking and clamoring, and the tense atmosphere increased dramatically. "Mr. Lin, Yang Dezhi reported and promised to take Datong within two days. As long as Datong is taken and Shuozhou is waved, the Japanese army in Shuozhou will become a turtle in an urn, what are you worried about? ”

"If my judgment is not wrong, the Ohara Division will flee tonight, and he will not flee to the south, but in the direction of Tianzhen. Chief of Staff, if you were Itako Seisisaki, would you make the entire Japanese army in Shuozhou shattered? "Mr. Lin, do you mean that Banheng will order to abandon Shuozhou and retreat to Taiyuan in the opposite direction?" "Datong has been conquered, and Shuozhou has lost its strategic value." Lin stood up and said decisively: "Order the 6th Division of the 2nd Army to immediately set up an ambush on the front line of Mantou Mountain, and require that you must arrive at the designated position tomorrow morning." ”

"Ordered Chen Guang and ordered the 1st Division to take turns to immediately penetrate to the line of the Huangshui River to prevent the Japanese army from escaping to Wutai Mountain and Taihang Mountain. The 2nd Division moved north to form an encirclement, and served as the attacking 3rd Division, following the Japanese in pursuit. "Mr. Lin, do you want to send a division to intercept the Japanese troops in Taiyuan in the southwest of Zhoushan!" "In the Zhoushan area, we have three divisions, and the Japanese army will not send out to meet the troops." Lin Keenly captured the fighter again, and an encirclement and annihilation operation kicked off. Fighting sports warfare is the tradition of the Eighth Route Army, and it is used handy. At the sound of an order, the troops were quickly mobilized.

After dark, the atmosphere in the Taiyuan headquarters of the Japanese army was solemn. The sudden change in the battle situation cast a shadow on Itako Seisahiro's heart, and after more than 20 days of continuous fighting, the intelligence department figured out the details of Lin, the supreme commander of the Eighth Route Army. Lin was the commander of the 106th Division in Shantou, Guangdong, that is, the commander of the 1st Corps of the Eighth Route Army and the current Northwest Group Army. The 106th Division was completely annihilated in Shantou, and Commander Lin commanded the troops in a classic battle, and such an opponent made Banheng lose confidence.

"Your Excellency General, the commander of the Ohara Division, the commander of the 102nd Kawada Brigade, and the commander of the 163rd Panasonic Brigade have called separately and retreated on time at midnight." There is no squeak in the board cross. "Whether to send troops to pick it up. Ban Heng shook his head and said: "There are three divisions of the Eighth Route Army operating in the Zhoushan area, if we send out to receive the troops, the enemy will guess our intentions, and the receiving troops will be blocked." "There is no problem with the safe retreat of Datong's Xiaoyuan nuts, and Banheng is worried about whether the troops from Shuozhou can be evacuated safely.

Sure enough, as Lin expected, at 2 o'clock in the morning, he received a report from Chen Guang that the Japanese army in Shuozhou had fled. Lin relaxed and sat on his chair when he heard the news, and at this time there was also news from Datong that the Japanese army abandoned the city and fled, and Datong City was captured. The generals were overjoyed when they heard this, and it was self-evident why the Japanese army left the fortified position. The next battle is simple and clear, interception, encirclement and annihilation. Chief of Staff Zuo Quan ordered the Independent 1st Artillery Division, followed by the outflanking troops, and quickly advanced towards Mantou Mountain.

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, a report was received from the 6th Division of the 2nd Army that the Japanese army appeared at Mantou Mountain and encountered the 6th Division. By dusk, two brigades of the Japanese army were surrounded by four divisions of the Eighth Route Army in the Mantou Mountain area. There was no suspense in the battle, and the time of the general attack was scheduled for the next morning. The general offensive had to wait for the arrival of artillery units, so the time was delayed for a night. The Japanese launched several decisive breakouts to no avail, and after the general offensive began the next day, Lin sat on a chair and fell asleep, apparently without any suspense in the battle.

The 1st Independent Artillery Division had hundreds of artillery pieces, and the effect of shaking the ground and shaking the mountains was struck. The Japanese left the fortifications, and no matter how tenacious they were, they could not withstand the heavy artillery fire and the repeated ravages of bombers. When the troops launched a general offensive, the resistance of the Japanese army could no longer form a system. The Japanese army was divided and surrounded. However, the Japanese soldiers still fought tenaciously and swore not to surrender to the death. The battle lasted for a day and a night before it ended, and more than 10,000 Japanese troops in the two brigades were completely wiped out without any of them slipping through the net, and the first phase of the counteroffensive in Shanxi ended successfully.

That morning, after listening to the report, Itako Seishiro turned pale and didn't say a word. All the generals in the headquarters were silent, and the chief of staff of the Japanese army signaled to the Nanjing Command to report: All the 102 brigades and 163 brigades are broken! "The Japanese army's carefully built Shanxi defense system had an arm cut off. Frankly speaking, the Japanese army lost more than 10,000 people and horses, and the key is that the Eighth Route Army's ability to attack fortified positions and the art of battlefield command made the Japanese army fearful, which was the most terrifying.

After a month of continuous fierce battles, the Eighth Route Army conquered Datong and Shuozhou respectively, and recovered the northern part of Shanxi. In this battle, the good news of the elimination of the two fully integrated brigades of the Japanese army quickly spread throughout the north and south of the river. This battle was of great significance, indicating that the myth of the invincibility of the Japanese army was completely shattered, and also verified the strong combat effectiveness and offensive capability of the Eighth Route Army. What Lin gained the most was the new method of using tanks to fight street battles, which was very important for future offensive operations. The news of the great victory reached the headquarters of the 1st Corps in Jiangxi, which played a role in promoting the upcoming Nanjing Campaign.

At this time, Peng Dehuai, deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, was inspecting the headquarters of the 1st Corps in Jingdezhen. Peng Dehuai faced the generals and said: "Lin played well and made a good start. The victory in the first phase of Shanxi's counteroffensive showed that we were well prepared before the war, especially when the battle situation was unfavorable, we boldly changed our campaign arrangements, and cleanly wiped out the two integrated brigades and regiments of the Japanese army in the brutal offensive operations. However, the repeated setbacks in Shuozhou's offensive also show that the Japanese army's defensive system and combat effectiveness are still strong, which must not be ignored. ”

"Mr. Peng, Lin is very shrewd, and when the offensive was at a stalemate, he discovered the weakness of the Japanese army. Chief of Staff Ouyang has repeatedly stressed that the Japanese army enforces tactical discipline to the letter, but it will not be flexible. Therefore, in future operations to tackle tough problems, the key is how to take them by surprise and be unprepared for attacking them, and how to boldly use troops at any time. "Su Yu, the headquarters has a big policy, and you have full autonomy in specific operations, please rest assured of this. On May 2, He Long's 2nd Corps officially launched a feint attack on Hangzhou, and the next thing is up to you. ”

Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan said: "Mr. Peng, the desire of the officers and soldiers to fight is very high, and we will never let down the hope of the headquarters. "The key to the smooth implementation of the Nanjing Campaign is whether Gangcun Ningci can perceive our intentions. This is very important. However, we have a contingency plan, depending on the situation. I have read your battle plan, there is no problem, and the preparation is very detailed. I immediately left for the 2 Corps. ”