In the military headquarters of the 3rd Army in Zhangdian, the eyes of all the generals and officers invariably aimed at the military map. "Army commander, the intention of the Japanese army to appear in Dadonggou is very obvious, and it will definitely encircle the county seat of Xia County. The Japanese army's conspiracy could not be allowed to succeed, and troops should be sent to support Xia County immediately. "The chief of staff was anxious. Army Commander Tang Huaiyuan hesitated for a moment and said: "Immediately report to the Theater Command that Japanese troops have been found in the southwest of Xia County, and our department has asked for reinforcements." "Soon the theater command called, and not a single soldier in Zhangdian was allowed.

The chief of staff was surprised to see the call from the theater command and asked: "Army commander, what does the theater command mean, it is so difficult to watch the 7th Division being surrounded?" Soon the group army headquarters called to inform him that the theater command judged that the target of the Japanese army was still Zhangdian, and ordered Tang Huaiyuan not to act rashly. Tang Huaiyuan held the telegram from the group army headquarters in his hand and suddenly realized: "I understand, the theater command is really wise, and the intentions of the Japanese army are very insidious!" Seeing that the generals were confused, Tang Huaiyuan continued.

"The Japanese army surrounded the county seat of Xia County, which was to lure me to send reinforcements from Zhangdian, first, the Japanese army wanted to besiege the city and send reinforcements to eliminate reinforcements in the field, and second, to take advantage of the emptiness of Zhangdian's troops." "It turned out that the Japanese army had this attempt, thanks to not being fooled. However, the 7th Division is surrounded, and I am afraid that there will be more than one bad luck. "Order Li Shilong to defend the county seat of Xia County, and not to break through without an order." Tang Huaiyuan understood that the purpose of the theater command was to use the county seat of Xia County to drag down the Japanese army and disrupt the combat deployment of the Japanese army, but it also meant that the 7th Division might be completely annihilated.

A small mountain village on the northwest side of Xia County, where the 37th Division of the Japanese Army is located. At this time, the division commander Anda 23 was looking at the map. On the day of yesterday's attack, the 16th Mixed Journey, which was secretly deployed in Xie County, suddenly launched an attack on Pinglu. I thought that the first battle would be won and the banner would be victorious, but I did not expect that the enemy army would actually deploy heavy artillery on the other side of the Yellow River, and the enemy's heavy artillery would play a role at the critical moment, and the battle plan of quickly capturing Pinglu was abruptly destroyed. Brigade commander Song Ruoping reported that the enemy had about one division of reinforcements crossing the river, and his headquarters was no longer able to capture Pinglu.

The battle plan was disrupted, and Anda 23 had to implement the second set of combat plans, besiege the county seat of Xia County, besiege the city and send reinforcements, attract the enemy army to rescue in Zhangdian, eat the enemy reinforcements in the field, and then capture the strategic points of Zhangdian. "According to the report, as of this morning, the reconnaissance unit has not found that the enemy army has sent reinforcements in Zhangdian." "It seems that the enemy has seen through our intentions! Your Excellency, General, with the strength of our troops, it is very difficult to quickly eat a reorganized division of the enemy army! The chief of staff of the Japanese army analyzed.

The second set of plans also died, and Anda Twenty-three said decisively: "We can't give the enemy any chance to breathe, and we will storm the county seat of Xia County during the day today, and capture the county seat as soon as possible to eliminate the defenders." In addition, the third set of combat plans was activated to carry out a decapitation operation against the enemy military headquarters in Zhangdian. "Anda Twenty-three knows that if you can't take the county seat of Xia County as soon as possible, you won't be able to capture the key points of Zhangdian. If the battle situation is stagnant, the battle plan of encircling and destroying the enemy's 5th Army Corps will be frustrated. Anda Twenty-Three was a little depressed, why didn't the attack of the mercury dip in the past work.

At the headquarters of the 7th Division in Xia County, the atmosphere was extremely tense, and the division commander Li Shilong was silent with the army commander's telegram in his hand. "Division commander, while the Japanese army has just completed the encirclement, we have time to break through." "Division commander, the situation is critical, you have to make a decision immediately." Report, call from the theater command,! Li Shilong's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took the telegram to check it. I saw that the telegram read: "Division Commander Li, one division of the Japanese army is not enough to fight a war of annihilation, you have to have confidence in yourself." The purpose of the Japanese army is Zhangdian, as long as you hold on for three days! Signed Ouyang Jian! ”

Li Shilong said: "Brothers, I believe that General Ouyang will not leave us alone. His analysis is reasonable, as long as we stick to the county seat of Xia County, the Japanese army will eat it with one division, and as long as we hold on for three days, the situation of the battle will change. Moreover, the strength of the Japanese army is limited, and the forces surrounding it from all sides are obviously insufficient. The whole division has sufficient food and ammunition reserves, and the soldiers are strong and strong, so I don't believe that the little devil has three heads and six arms! ”

At this time, there was a roar in the sky, and a large number of Japanese fighters flew over the county seat, and the Japanese army, with the cooperation of the fighters, launched a fierce offensive from the northwest. The Japanese siege will not follow the traditional method of warfare, charging with ladders, but concentrating artillery fire on the city wall, as long as the gap is blown up, it means breaking the city. Yesterday, the Japanese army launched a one-day feint attack without really exerting its strength, and this time the Japanese army played it seriously. I have to admire the level of the Japanese artillery, the shells rained down on one point, and there were gaps in the city walls, and the gaps continued to expand.

The Japanese bombers in the sky bombed indiscriminately, covering the continuous advance of the attacking troops, and it can be said that it was a completely textbook style of fighting. Under the continuous bombardment of the Japanese army, a gap several meters wide was formed in the city wall, and three gaps were formed in the 200-meter city wall, and gunsmoke and smoke were filled. Japanese artillery fire began to extend, and the stormtroopers attacked. The defenders of the city immediately piled sandbags on the inside of the gap in the city wall to build a ring of fortifications, and several heavy machine guns tightly sealed the gap. Bombardiers carry baskets full of grenades, and their task is to throw the grenades into the gaps.

The Japanese soldiers rushed to the gap in the city wall, stepped on the broken bricks and climbed upward, and the speed of the impact naturally slowed down. This dense rain of bullets and overwhelming grenades are like a wall in front of you. The Japanese were forced to retreat and then launched a new attack, and the two sides fought inextricably. Anda 23, who was overseeing the battle in the afternoon, saw that the casualties were too heavy and ordered the attack to be stopped. "Ladies and gentlemen, the enemy's walls are strong, the fire is fierce, and the resistance is stubborn, I have decided to use special shells, and I will notify the artillery units to prepare special shells."

The special bomb is poison gas, which can cause bleeding from the mouth and nose, a temporary coma, and in severe cases, skin ulceration. At dusk, the Japanese attacking forces began to move forward again. In the division headquarters, an operational staff officer put down the phone and reported: "The forward observation post reports that the Japanese attacking soldiers are wearing gas masks!" "Damn, the Japanese army really wants to play yin, order the forward defense troops, and prepare gas masks." Lee Se-ryong gave the order.

- There was silence on the battlefield, and on the forward position, an officer shouted loudly as he ran: "Brothers, little devils are going to fire gas bombs, hurry up and put on gas masks and gloves!" Hurry up and put on your gas mask and gloves! As the officers shouted, the soldiers took out their gas masks, skillfully put them on their heads and buckled up their steel helmets, looking at each other as if they were hideous and terrifying, apparently the soldiers had specially rehearsed. The sound of artillery came from the enemy position, the shells made a dull explosion on the position, a puff of yellow smoke rose in the air, and the soldiers fell to the ground one after another.

The Japanese fired two rounds of shelling in succession centered on the gap in the city wall, and the city wall was shrouded in yellow smoke. About 10 minutes later, Japanese soldiers in gas masks attacked. Perhaps it was God's favor, but the wind was blowing in the direction of the Japanese army, and the yellow smoke slowly drifted to the side of the Japanese army. There was silence on the ground, and there was no doubt that the gas bombs played a role. The Japanese soldiers boldly quickened their pace. When the Japanese army reached the city wall, suddenly there was a burst of gunfire and dense grenades fell from the sky.

When the Japanese army was defeated and retreated, several combat staff officers on the city wall took pictures with cameras in their hands to record the crimes committed by the Japanese army. The commander of the Japanese division, Ada, heard that the Chinese defenders were prepared, not only equipped with gas masks but also took pictures, and realized that something was wrong. Anda Twenty-Three was dumbfounded for a moment, then ordered to stop firing gas bombs. He knew in his heart that firing a gas bomb was a double-edged sword, even if he injured the enemy, he could threaten himself. The firing of poison gas bombs failed, and the Japanese army's attack died abruptly, and the sky was dark, and the Japanese army stopped attacking.

That night, a dim light came from an inconspicuous house in Zhangdian Town. There were two people in the house dressed as businessmen, and one of them said: "Send a report to Taiyuan immediately, and find out the location of the enemy's military headquarters, the location is ・・・・・・." The next day, in the military headquarters of the 3rd Army, the chief of staff said excitedly: "Commander, Li Shilong called, the Japanese army launched an attack in the early morning, and no poison gas bombs were used. "Before the war, the theater command had predicted that the Japanese army might use poison gas bombs in a vicious manner. With such thorough preparations, the Theater Command will definitely be able to hold the Nakajo Mountain defensive line. ”

As soon as the confident words of the army commander Guo Huaiyuan fell, there was a roar in the sky. Since the location of the military headquarters is very hidden, everyone is not alarmed. Dozens of Japanese bombers came to the sky over Zhangdian and did not immediately drop bombs, but circled and lowered their altitude to find a target. Soon the Japanese pilots locked onto the target, and the dense bombs fell on the ・・・・・・ where the military headquarters was located. After receiving the bad news that the headquarters of the 3rd Army had been attacked by air, the theater command suddenly fell silent. "As soon as the war started, I lost a general, how did the Japanese know the exact location of the military headquarters?" Wei Lihuang was in pain.

Ouyang Jian stepped forward and patted his shoulder to comfort: "There is no doubt that the Japanese army agents discovered the exact location of the military headquarters and used the radio to inform the Japanese army, the Japanese army is very cunning, obviously they have been prepared." "Order the commander of the 12th Division of the 3rd Army to act as the commander of the 3rd Army and take full command of the operation. In addition, all command headquarters on the front line of the Zhongtiao Mountain Theater were ordered to crack down on enemy special activities and prevent air raids by enemy aircraft. "Let me add an order, ordering the 4th Independent Brigade of the 96th Army of the 47th Army Corps to go to Zhangdian to stand by."

Ouyang Jian continued: "We can't always be passive defense, we must adopt active defense tactics. Five days later, the 47th Brigade launched an attack from the southern part of Xia County, taking advantage of the dispersion of Japanese forces to take him by surprise. "Good idea, immediately order the 47th Brigade to go to Zhangdian and stand by." Wei Lihuang agreed. "Report, the 35th Division of the Japanese Army captured Nianci, and the 27th Division retreated to the second line of defense." Wei Lihuang and Ouyang Jian hurriedly walked to the map to check.

"It looks like the Japanese army is going to attack Hengling Pass!" Ouyang Jian said without thinking. "Ordered Kong Lingsui to order the 27th Division to hold on to the second line of defense for 3 days." Wei Lihuang continued: "Kong Lingsui is playing a side game, and he can give up Nianci according to the combat deployment, he is very happy." "Brother Junru, it seems that the outer defense line is worse than we imagined, we have to prepare for the stability of the core defense line in advance, I will personally go to Hengqu to sit down," "Brother Ouyang, I can't agree!" Wei Lihuang resolutely opposed.