Regarding the affairs of the rear, He Zhengdao generally paid little attention to it. As the commander of the independent column, He Zhengdao asked himself what he could do. As for the rest, it's better to leave it to someone else.

Now the headquarters was moved forward to He Zhengdao, outside the city of Guisui, and in the temporary headquarters outside the city, troops were mobilized to encircle and annihilate the 12th Division of the Japanese army, which had begun to retreat. It's rare for God to help, how could he miss such an opportunity.

Under the drizzle, the troops who rushed to Zhuozi and Wuchuan one after another threw themselves into the battle to encircle and annihilate the Japanese army. Even if he couldn't draw the main force at hand, He Zhengdao also transferred garrison troops from the Suiyuan area to cooperate with the operation.

Even if the combat effectiveness of these garrison troops is not as strong as that of the main division. But He Zhengdao felt that as an independent column, it was also necessary for them to feel the atmosphere of the battlefield and feel the battle with the little devils.

As long as they can pass this kind of battlefield test, they can be absorbed into the new troops of the main division in the next step. Such recruits, who will be pulled to the battlefield in the future, are also much stronger than recruits who have not experienced actual combat.

On the other hand, the 24th Infantry Brigade, which was surrounded by the New Fifth Division, was unable to rescue them after learning that the main force of the division was also surrounded. The infantry brigades stationed in place also began the road to break through.

If the weather is fine and they have the air force to provide support, maybe they can consider holding on to help. However, compared with the food reserves of the division and regiment, the 24th Infantry Brigade had sufficient ammunition, but the food could not last for a few days.

In this case, if they don't want to be starved to death without airdrops, they have only one way to break through. It's just that for the Fifth Division, maybe they still lack the ability to attack, but the blocking is still very good.

In particular, the continuous supply of reinforcements gave the officers and men of the New Fifth Division great information. Even if they couldn't participate in the battle to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Japanese division, they were also very satisfied with the fact that they could solve this Japanese infantry brigade.

Watching the troops enter the battle and fall on the way to the charge, the brigade commander of the 24th Infantry Brigade also felt a pain of blood dripping from his heart. Before coming to Suiyuan, he never thought that his brigade would end up like this.

When he heard that the captain of the mountain artillery wing was helpless to say that they had run out of shells, he could only be ruthless: "The artillery of your wing has all been changed to infantry to join the battle." If we don't break through, we won't be able to hold out for long. ”

Facing the words of the brigade commander, the commander of the artillery wing also said with a solemn expression: "Hi! ”

Originally, as a technical unit, it was the infantry that provided cover for them. Now that the shells are gone, they can only serve as infantry temporarily. And the extinguishing of the artillery made the officers and men of the New Fifth Division equally happy.

Division Commander Guo Junjie quickly said: "The little devils seem to have exhausted the shells they carried, and now it is our turn to use our artillery." All the mortars that were transported before were assigned to various blocking positions, and let me fight freely.

Tell our commanders who command the battle at the front, don't pity the shells, and beat those little devils hard for me. They have been bombing us for so long, and it is time for our artillery to strike and reduce the casualties of the blocking forces. ”

With such an order, the artillery units of the New Fifth Division, which had been worried about the artillery counterattack of the little devils, quickly pulled the shells and mortars brought from the rear and began to carry out round after round of artillery bombardment against the Japanese troops who were frantically attacking.

The infantry in charge of the attack said very angrily: "Baga! And what about our artillery? Why doesn't our artillery provide support? How could we break through the enemy's blocking positions without rushing to destroy the enemy's artillery positions? ”

As a result, not far away, a military cao said in a timely manner: "Okay!" I'm from the artillery wing, and we're running out of shells. At present, our entire artillery wing is cooperating with you in breaking through and is unable to provide artillery cover. ”

Such an answer made many brigade infantrymen who had always held on to hope feel a kind of sadness of discouragement. Previously there was artillery to provide cover, and they fought so hard. Now that there is no artillery, how else can they break through?

By the time the blocking forces of the New Fifth Division began to shrink their fortifications, an infantry brigade of just over a thousand remained, retreating to a valley to hold on. In the face of the menacing Eighth Route Army, they could only helplessly block it.

Knowing that the little devils were surrounded, he finally shrank up. Guo Junjie quickly said: "Order the first, second, and third regiments to implement the battle plan of encircling the little devils on three sides, suppress the enemy in the valley, and don't rush to attack."

Inform the artillery regiment directly under the division to give me the artillery to carry out artillery bombardment of the valley. As long as the little devils don't come out and surrender, then we will wait for them to come out. The main forces are not allowed to launch an attack on them without authorization.

We fought very hard in this blockade battle. The most important thing is that the little devil doesn't have much food in his hands. They are like a piece of meat on our cutting board, and they can eat it whenever they want.

In addition, a telegram was sent to the 3rd Cavalry Division, hoping that they would send troops to block the rescue of the puppet Mongolian army. I'd like to see how long the little devil can stay in the valley. Looking at this situation, it is estimated that there will be no good weather in the next few days.

Set up machine-gun positions outside the valley and draw all our machine guns over. If the little devils don't surrender and want to break through, then let me break through them. I'll see how long they can hold out. ”

The New Fifth Division began to carry out the final encirclement, and the rest of the troops that cooperated with the main division were cleaning up the battlefield where the two armies had fought before. For those soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who sacrificed, they will be properly restrained.

The wounded fighters were also carried by the common people and transported to the rear hospital for treatment. As for those little devils who died in battle, the garrison troops who cleaned up the battlefield will still let the little devils go to hell naked according to the old rules.

For the diligent and thrifty soldiers of the Eighth Route Army, little devils are not a good thing, but what they wear is a good thing that cannot be wasted casually. Except for a crotch cloth, everything on these little devils who died in battle was stripped clean.

In the face of the new Fifth Division that surrounded them in the valley, the remaining officers and men of the 24th Brigade also looked like they had lost their souls and despaired. Before they came out, they had tens of thousands of troops, and now there is only one infantry brigade left.

'Brigade commander, eat something!' ’

looked at the commander of the Japanese brigade, who was also paralyzed on a stone, and no longer had the image of the previous major general. One of the surviving Nakasa handed over a freshly baked rice ball, which they didn't make much.

The brigade commander who took over the rice ball, looked at the exhausted soldiers under his command, cheered up and said, "Our warriors, are they all eating?" How long can our food last? ”

'Report to the brigade commander, I counted it earlier. In the battle, we lost a lot of food. At present, the amount of food brought here is only enough for us to eat for two days at most, and we need to limit it. ’

'Yaga! How could things have come to this! ’

The commander of the Japanese brigade who scolded knew that this was also a helpless thing. It's just that he didn't expect that the battle situation would become like this. You know, they are the 'invincible' Kwantung Army!

Nakasa, who was standing next to him, actually couldn't understand why the situation had taken such a sharp turn for the worse when they were enjoying the victory. What he couldn't figure out the most was that in the face of their predicament, there was no one to help.

Thinking of the reinforcements, Zhongzuo said again: "Brigade commander, do we really have no reinforcements?" ”

Seeing that Nakasa mentioned reinforcements, the brigade commander also knew that the soldiers of the current brigade were also waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Everyone knows that without reinforcements, they are afraid that they will not be able to hold out for two days.

'Reinforcements? Do you count on the Imperial Allies that we have formed? That's a bunch of rice buckets, in addition to bullying those unarmed people, they are not even as good as the guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army. Raising those people is a waste of our resources.

As for our troops, they are too far from here. When they arrived, I was afraid that we would not die on the way to break through, but would have starved to death. Now even the main force of the division is in a similar situation to us! ’

'Na! Even the main force of the division was also surrounded by the Eighth Route Army? ’

In Nakasa's view, their 24th Infantry Brigade was surrounded by ambushes, more because they were too far away from the main force of the division. In addition, their strength was not large, so the Eighth Route Army found an opportunity to encircle and annihilate them.

But on the division's side, in addition to an infantry brigade, there are also tank brigades and heavy artillery brigades. When did the Eighth Route Army have the ability to deal with them as a formed Class A division?

You must know that among the main divisions under the command of the Kwantung Army, the combat effectiveness of their 12th Division can also be described as top-notch!

Looking at the only surviving Dazuo who came to ask how to act next, the brigade commander looked at the somewhat tired soldier and could only say helplessly: "Tanigawa Dasa, let's rest here for the night tonight!" ”

'Hey! It's just that outside the valley now, the Eighth Route Army is already building blocking fortifications. If it's one night, I'm afraid we won't be able to break through tomorrow. ’

Now that we're in this situation, can we get out? The warriors are already working hard, and continuing to fight will only increase the casualties of the troops needlessly. Let's stick to it! Perhaps, we can hold on a little longer. ’

'Hey! ’

If it were replaced by another country's army, the remaining troops might choose to surrender in the event that they knew they would die. After all, only then will they be able to survive.

But for the Japanese army, they would rather die in battle than surrender. Especially for the officers and men of these Kwantung Army divisions, surrendering is even more humiliating than dying in battle.

At the moment, even if he knew that they did not have much food, the brigade commander still hoped that if he held on a little longer, maybe a miracle would happen. After all, the battlefield is full of uncertainties, and maybe the weather will improve tomorrow!

I just want to hope that such a miracle will happen, the probability is really too small and too small! (To be continued.) )