As a general commanding operations in the theater, Li Zongren was also very relieved to learn that the 77th Army had also joined the attack. With the start of the 77th Army www.biquge.info the encirclement of the 16th Division by the Fifth Theater was basically completed.

Although there is still one side that has not yet been blocked, Li Zongren believes that at this time, the 16th Division will not withdraw. If they wanted to withdraw, they would have done so long ago. Now that he is stationed in the town, he doesn't plan to retreat if he wants to come.

Even so, Li Zongren still sent another telegram, urging the 71st Army to rush to the planned attack position as soon as possible. As long as the large force of the 71st Army arrives, the plan to encircle the 16th Division can be said to be a complete success.

Of course, if you want to completely annihilate the 16th Division that is holding the town, you need to fight hard with real knives on both sides. Who wins and who loses will only be known after the fight. But as long as the encirclement is successful, Li Zongren believes that he will be the victorious side.

Nearly 100,000 troops were assembled to besiege the 16th Division, which had only 20,000 men and was holding the town. If this is the case, the Fifth War Zone will not be able to win, and Li Zongren also feels that his Fifth War Zone is really too incompetent!

Compared with Li Zongren, who was looking forward to victory and stayed in the town to establish the temporary headquarters of the division, Keisuke Fujie's expression was somewhat dignified. Even if they are currently surrounded on three sides, Keisuke Fujie also knows that they can withstand it for the time being.

It's just that under such a confrontation, the two miscellaneous armies in the Fifth War Zone also broke out with amazing combat effectiveness. The 51st Army and the 77th Army also performed very bravely in this offensive battle.

Perhaps in the eyes of the troops participating in the war, the little devil who is now trapped in the town is already a turtle in the urn. If they can't fight this kind of battle, then it's a bit too much.

The sound of gunfire that fills the battlefield, coupled with the flares that occasionally shoot off in the air, makes the whole town extremely hot. Compared with the flares on the east and west positions, there seemed to be a lot more flares on the south position.

Even when receiving the report from the front, Fujie Keisuke said with a little surprise: "Yaga, why do they have so many flares?" ”

Flares were not an uncommon thing for the Japanese army. But the problem is that in the offensive and defensive battles of the southern position, most of the flares were fired by the Eighth Route Army. This situation surprised the Japanese army.

The flares fired by the Eighth Route Army from time to time undoubtedly snatched the offensive and defensive initiative. Because in what direction each flare will light up, it is not up to the little devils to decide, but by the Eighth Route Army that fired the flares.

In this case, the Japanese troops who were responsible for guarding the southern position also felt miserable. Even though the sound of gunfire was still there, the Japanese army knew it very well. In this offensive and defensive battle, they suffered a big loss.

Many times, the snipers of the Eighth Route Army can often snipe out of the sight of the little devils. And many little devils can't see that they can't see that there is something they can kill.

This kind of battle, in which you can't see your opponent, but is always preempted by your opponent, really affects the morale of the army. If it weren't for the fact that before the start of the battle, the Japanese added an infantry brigade to the southern position, and it is estimated that the position would have changed hands.

Just when Keisuke Fujie paid more attention to the southern position where he was in conflict with the Eighth Route Army. The offensive and defensive battles on the east and west sides were also fierce, but in terms of the battle losses of both sides, Keisuke Fujie also felt that they did not suffer.

After all, as a defensive party, they have the initiative in lighting, although they have paid a lot of price. But in front of the two positions, a large number of fallen attacking troops could also be seen.

This is still consistent with Keisuke Fujie's previous plan of choosing to stick to it and hoping to kill and injure a large number of combat units of the Central Army!

It's just that the Japanese army didn't think at all that the combination of the two positions, which they didn't think was suitable for a large force attack, also sent troops to garrison a small mountain pass. The two main regiments of the 51st Army were already quietly hiding behind their flanks.

As Xu Youchang received a telegram from the chief of staff, he said that the two main regiments were in place. Nearly 10,000 officers and men of the 114th Division, which was also preparing for the charge, also began to assemble and stand by, just waiting for the final moment of attack.

Looking at the time, Xu Youchang finally nodded and said, "Order the artillery unit to carry out a three-minute artillery bombardment of the current Japanese frontal position." Without the extension of firepower, the shelling was stopped as soon as the three minutes were up.

The 114th Division was ordered that, within three minutes, the troops must be advanced to the front of the blocking positions of the little devils. In addition, the 1st and 2nd regiments of the 113th Division were told that the artillery bombardment was the order to attack. Give me a beating from the side and back! ”

'Yes, Throne! ’

With Xu Youchang's order issued, the artillery of the 51st Army, which also suffered a lot of losses tonight, also felt very cool. As the artillery of the 51st Army, when they fought in the past, they rarely had the opportunity to fight an artillery battle like this.

But tonight, they fought very happily. Even if the artillery battalion commander felt that the shells were consumed too much, he was worried that Xu Youchang would investigate it when he arrived. But Xu Youchang also knew that tonight was indeed very important and crucial for them.

As long as he can take the position in front of him, when he asks Li Zongren to replenish the shells, I believe that Li Zongren will not be able to refuse. With the merits of war, it is embarrassing to ask for supplies and ammunition.

Even if it's Lao Jiang, it's not good to refuse meritorious people too much at this time, right?

With the call from the artillery battalion, indicating that the artillery battalion was ready for shelling, looking at the combat staff officer who asked for orders, Xu Youchang also nodded calmly: "Let's start!" ”

'Artillery battalion? Order from the military seat, shell immediately! Immediate shelling! ’

The order was quickly transferred to the artillery battalion through a makeshift telephone line. With the authorization of the command, the artillery battalion commander who hung up the phone also said resolutely: "There are all artillery positions, start shelling!" ”

With his order, more than a dozen mountain cannons, which were still well preserved, roared again. After the previous cooperation with the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese mountain artillery positions in front of them have basically been destroyed.

The heavy artillery wing set up by the Japanese army in the town at the moment is more likely to target the southern position. As for the mountain artillery positions preset by the 51st Army, they were also out of reach. This is the reason why Xu You often dared to use artillery to carry out artillery bombardment again.

If it was their artillery position, which was also outside the range of the little devil's firepower, they would use the last dozen or so mountain guns to attack, but I was afraid that Xu Youchang would have to think about it. It is impossible to completely defeat the 51st Army in World War I.

Shelling both ordered!

The 1st and 2nd Regiments of the 113th Division, which were ready to charge, except for one battalion left behind to hold the hill taken by the reconnaissance battalion of the Eighth Route Army before, the rest of the troops were already lurking not far from the Japanese flank position.

Seeing the roar of artillery in front, a battalion commander who had crawled not far in front of the Japanese trench immediately shouted: "Drop the bomb!" ”

The soldiers, who had been preparing for a long time, quickly threw the grenade with the lid unscrewed and threw it with all their strength at the Japanese position, which was not even noticed. Because of the battle ahead, it has attracted the attention of the Japanese troops on these positions.

The sudden roar, coupled with hundreds of grenades falling from the sky, made many Japanese soldiers who were resting and waiting in the trenches behind the side and rear instantly say in horror: "Baga! Enemy attack! The enemy has infiltrated! ”

The terrible screams, accompanied by the detonated grenades, suddenly made the rear of the Japanese blocking position extremely bright. The Japanese soldiers, who were hiding from the shelling in front, were also shocked into a cold sweat when they heard the explosion from the flank.

The captain of the Japanese infantry brigade in charge of the command also roared angrily: "Flanks, shoot two flares!" ”

Under his orders, the flares, which had been fired in the direction of the forward blocking position, were quickly fired twice at the flanks behind them. With two flares, the situation in the flank positions was quickly lit.

In the face of these two flares that suddenly rose into the air, the group that had already launched a charge did not think about it at all, and the roar of the attacking troops was everywhere in the position. In the eyes of the Japanese army, they saw attacking troops rushing to their positions in dense numbers.

'Yaga! How did they get behind us? Why didn't our troops there warn in advance? ’

It was very surprising that from this position, which should be safe in the eyes of the Japanese army, the attacking troops suddenly rushed out in a big way. It really made the Japanese troops in the forward position feel an unexpected panic.

The captain of the Japanese infantry brigade, who realized that the crisis was coming, immediately said: "Ask for help from the division headquarters, we need support, we need support!" Send a squadron over, they must be stopped! Otherwise, we're all done! ”

With only one squadron, it is simply impossible to block the attack of one of the main regiments. And at this time, when the shelling suddenly stopped, the Japanese troops, who had just drilled into the anti-artillery hole, found the attacking troops like a tidal wave.

'Rush! ''Kill!'' ’

Under the shouts of killing, a large number of attacking troops of the 51st Army rushed over from the front of the Japanese army's blocking position like a tide. Even some Japanese soldiers were very calm and pulled the machine guns or rifles in their hands.

But in the face of nearly 10,000 charging attacking troops, many times the Japanese troops who blocked the attack did not even have time to change their bullets, and they saw the 51 officers and soldiers rushing into their positions. The brutal white-knuckle battle will start immediately!

With only a Japanese infantry brigade that had already suffered considerable losses, how could it withstand the attack of the 51st Army, which had invested one and a half main divisions. Ants bite elephants to death, even if the little devil has a high level of stabbing, it is difficult to escape the fate of being wiped out.

At this time, when he received a call for help from the defenders of the eastern position, Keisuke Fujie also felt incredulous. Thinking clearly that this unit was Keisuke Fujie, who broke in from the junction of the two infantry brigades, he couldn't figure out how the other party did it.

After all, the top of the hill is garrisoned by the eastern garrison, and the southern garrison is garrisoned at the bottom of the mountain. Under these circumstances, how did the thousands of troops of the 51st Army successfully penetrate into the rear of the flank of the small village position?

Before the reinforcements they sent arrived, the 51 officers and men who had swept through the village had already advanced their blocking positions to the outskirts of the town. Seeing the appearance of a blocking force, the Japanese troops supporting also knew that the eastern position had fallen! (To be continued.) )