Compared with the 24th Infantry Brigade, it has fallen into a desperate situation, and all that remains is to hope for a miracle. Even for them who are guarding the valley, they don't even have the ability to break through and counterattack now.

The New Fifth Division, which surrounded them, did not attack them as the Japanese expected. On the contrary, after the troops had established a blocking encirclement on the perimeter, the only thing that made a move was the artillery units.

As for sending infantry to attack, in Guo Junjie's opinion, there is no need. After this hard battle, the losses of the New Fifth Division were also not small. Now that the little devils are at the end of their rope, there is no need to increase the unnecessary casualties of the troops.

Looking at the shells that fell into the defensive positions in the valley from time to time, the Japanese troops who had built fortifications in the valley originally thought that the infantry of the Eighth Route Army would attack. It turned out that after the shelling stopped, their forward positions remained quiet.

'Na! The Eighth Route Army only shelled, did not send infantry to attack? ’

'Yes, General! Just now, the Eighth Route Army carried out three intervals of artillery bombardment of our positions. But infantry was never sent to attack, and they did not seem to have thought of attacking us. Now what? ’

For the Japanese troops who had taken refuge in the valley, they held on here, hoping to delay time, and at the same time, they also hoped to use the fortifications established and the difficult terrain here to defend and attack here, and kill and wound a large number of attacking troops of the Eighth Route Army.

At present, the Eighth Route Army did not attack at all, but only used artillery shells to harass and shell them. Although shells are sometimes wasted, no one knows where this kind of shell will fall from without a trajectory.

If the shell falls directly to the side, then even if it does not die, it will be seriously injured. In this case, it will naturally be able to cause combat attrition to the Japanese troops who are holding here. The most important thing is that this kind of battle is very demoralizing when it is only beaten but unable to fight back!

'If you don't attack, just defend!' Tell the soldiers in the defensive positions to hide a little. While the Eighth Route Army does not launch an offensive, we will also seize the time to rest and recuperate. The artillery shells of the Eighth Route Army could not continue to fight. ’

After saying such words, the brigade commander also looked helpless. He knew very well that the Eighth Route Army should know that they did not have much food reserves. Even if they don't attack, they still can't hold out for long in this valley.

Since they don't have much food, the Eighth Route Army naturally doesn't need to attack in a hurry. As long as they are blocked in the valley for a few days, even if they do not attack, they can starve to death. After all, the troops who have no food to eat, no matter how elite they are, will become soft-footed shrimp.

After encircling the remaining 24th Brigade, the New 5th Division also began to focus on consolidating the occupied area. After this round of battles, the puppet Mongolian army in the Chahar Central Banner has been crippled by the New Fifth Division.

When the main force of the New Fifth Division turned its guns and began to attack them. These puppet Mongolian troops, who had already suffered serious losses, were simply unable to resist the attack of the main force of the Eighth Route Army, and they accelerated their escape to eastern Mongolia.

As for why you don't go to Ulanqab City, the reason is simple. At this moment, Ulanqab City was also surrounded by the main force of the Eighth Route Army. If you flee there, won't you take the initiative to send it to the door?

The main force of the 12th Division, which was also working hard to break through, received a telegram from the 24th Infantry Brigade, and it also looked helpless. The division commander, Kiyotaro Yamamura, knew that his main infantry brigade would not escape the annihilation of the entire army.

Looking at the main force that had stopped advancing again, Kiyotaro Yamamura listened to the fierce gunfire coming from ahead, as well as the engineering units that continued to repair the road. There was also a deep sadness that I couldn't understand why they were in such a situation.

At this time, the chief of staff said with a helpless expression: "General, we don't have many shells left." The infantry, who was engaged in the battle with the Eighth Route Army in front, again sought artillery support. Now what? ”

Faced with the chief of staff's inquiry, Kiyotaro Yamamura did not answer but asked: "What is the progress of the reinforcements from the Datong side?" In addition, how far away are the cavalry sent by the Mongolian government? ”

'General, the reinforcements from Datong have now been sent back to Zhangjiakou. According to the latest situation, a unit of the Eighth Route Army is rushing to Zhangjiakou. In order to ensure that Zhangjiakou was not lost, the troops attacking Datong hurriedly marched back to help.

Although there is still an infantry force of more than 10,000 people, they are hurrying to us. But the Eighth Route Army's resistance is still fierce, and their advance speed is not much faster than ours.

As for the cavalry division sent by the Mongolian government, the news has now been lost. A telegram from the Ulanqab city defense officer, they are still counting on us to rescue them! Now, we can only rely on our own strength to break through! ’

'What's the news on the Air Force?' ’

'The current weather conditions, the plane still can't take to the air. ’

'Yaga! In this situation, how can we break through alone? Damn, how did things turn out like this. ’

There was no good news, and it really made Yamamura Kiyotaro go crazy. On the other hand, the person who commanded the infantry defense saw Xiusan and looked at the soldiers who fell under the guns of the Eighth Route Army, and he also felt that his heart was dripping blood.

The only remaining tanks and armored vehicles were stopped by the damaged roads. Send sappers to repair those roads, and the Eighth Route Army will attack and harass, so that they can't repair the roads with peace of mind.

In this case, they had to send their infantry out to drive away the Eighth Route Army, which was harassing the sappers to repair the road. But this kind of evacuation often means that the infantry will be separated from the main force and withstand the attack of the Eighth Route Army several times.

'Why hasn't our artillery yet carried out a counterattack?' ’

Listening to the mountain artillery and mortars of the Eighth Route Army, they carried out fierce shelling of their defensive positions, but their own artillery did not provide artillery support. Seeing that Xiusan naturally looked very angry, he asked why the signal soldiers could not get artillery support.

In response to such a question, the communications staff officer could only say: "General, we have sent three communications corps to request artillery support from the division and regiment. For some reason, there is still no news. Otherwise, I'll send someone back to the headquarters to urge it. ”

As a result, after listening to the words of the communications staff officer, Hitomi Shuizo suddenly said: "Order the troops to retreat!" If we continue to fight, we will only waste the precious lives of the warriors. With the little strength we have at hand, we can't stop the Eighth Route Army at all. ”

'Retreat? ’

'Yes, do you need me to stress it again?' It's not that our artillery hasn't received our news, but that they have only a few shells left in their reserves. Now I finally understand why the supplies we received when we left Ulanqab were all food.

It turned out that from the moment we left Ulanqab City, the Eighth Route Army adopted a strategy to lure us into Zhuozi. Fearing that we would see through their scheme, we deliberately put some food convoys to join us.

The weapons and ammunition that are most important to us were all destroyed or captured by the Eighth Route Army without exception. In this way, the shells and fuel that are most important to us are the only ones we carry with us when we go into battle.

The terrain here seems to be very flat, and it is not easy to arrange ambush circles. But whether it is our heavy artillery or our tanks and armored vehicles, the requirements for road conditions are very high. If the roads are not clear, our equipment will not be effective.

Without shells, our heavy artillery is simply useless and, on the contrary, becomes equipment that drags us down. Without fuel, cars with heavy artillery tows, as well as our tanks and armored vehicles, will not be able to move. What an interlocking conspiracy! ’

Making such an analysis and judgment, people also felt that they had underestimated the command and layout ability of He Zhengdao of the independent column. In fact, who would have thought that they would be so defeated before the battle began?

Wait until Hitomi Shuzo orders the troops to retreat and converge with the main force of the division. Yamamura Kiyotaro was also a little surprised: "People see you, why did you come back?" ”

'Without the help of artillery, we are not strong enough. Continuing to stay in front, we can only be eaten away by the Eighth Route Army step by step. Division commander, now that we have reached the most critical moment for the division, please make a decision as soon as possible! ’

As the commander of the brigade of the 12th Division, Kiyotaro Yamamura in front of him is his direct boss. may become a major general of the Japanese army, which is somewhat of a background. At least in the eyes of Hitomi Shuzo, Seitaro Yamamura is a little too calm.

At this time, they still refuse to give up the equipment that slows them down. In the eyes of Shuzo, this is a very unwise decision. At this time, as a division commander, you should show extraordinary courage and courage.

Facing the people who still had the smell of gunpowder from the front line on their bodies, seeing Hidezo, even if he felt that the position of the division commander was being provoked, Yamamura Kiyotaro also felt very angry. But he knew that the prestige of Xiusan in the division was not low.

Even since the division was surrounded and intercepted, people saw Xiusan as a major general, taking the lead in commanding the troops to fight. Many soldiers in the division have great respect for them. If he is disposed of, it is estimated that there will also be civil strife in the division.

'Do you mean, do you still want to give up our heavy artillery and tanks and armored vehicles?' ’

'Yes! General, I keep the advice I made from the previous time. However, in the light of our current situation, weapons and ammunition suitable for carrying should be retained as much as possible. Even tanks and armored vehicles are only partially kept.

Cars that transport supplies are also partially retained. Pooling the small amount of fuel that the division has and using it may allow us to go further. The rest of the equipment that could not be used was discarded, and all personnel were integrated into infantry combat teams.

In this way, we will have a large infantry force, and we will be able to keep some tanks and cars. If you want to take all your equipment with you, I'm afraid we'll all be crushed with it. ’

After thinking about it, it was indeed a little unreasonable to see Shuzo also feel that it was indeed unreasonable to give up all his equipment. But it may be a good decision to concentrate the ammunition and fuel available and form an elite mechanized small force to break out.

In this way, the infantry under his command will be increased in size. On the side of the main force of the division, there is still not much heavy equipment to be retained. Those retained heavy equipment may be able to play an unexpected role in the next battle! (To be continued.) )