And in the midst of this panicked, unusually chaotic crowd. A pot of rice porridge that was about to be boiled was also ruthlessly overturned to the ground, and finally, under the trampling of countless feet, it disappeared

Finally, after half an hour of hard work by a large number of officers and men, more than a dozen raging fires ignited by more than 100 shells were finally extinguished by the little devils

There was no lunch, and the smell of burnt corpses in the air was constantly heard in my ears. The little devils in the entire county, whether they are ordinary soldiers or some low-level officers. Their morale, invisibly, has slowly fallen, and from their faces, they can no longer see the pride of being the most elite Kwantung Army of the Japanese Army. Yes, just despair for the future

Similarly, at this moment, the atmosphere in the high command of the Japanese army in the county town is also very solemn, because the troops have just been shelled, and there are many scenes of misfire in the county town in the explosion of shells, and almost everyone sees it. Just when the chief of staff, with heavy steps, walked into the command headquarters. More than a dozen captains of the Great Zuo Wing, including the regiment commander, Lieutenant General Sato, all eyes were focused on the chief of staff

"Division commander, in the shelling of the people just now, the losses of the troops have all been counted" Although, the chief of staff spoke in a very small voice. However, in this unusually quiet and solemn headquarters, it was very harsh

Hearing the voice of the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Sato's brow furrowed inadvertently. Then, he immediately returned to his usual solemnity. Turning to the chief of staff in front of him, he asked, "What about the losses?" ”

"Division commander, half an hour ago, the people of China outside the city fired more than 100 incendiary bombs into the county seat, causing more fires in the county town. After half an hour of fighting, the fires have been completely extinguished. However, our army also suffered very serious losses, in this half-hour fire, a total of 187 soldiers were killed, 350 were wounded, and more importantly, the army's lunch, in the chaos just now, the morale of the entire army, so to speak, has fallen to the lowest point | " Under everyone's gaze, the chief of staff replied in a low voice

"Eight Geya Road, the cunning of the *** big in China immediately sent a telegram to His Excellency the Commander, requesting the headquarters to increase the number of airdrops to our department, hurry up. In any case, before dark, the troops must have a meal. Lieutenant General Sato clenched his fists and commanded loudly

"Hai, Your Excellency the division commander, there is still a situation that needs to be reported to you" After receiving the order, the chief of staff did not leave immediately, but said to the regiment commander in front of him, Lieutenant General Sato

"If there's anything else, I'll report it right away. I've encountered enough things today, I don't care about one more," Lieutenant General Sato said angrily

"Hai, division commander. The situation is like this, since this morning, the people of China outside the city have intensified their sneak attacks on our engineering troops outside the city. So far, under the continuous sneak attacks of the people outside the city, our engineering units have almost lost everything, and it is no longer possible to continue demining, and more importantly, "

"What's it, don't spit it out, finish it in one sentence"

"More importantly, according to the report of the patrols of our army on the city walls. Since this morning, a large number of Chinese armed people have suddenly appeared outside the city. These Chinese were armed and equipped with a large number of heavy siege artillery. Now, the entire county town of Baishan, except for the North Gate, and outside each city gate, has gathered at least one division of the Chinese armed forces, including an artillery battalion composed of large-caliber artillery," the chief of staff reported

"A large number of Chinese armed forces, as well as a large number of siege artillery, etc., plus today's Chinese people inexplicably created a large amount of smoke, hindering the airdrop of our air force units to our department, I understand, the general attack, the people of China outside the city, must be transporting the last general attack on our army, they want to annihilate all the 40,000 officers and soldiers of our army in Baishan County" After a short period of contemplation, Lieutenant General Sato said with certainty

"Ah, the final general attack" was just finished with Lieutenant General Sato's words. In the entire command headquarters, except for the chief of staff, the faces of all the wing commanders turned pale almost instantly. Completely forgot their identity as a senior officer of the Kwantung Army, "Division, the people of China are really going to launch the final general attack, then what should we do, at present, the morale of the entire unit is low, the soldiers do not have any physical strength to fight because of lack of food, and more importantly, the troops will not have artillery fire and aircraft support" Half a minute later, a wing commander reminded in a low voice

"Yes, Your Excellency, Wing Commander. Although our army has almost 100 artillery pieces of various calibers. However, because last night a large number of shells were consumed. So far, in addition to the grenadiers of the various combat units, there are plenty of shells. The remaining artillery, there is not a single shell left, "the commander of the artillery wing said immediately after

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, that's not all. Our engineer wing, after several demining attempts, was almost completely lost under the sneak attack of the people outside the city. At present, the entire engineering wing has also lost its combat effectiveness," the commander of the engineering wing hurriedly replied

Immediately, the remaining wing captains spoke out about their difficulties one after another. It's like the more difficulties you talk about, the more you lead the team in the next battle, just like the less you need to go to the battlefield

Listen to the complaints of the wing captains around me. It was the regiment commander, Lieutenant General Sato, who was already angry, and couldn't help but frown his brows. At the same time, a pair of eyes that could almost kill people also stared closely at the dozen or so wing captains in front of him

Looking at the changing face of the regiment commander in front of him, the chief of staff hurriedly reminded: "Yaga, what are you doing." As a high-ranking officer of the Kwantung Army, is it such a quality. You are not worthy of being samurai of the Great Japanese Empire at all, you are all cowards, cowards of the Great Japanese Empire"

The words of the chief of staff of "Hai" were like a resounding slap in the face. After listening to the words of the chief of staff, the dozen or so wing commanders who had just turned pale immediately turned red, and they lowered their heads embarrassedly

"As a high-ranking general of the Kwantung Army of the Great Japanese Empire, it is simply a shame for the Great Japanese Empire to be cowardly in the face of the despicable Shina people, and if you are not able to cheer up, I will make a proposal to His Excellency the Division Commander and ask you to apologize to His Majesty the Emperor," the chief of staff continued

"Chief of Staff, please don't say it, we will definitely lead our subordinates to fight to the end with the people of China outside the city, and we will definitely not disgrace the reputation of the Kwantung Army of the Great Japanese Empire, please rest assured Chief of Staff, please rest assured Your Excellency the Division Commander"

"Yo Xi, I am very happy to see you reinvigorate your spirits, Chief of Staff, and I want to thank you for being here. I think that when I lost faith in the future, it was you who restored my confidence. Now, it's your words again, let everyone regain their confidence, please accept my salute" After speaking, more than a dozen officers led by Lieutenant General Sato saluted a solemn military salute to the chief of staff in front of them at the same time

"Hey, Your Excellency the Division Commander, these are all things that should be done in a humble position, please don't take the Division Commander to heart, according to your analysis, the people outside the city will launch the last general attack on our army, then, our army must make defensive preparations in advance, give the people outside the city a head-on attack, and hold on until the arrival of reinforcements," the chief of staff reminded

"Yo Xi, then we will start from now on, prepare for battle, and prepare to give the people outside the city a head-on blow, and deal a severe blow to their arrogance" Under the reminder of the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Sato's face once again returned to the serious look just now. In a pair of eyes, there was also a hint of sharpness, and he said fiercely

"Now I order, all units, to immediately prepare for battle. Artillerymen, baggage troops, all distribute infantry weapons, act as the chief of staff of the infantry for operations, and the staff department shall draw up a credible defensive battle plan within two hours according to the various fortifications in the city, and after two hours, the commanders of each unit, the commander of the brigade commander and above, shall hold a meeting in the conference room to arrange specific combat tasks"

"Please rest assured that the division commander will ensure the completion of the task. In the shortest possible time, come up with a complete defensive battle plan" After saying that, the chief of staff quickly left the headquarters

"Go back too. After the shelling just now, plus the impact of the airdrop. Now the morale of the troops is very low. Therefore, you must raise the morale of the troops in the shortest possible time, no matter what method you use, is there any problem" Seeing the back of the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Sato nodded with satisfaction. Then, with a pair of sharp eyes, he quickly swept over the dozen or so Dazuo Wing Captains in front of him, and ordered, "Please rest assured that Your Excellency the Division Commander will ensure the completion of the task" After speaking, the dozen or so Wing Commanders quickly left the headquarters one after another

However, the low morale of the troops, in this kind of environment where there is no food, medicine, no medicine, and the screams and wails of the soldiers are constantly reaching their ears, no matter how much the ability of these dozen or so wing commanders is fought, they have no power to return to heaven

What's more, just when a dozen or so wing commanders were anxious about all the squadron leaders holding a meeting. The second round of incendiary bombs fired by the first brigade outside the city once again fell into the small city of Baishan County, causing a series of fires

Throughout the afternoon, although Lieutenant General Sato arranged defensive areas for each unit and assigned the task of building fortifications at the same time, in the midst of the successive shelling, the Japanese army, which had tens of thousands of little devils, had to run back and forth in the county town to extinguish the fire that was constantly burning with his own hands and the limited water source in the county

As for the county seat, the two airdrops that the little devils kept praying to Amaterasu after losing were also under the frantic strafing of dozens of anti-aircraft machine guns outside the city, and finally ended in failure

As night fell, after a hard afternoon, the little devil who had been sticking to his back for a long time finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, they are like a dead pig, sitting lazily on the ground, drinking bowls of rice porridge that can almost be counted with clear grains of rice, and they can be said to be deaf to the orders and roars of the squad leader, squadron leader, and even the captain around them

Of course, at this moment, the morale of the troops, compared with noon, not only did not rise at all, but was even more depressed

Looking at the entire Baishan County, except for the four city walls, because they were not attacked by shells, relying on the strong city walls, a lot of fortifications were built. Within the city walls, there are houses that have been bombed into ruins, and there is not even a trace of the various street fortifications in the streets

Compared with the low morale of the little devils in Baishan County, the Eighth Route Army, which has tens of thousands of people outside the city, is armed against Japan, and it can be said that the morale is high. In the temporary headquarters outside the north gate of Baishan County, Commander Liu Hua and Deputy Commander Yang Jingyu were listening to Liu Xiaogang in front of them with a smile on their faces, reporting the results of the First Brigade in the afternoon

"Xiao Gang, if you do a good job, without food, the little devil will not have the physical strength to fight. Tonight, starve them for another night, tomorrow morning, make sure they can't even pick up their guns, and tonight, your first brigade will work a little harder, or fire several rounds of incendiary bombs every hour. Mentally, torture these little devils well," Liu Hua ordered with a smile on his face

"Commander, if you go on like this, as expected, the little devil will hold out until tomorrow night at most, and then he will choose to break through I really convinced you, you are simply not fighting, you are torturing. When the little devils meet you, even if their death time comes," Deputy Commander Yang Jingyu said with a smile on his face

"Lao Yang, dealing with little devils, it should be like this. Who let them do well Japan does not stay. Running to our Chinese land, killing people and setting fires, and harming our Chinese people, Xiao Gang, tonight, what to do, you can do it yourself. In a word, tonight, you can't let a little devil in the county town sleep, even if you close your eyes" Liu Hua's face showed a hint of yīn sen's expression, and then ordered

"Commander, Deputy Commander Yang, don't worry, our first brigade still has a lot of ruthless tricks that are useless. Tonight, I will definitely make the little devils in the county regret it and set foot on our Chinese land," Liu Xiaogang said confidently. Turned and left the command

And just as Liu Xiaogang left, Commander Zhou Baozhong followed closely and walked into the command headquarters

"Commander, Deputy Commander Yang. So far, the three city gates in the east, west and south of Baishan County have been completely surrounded by our department, ensuring that a little devil can't escape You see, should the troops launch a general attack in advance After all, the battle is carried out during the day, and there are little devils' planes to disturb it"

"Lao Yang, it seems that our Commander Zhou is really in a hurry. As soon as the troops arrived at the combat area, they were anxious to launch a general attack, or should you explain to him why the troops would launch a general attack tomorrow morning" Looking at Commander Zhou Baozhong with an anxious face in front of him, Liu Hua said to Deputy Commander Yang Jingyu beside him.

"Lao Yang, we also want to launch a general attack in advance. However, in order to minimize the casualties of the troops. In addition, the troops were very tired after continuous operations, so the commander and I decided to set the time for the general attack tomorrow morning for the specific reason this." Under the stunned gaze of Commander Zhou Baozhong, Yang Jingyu told the results of the first brigade of the advance detachment. At the same time, the order that tonight, the First Brigade will use all the means it can think of to continue to torture the little devils and make them unable to make corrections

"Commander, I know, I will immediately give an order to the three division commanders, let them replenish their strength, tomorrow morning, clean up the little devils in the county, and play the prestige of our Eighth Route Army" After listening to Yang Jingyu's explanation, Zhou Baozhong did not hesitate and replied loudly

Looking at Zhou Baozhong, who was leaving in a hurry, Liu Hua immediately said: "Old Yang, it's our turn to act next." During the day, scouts, worried about the little devils, perceive our strategic purpose. , now that it's finally dark, it's our turn to set up a pocket array for the little devils."

"Okay, commander, I'll go and give an order to prepare an ambush circle for the little devil according to the specific tasks assigned in the afternoon, and greet the little devil who broke through the city" After speaking, Yang Jingyu, who had a jī face, also rushed out of the command headquarters in a hurry and disappeared into the dark night

In this way, the whole night, Baishan County, was completely shrouded in fire....As for the antique devils in the county, in the face of a raging fire, in order to survive for a longer time. I had to go hungry and consume what little ti8li I had left, which I used to extinguish the fire....