"General Hui, I think that for the sake of today's plan, we can only leave a part of our troops to continue to besiege Suxian, and then lead the main force of the division to the south to join the 20th Division, first relieve the siege of the 20th Division, and then turn back to attack Suxian." Suzuki Toshiyuki groaned for a while and bowed his head respectfully.

"No, the size of the Chinese army in the city is at least about one regiment, plus the armored fighting vehicle group they belong to, how many troops should we leave to continue to be trapped here?" Xia Yuan Xiong Mi thought about it, shook his head and vetoed.

Suzuki Toshiyuki also thought about it, if only a small number of troops were left, not only might they not be able to contain the middle [***] team in Suxian, but they might also be defeated by it, on the contrary, if there were too many troops, the 108th Division would not be able to reinforce the 20th Division. If you put aside Suxian and go directly to this place to reinforce the 20th Division, the final result may be even worse, and the entire 108th Division may be surrounded by the [***] team.

After thinking about it, the division commander Shimoto Xiongmi still gritted his teeth and decided: "Suzuki-kun, I have decided that we must first take Suxian County to ensure our logistics and retreat, and then we can go to reinforce the 20th Division." ”

"Well, the general is wise." Toshiyuki Suzuki nodded silently in agreement, and other than that, he couldn't think of any good way.

"Then it is decided, immediately pass my order, the 104th Brigade is responsible for the main attack, the 108th Wing of the Field Artillery directly under the division is responsible for assisting the 104th Brigade in the attack, the 25th Infantry Wing of the 117th Brigade and the 117th Cavalry Wing directly under the division are responsible for the siege task, and the 132nd Infantry Wing is responsible for launching a feint from the flank to counter the frontal attack of the 104th Brigade!" Xia Yuan Xiong Mi immediately ordered.

"Hay!" Suzuki Toshiyuki didn't dare to slack off, and immediately bowed his head in response, and then turned around and walked away quickly with his saber on his shoulder.

…………………………………… On the highway in Zhisu County, Nanping Town, Qiao Anbang led the main force of the special operations battalion to a circuitous journey, and suddenly, a side three-wheeled motorcycle turned back from the front, which was the forward search and reconnaissance team of the special operations battalion.

The side three-wheeled motorcycle galloped to the side, and a second lieutenant officer sitting in the car quickly jumped down, came to Qiao Anbang's collision and love singing, and snapped forward and saluted: "Military seat, the army has surrounded the county seat of Suxian!" ”

Liang Jiahan, who was sitting next to Qiao Anbang, gave way to his position, Qiao Anbang poked his head out, paused with a pensive face, and said, "I know, you go first." ”

"Yes!" The second lieutenant officer immediately snapped upright, and immediately turned around and got on the side three rounds.

After seeing Bian Sanlun walk away, Qiao Anbang turned his head and said to Liang Jiahan, who was close at hand: "Adjutant Liang, immediately send a telegram to Zhang Xudong and tell him that he will lead the armored regiment out of the city to meet us in half an hour!" ”

"Yes!" Liang Jiahan answered, and immediately turned around and got out of the car.

After Liang Jiahan left, Qiao Anbang picked up the walkie-talkie again and said: "Battalion Commander Liang, order the whole battalion to stop advancing immediately, and when the first regiment arrives, we will advance together." ”

"Roger!" Liang Yilu's concise and clear answer came from the walkie-talkie.

……………………………………………… In the city of Suxian City, the joint command of the 3rd Armored Regiment and the 31st Division.

Zhang Xudong hurriedly read the telegram in his hand, and before he could speak, Chi Fengcheng asked out loud: "Brigade Commander Zhang, what does the telegram say?" ”

"Our military seat, personally led the special operations battalion to assist a regiment to kill the two army brigades of the 20th Division outside the city, and is now rushing towards Su County, and the military seat ordered me to lead the armored regiment out of the city to meet them in half an hour!" Zhang Xudong replied in a solemn tone.

"What? Are you Qiao Junzuo coming to Su County? Chi Fengcheng was taken aback when he heard this, and said in disbelief: "Brigade Commander Zhang, now Suxian is surrounded by the Yue army, as the commander of the Tiger Ben Army, he shouldn't put himself in danger!" ”

"Well, Master Chi, why don't I know what you said? It's just that the military order is like a mountain, the military seat has always been resourceful, he must have his own reasons for doing this, as a soldier, brother, I can only obey! Zhang Xudong nodded.

"That's right, but Brigade Commander Zhang, in this matter, you must coordinate the time with your military seat, and strive to succeed in one fell swoop and bring them in." Chi Fengcheng did not forget to instruct.

"Hmm!" Zhang Xudong nodded in agreement, and then said, "I'll go out and arrange it first." With that, he turned and walked out.

……………………………………………………………………………… At the same time as the battle clouds were gathering on the side of Suxian, the battle of the 20th Division of the Yue Army encircled and annihilated the 20th Division of the Yue Army by the Huben Army Guard Regiment, the Reading Garrison Brigade and the 1st Infantry Division in the area from Wugou Town to Baisha also entered the most critical white-hot interception.

After being bombed and attacked by poison gas bombs by the Tiger Army Air Force, the 20th Division suffered heavy casualties, and the villages it was defending were burned into piles of rubble by dense gasoline incendiary bombs.

In a small forest outside a village called Nanwang Village, seven or eight miles south of Wugou Town, the current division headquarters of the 20th Division of the Chinese Army is located here.

In the division headquarters, the atmosphere became particularly oppressive and heavy.

The division commander Ushijima was always angry and slammed the telegram in his hand on the conference table made of ammunition boxes, and roared angrily: "The hateful Tiger Army, the 78th Infantry Wing was completely annihilated, and Suxian County was also taken away by them. ”

"General, I heard that the 108th Division of General Xiong Mi has arrived in Su County, and I think that they will definitely be able to retake Su County and open up the life communication line that meets our department! So, please general, don't worry too much. The commander of the 40th Brigade Major General Brigade Yoshio last month spoke out to convince him.

"Last Yuejun, please don't be too optimistic, the current situation is that our entire division has lost more than half of it, if the 108th Division of General Xia Yuan can't arrive in time, we may be wiped out, this is definitely not alarmist!" The 39th Infantry Brigade Major General Brigade Commander Takagi Yoshito's tone was full of frustration, as the commander of the 39th Brigade, the two main infantry wings under his command were successively eaten by the Tiger Ben Army, at this time Takagi Yoshito was already disheartened, and even had the mood to commit suicide by seppuku.

Seeing that he wanted to say more, the division commander Ushijima Minoru suddenly shouted: "Enough! Yoshito-kun Takagi, as a high-ranking commander of the Empire, this is not something you should behave! ”

"Your Excellency the division commander, the humble post just told some truths, and you should also know our current situation." For the first time, Yoshito Takagi confronted his immediate superior, and he was a little paranoid that if it weren't for Ushijima's stupid command of the 39th Brigade and even the entire 20th Division, it would not be in the predicament it is in.

"Bagaya Road, don't say it again!" Ushijima was often angry when he heard this, and immediately stepped forward, opened his bow left and right and slapped Yoshito Takagi a few loud times, and then angrily scolded: "Get out of here, hurry up!" ”

Yoshito Takagi snorted angrily, then turned around and strode away.

As soon as Yoshito Takagi left, a communications officer of the army hurriedly ran in, and before he could salute, he reported to Ushijima Minoru: "General, it's not good, the people of China are attacking again." ”

"Yaga Yalu!" Ushijima was always furious, and immediately turned his head to Yoshio Kamitsuki beside him and said, "Kamitsuki-kun, the task of commanding the troops to fight is entrusted to you, I hope you can do your best to continue to persevere." ”

"Hai, please rest assured, the general will go all out!" Yoshio Shangyue suddenly bowed his head, and then turned around with his saber on his shoulder.

………………………………………… Wugou Town, Guards Regiment Headquarters.

Wang Gensheng, the commander of the guard regiment, was holding a telescope to observe the situation ahead, and an adjutant next to him lost no time in saying: "Tuanza, the garrison brigade and the first division have started to attack again." ”

"Hmm!" Wang Gensheng nodded silently and continued to hold the telescope to observe.

Since the 20th Division shrank its strength and fully defended it, the defense of the guard regiment has become very relaxed, but Wang Gensheng did not take it lightly, and never took the initiative to send troops to cooperate with the 1st Division and the garrison brigade to launch an attack, because he knew the duty of his guard regiment, as long as he held the traffic artery of Wugou Town, and guaranteed that the 20th Division would not break through was a victory!

"Tuanzuo, this time you should not lead a battalion to attack from behind, the devil has already reached the point of running out of oil and lamps, let's not go up, the oil and water will be wiped out by the first division and the garrison brigade!" The adjutant asked again.

"Don't worry, the trapped beast is still fighting, and the dog jumps off the wall when he's in a hurry, not to mention that these are thousands of little devils! The physical work should be left to the friendly troops of the 1st Division and the garrison brigade, as long as we hold this place, we will be the greatest merit. Wang Gensheng said thoughtfully: "Pass the order, and all the battalions will cheer me up, in case the devils suddenly break through!" ”

"Yes!" The adjutant hurriedly stood up and turned to leave.

………………………………… Nanjing, the headquarters of the Central China Front.

The current commander of the Central China Army, Junroku Hata said with a surprised face: "Hebian-kun, what are you talking about?" The 20th Division of the North China Front was surrounded by the Chinese Tiger Army? ”

"Yes, now the various departments of the North China Front Army are actively rescuing, and its commander, General Terauchi Shouichi, also requested our Central China Front Army to immediately launch an attack on the Huainan Tiger Army in order to contain the Tiger Army!" Chief of Staff Shozo Kawabe nodded in reply.

"Wait, you mean the Tiger Army is now besieging the 20th Division of the North China Front?" Shunroku Hata asked thoughtfully.

"Hmm." Shozo Kawabe nodded again in reply.

"Hebian-kun, what is the size of the 20th Division, equipment and combat effectiveness?" Shunroku Hata asked meaningfully.

Kawabe Shozo replied without thinking: "General Huiyu, the 20th Division is one of the 17 permanent main divisions of my empire, with many personnel and well-equipped, and its combat effectiveness is even more of a first-class division!" ”

"That's a good point, so if the Tiger Ben Army wants to besiege such a first-class main division as the Imperial Army, how many troops does it need at least?" Shunroku Hata asked again.

This time, Kawabe Shozo pondered for a moment and continued to reply: "With the equipment and combat effectiveness of the Tiger Ben Army, at least two or more main divisions are concentrated, plus its powerful air force and armored forces, it is possible to encircle and annihilate the 20th Division in a short period of time!" ”

"That's right, now the total strength of the regular army of the Chinese Tiger Army is only four or five divisions plus some directly administered troops, excluding one division that confronted the Sixth Division and the 114th Division in Bengbu, as well as some troops on the northern front, so how many troops are left on the Yingzhou front line at this time?" Shunroku Hata asked again.

"Less than a division, or even less!" Kawabe Shozo's face changed drastically and replied, he and Hata Junroku didn't know that Zhang Zizhong and Liu Ruming's troops had joined the Tiger Ben Army in the northern front battlefield, so naturally they didn't count their two divisions, so they felt that the Tiger Ben Army left less than one division on the Yingzhou front.

"One division, and the Imperial Army has five divisions and regiments, more than 150,000 people, fifteen to one advantage, what if they have air force reinforcements in time? What if the Imperial Army was not logistically adequate? With an all-out blow of 150,000 troops, it will definitely be able to completely annihilate the Tiger Ben Army in Yingzhou, open the southern gate to northern Anhui, and completely annihilate the Tiger Ben Army! At this moment, Shunroku Hata's heart has risen with great pride.

"The general is wise!" The riverside Zhengsan on the side hurriedly bowed his head and praised.

"Hebian Jun, immediately send a telegram to the third-class division, and order them to immediately attack the enemy in Yingzhou, within two days, be sure to capture Yingzhou and annihilate the defenders here!" Shunroku Hata commanded with an awe-inspiring look.

"Hay!" Hebe Zhengsan hurriedly bowed his head suddenly, and then turned around and walked away quickly.

Seeing his chief of staff leave happily, the corners of Hata Junroku's mouth couldn't help but sneer proudly, but he and Hebe Shozo didn't know that Yingzhou still had tens of thousands of militia reserves stationed in addition to the two main divisions of the Tiger Army, and there were sufficient ammunition and strong fortifications, although it may not be able to defeat the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Yue Army, but it was more than enough for self-protection, and it was obviously impossible for the main force of the Central China Army to capture Yingzhou, which lacked the ability to continue to attack.

………………………………………………… On the road from Nanping Town to Su County, the Fifth Division and the First Regiment had already cleaned up the battlefield and followed, and after Qiao Anbang sent a telegram to Zhang Xudong's headquarters again, he began to march towards Su County with the special operations battalion and a regiment of surviving officers and soldiers, during which Qiao Anbang also replenished ammunition, food, and water to the officers and men of the first regiment.

Outside Suxian County, on the artillery position of the 108th Wing of the Field Artillery Regiment directly under the 108th Division of the Chinese Army, dozens of 75mm field guns and Type 92 infantry guns have been erected, and the artillerymen have also taken place.

As a devil herald waved the order flag, the devil's artillery opened fire one after another, and dozens of artillery pieces fired one after another for a while.

"Tom tom tom...... Tom tom tom ...... Boom, boom, boom......, boom" After a series of shells were ejected, dozens of shells wrapped in fire flew towards the county seat of Suxian County.

"Boom, boom...... Boom, boom, boom......, boom "The cannonballs dragged the tail flame into the city, and suddenly began to explode, and a cloud of scarlet fire with thick smoke and sawdust and soil rose into the air, and the whole Su County shook the mountains for a while, and the sound of cannons shook the sky.

In the city, the infantry were hiding in some construction fortifications, and the armored fighting vehicles of the armored regiment were quickly retreating along the streets, although the shelling of the devils could not necessarily pose any real threat to the heavy armor of the No. 4 tank, but the tankers did not want to experience the feeling of being kicked in sandbags.

And those weakly armored armored vehicles can't withstand the fierce bombardment of the devil's 75mm artillery group.

In the city, inside the Joint Command.

Listening to the roar of the cannons outside, Zhang Xudong and Chi Fengcheng were both solemn, and Zhang Xudong was pacing back and forth in the command center with his hands behind his back, and looked at the watch on his left arm from time to time.

"I said, Brigade Commander Zhang, can you stop hanging around? My eyes are glazed with dangling! "Chi Fengcheng is a straight-tempered and outspoken man.

"Senior Commander Chi, I'm not in a hurry, there are still ten minutes left, and I will be at the time agreed with the military seat." Zhang Xudong said anxiously.

"It's been ten minutes, then what are you still doing here, hurry up and take the troops to the south gate first and wait for the answer!" Chi Fengcheng immediately reminded.

"Oh, yes! You see my brain, patronizing and worrying. Zhang Xudong slapped his forehead, hurriedly turned around and walked quickly towards the outside of the headquarters, and when he came to the outside of the headquarters compound, Zhang Xudong waved his hand to the two armored combat vehicle battalions that had been waiting for a long time, and ordered: "Go!" ”

The Third Armored Regiment has two armored car battalions and a tank battalion, Zhang Xudong did not plan to bring them all, he felt that it was enough to bring only one tank battalion and an armored battalion, and the other armored battalion was left in the city by him to assist the 31st Division in defending, after all, the devil is about to start attacking, and if there is an armored battalion, the 31st Division will be able to block the devil for a while.

After receiving Zhang Xudong's order, the tank armored soldiers of the two battalions got into the car one after another, and soon the armored combat vehicle was activated, and immediately roared towards the direction of the south gate.

At the same time, the first round of shelling by the devils outside the city ended, and the devils sent an infantry squadron from the north gate to launch a tentative attack on Suxian.

As soon as the bombardment of the devils ended, the officers and soldiers of the 31st Division who were hiding in the city quickly rushed to the top of the city, set up their weapons one after another, and waited for the devils to arrive.

There are about two infantry companies with more than 300 people guarding the north gate, plus an armored company of the Tiger Army, more than a dozen German-style armored vehicles, armored vehicles with some infantry to guard the city gate, part of the infantry is to go to the city to hold on, and the rest of the troops are in the construction fortifications of the city to build a second line of defense in the city to prevent the city head and the city gate from not stopping, so as to cover the withdrawal of troops into the city, and then let the devils enter the city to fight street battles.

For this kind of defensive warfare and street fighting, the veterans of the 31st Division have rich experience, at the beginning they were short of ammunition, backward guns, and could rely on inferior troops to hold a Taierzhuang walled city, now they are fully equipped with German-style American equipment, sufficient ammunition, and the assistance of dozens of machine guns of armored vehicles, their strength has greatly increased, and the defensive war is more handy.

At the head of the city, about two platoons of infantry were ready for battle under the leadership of a company commander, looking at the devil soldiers who were getting closer and closer outside the city, all the soldiers quietly opened the safety of the steel guns, pulled the bolts, and aimed the muzzles of the guns at their respective targets.

When the devil entered a distance of two or three hundred meters, the charging devil infantry began to shoot indiscriminately at the head of the city, such a distance, and it was a vertical shot, the devil's hit rate was naturally not high, only occasionally bullets hit the battlement wall, knocking down some mud and dilapidated brick wall fragments.

Soon, more than 100 devils under the city rushed into a distance of 100 meters, and more than 100 soldiers guarding the city opened fire after receiving the order of the company commander, and the dense bullets composed of semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns suddenly blew towards the city like a hurricane.

"Bang bang bang...... Da ...... "Before the gunfire fell, the devils under the city have fallen a lot one after another.

After the distance was close, the devil soldiers also began to return fire more intensively and accurately at the head of the city, some soldiers with slightly larger exposed parts of the body were unfortunately shot by the devils, some people were shot, and fell on the head of the city on the spot, and some people had an unstable center of gravity and fell headlong to the city.

However, as soon as a fighter dies, a new fighter will come to fill his place, and the gun will continue to shoot.

Although the strength of the two sides is about the same, there is no comparable surname in the density of firepower and rate of fire and sustained surname, especially when the devils approached the city gate, the anti-aircraft machine guns and heavy machine guns on several armored vehicles guarding the city gate opened fire in vain, and the dense bullets suddenly poured into the devil crowd like a fan-shaped splash of water.

Less than ten minutes later, the tentative attack force of this devil was almost completely killed, and the remaining dozen or so people left the corpses of their companions and fled, and their escape speed was no less than the speed of their charge, and even their own 38 big cover was lost.

……………………………… The warm-up battle at the north gate had just ended, Qiao Anbang led the special operations battalion and a regiment to the south gate, surrounded by an infantry brigade of the 117th Infantry Wing of the 25th Brigade of the 108th Division of the Japanese Army, in the last attack, the 117th Infantry Wing suffered heavy losses, so it was transferred from the main attack force to the alert force, which made the 117th Infantry Wing Wing Commander Gao Shu Kaichi angry.

When Qiao Anbang arrived with the special operations battalion and suddenly launched an attack, Gao Shujiayi, who heard the news, immediately ordered the 1st Infantry Brigade to block it with all its might, and dispatched two infantry squadrons to start a roundabout counterattack on both flanks of the special operations battalion.

In this attack, Qiao Anbang took the special operations battalion as the main attack, and the first regiment was used as the cover for the two wings, and when he sensed the devil's intentions, Qiao Anbang immediately ordered the first regiment to divide into two to meet the devil's two wings and detour troops.

Just when the fierce battle between the two sides was in full swing, the south gate of the confined Suxian County suddenly opened, and a large tank flying the blue sky and white flag took the lead in rumbling out of the city, and then a number of tanks and armored vehicles rushed out of the city gate and launched an attack directly behind the devil.

The tank gun and the armored vehicle's on-board machine gun opened fire at the same time, and the devil was stunned.

The army was quickly defeated by the enemy on both sides, and Gao Shujia was even more frightened and fled in a hurry, and after joining up with the armored troops, Qiao Anbang immediately ordered the special operations battalion and a regiment to stop the pursuit and enter the city immediately.

(To be continued)