Outside Zhangjiakou, the position of the [***] team.

Today, before dawn, the three infantry divisions received the artillery shells sent from Datong overnight, and when they received the shells, the commanders of several infantry divisions were also happy to see the soldiers of the transport company sending so many shells.

Last night, the sneak attack of the small forces of the little devils made everyone very annoyed, although in the end the troops of the three little devils were eliminated, but in the elimination of these little devils, more than a dozen soldiers were sacrificed, and there were more than twenty wounded fighters.

As soon as everyone had received the shells, Zhang Yunfei's order had also arrived, and Zhang Yunfei said in the telegram that he asked the artillery regiment to which the three infantry divisions belonged to to shell the little devil's position for another half an hour, and asked that they could shell the city wall at an appropriate time.

After receiving Zhang Yunfei's order, not only the commanders of the three infantry divisions were happy, but the soldiers of the three artillery regiments were even more enthusiastic.

The soldiers of each artillery squad carefully checked their cannons and adjusted the shelling parameters, and some soldiers also held long bristle brushes and brushed the barrels several times.

At half past seven o'clock in the morning, the soldiers of the artillery regiment who had eaten breakfast early were already in their places, and a large number of shells had been carried by the soldiers to the side of each cannon.

In yesterday's half-hour shelling, each artillery regiment fired at least five or six thousand shells, covering almost twice several defensive positions outside the little devil's city.

The rate of fire of the 105-mm howitzer is almost twice that of the 155-mm howitzer, and the maximum can reach 4 rounds per minute, and it is very normal to fire 3 shells per minute.

Commander Jiao of the artillery regiment of the Second Infantry Division, seeing that the soldiers were ready, couldn't help but look at his watch, there were only a few minutes before the official shelling time, Commander Jiao stood in front of his headquarters, holding a telescope, and looked seriously at the little devil's position a few kilometers away.

Commander Jiao's headquarters was set up on a small hill, not only the position was higher, but also relatively hidden, two or three hundred meters below the headquarters, was a huge flat land, and the 72 cannons of the artillery regiment were neatly arranged there.

In the telescope, Commander Jiao can still vaguely see a lot of little devil figures shaking on the position, it seems that the little devils have not given up the position outside the city, and on the city wall farther away, you can also see a lot of little devils, and it can be seen on the city wall that a lot of machine guns have been erected.

At present, in addition to Nanjiro's 30th Division, there is also the reorganized 10th Division, the 10th Division of the little devil was almost completely wiped out by Zhang Yunfei before, and even the division commander Isoya Ryosuke was also killed by Zhang Yunfei.

The current 10th Division was reorganized a few months ago, and with the exception of some veterans who were drawn from various field divisions and regiments of the North China Front Army, most of them are new recruits, who were recruited from the mainland a few months ago and have just landed in China to fight, and the current 10th Division may not be as effective as the 30th Division in terms of combat effectiveness.

Although several thousand people were killed yesterday, the number of the two divisions was quite large, and they basically did not reach the level of breaking their muscles and bones, and according to the news sent by the Beiping side, the reinforced vanguard of the little devils will reach Zhangjiakou this morning. Therefore, the commanders of the two divisions of the little devil did not withdraw the troops outside the city from their positions.

Seeing the troop arrangement of the little devils, a smile appeared on the face of the commander of the artillery regiment, and as soon as eight o'clock arrived, the three artillery regiments outside Zhangjiakou began to open fire.

More than 200 cannons began to pour shells on the little devil's defensive position, and the violent explosion sound was clearly heard by Nanjiro in the city.

The successive battles were unfavorable, Nanjiro didn't sleep well last night, he got up in the morning with two panda eyes, and his face was not good, he knew that reinforcements would arrive in two or three hours, Nanjiro's mood just improved a little, but now the sound of artillery from outside the city made Nanjiro's face more and more ugly.

The chief of staff of the little devil also ran in at this time with an anxious look and shouted loudly: "Your Excellency the division commander, the three heavy artillery groups of the [***] team outside the city have begun to fire again. ”

"Baga, the heavy artillery group of the [***] team is still over!" An angry Minamijiro shouted angrily.

The little devil's chief of staff saw that his division commander was angry, and he was at a loss for a while, so he had to stand aside with his head bowed.

"Ikeda-kun, let's go to the city wall and have a look." After Nanjiro finished speaking to the chief of staff of the little devil, he immediately stepped on the saber and walked outside the headquarters.

Nanjiro, who climbed the city wall, had a gloomy face, took a telescope and carefully looked at the defensive position in front of him, and saw that the position was filled with gunsmoke, and many little devils were blown up again, and his heart ached.

Seeing Nanjiro's expression, the chief of staff of the little devil cautiously suggested: "Your Excellency the division commander, order the troops to abandon their positions and enter the city, we have strong walls to defend, and there is no need for the troops to bear the artillery fire of the [***] team." ”

Minamijiro, who had a gloomy face, did not answer for a while, probably because he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle in his heart, and Nanjiro believed that abandoning the position outside the city and withdrawing the troops into the city was a sign of admitting defeat. Minamijiro, who has always been arrogant, couldn't accept it for a while.

After a long time, Nanjiro said weakly: "Let the troops abandon the outer positions and enter the city." ”

The little devils outside the city who got the order were immediately relieved, don't bear this terrifying artillery fire anymore, on the huge little devil position outside the city, nearly 10,000 little devils, braving the fierce artillery fire, risking their waists to retreat along the trenches into the city.

The artillery fire of the artillery regiment has been continuous, and the little devils are busy retreating into the city because of the strong fortifications such as drilling out of the anti-artillery holes, and they have lost the protection of the strong fortifications, and there are not a few little devils who are killed in the process of retreating.

At the headquarters of the artillery regiment of the Second Infantry Regiment, Commander Jiao was holding a telescope and was looking at the forward position of the little devil.

Captain Jiao laughed and said, "The little devil also knows that he is afraid, and he is actually going to give up his position." ”

The commanders of several artillery regiments next to Commander Jiao, seeing that their regiment commander said this, also picked up their binoculars and looked, the more everyone looked at it, the happier they became, not to mention that the little devil was really retreating to the city, that is, the little devil's position was filled with gunsmoke, many fortifications were blown up, and many retreating little devils were killed, which made everyone very enjoyable to watch.

"Order, all artillery extended shelling, shelling of the city walls."

Seeing that the little devil had retreated, there was no need to shell the little devil's position anymore, and Commander Jiao decisively issued an order to bombard the city, which was also Zhang Yunfei's order, Zhang Yunfei explained in the order sent that if the little devil gave up his position, the artillery of the three artillery regiments would bombard the city with all his might.

The artillery regiment is equipped with 105-mm howitzers, with a maximum range of nearly 10 kilometers, which is fully capable of hitting the city walls in the distance.

Nanjiro, who was standing on the city wall, saw that the retreating little devils were killed and injured a lot under the fierce shelling of the [***] team, and his heart was full of cramps, and he shouted with crazy hunger in his heart, the middle [***] team is really too deceitful.

At this time, the artillery fire of the artillery regiment slowly covered the side of the city wall, and the chief of staff of the little devil saw this, and guessed that the [***] team was carrying out extended artillery bombardment, and the target may be the city wall where everyone is standing now.

Thinking of this, the little devil's chief of staff's face changed, and he said anxiously: "Your Excellency, division commander, it is dangerous here, and the squadron [***] has begun to extend the shelling." ”

Nanjiro listened to the words of the little devil's chief of staff and was unmoved, and Nanjiro's heart at this time was already full of helplessness and anger. The chief of staff of the little devil saw that his chief of staff was still motionless and looked at the little devil who was constantly being killed below, and he was extremely anxious in his heart.

The little devil's chief of staff pleaded: "Your Excellency the division commander, let's go down!" It's too dangerous here. ”

Minamijiro's face was gloomy and silent.

The chief of staff of the little devil looked at the already very dangerous situation, and he was bold, and he glanced at several little devil commanders next to him, and motioned for everyone to take Minamijiro down the city wall and return to the headquarters.

Several little devil commanders next to Nanjiro hesitated for a while, Nanjiro's usual majesty left a lot of shadows in the hearts of these little devil commanders, and these little devil officers still didn't have the courage to move forward.

At this time, a 105 mm howitzer hit the city wall and exploded not far from Minamijiro, and several little devils in the center of the explosion were directly blown into pieces, and Minamijiro, who was still several meters away from the center of the explosion, was thrown off the city wall by the shock wave generated by the explosion, fell down the city wall several meters high, and fell to twenty or thirty meters outside the city.

Minamijiro, who had fallen off the city wall, was lying motionless on the ground, with a piece of shrapnel half the size of a palm stuck in his chest, and blood was gushing out, obviously not alive.

Several little devil commanders around Nanjiro were either killed or stunned, and even the chief of staff of the little devils, who was several meters away from Nanjiro, were also blackened by the explosion and dizzy.

When the chief of staff of the little devil saw that his division commander was blown up and fell under the city, and he didn't know whether he was alive or dead, he immediately shouted bitterly: "Your Excellency, Division Commander! Your Excellency, Division Commander! ……”

Some little devils on the side also found that their division commander had fallen off the city wall, and it seemed that he had been washed down the city wall by the aftermath of the explosion, and these little devils immediately lay on the city wall and shouted.

Outside the city, the little devils have basically all withdrawn to the city, the heavy city gate has been closed, and Minamijiro is lying there alone, and the little devil wants to rescue Minamijiro's body, but it is impossible for a while.

(To be continued)