"Yes, division commander," both men replied at the same time, turning around and beginning to issue new combat missions to their own troops.

Because the two brigades that participated in the ambush, more than 10,000 fighters, did not launch any charge. So, the fighters did not show how tired. After receiving the order, he immediately carried all kinds of weapons and ammunition, quickly assembled, and drove towards his target. The whole process, from Liu Hua's order to the entire Taiyuan City being surrounded by soldiers again, only took less than half an hour. It can be seen that at this time, the morale of the soldiers, after a victory, was high.

At this time, as early as when the ambush battle started a few miles outside Taiyuan City, the captain of the wing who boarded the city wall. saw an elite Kwantung Army wing in the city, and it only took half an hour to be completely annihilated by the Eighth Route Army. The whole face, except for shock and shock. In the face of the troops of the Eighth Route Army, which were rapidly encircling their Taiyuan City, they did not react at all.

"Your Excellency, Wing Commander, now the entire Taiyuan has been surrounded by the Eighth Route Army. And if nothing else, Taiyuan Airport has also been occupied by the Eighth Route Army, Your Excellency the Wing Commander, what should we do now? Looking at the stunned wing captain beside him, a team leader who was guarding the wing captain hurriedly reminded.

"Baga, order all the soldiers of the garrison wing to enter the city fortifications immediately, hold the city wall, and be sure to block the attack of the Eighth Route Army, at least until dawn. I will immediately enter the city, sort out the thousands of Kwantung Army soldiers who have lost their commanders, and report the situation we are facing to the North China General Headquarters by the way" Hearing the reminder of the captain next to him, the wing commander immediately reacted and ordered loudly to the captain next to him.

"Hi, Wing Captain. I will definitely take all the Imperial soldiers of the garrison wing and hold the city wall until all the soldiers are killed," the captain assured in a loud voice.

After leaving the city walls, the wing commander first came to the station of the Kwantung Army Brigade. Facing the nearly 4,000 Kwantung Army soldiers in front of him, the wing commander had a headache. Finally, after calling out all the twenty-odd squadron leaders. Finally, among these squadron leaders, several group leaders were temporarily appointed. Of course, as for the position of the commander of this wing, there is no surprise that before receiving an order from his superiors, the commander of the garrison wing can only temporarily serve as the commander of the garrison wing.

Having solved the problem with the commander of the Kwantung Army, the wing commander quickly returned to the wing headquarters of the garrison wing. And at the first time, he came to the newspaper room of the wing headquarters, ready to report the current situation of Taiyuan City to the North China Garrison Headquarters, and asked for reinforcements

"Knock knock" There was a sharp knock on the door. Lieutenant General Tada Jun, the commander of North China, who had just finished attending the reception held by the establishment of the puppet national political axe in Nanjing, was lying on the bed and had not yet closed his eyes, when he was awakened by a rapid knock on the door.

"Yaga" heard a knock on the door, and Tada Jun scolded fiercely in his heart. However, I didn't dare to really scold it. Because, in the hotel where he was resting, there were several senior military and political personnel of the empire who were invited to participate in the establishment of the puppet national government in Nanjing this evening. In such an environment, Lieutenant General Tada is still very self-aware and knows what position he should stand in.

"Yaga, Takeda-kun, don't you know that it's getting very late now, and I need to rest?" When he opened the door, he saw that the person standing at the door was his adjutant who had followed him to Nanjing. The commander, Lieutenant General Tada Toshi, immediately returned to his usual high-minded posture and said with great dissatisfaction.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Commander. I have something very important to report to the chief of staff of the headquarters sent an urgent telegram, please be sure to return to the headquarters in the shortest possible time and command the operation" Seeing the commander in front of him, who was obviously angry, Takeda Shaosa quickly took out the telegram in his hand and replied in a low voice.

"Nani, rushed back to Beiping overnight, could it be that something happened in North China?" Listening to Takeda Shaosa's answer in front of him, Commander Tada Jun frowned, took the telegram in Takeda Shaosa's hand with a puzzled face, and began to read it. I don't know if I don't see it, and I'm shocked when I see it. After reading the entire telegram, Lieutenant General Tada's face immediately turned pale.

"Yaga! The cunning Eighth Route Army, the cunning reader, they will really pick the time Takeda-kun, pack my luggage immediately, I want to go back to Beiping immediately, something big is happening in North China" After a loud scolding, Lieutenant General Tada Jun quickly recovered and ordered loudly to Takeda Shaoza in front of him.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander" After receiving the order, Takeda Shaosa immediately entered Tada Jun's room and began to pack all kinds of luggage and important documents. At the same time, Lieutenant General Tada Jun also changed into his military uniform as quickly as he could, began to resign to his direct superior, and asked Shang Sima to send a plane to send him back to Beiping.

However, by the time Commander Tada Jun took the plane back to the North China Garrison Headquarters, several hours had passed. And in just these few hours, the Reading Force Division had already launched a siege battle against Taiyuan City, and once again exploded a huge gap on the Taiyuan city wall.

"Division commander, all the troops are in place. Just now, Brigade Commander Shen has called back, and the first brigade has returned to its position and is ready to attack the city. Wang Benqing, the commander of the Third Brigade, who served as the temporary staff officer of the division commander Liu Hua, came to Liu Hua, who was holding a telescope and observing every move on the Taiyuan city wall a few miles away, and reported loudly.

"Okay, order the heavy artillery regiment to shell the garrisons of the various units set up in the city according to the coordinates provided by the special operations brigade, and kill and injure their living forces as much as possible. Five minutes later, the target of the shelling was shifted to the northeast corner of the city wall. It was destroyed by our artillery fire a few months ago, and it was just repaired by the little devils, and it is not particularly strong. All mortars on the front line shelled the city wall, killing and injuring as much as possible the living forces of the army on the city wall. Liu Hua nodded and ordered at Wang Benqing.

"Yes, division commander" As Wang Benqing turned to leave, on the artillery position behind everyone, he immediately remembered an earth-shattering roar. Immediately after, above everyone's heads, a sharp whistling sound was remembered. Dozens of heavy artillery shells, to the surprise of all the little devils, did not fall on the city. Instead, he directly crossed the city wall and landed in the middle of the huge barracks of the Kwantung Army Brigade.

"Boom, boom, boom" A huge explosion mixed with the screams of soldiers resounded in the garrison of the Kwantung Army. Standing neatly on the training ground, waiting for the departure order, the little devil team was immediately blown out by this powerful heavy artillery shell with more than a dozen blood holes.

As the smoke from the explosion of the shells cleared. In the dense formation, more than a dozen large holes suddenly appeared. In these large holes, there is hardly a living soldier to be seen within a radius of ten meters, centered on the point of impact. As for the large area within a radius of ten meters, there were wounded soldiers lying on the ground one after another, wailing incessantly. The first round of firing of the heavy artillery regiment alone, in the dense formation of the Japanese army, caused the loss of at least one squadron to the elite Kwantung Army brigade of the little devils.

"Eight Grid Tooth Road, the shelling of the Eighth Route Army, hurry up, immediately disperse, withdraw from the barracks" Several temporary captains who had just been appointed. Looking at the corpses of soldiers in front of him, he immediately commanded loudly to the soldiers around him. As a result, more than 3,000 soldiers on the entire training ground, after receiving the order, immediately dispersed in a hurry, and under the leadership of their respective squad leaders, they quickly fled to the gate of the barracks.

However, no matter how fast the little devil is, he can't be faster than the speed of the cannonball. Just as the soldiers were scurrying around the entire training ground and running towards the gate of the barracks, the second round of shells fired by the heavy artillery regiment once again flew above their heads.

"Boom, boom, boom" was another dense burst of explosions. Although at this time, more than three thousand little devils have been dispersed to the entire training ground. However, due to the expansion of the formation range, the shells that fell on their heads have changed from just 10 shells to more than 20 shells now. Even if the number of kills per shell is halved, the final sum does not decrease at all. In the blink of an eye, in less than a minute, the army lost almost half of the soldiers.

However, such good things did not last long. As the casualties of the Japanese army under artillery bombardment continued to increase, the retreat speed of the Japanese army was also accelerating. Nearly 4,000 little devils, after losing almost one brigade, almost all the remaining soldiers withdrew from the barracks.

However, at this time, if you look at the entire station, except for the corpses of soldiers in one place, there are more than 200 craters with a depth of one meter above the station's training ground.

"The artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army is very powerful. Hurry up, each squadron leader immediately counts the casualty data of his squadron and immediately reports to the wing commander "The commander of the temporary group of the Japanese army, who reacted from the shelling just now, immediately issued orders to several squadron leaders to which he belonged.

"Report to the Wing Commander, our barracks were shelled by the heavy artillery of the Eighth Route Army, and the troops suffered heavy losses" Soon, a temporary group leader, with the casualty data that had just been counted, came to the Wing Commander almost with a sad face.

"Nani, the barracks were shelled. Baga, the Eighth Route Army is too cunning. They even shelled our barracks. What about the casualties of the troops, and now how many combatable soldiers are left in the entire Kwantung Army Wing" Listening to the answer of the temporary captain in front of him, the wing commander was surprised for a while, and quickly asked the question that he was most concerned about now.

Because, just after I reported in detail to the North China General Headquarters what happened in Taiyuan tonight, I didn't receive any reply. This means that before receiving a call back from the headquarters, he will have to face the attack of tens of thousands of Eighth Route Army outside the city alone. And if you want to block the attack of the Eighth Route Army, the strength of the troops, that is the only thing you need now, especially when the whole army of a field wing has just been wiped out, which makes the available soldiers in your hands even more scarce.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Wing Commander. In the shelling just now, we lost a total of 987 Imperial soldiers, of whom 754 were killed, and the rest were seriously wounded and incapacitated. Now our entire wing, there are only 2,967 people left to continue fighting. After listening to the co-captain's question, the captain in front of him replied with his head down.

"Baga, how could you lose so many soldiers, how could this be" The wing leader couldn't help but sigh. However, at this very moment, something more tragic awaited him.

"Jingle bell" A crisp telephone ringtone sounded in the headquarters of the garrison wing, and a staff officer quickly picked up the phone. "Report to Your Excellency Wing Commander, the first brigade is calling, the West Gate has been shelled by a large number of enemy artillery, and the defending troops have suffered heavy losses, and they are asking for support" The combat staff officer who picked up the phone hurriedly covered the microphone and said to the wing commander in the command headquarters.

"Nani, isn't the first brigade guarding the West Gate, how can this be, how can the West Gate also be shelled by the heavy artillery of the Eighth Route Army? Hurry up and give me the phone" The wing commander was surprised and puzzled for a while, and took the phone from the staff officer's hand.

"Matsushita-kun, what's going on with Simon?" After receiving the phone, the co-captain began to ask loudly.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Wing Commander. At the West Gate, we were attacked by at least 10,000 Eighth Route Corps, and they had powerful artillery fire, and they were all large-caliber mountain and field artillery, and at least the artillery of an artillery regiment. Now one of my brigades, having lost two squadrons of strength after the shelling just now, I ask Your Excellency Wing Commander to send reinforcements immediately. Otherwise, I can hold out for half an hour at most. The captain's almost pleading voice came over the microphone. At the same time, the constant sound of shell explosions at the West Gate was also clearly heard by the wing commander on the phone.

"Baga, how can this be, where did the Eighth Route Army mobilize so many troops, how could they have so many large-caliber artillery, how could it be like this" Listening to the explosion sound coming from the microphone, the wing commander was shocked again, muttering to himself.

"Your Excellency, the Eighth Route Army has begun to attack again. Please send troops for reinforcements immediately, otherwise Ximen will be broken through by the Eighth Route Army Dudutu" As soon as he finished speaking, there was a busy sound on the phone. It was clear that something must have gone wrong with the phone line.

"Yaga. Yours, immediately lead a large brigade of troops, support Simon, and set off immediately, block "put down the phone." The co-captain had to face reality. Facing the temporary captain in front of him, who was still waiting for orders, he ordered loudly.

"Hi, Your Excellency Wing Commander"

In this way, the south gate and west gate of the entire Taiyuan Chengcheng, under the continuous bombardment of a large number of various artillery, the casualty figures of the defending troops can be said to be like a straight line, constantly soaring upward. In the face of such a situation, the wing commander who was guarding the headquarters of the wing also had 36 heavy mountain guns in his hand, but he did not have a single artillery in his hand. As a result, the Wing Commander, who remained in the company's headquarters, could only refuel the walls in two places. Losing a squadron at the front, replenishing a squadron yourself.

However, at such a speed of replenishment, in less than three hours of continuous shelling, the reserve of more than 3,000 men in the wing commander [***] has been filled alive with two brigades of nearly 2,000 people. And in his own hands, there are only four full-strength squadrons left, that is, a brigade of less than a thousand Kwantung Army.

"Baga, the cunning Eighth Route Army, has the ability to have a face-to-face decisive battle with the Imperial Army, only using artillery fire to carry out constant shelling, you are not a warrior" Facing the overstretched troops in his hands, listening to the explosions that still kept ringing at the two city gates, the wing captain didn't know how many times he scolded the sky.

"Commander, I think it's almost there. According to the telegram sent by the special operations brigade in the city, there were only about 1,000 troops left in the headquarters of the garrison wing. As for the remaining troops in Taiyuan City, they are thousands of puppet troops with almost no combat effectiveness. However, the captain of this garrison wing does not seem to have much trust in the puppet army, although his own troops are already stretched, but he still has no intention of letting the puppet army fight. Looking at the city wall in front of him, which was still in a sea of fire, Wang Benqing, the commander of the Third Brigade standing beside Liu Hua, took a telegram and came to Liu Hua and reported loudly.

"Okay, in that case, let's do it. Now there are less than three hours left before dawn, and strive to annihilate all the little devils in Taiyuan City and occupy the entire Taiyuan within three hours. Brigade Commander Wang, now I order that the special operations brigade in Taiyuan City should immediately start moving, except for leaving the necessary troops to protect the captured heavy artillery and warehouses, and prevent the dogs from jumping over the wall and destroying them, the remaining troops will attack the headquarters of the army with all their might. The heavy artillery regiment immediately turned its guns and bombarded the northeast corner of the city wall, opening a breakthrough for the soldiers in the northeast corner in the shortest possible time. The armored regiment was ready to charge, ready to open a breakthrough for the infantry. All the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Brigades, after the 1st Panzer Regiment opened the breach, immediately entered the city, destroyed all the troops on the city wall and cleared the remnants of the enemy in the city. And cooperate with the special operations brigade to eliminate all the remaining Japanese troops in the army headquarters. The shelling of the heavy artillery regiment began five minutes later. Liu Hua nodded and ordered to Wang Benqing beside him.

"Yes, division commander, I'm going to give combat orders to the various units." Wang Benqing replied loudly.

(To be continued)