While inspiring the Chinese people, the liberation of Baoding also dealt a blow to the complacent and invincible Japanese invaders. All units of the North China Front, from the commander to General Terauchi Shouichi, were severely reprimanded by the base camp. In order to save face, Terauchi Shou ordered reinforcements to Shinraku at all costs, and never allowed to fail again.

In order to boost the morale of the defenders, Terauchi even took a plane to inspect the sky over the city of Xinraku in spite of the danger of being shot down by our anti-aircraft artillery, and shouted to the defenders over the radio, asking them to carry forward the spirit of bushido and strive for victory with the determination of all the tamaku. The general of the temple also urged the Japanese generals such as Yanagawa Shinichi to say that if the Chinese can hold Taierzhuang, you can't hold the county seat of Xinle?

Turn new music into Taierzhuang! Just one line speaks of the difficulty and intensity of the battle. For nearly 40 hours, the gunfire in the county town was incessant, and it was extremely tragic. The two sides often fight over one or two courtyards a dozen times, or even dozens of times.

Due to the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army, although our army occupied an absolute advantage, it was not able to take it for a long time. Japan's North China Front took the opportunity to transfer a large number of troops, and the situation gradually developed in a direction unfavorable to the Chinese army. But when the battle comes to this point, it's not something that you can give up if you want to, both sides are gritting their teeth and holding on, and it depends on who falls first.

Lixian, General Headquarters of the 41st Group Army. Although Zheng Weiguo and the others were commanding in the rear, they were also tired and exhausted, so they had to take turns staring at each other.

Chief of Staff Zhou had just taken over when a telegram suddenly arrived from the telecommunications room. Chief of Staff Zhou thought it was sent from the front, and excitedly shouted: "Is it from the front?" Is it Xinle County down! ”

The confidential officer shook his head and said, "No." Chief of staff. This is sent by the Military Commission, it seems to be a commendation telegram! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou thought to himself, how do you call it like yes? When I opened it, I realized that there was something strange about it. In addition to the normal commendation and encouragement, the telegram also mentioned in passing that the Germans intend to restore diplomatic relations with China and invite Zheng Weiguo to serve as ambassador to Germany.

Zheng Weiguo was also quickly woken up, took the telegram and looked at it, and sneered: "The Germans are really calculating!" Chief of Staff, call back to the Military Commission immediately. Don't let them fall for the mustache. I won't go to that Rausch ambassador to Germany. If the Germans have sincerity, let them come to Jizhong! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou didn't understand for a while, and asked curiously: "General seat, what do you think the Germans are trying to do?" ”

Zheng Weiguo replied: "There is no clear language in this telegram. I can't say the specifics. However, the most likely thing is to put pressure on China and Japan at the same time. Forced a truce between the two sides. And then tie both China and Japan to the German chariot! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou thought for a moment and said, "General Seat, if we can end this war early, it will not be a bad thing for China!" ”

Zheng Weiguo shook his head and said, "The Japanese army has an absolute advantage at the moment. How can you give up so easily? Even if the Germans exert pressure, they are afraid that China will not be able to pay compensation for land cession. Not to mention anything else, the Northeast will definitely not be able to be saved. ”

Master Liu happened to walk over and said, "There are more terrible things than this!" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said curiously: "What is more terrible than the loss of land? "The land is the guarantee of a nation's right to exist, so the Jews have to do everything they can to restore the country.

Master Liu said softly: "Civil strife! ”

Zheng Weiguo thought for a moment and said with a wry smile: "Not bad! If the chairman dares to make peace with Japan, the Chinese factions will definitely fight first, and then there will really be no catastrophe! ”

Not to mention anything else, Chairman Chang Kaishen will definitely redeploy his forces to suppress the Communists, and maybe he will ask the Japanese army to help suppress them as he did against the Anti-Japanese Allied Army and the 19th Route Army. It is also very likely that the main battle faction and the main peace faction within the Kuomintang will split. As for the local warlords, Sheng Shicai will definitely fall to the Soviet Union, Tibet will most likely fall to the British, and will Lu Han in Yunnan, Li Bai in Guangxi, and warlords in Sichuan still send troops to fight the Japanese invaders on the front line? An old slippery head like Yan Laoxi'er is afraid that he will collude with Japan first. As a result, millions of armies on the front line will collapse in an instant......

Thinking of this, Chief of Staff Zhou suddenly woke up, suddenly felt a trace of coolness on his forehead, and reached out to touch it only to find that it was full of cold sweat that had just come out.

Zheng Weiguo comforted: "You don't have to worry too much. The chairman of the committee is not Wang Jingwei and his ilk, and he knows that there are powerful cadres here, and he will not agree easily! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou was still a little uneasy, and suggested: "General seat, it is up to you to personally present your case to the Military Commission!" Even if the chairman of the committee doesn't make a mistake, he can't ensure that those lords and factions take the opportunity to make trouble! ”

Zheng Weiguo snorted and said, "Then ask the chief of staff to help draw up a telegram, and I will sign it!" He asked again: "Has Xinle County been won?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said regretfully: "It is still in a stalemate, but the enemy's reinforcements have been stopped by us!" ”

In the battle of Xinlecheng, the Chinese army did have the upper hand at the beginning. In particular, after forcing the Japanese artillery into the county seat, it basically formed a trend of catching turtles in urns. Subsequently, Captain Feng Zhan commanded the artillery to blast out more than a dozen gaps in the city wall. The besieging units followed the gap and slaughtered the Japanese army, compressing the Japanese army into the streets of the county.

I thought that entering the county would be done, but I didn't expect to really encounter hard stubble at this time. As mentioned many times above, the Japanese army is very good at building fortifications, such as Guanjiayuan, Songshan, Kunlun Pass, Yingzhu Mountain, and island defense battles in the Pacific Ocean can be fully demonstrated.

The same is true of the Battle of Xinle. The Japanese army opened all the buildings in the city and formed a huge fortification. Barricades were also ergotred and machine-gunned off the main streets. What's even more vicious is that the Japanese army also arrested all the civilians in the city and used them as "meat shields". Let the Chinese army throw a rat trap and dare not cover it with artillery fire. Of course, this approach of the Japanese army also completely angered the soldiers. Admiral Feng Zhan immediately ordered that no prisoners be left in this battle, and immediately organized all units to attack.

At that time, Commander Feng was optimistic that he could "go down with one drum", but the result surprised the generals, and the attack was attacked, which also brought great casualties to the Japanese army. However, under the decisive counterattack of the Japanese army, the troops could not stand at all.

Division Commander Liu analyzed: "The Japanese army is clamoring to turn Xinle County into a second Taierzhuang. I think it's a bit similar. Taierzhuang is also a small town, and the defenders are not many, but the Japanese army has an absolute advantage but cannot take it for a long time. Now think about it the other way around, if the Japanese army holds Taierzhuang, will the Chinese army be able to take it? ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said anxiously: "The combat effectiveness of the Japanese army is obviously above the Northwest Army defending Taierzhuang, but our army does not have such an obvious advantage as the Japanese army during the Taierzhuang period. Because the Japanese army used the common people as meat shields, our army's artillery superiority could not be brought into play at all. On the contrary, the Japanese army can attack with impunity. ”

Division Commander Liu nodded and said, "Chief of Staff Zhou is right! In addition to the fact that the firepower advantage was neutralized, the force advantage was not very obvious. For what? Because of the small terrain of this Xinle county, it is difficult for large troops to deploy, and it is impossible to put in too many attack troops at one time. It was not possible to form an overwhelming superiority over the Japanese army. So you can only fight for consumption. ”

Zheng Weiguo thought for a while, and his face couldn't help but be a little ugly. Could it be that this battle is going to be a failure? If we still fail to achieve victory under such superiority, it will certainly deal a heavy blow to the morale of our army and even bring about a devastating blow. The Japanese army will also be even more arrogant. The domestic peace faction and the capitulation faction will certainly seize the opportunity to stir up trouble.

But if you keep going, you will be able to win? At such times, "spiritualism" is obviously unreliable. The Japanese army was no ordinary opponent. It's not easy to crush them mentally.

"Alas!" Zheng Weiguo sighed secretly. Finally, he asked, "What is your opinion?" Do you want to give up this fight? He can finally understand Mr. Peng's stubbornness in Guan Jiayuan now, which is probably what Mr. Chen Yinke called "understanding sympathy". For a general, sometimes it can be difficult to decide. Because you can't predict the outcome.

Chief of Staff Zhou hesitated for a moment and said, "General Seat, wouldn't giving up at this time be a waste of all your efforts?" It can be seen that Chief of Staff Zhou is unwilling, but he does not have much confidence in continuing to fight.

Master Liu pondered for a moment, and then analyzed the pros and cons of whether to fight or not, but did not give an answer. Because he is the division commander of the Eighth Route Army after all, he will definitely not do anything on his behalf.

Zheng Weiguo paced a few steps in the room, suddenly stood still, and said to Chief of Staff Zhou: "Chief of Staff, you send the situation of the enemy and us in the entire North China to Captain Feng Zhan. He is a front-line commander, and if he thinks that he can continue to fight, then we will resolutely support it. It's really not possible to press the 53rd Army as well. If Commander Feng thinks that it is indeed difficult and difficult to persevere, then we will start to prepare for the end. Anyway, since the counterattack operation, we have gained enough, and it is not too much to reap it when we see it. ”

The telegram was quickly sent to Xinle County, and after reading the telegram, Captain Feng Zhan immediately ordered: "Call back and tell the general seat, please give the post department another eight hours, and swear to take Xinle City!" After speaking, he dropped his hat, put on a steel helmet, and shouted: "Inform the army directly under the team to assemble immediately!" ”

Chief of Staff Yan Mingzhi was taken aback, and hurriedly stopped him and said, "Junzao, you are the commander, you should stay in the position of command!" ”

Commander Feng pushed him away and said, "It's no longer a matter of command, I'm going to take my brothers to fight the devil!" Taierzhuang is the glory of our Chinese army, the Japanese, don't want to take it away! ”

"Stand upright, salute!" By the time Commander Feng walked out of the concealment department, more than 300 people from the army directly under the army had already lined up and stood in line. They were all killed from the old forests in the northeast with Feng Zhanhai's army. When they joined the army, they were all young soldiers, so they were all used as guards in the military headquarters (in fact, it was a kind of protection). Seven years have passed, and the little brothers of the year have grown into young men.

The soldiers stood up straight one by one, holding submachine guns tightly in their hands, and their eyes showed a strong fighting spirit. As the saying goes, raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while. Although they are young, they are all veterans, and they have this awareness!

Commander Feng glanced at everyone with relief and said, "Have you heard the gunfire in the city?" ”

The guards said in unison, "I hear you!" ”

Commander Feng asked again: "The little devil is desperately resisting, and the brothers have not beaten it for a day and a night, what do you say?" ”

The guards shouted again: "Throne, change us!" ”

Feng Jun was overjoyed and said, "Good, good!" Today I will take you back to the forest again and go! ”

The commander-in-chief of the campaign personally went to the battlefield, and the news quickly spread to the besieging departments. The newly appointed commander of the 91st Division, Zhao Yi, was ashamed and said to his subordinates: "Our 50,000 people can't take a small county town, so we force the commander-in-chief to go to the battlefield in person. If something happens to this, how can we hold our heads up in the future? ”

Wang Xishan, the commander of the 271st regiment, hurriedly said: "Division." You give the order! The military seats are all on the battlefield, and we are all out of the way! It's all two shoulders and one head, even if one fights one, it will destroy all the little devils! ”

Regiment Commander Wang Xishan previously served as the commander of the 271st Brigade of the 91st Division, but was demoted to regiment commander after the change to the three-three system. He was one of the first generals to fight against General Feng Zhanhai, and he was brave and good at fighting. In Yushu, Jilin, he led his troops to attack the Japanese headquarters, killing hundreds of Japanese detachment commanders, including Ogawa and Adjutant Abe, and capturing hundreds of rifles, mortars, light and heavy machine guns, etc., and he himself was wounded in the fierce battle.

Historically. Wang Xishan was also the only general and the highest-ranking national army officer who died in the Battle of Wanjialing. The relics left to the general's wife, Ms. Cai Shuqin, were a war knife and a pair of riding boots. Then. General Wang Xishan's death in battle dealt a huge blow to General Feng Zhanhai, and he once exclaimed bitterly: "If you lose your life, why is it painful!" In addition, the Central Army took the opportunity to squeeze out Feng Zhanhai and other old troops of the Northeast Army, and Commander Feng was disheartened. In a fit of rage, he left the military circle. He opened a small restaurant in Guizhou. Of course. It is a blessing for the country to finally survive in this time and space.

Division Commander Zhao said to several regiment commanders: "Everyone, you must fight hard. But you also have to pay attention to the method. Just now, Deputy Division Commander Zhang, and the Chief of Staff and I analyzed it, and we also found several weaknesses of the Japanese army, and you will ...... when the attack is next."

The 33rd Division was no exception, but Commander Li Liangrong led the main force of the division to send reinforcements. On Xinle's side, there is only a reinforced regiment under the command of Deputy Division Commander Wu Quanfu, including the 331st Infantry Regiment, the battalion directly under the 33rd Division, a battalion of the Mountain Artillery Brigade, and a company of the Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade.

Although there are not many troops, Wu Quanfu has a killer weapon in his hands - the battalion directly under the 33rd Division is actually an assault engineer battalion led by Battalion Commander Huo Ting. Not long ago, this unit captured Bozhen on the Jinpu Line and made miraculous achievements. Because of the high consumption of street fighting, Wu Quanfu has never been willing to let them go. Now that it's time to work hard, naturally we can't hide it anymore.

To the west of Xinle County, the troops of the 3rd and 4th Army Divisions of the Jin-Cha-Ji Eighth Route Army were responsible for the attack. Relatively speaking, the Eighth Route Army was more difficult because they were poorly equipped and their training could not keep up. In particular, in this kind of battle, the losses are often the backbone of the battle, and as we fight, we gradually become a little unbearable.

Huang Xuqian, the commander of the 3rd Division, who was in charge of commanding the operation, heard that all the units in central Hebei were working hard, and he felt a little unbearable on his face, so he called the commander of the main attack and asked: "How did you command, why can't you attack anything!" ”

The regiment commander explained that the casualties were too great and asked the fighters to breathe a sigh of relief.

Commander Huang is a fierce general, and the temper of the fierce general is generally not good, so he immediately scolded: "If you have a lot of casualties, you won't fight?" Then you still have an egg! "When you pick up a rifle, you have to charge yourself.

The regimental commander hurriedly grabbed the rifle and took the lead in the attack himself. One of the characteristics of the Eighth Route Army is that there are many grenades. Before, I was a little reluctant to use it, but now I can't care so much, and I throw grenades while charging. The terrain of the street battle was narrow, and there was no way to avoid it, and the Japanese army screamed again and again.

The Eighth Route Army took advantage of the situation to press up, and it was like entering a no-man's land, breaking through more than a dozen courtyards at once, and also capturing four field guns. It turned out that the Japanese army had looked down on the Eighth Route before, and transferred a large number of troops from the west to the east and north. This time he was rushed in by the Eighth Road, and he was suddenly overstretched and unable to respond, and soon he couldn't parry.

Commander Huang Xuqian was very happy to learn that the artillery had been captured, and personally rushed to the front line, shouting: "I must get these four cannons!" However, the Eighth Route Army lacked field artillery shells, and finally replaced four mountain artillery with Jizhong. Commander Huang felt that he had suffered a loss, and he had to take another twenty light machine guns and a thousand rifles.

While the Eighth Route Army opened up the situation, the 33rd Division and the 91st Division also made breakthroughs. The 33rd Division was a hard-bridged and hard-horse attack, taking advantage of the characteristics of the assault engineer battalion's high mobility, high defense, and high firepower to forcefully break through the Japanese blockade. The main force of the 331st Regiment took advantage of the situation to follow up and expand the results.

The 91st Division did not have such a perverted type of troops as assault engineers, and they fought relatively skillfully. The Japanese were indeed formidable, but like the Chinese army, they were not professionally trained in street fighting. It's just that the basic tactical knowledge is solid, and the individual soldier's military literacy is high, and some deficiencies will naturally be exposed over time.

Division Commander Zhao Yi and the others quickly thought of a strategy to deal with it, which was to use the specialties of the 91st Division to fully expose the shortcomings of the Japanese army. What are the specialties of the 91st Division? That's flexibility. This was honed by them when they fought against the Japanese army in the old forests of the northeast, and almost every soldier understood and would. Because you can't do this, you don't have the qualifications to survive on the battlefield.

Under the arrangement of Division Commander Zhao, the commanders of each regiment specially organized a number of capable detachments to penetrate the Japanese positions in depth. Don't fight hard with devils, and bypass a strong stronghold when they encounter it, just like a pawn in chess, they will fight separately. To put it bluntly, it is a scramble war, a scuffle, and in a professional way, it can be called "urban guerrilla warfare".

Don't look at the fighters, this is the first time they have come into contact with this new method of warfare, but they are not familiar at all. Because for them, it's really about replacing the forest with an artificial forest – a building.

The Japanese army was miserable, and their tactical system was the most rigorous and neat, one link after another. For example, machine guns were placed on both flanks of the line to protect the infantry. Before the defense line was broken through, it was naturally very powerful, but now that the 91st Division has penetrated into the flanks and even the rear of the defense line, the strictness of the entire system no longer exists. Without the protection of this system, the Japanese army was at best a well-trained soldier. In the face of the Chinese army, which was several times the enemy, the disadvantage of the Japanese army was magnified at once.

"Kill!" Seeing that the Japanese defense line was beginning to crumble, the Chinese army soon launched a general offensive. The loud sound of the charge constantly echoed on the battlefield, and even the most intense gunfire could not hide it.

In the ruins of a building, Shinichi Yanagawa sat on his knees, holding the command knife behind his back, and suddenly stabbed himself in the abdomen with a loud scream.

"Ah, yes, to catch, to catch!" Yanagawa curled up in pain, screaming miserably.

Several Chinese soldiers cautiously surrounded them, curiously guessing, "What did the little devil say?" ”

One soldier, who learned Japanese well, said, "It seems to be painful!" ”

The soldiers laughed and said, "Nonsense, of course it hurts to stab you in the stomach with a knife, needless to say, we also know the way!" ”

With the suicide of Yanagawa Daisa, the Battle of Shinraku finally ended in a complete victory for the Chinese army. The good news soon reached Lixian, and the command of the 41st Group Army immediately burst into bursts of cheers.

Division Commander Liu stretched out his hand to Zheng Weiguo and said with a smile: "Commander-in-Chief Zheng, congratulations on another great victory for your army!" Then he asked, "What are your plans for the next war?" (To be continued......)