With a "boom" explosion, a mortar shell from the Japanese army exploded 2 meters in front of Yan Wudao, and Yan Wudao, who was holding a submachine gun, was knocked back by Qi Lang. "Phew" Yan Wudao, who was supported by the mercenaries around him, spit out a mouthful of blood, "Let go, Lao Tzu can't die yet" Yan Wudao, who was dragged down the pit by the mercenaries, pushed away his subordinates and surrounded him, grabbed the submachine gun next to him and went to the surface position again.

The precarious mercenary defense line that was topped by the Japanese offensive was still struggling to support, and the machine gun fire from the halfway waist behind the mercenaries finally recovered, and Haig, who found that the Japanese army had released only gas tear gas, personally opened fire at the Japanese army with a heavy machine gun. Haig's firepower was very timely, so that the flawed mercenary defense line stabilized, but how could the Japanese attack with all their strength give up so easily, and the field artillery group's worries, Haig's machine gun fire was mostly cruising 20 meters away from the mercenary line, and the machine gunners were also afraid of accidentally injuring their own people.

The cunning soldiers of the 55th Wing temporarily started a positional battle with the mercenaries under the cover of their companions' corpses and rear artillery fire, and the whistling sound that Yan Wudao was expecting finally sounded overhead. The salvo of artillery from the field artillery group rained down on the No. 5 area accurately, and when the skyrocketing flames rose into the air, Mutaguchi Lian, who had been watching the situation on the battlefield, also reached out to cover his chest, and the rapid change of the battlefield situation made the Japanese army's full-line attack of more than 20,000 people lose its advantage, and Mutaguchi Lian also knew that once the opponent's rear artillery fire and their machine gun fire network formed a cooperation with each other, it would be difficult for them to rush through the opponent's defense line with the superior number of people.

The field artillery group not only bombarded the No. 5 area that had already been demarcated, but the Jewish artillerymen, who knew that the front line was already in danger, began to extend their artillery fire after two rounds of salvo fire in the No. 5 area, and a rumbling explosion sounded in the center of the Japanese attack formation at a depth of more than 100 meters, and the light and heavy machine guns that had been restored halfway up the slope opened fire together with the field artillery group, and the Japanese troops gathered in depth were also hit, and the Japanese troops who turned around and retreated were chased by light and heavy machine guns and put down a piece behind their buttocks.

The position of less than two square kilometers became the stage for the performance of the Lashio field artillery group, and the three artillery observers scattered on the forward positions became the eyes of the artillery group, one south, one west, and the other east. The strength of the night artillery group brought the dominance of the position back to the Thunder side, and Yan Wudao, whose mercenaries suffered heavy casualties, also took the opportunity to readjust the firepower of the defensive line and pulled down those mercenaries who had been injured for medical treatment.

The sudden increase in the intensity of the thunder's firepower caused a lot of pressure on the Japanese troops, and the 55th Wing of the Japanese Army, which had been in the front, was somewhat unable to bear it, and the 55th Wing, which had suffered heavy casualties from the double blow of machine gun and artillery fire, half of the officers of the Wing had to withdraw from the battle due to death or serious injuries, and the forward line of the 55th Wing, which had piled up with human lives, could be defeated at any time. Under the coercion and strict orders of Mutaguchi Ryoya, the 55th Division led by Takeuchi Kan sent his 143rd Wing to attack Yan Wudao's defense line from the flank.

Takeuchi Kuan and the 55th Division, which preserved their strength, have always been unable to contribute to the work, and since the battle began, his 55th Division has been playing the role of waving the flag and shouting and beating the side drums. However, the reality of the situation is urgent, if the 55th Division continues to mix, not only will the blitzkrieg attack on Lashio fail, but I am afraid that even they themselves will not escape the fate of being pursued by thunder, so after receiving the order, the 143rd Wing also took out ten percent of its combat strength to deal with the battle.

The addition of the 143rd Wing gave the 55th Wing, which was facing the frontal battle, a chance to breathe, and the 55th Wing, which was under continuous artillery fire, used the corpses of its own people as cover, and pushed the battle line closer to a distance of only 30 meters from the mercenaries. The distance of 30 meters is the best distance for submachine gun fire, but the excellent archery skills of the Japanese veterans are almost in a state of 100 shots at this distance, and the mercenaries under Yan Wudao fought extremely fiercely with the 55th Wing at a distance of 30 meters.

"Replace the barrel, get the barrel quickly" The steel fortress controlled by the Heyg machine gun company stopped firing one after another, and the barrels of most machine guns have turned hot and red, and if the barrels continue to be used, there will be gun damage and injuries, and it is necessary to replace the barrels. The weakening of machine-gun fire allowed the Japanese to seize the opportunity, and the 55th and 143rd Wings withstood the fire of the mercenary troops, and the other Japanese troops took the opportunity to rush through the fiery position and break through the line of defense at Lashio.

"Haig, you bastard, what are you doing? Hurry up and fire, I can't hold it anymore" Although he knew that the machine gun group behind him was changing the barrel, Yan Wudao, who was in a hurry, was still scolding the commander of the machine gun company, Haig. There are defensive troops in Lashio, but the 30,000 troops are all rookies transferred from the Kunming base just now, and they are all guys who have not really been on the battlefield, and Yan Wudao does not expect to defeat the Japanese army by relying on them.

"Damn Yan" quickly replaced the barrel of the gun with his hands and feet, and loaded it, scolding Yan Wudao who was shouting in the walkie-talkie, while pulling the trigger on the Japanese soldier down the slope. The chain of fire flashing from the steel fortress swept towards the dense Japanese troops at the bottom of the slope, and the chain of fire with the breath of death was more like a scythe that was harvested to the fullest, cutting the Japanese soldiers who were in a hurry to cross the mercenary line one by one to the open ground.

"Boom", "Boom", "Boom" "Boom" At the critical time, it was Lashio's field artillery group that played a role, two consecutive rounds of artillery fire salvo smashed a full 60 shells into the Japanese formation, and the rapid advance of the Japanese army was cut in two from the middle, and the 55th Division, which only wanted to go south to the Thai-Burmese border, had crossed the mercenary defense line and gained temporary safety, and the 18th Division, which was blizzling Lashio to cut off the thunderous back road, was stopped by artillery fire, and the artillery fire of the field artillery group looked like it had to continue to extend. What awaits the 18th Division will be a continuous artillery bombardment.

Mutaguchi Lian, who commanded the 18th Division, was also dumbfounded, and Takeuchi Kan, who crossed the mercenary defense line in a daze, was also dumbfounded, this is not the result he wanted. "Can't let them be together, they must be completely separated" The condescending Haig saw clearly, the Japanese army reflected in the cold light of the flares had been broken in two, and it was time to expand the results of the battle, as long as the ammunition in the steel fortress was enough, he could hold on to this hill and completely cut off the connection between the Japanese troops, unless the Japanese army was willing to go near and far and was willing to take a detour.

Haig's discovery was quickly passed on to Yan Wudao via walkie-talkie, who immediately ordered the artillery observation post to contact the field artillery group in Lashio, and after receiving the coordinates of the artillery bombardment, the target of the field artillery group's bombardment was also changed to the junction between the two Japanese units of the 55th Division and the 18th Division. With the increase in the intensity of the shelling, the distance between the 55th and 18th Divisions had been increased to 500 meters by the repeated shelling of the field artillery group, when the shells in the field artillery group's reserves were depleted to double-digit numbers.

Seeing that the 18th Division had no hope of advancing after several unsuccessful attacks, it finally chose to retreat, and the mercenary troops, who were also greatly injured, only watched the Japanese leave, and they were really unable to pursue the 18th Division with heavy casualties. The 55th Division, which had already been blasted out by the precise artillery battle of the field artillery group, could only attack Lashio head-on, and the thirst for food made the soldiers of the 55th Division forget the danger that might exist in Lashio.

The Japanese army gathered all its forces to attack on the whole line was temporarily repelled by Yan Wudao's side with difficulty, but the mercenaries also paid a great casualties, Yan Wudao's 500 mercenaries were killed as many as 80 people, and the rest of the wounded accounted for as many as ninety percent, fortunately, the mercenaries were used to wearing bulletproof vests when fighting, otherwise the mercenaries killed would be many times more. Half of Haig's Jewish machine gunners were no longer fit to stay in the steel fortress due to the gas tear gas released by the Japanese army, and Yan Wudao's carefully arranged defense line was porous due to the lack of troops.

"Tell those Burmese to pursue, there are still 2 hours before dawn, it's time for them to go out for a walk" Yan Wudao, who was shirtless and wrapped gauze around his shoulders, became angry, and the Burmese who only ate white rice couldn't even see a figure, if it weren't for his own husband, he would still have to act in Myanmar in the name of the Burmese, Yan Wudao was willing to kill all the 4,000 Burmese under his command for the lives of more than 30 brothers who died in battle.

Yan Wudao, who was holding the handle of the knife, became angry, and the mercenaries who were responsible for contacting and training the Burmese also had a bit of anger in their words, and the Burmese guerrillas with a full set of Japanese-style weapons and equipment were released, their target was the retreating 18th Division, their task was to take advantage of the Burmese people's familiarity with the terrain before dawn, and attack the 18th Division indiscriminately without interruption, as long as the 18th Division could not get a moment of peace before dawn, the Burmese mission tonight would be completed.

The Burmese guerrillas were also good at seeing each other, and after being urged by the mercenaries who trained them, they ran away after the Japanese army in a swarm. Yan Wudao didn't expect these Burmese to do anything to the Japanese army, he just wanted these Burmese to disgust the Japanese army and entangle the Japanese army, as long as the Japanese army could not be at peace all night, their combat effectiveness would inevitably decline. Reinforcements from Mandalay were about to arrive, and when the reinforcements arrived, the Japanese army, which was weakened by the Burmese and weakened, could only flee south or be defeated by the siege.

Because of the casualties of the mercenary troops, Yan Wudao hated the Japanese army with itchy teeth, but he didn't know that the 18th Division that had retreated also hated him, the thunderous commander. The mercenaries under Yan Wudao and the Jewish machine gunners under Haig were less than 600 casualties when the battle was full, but the 18th Division suffered more than 4,000 casualties, and the 55th Wing, which served as the forward, had been disabled.