"Hay!" The two devil communication personnel bowed their heads in unison, and then turned around and left.

Sugiyama Motomo looked up at Shozo Riverside, his eyes were full of anxiety, he sighed, turned around and left the conference room.

Baoding City.

The news of the loss of Dingzhou had already arrived, and the 3,000 Japanese troops and thousands of puppet troops stationed in Baoding were shocked, and its commander, Major General Yamamoto Muraichi, was completely panicked, but soon the latest telegram from the North China Front Headquarters gave him a shot in the arm.

Knowing that the elite of the 1st Division, the 26th Division and other imperial troops were coming, he hurriedly mobilized his troops and acted according to the order.

Thousands of devils and puppet soldiers drove out of Baoding City, stationed in the south of Ranzhuang Town as quickly as possible, and began to dig and build fortifications around the train line of Ranzhuang Town.

At the same time, the puppet troops stationed in Tang County, Wangdu, and other county seats, which are closest to Baoding, were also ordered to arrive.

Because these counties are far from the railway line, their location is not too important, and the Japanese army is insufficient, so only a varying number of puppet troops are stationed.

In just half a day, the total strength of the Japanese puppet army in Baoding and its surroundings gathered in Ranzhuang Town reached more than 22,000 people, of which only 3,000 were devils, and the rest were all puppet troops.

Because Ranzhuang Town is located along the railway, the geographical location is more important than other surrounding counties, so there were hundreds of devils and puppet troops stationed here, so there are also some fortifications such as turrets and blockade ditches.

After a large number of Japanese puppet troops gathered, they immediately began to expand the original fortifications and strengthen the depth of defense under the command of a devil Dazuo.

The county seat of Dingzhou is less than eighty miles away from Ranzhuang Town, and the assault force led by Qiao Youhua is all mechanized, although it is restricted by the road, the speed cannot be exerted to the extreme, but it only takes more than two hours.

At about two o'clock in the afternoon, they rushed to a place about three kilometers south of Ranzhuang Town, where a platoon of sharp guards who were in charge of opening the road in front of the marching convoy encountered a puppet army squad that had come to reconnoiter their movements.

Fighting broke out immediately on both sides, and the fighters of the guard battalion, fully equipped with German-style equipment, had an overwhelming advantage in terms of combat power, firepower and morale.

This group of puppet soldiers was originally sent out to be sent to death as cannon fodder, and the result can be imagined after a hasty encounter.

Under the cover of the fire of dozens of dragon tooth guards who opened fire with submachine guns, the puppet army fell head-on, and the souls of the remaining people fled in all directions towards the woods on both sides of the railway.

The second lieutenant platoon commander sent someone to report the situation to Qiao Youhua, and at the same time commanded his subordinates to take advantage of the situation to pursue.

Qiao Youhua, who commanded the troops to follow up, had already heard the gunshots in front, and waited until Qiao Youhua and Zheng Yunshan got out of the car together and came to the convoy that had stopped advancing.

The gunfire had completely stopped, and the platoon commander of the spearhead platoon withdrew with dozens of soldiers under his command with a dozen gray-faced, wolf-faced puppet army captives.

The second lieutenant platoon commander came to Qiao Youhua and Zheng Yunshan, stood up and saluted: "Commander, regiment commander, grab some tongues." ”

Qiao Youhua nodded approvingly and asked, "Did you ask clearly which part of it?" ”

The second lieutenant platoon commander said: "I haven't had time to ask, these cowards are not good at fighting, they are running very fast, and they are patronizing and leading people to pursue." ”

Qiao Youhua gave Zheng Yunshan a look, Zheng Yunshan immediately stepped forward and asked more than a dozen puppet army prisoners who were walking on thin ice: "A few of you, now I will ask questions, give me an honest answer, if you dare to deceive, you will be shot on the spot and punished for treason!" ”

More than a dozen puppet soldiers were frightened by Zheng Yunshan's fierce gaze, and they all trembled and said: "Sir spare your life, we must know everything, and we must say everything." ”

Zheng Yunshan immediately made a vigorous inquiry, which scared several puppet army prisoners into trembling, and they really knew everything and said everything, and they almost didn't explain their eight generations of ancestors' surnames and names.

"Commander, it seems that the devil already knows our whereabouts and intentions, and is now rushing to repair the defense line in Ranzhuang Town in front, preparing to block our march to Baoding!" Zheng Yunshan said to Qiao Youhua, who also listened to the puppet army's explanation.

Qiao Youhua nodded and said, "Well, it should be the devil's reconnaissance plane that discovered us, there is no air supremacy, and it is really impossible to absolutely conceal our whereabouts." Lost in thought.

"So what are we going to do? Do you continue to advance, or wait for the follow-up troops to catch up, and then attack Ranzhuang Town together? Zheng Yunshan asked.

At this moment, the tank troops that followed up also came up, Liu Jianhua jumped down from a No. 4 tank at the front, walked quickly to Qiao Youhua and the others, and asked: "Commander, Yunshan, what's the matter, why don't you leave?" ”

Qiao Youhua briefly explained the situation to him, and Liu Jianhua immediately said: "Then what are we hesitating about, the soldiers are fast, we should attack Ranzhuang Town immediately before the defense line of the devil and the second devil is not stable!" ”

Qiao Youhua nodded approvingly and said: "It makes sense, but the number of devils and puppet troops in Ranzhuang Town has exceeded more than 22,000 people, and there are a lot of troops, if we can't take Baoding before the main force of the Japanese army arrives in Baoding, it is better to withdraw now, capture Anguo, and then march all the way east, capture Hengshui and Dezhou, and also cause a blow to the devil in the overall strategic situation!"

Let them run for their lives, and they will not be able to take care of their heads. This is a battle idea that suddenly sprouted in Qiao Youhua's heart at this moment, because the devil and the puppet army are now attracted to Baoding's side, and they would never have imagined that Qiao Youhua would suddenly turn around and go east and south.

In this way, from Anguo to Anping to Hengshui and Dezhou, more than a dozen large and small counties and cities along the way, and dozens of key points in towns and towns can definitely be easily recovered by the Dragon Tooth Column.

In this way, starting from Dingzhou and Quyang, the base area of the Longya Column has expanded outward by more than 200 li.

As a result, the strategic depth was expanded to six or seven hundred miles, and in the following anti-encirclement and suppression battle, there was also a great opportunity and space for roundabouts.

Liu Jianhua insisted on his opinion and said: "Commander, the two devil captives just now also said that they had just received an order to rush over from Wangdu County, so it can be seen that the devils must have insufficient troops in Baoding, so they will transfer the surrounding puppet army in a big way."

As long as we can break through its defense line in Ranzhuang Town, taking Baoding will be as simple as probing for something, as long as we recapture Baoding, then we can really attack and retreat.

As for the area you said about attacking Anguo, Hengshui, and Dezhou, it can be handed over to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd brigades to carry out, and we don't have to turn around! ”

Qiao Youhua said: "If it weren't for the assistance of our tank troops and anti-aircraft artillery units, if we only relied on the infantry to counterattack on the whole front, I am afraid that the casualties of the brigades would be very large." ”

Liu Jianhua said: "Commander, the crockpot is not broken from the well, the soldiers will inevitably die in battle, since they have participated in our dragon tooth column, they should have the consciousness of sacrificing their lives for the country, please give the order, I am willing to lead the tank regiment to take the lead in the attack, and I must desperately break through the Japanese defense line!" ”

Qiao Youhua was thinking about a more far-reaching strategic situation, he knew that the battles at this stage were still just small fights, and the main forces of the devil and the puppet army were still behind, so it was necessary to preserve the vitality of the dragon tooth column as much as possible, so that it could play a role in the next battle and persist in resisting.

However, what Liu Jianhua said is also right, how can there be no immortal in a war, as long as his side can capture Baoding in time, even if other troops pay some casualties, it is worth it from the perspective of the overall strategic situation.

At the very least, it can expand the strategic depth of more than 200 miles for the Dragon's Tooth Column, which is conducive to the implementation of Qiao Youhua's plan of layered resistance and in-depth defense.

After making up his mind, Qiao Youhua immediately said: "Okay, just do what Jianhua said, all tanks and anti-aircraft guns are ready for battle, all the guard regiments are dispatched, serve as the main force, under the cover of tank fighting vehicles and anti-aircraft guns, attack with all their might, we must take Ranzhuang Town for me before it gets dark, and break through the last line of defense of the Japanese army in Baoding!" ”

Zheng Yunshan and Liu Jianhua looked at each other for a while, and immediately stepped forward to agree, and then went separately to deploy.

The distance of three kilometers was only ten minutes away for this mechanized Dragon Tooth Commando, and soon they arrived at the south of Ranzhuang Town.

Under the cover of their own tanks and infantry, 28 88mm anti-aircraft guns lined up about 500 meters away from the devils' defensive positions around Ranzhuang Town, and began to calibrate and shoot at Zhuyuan in preparation for firing.

The devils, who had hurriedly moved from the state of fortification to defense, discovered them, and tried to use the pitiful small-caliber artillery fire to stop the erection of the dragon's tooth anti-aircraft guns, but they did not wait for them to fire.

Eighteen 75mm tank guns of Tank No. 4 were the first to fire! Boom Boom Boom Boom ...... Shells dragged scarlet flames down on the Japanese positions in Ranzhuang Town.

Suddenly set off one violent explosion after another, and the devil's artillery could not demarcate the accurate position of the target through the continuous fire and smoke under the premise of fierce fire suppression, and naturally lost the opportunity for shelling.

It didn't take long for the twenty-eight anti-aircraft guns to be in place one after another, and with Qiao Youhua's order, a fierce flat-fire artillery bombardment began on the buildings in Ranzhuang Town in front.

Whoosh whoosh ...... A high-explosive armor-piercing projectile with a caliber of 88mm flew like a meteor to Ranzhuang Town, which was used by devils, and then hit the walls of the houses closest to the south of the town.

The devils and puppet soldiers who were hiding in the town and building a defensive line were killed one after another, and many people were blown to pieces before they even had time to scream!

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