Bang! A high-explosive grenade fired by a 75-millimeter Krupp gun was parabolic in the air, dragging a dazzling tail flame at high speed, and smashed into the vicinity of a foxhole, instantly kicking up a cloud of dirt and debris.

The two unlucky devil soldiers were swept away on the spot by the wave of qi and were killed instantly.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Dozens of high-explosive grenades fell one after another, and a series of violent explosions occurred, and in the deafening explosion, hundreds of devils and puppet soldiers were blown away by the blast wave and died.

The field fortifications of the devils were soon enveloped in artillery fire and gunsmoke.

The shelling lasted more than twenty minutes, and after the Japanese positions were covered in gunsmoke and artillery fire, Scarface gave the order to charge to the infantry around him.

A battalion of infantry, led by a battalion commander, went out one after another and launched an attack on the Japanese.

The sparse gunfire soon sounded on the devil's position, and some bullets flew in a whistling manner, flying past the officers and men of the dragon's tooth attacking force, and the dragon's tooth officers and soldiers immediately fired back.

Soon, the sound of gunfire rang out.

Although the devil suffered a lot of losses in the shelling just now, because it involved life and death, the remnants of the Japanese puppet army also went all out to fire at Scarface's department.

The two sides engaged in a fierce battle in the southeast of the city, and for a time it was difficult to distinguish the winner.

After more than an hour of busyness, the pontoon bridge of the guard regiment was finally built, and a group of soldiers quickly came to the north bank of the Yanghe River through the pontoon bridge, and after the assembly, they immediately launched an attack on the devil's defense line in the west of the city.

…………

Beiping City, the headquarters of the North China Front of the Japanese invasion of China.

The atmosphere was solemn, and Chief of Staff Iizawa Mamoru was reporting the battle situation to Tada Jun with a heavy face: "Your Excellency General, Chahar Zhangjiakou is in an urgent telegram, the Chinese army has come to the city and is storming the field defense line of the imperial army. The commander of the Zhangjiakou garrison requested urgent tactical guidance from the headquarters and sent reinforcements to help them. ”

When Tada Jun lost Datong, he had already expected that Chahar, Suiyuan and other places might face a counterattack by the Eighth Route Army, so he was not too surprised, but asked rhetorically: "Iizawa-kun, do you think that Wucheng is working, do we defend it or not?" ”

Iizawa Mamoru pondered for a while and said: "If you look at it from the strategic level and the honor of the imperial army, Wucheng still has to be defended, after all, it is the political, military, and economic center of Chahar, once it is lost, it means that Chahar is lost as a whole."

However, according to the predicament we are facing and the actual situation of the various units of the imperial army, we are unable to reinforce Wucheng (Zhangjiakou) in time. ”

Hearing Mamoru Iizawa say the same, Tada Jun did not rush to make a statement, but lit a cigarette and smoked it while falling into deep thought, obviously thinking about whether to stick to it or give up.

After a long time, the cigarette in Tada Jun's hand had already been replaced by three cigarettes, and he got up and said meaningfully: "Inform the Wucheng garrison to find a way to break through immediately, and after deciding the retreat route by yourself, report to the headquarters, and we will arrange for the troops along the way to provide support." ”

"Hay." Chief of Staff Mamoru Iizawa happily bowed his head, turned around and took the order to leave.

…………

Wucheng, the headquarters of the Japanese garrison.

The Japanese troops stationed in Wucheng were the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade directly under the North China Side, and the brigade commander was Major General Akizo Masaki, and the chief of staff, Kobayashi Koaichi Nakasa.

Outside the city, gunfire erupted and the sound of artillery continued.

Masaki Mingzo's face was blue and gloomy and scary, and Xiao Lin Cunyi, who was standing next to him, was walking on thin ice, not even daring to breathe, and both of them were waiting for instructions from Beiping.

From the two of them, they didn't want to be trapped in Wucheng, because they all knew that the Longya Column came south from Jingcheng Pass, and in less than a month, it successively broke through Yangquan, Taiyuan, Xinzhou, Daixian, and Datong, all the way like a bamboo, invincible, and morale, which was definitely not something that could be stopped by a few thousand men and horses of their independent 21st mixed brigade.

Therefore, there is only one way to die if you stay and hold on, and instead of this, it is better to take the initiative to retreat and leave this damn place.

However, without the order of the Front Army Headquarters, Masaki Akizo and Kobayashi Cunichi naturally did not dare to retreat without authorization, otherwise no matter whether they could successfully break through or not, they would only have a dead end.

Just when the two devils were a little upset by the constant sound of guns and cannons outside, and gradually couldn't sit still, a devil communication soldier finally walked over to them quickly with a message.

When he came to the front, the devil signal soldier suddenly retracted his feet and stood up and saluted: "Your Excellency General, the Beiping Front Army Headquarters has called. ”

Masaki Mingsan immediately raised his hand eagerly and said, "Quick, hurry up." ”

"The front army headquarters ordered that the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade immediately abandon Wucheng and seek an opportunity to break through, and after the breakthrough plan and direction are determined by your department, report to the headquarters, and the headquarters will send a telegram to all troops along the way to fully support your department." The Devil Communication Soldier bowed his head and said.

Masaki Mingsan was overjoyed when he heard this, and glanced at Kobayashi Cunyi and said, "Chief of Staff Kobayashi, did you hear that?" Immediately draw up a breakout battle plan for me, be quick, it is best to come up with a feasible breakout plan before tonight, and then report it to the front army headquarters, and we will break through tonight at night. ”

"Hay!" Kobayashi Cunichi was also very happy, and immediately bowed his head and responded.

Two hours later, after consultation with several staff officers, Kobayashi Cunichi decided to choose to break through from the east gate, and after coming to the headquarters to report to Masaki Akizo, Masaki Akizo asked: "Chief of Staff Kobayashi, tell me your reasons, why did you choose to break through from the east gate?" ”

Kobayashi Cunichi said happily: "General, the reason is very simple, breaking through from the east gate, as long as we pass through Guò Shaling Town, we can withdraw to Xuanhua, and the imperial army troops can also take the initiative to attack and respond to our retreat."

In addition to the East Gate, we only have the North Gate to choose from, in contrast, if the North Gate breaks through, we need to cross the Great Wall and bypass the entire Yinshan Mountain Range, all the way is either a rugged and difficult mountain road, or an endless uninhabited wasteland, and it is extremely difficult to march.

Traveling thousands of miles is the most difficult road for us. ”

Masaki nodded and said, "Well, that's reasonable, but don't forget to get in touch with Shaling Town and inform the garrison where to prepare to meet us." ”

Xiao Lin Cun nodded and said: "Don't worry, although the garrison of Shaling Town does not have a radio station, the lowly post has ordered the signal soldiers to send a telegram to the Xuanhua garrison, asking them to contact Shaling Town and prepare to meet us." ”

"That's good." Masaki Mingzo put his mind down and nodded.

…………

In Shaling Town, after receiving Qiao Youhua's order, Zhao Tiezhu sent a signal soldier to repair the Japanese telephone line that had been damaged by them before, in order to prevent the Japanese puppet army from other places from calling and discovering the abnormality in advance.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the telephone line to be repaired, and a phone call from the Japanese army from Xuanhua came, and Zhao Tiezhu was arranging for a few puppet army prisoners who knew a little Japanese to take turns at the phone.

"Shaling Town is dripping, a qiē is normal, please rest assured. Hey, Tai-kun, please rest assured, we will be ready to respond. Several puppet army prisoners took turns perfunctory to the Japanese communications soldier on the other end of the phone.