Wu Chun Watanabe hurriedly stood up, bowed his head sharply and responded: "Hai, please rest assured, Your Excellency General, I will personally lead people out of the city, and I will definitely repair the damaged railway as quickly as possible to ensure that the transportation of materials and troops of the imperial army will not be delayed!" ”

Itagaki Seishiro nodded slightly in response, and after watching Takejun Watanabe stride away, he said to the remaining subordinates: "Let's continue." ”

Chief of Staff Nishimura Liewin Daisa was the first to speak: "General, what should we do next?" Is it an immediate military action? ”

As he spoke, Nishimura Lewen Dazuo pointed to the map in front of him and said: "At present, Erdaogouzi Town, which belongs to Shimen, has been occupied by the Dragon Tooth Task Force, and this is the closest road between Shimen and Luquan. ”

Itagaki Seishiro looked at the enemy's situation on the map, pondered for a moment, and said: "The 9th Brigade will attack, first launch a tentative attack on Erdaogouzi, try the reality of the Zhina people, and capture it if it can be attacked, so as to seize an advance base for the imperial army to attack Luquan."

If the people of China are well guarded, then wait for the arrival of the main army in the follow-up before making plans. ”

The new brigade commander of the 9th Brigade, Takagi Tanji, hurriedly stood up, bowed his head and said: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the division commander, you will do your best to recapture Erdaogouzi!" ”

Itagaki Seishiro did not nod in agreement, but repeated his words: "Takagi-kun remember, if you can attack, you will occupy it, if you can't capture it, don't be reckless, and increase casualties, this battle may be no less difficult than a general battle, we can't rush to success, we must be patient, and give full play to the absolute superiority of the imperial army, troops, artillery fire, and air force."

Impulsiveness only exposes our flaws and gives the enemy a chance to take advantage of them. ”

"Haily, humble!" Takaki Tanji put away his excitement and bowed his head in response.

Only then did he leave the conference room with the two wing commanders and a few other adjutants under his jurisdiction and went to assemble the troops.

Itagaki Seishiro is very clear-headed, and with only the current more than 10,000 people under his command, even if he risks his life and goes all out, it will be difficult to capture

…………

Towards evening, more than 4,000 people from the 11th Infantry Wing and an artillery brigade of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army came from Shimen to the north of Erdaogouzi Town under the personal leadership and command of the brigade commander, Major General Takaki Duanji.

Because of its special geographical location, Erdaogouzi is bound to become the most important battlefield in the future to defend the base area, so before other places were attacked by the Japanese army, Qiao Youhualiu political commissar Guo Meng sat in Luquan County, and he came to the headquarters of the first battalion.

In addition, Qiao Youhua also made full and thoughtful arrangements, and the cavalry reconnaissance company was on guard at the junction with Zhengding County to the west of Luquan, and cooperated with the three battalions to guard against a possible roundabout attack by the Japanese army.

Ma Biao's second battalion was responsible for the defense east of Luquan such as Magou Town, and the first battalion was responsible for the defense of Erdaogouzi and its surroundings in the north.

The battalion headquarters of the first battalion is in a private house in Erdaogouzi Town, and in addition, there is also an underground command post in the underground tunnel that has not yet been completely completed.

During this period of time, he did not hesitate to operate with financial and material resources, although he did not dare to say that the second ditch defense line was foolproof, but it could also be called impregnable.

In addition to the complete fortifications on the ground and the network of underground tunnel fortifications that continued to be excavated and built, the 1st Battalion had buried telephone lines throughout the 2nd ditch, and the three main companies had telephones to communicate directly with the battalion headquarters.

In the battalion headquarters, Qiao Youhua and Jiang Haidong were sitting together discussing the progress of the underground tunnel, when the phone suddenly rang urgently, Jiang Haidong got up and walked over to pick it up, only to hear the urgent voice of Liu Yidao, the deputy battalion commander and the commander of the first infantry company, on the phone: "Camp, a large number of Japanese troops were found in the north of the town, with a strength of at least three or four thousand people, carrying artillery and other heavy weapons. ”

Jiang Haidong's face changed and said: "I know, continue to monitor, and the head of the regiment and I will be there soon." After speaking, Jiang Haidong put down the phone.

"What's wrong? Is there a situation? Qiao Youhua also stood up and asked.

"Well, there's a devil in the north, let's go and have a look." Jiang Haidong nodded and replied.

Qiao Youhua immediately nodded, picked up his steel helmet, and took the lead to walk out.

A few minutes later, the two of them took a guard squad of the guard platoon directly under the 1st battalion to the defensive position of the 1st Company in the north of the town along the pre-repaired traffic trench.

Liu Yidao, the commander of the first company, had been waiting for a long time, and as soon as he saw the two of them, he said: "The devil is planning to attack us before dark. ”

Qiao Youhua didn't say a word, and took the lead towards the forward observation post.

At the same time, on a small hilly plateau north of the town, Major General Takagi Duanji, commander of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army, was also surrounded by his subordinates, and was holding a telescope to peek into the situation in Erdaogouzi Town.

After observing for a long time, Takagi Tanji put down the binoculars and wondered, "Strange, why does it seem that there is something abnormal about the calm here!" ”

A captain of the Dazuo Wing couldn't help but nod and agreed: "Yes, it stands to reason that the Chinese army in the town should have known that we were coming, and they should have taken action." ”

"Maybe the Zhina army has secretly prepared, after all, they have been operating here for so long, they must have repaired the fortifications, and now they are hiding inside to monitor the whereabouts of the imperial army?" Another Nakasa Michi, he is the captain of the artillery brigade, although the rank is lower than the wing commander, but he is a direct unit of the brigade, and the rank is the same as the 11th wing.

Takagi Tanji nodded and said, "That makes sense, are the artillery ready?" ”

"It's ready, ready to fire." The captain of the artillery group raised his head and said.

"Order the artillery to open fire immediately, and then the 11th Infantry Wing will send an infantry squadron to launch a tentative attack under the cover of artillery fire, and first probe the reality of the Chinese people!" Takagi Tanji ordered solemnly.

Several devil officers bowed their heads in response, and then each took the order.

A few minutes later, the eight Japanese Type 92 infantry guns opened fire one after another, and one after another the shells turned into dazzling meteors and roared towards the position of the company north of the town.

Qiao Youhua, Jiang Haidong and the others, who had just arrived at the forward observation post, listened to the piercing scream breaking through the air, their faces changed, and they hurriedly lowered their heads and lay down to dodge.

"Boom! Boom ...... "The devil's first round of shells all fell on the position of the first company, and one after another exploded, and the blinding fire rolled up into the sky with thick smoke.

Qiao Youhua, who was not far from the explosion point, seemed to feel a hint of trembling on the ground below them, and before they could raise their heads, some of the dirt that was swept away by the blast wave of the explosion fell from the sky, and it also fell on several people with warmth, and the steel helmets of Qiao Youhua and the others were smashed with a bang!