At 5:24, the sky was already dark. In the east, the sun blushed and gathered strength to break through the clouds. The clouds that covered it were dyed red, and they became more and more magnificent.

The battle at the Northwest Gate is coming to an end. The explosives of the 5th Division were consumed by the previous wave of suicide attacks, and the remaining devils lacked this weapon that could deal with Jiguang tanks, just like trapped beasts with their teeth pulled out, although they roared again and again and were quite unwilling, but they could only watch the hunter's sharp knife slowly stab into their hearts - more than 5,000 devils outside the northwest gate, and finally only escaped more than 1,200 people. Jiang Banjun almost smelled the smell of gasoline emitted by the armored car of Antengli and rushed to the battlefield, he didn't know that there was a big fish in the group of devils who left the battlefield, so he did not pursue but immediately commanded the troops to devote themselves to the killing of the devils left behind.

At a quarter past six, this part of the devils was completely annihilated, and Guo Muyi and Jiang Banjun joined forces in victory. Jiang Banjun only realized at this time that it was An Tengliji who passed by him, and he couldn't help but regret that his intestines were blue.

didn't keep Antengligi, Guo Muyi didn't care too much. After all, more than 4,000 devils have been annihilated in this battle, which can be regarded as a great victory, and if the Isoya Division can't come over in time, the remaining Guoqi Wing will definitely not escape the fate of annihilation.

Several tanks drove over, and Wu Kezhi, Qi Mingshan, and Xue Feng jumped off the car. Seeing Xue Feng, Guo Muyi's face showed a smile, patted him on the shoulder and said, "The young man did a good job!" Worthy of the name of the sharp knife! Xiao Wu, congratulations, when this battle is over, your brigade will have one more title unit! ”

Xue Feng smiled, and said repeatedly: "Thank you Chief of Staff for cultivating." Wu Kezhi was inexplicable at first, and then listened to Xue Feng's explanation, only then did he know that there was such a good thing in Lu Dao. He grinned happily, glanced at Qi Mingshan with a smile and said, "Now Brigade Commander Zhang is going to be red-eyed." ”

Qi Mingshan is the brigade commander of the Renqiu Brigade, and he is also the only senior general in the mountain division who is not from Bawang Mountain. He waved his hand and said, "What's this, isn't it just a sharp knife battalion?" Hehe, sooner or later, our Renqiu Brigade will add a more domineering name - well, the invincible Renqiu is very good! ”

Jiang Banjun was still worried about the battle at the East Gate, he grabbed Qi Mingshan and left, and said: "Mingshan, go, take your people to the East Gate with me, and solve the devils in the East Gate first." He asked Guo Muyi: "Old Guo, there is nothing wrong with Mingshan now, right?" ”

Guo Muyi nodded and said to Wu Kezhi: "Let's go, let's go to the north gate." The Isoya Division should have rushed over to see if there was a chance to make persistent efforts to destroy the Guoqi United. ”

Everyone suddenly agreed, and was walking towards their own troops, when suddenly the ground shook violently, and a violent explosion came-everyone looked up and followed the sound, and saw a mushroom cloud rising from the northeast direction, and then, the continuous explosion sounded, Guo Muyi slapped himself and said: "Get carried away, that is the artillery position of the 5th Division, it seems that Ryosuke Isoya has killed it." ”

As it turned out, a staff officer hurriedly ran over and shouted from afar: "Chief of Staff, Brigade Commander Zuo is calling, a large group of Japanese troops has appeared in the northeast, he has ordered the artillery to be blown up, and is now retreating towards here." ”

Guo Muyi called out to Jiang Banjun and Qi Mingshan, and said: "It's dawn, the Japanese air force will soon fly to the battlefield, let's all withdraw." Mingshan, take your people, let's go and pick up Brigade Commander Zuo, I'm worried that they will meet with Antenliji. If Antengriji learns that the Isoya Division is coming, he will probably take the opportunity to surround them. ”

The boiled duck flew, Jiang Banjun was a little unwilling, he said to Guo Muyi: "There is still time, give me a few Jiguang, I will definitely be able to destroy the enemy at the East Gate." ”

Guo Muyi shook his head resolutely and said: "The purpose of the raid has been achieved, if my expectations are correct, the third mixed brigade of the Japanese army has already fought with Liu Shurong's department." My opinion, let's withdraw it first, in case it is bitten by the Isoya Division, then the situation will be complicated. The Japanese army had planes in the sky to assist in the operation, and we suffered too much in the positional warfare. ”

Jiang Banjun thought about it and agreed to his suggestion.

At about half past six, the Isoya Division, the Seya Detachment, which had evacuated the Ximen Battlefield, and the remnants of the Anteng Division rushed to the battlefield after meeting. Ryosuke Isoya couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the embarrassed appearance of Atenrikichi and Kei Seya - he originally thought that the troops would go to the battlefield after recuperating and take over from the Seya detachment to take over Taierzhuang, but now it seems that this morning's battle was the defeat of the Imperial Army. He remembered that Antenglige had been urging him to support him a long time ago, and that he had delayed for an hour and a half, and that some words were difficult to say.

At this time, Antenriji no longer cared about questioning him, he was worried about the safety of the Guoqi United, so he borrowed two brigades from Ryosuke Isoya, and immediately led people to kill the north gate and the east gate.

The Isoya Division entered the battlefield almost without hindrance, and in the face of the devastated scene, Isoya Ryosuke lost his mind for a while, and couldn't figure out how the Shina Army fought this battle, and actually made Seya Kei and Atenoriki so embarrassed.

Zuo An'an retreated in time, although Cai Cannon was clamoring to bombard the attacking devils, but he was not greedy for this credit. It's not that he's afraid of death, but he's worried that these cannons will be recaptured by the little devils.

Cai Cannon was tied up and left the position, and when he saw his beloved cannon being blown to pieces, he roared and scolded Zuo An'an for being a loser.

Ryosuke Isoya got out of the car and walked into the battlefield, he saw a Jiguang type tank that had been blown up to the bottom of the chassis was full of Japanese corpses, and on the track track behind this tank, there were some red and white things painted on the ground, and he couldn't help but tears in his eyes, and said to Kei Seya and a few junior officers who were following closely behind: "When did the Shina people become so powerful, if the Shina army is so tenacious and durable, the empire's plan for the common prosperity of Greater East Asia is worrying!" ”

A staff officer bowed his head and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, now there is only one section of the Cadet Army that has a deterrent effect on the imperial army. In my opinion, in order to make a breakthrough in the Battle of Xuzhou as soon as possible, it is the top priority to concentrate the number of aviation forces and focus on eliminating the tank units of the Cadet Army. Your Excellency, Major General has sent a telegram requesting our army to march to Pixian from the southwest in order to encircle the enemy in Pixian. ”

Ryosuke Isoya's brow furrowed.

The 3rd Mixed Infantry Brigade of the Cabinet Body Shengyu began to march towards Pixian County last night, but two hours ago, a telegram was actually sent saying that it was blocked by a minefield, which made him very dissatisfied with the Cabinet Body Shengyu.

Seya Qi observed his words, stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, I will lead my troops to Pi County." With the help of aviation, the tanks of the people of China were useless. If the enemy of Taierzhuang cannot get out of the city, our army can take the lead in seizing the Longhai Railway Canal Bridge, and then the retreat of the enemy in Pixian County will be blocked. Major General and I are flanked from both sides, and it should not be a problem to completely annihilate the enemy in Pi County, as long as we capture Pi County, the situation in the northeast direction of the Grand Canal will be stable. At that time, Major General and I can choose to use the Longhai Railway to form a breakthrough, and if Taierzhuang can also open up the situation, we will be able to threaten Xuzhou from the southeast and southeast. What do you think, Your Excellency? ”

The main force of the Isoya Division, under the leadership of a cadre of middle and low-ranking officers, is reoccupying the positions on the periphery of the Northwest Gate and the West Gate, while the logistics baggage troops are cleaning up the battlefield. Ryosuke Isoya looked at the soldiers coming and going, and suddenly found a very serious problem, he stopped a group of soldiers and shouted: "As a samurai under His Majesty the Emperor, the pride of the empire, can't you bear such a small setback?" Raise your heads for me, gentlemen, remember this, victory will be ours! It will not be long before China will become another colony after Korea and Taiwan. When that day comes, you will be the supreme masters of the land. And the lowly people of China, they will prostrate at your feet, waiting for the mercy of the great and mighty people—"

Xue Feng's battalion was worthy of the name of the sharp knife, they resolutely carried out the strategy formulated by Guo Muyi to defeat the enemy, and used the heavy armor of the Jiguang tank to crush the devils in a dense place regardless of it, which caused the extremely terrifying scene that the little devils saw now - many devils were directly crushed to death, and their sinful blood, flesh, and bones were mixed with the land of China, and turned into a paralyzed mud.

This seriously shocked the hearts of the little devils and made them realize the possible miserable fate as an invader, which caused the morale of the Japanese army to be extremely low.

The general spoke, no matter what he thought in his heart, the group of devils instinctively responded in unison: "Hai! Then he raised his head, revealing a pale face.

Ryosuke Isoya solemnly watched one group after another of soldiers enter the front-line position, thinking that his morale had improved, and then said to Seya Kai: "Your suggestion is good, but please be careful of the Shina army in the direction of the Yi River." If the cost of assault is too great, I recommend destroying it with artillery fire. ”

Seya Kei's face flushed, he had almost lost all his artillery and chariot troops with his rampant artillery, and Isoya Ryosuke said such words at this time, which made him feel particularly harsh. Although he didn't dare to question it on the surface, in his heart, he believed that the Isoya Division was responsible for the current situation - if the Isoya Division could enter the battlefield an hour earlier, then this battle would definitely be a different result. The 5th Division bore the brunt of the attack, and it was inevitable that the casualties would be huge, but the raiding troops of the Shina people would definitely suffer heavy losses, and even the chariots they attacked in battle would be surrounded and annihilated - Seya Kei couldn't figure out why Ryosuke Isoya had dragged on until now to enter the Taierzhuang battlefield, which made him miss Ryosuke Isoya's predecessor, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka. Yoshio Shinozuka was resolute, if he was in charge of the 10th Division, Seya Kai dared to conclude that the Taierzhuang battlefield at this time would be a completely different scene.

"Your Excellency, my artillery unit has been completely wiped out by a surprise attack by the Chinese army."

"Ahh Ryosuke Isoya was taken aback, he was turning his head to look at Kei Seya in surprise, and Antengriji came back in a gloomy manner. He said from afar: "The people of China have retreated back to the city, and the Guoqi United has not suffered much loss, and they can still hold their positions." Isogu-kun, do we still want to maintain the oppression of Taierzhuang? ”

Isoya glared at Seya Kai and said to a staff officer behind him, "Let Ida transfer five mountain guns to Setani-kun and equip them with two boxes of special artillery shells." ”

Ryosuke Isoya admired special artillery shells that violated the Geneva Accords, which was a well-known thing among the top Japanese generals. The so-called special artillery shells are actually poison gas bombs. Kei Seya felt that as an upright soldier, he should not use this weapon. His mouth opened, and he had the intention to refuse, but thinking of his career and fate after this war, he finally closed his mouth.

Antengliji's face was ashen and he looked very decadent. The heavy blow he suffered today seriously hit his confidence - he originally thought that he would use the strength of the Isogu Division to severely damage the Chinese troops who went out of the city to counterattack, maybe he could take advantage of the situation to attack the city, so as to obtain the battle of Taierzhuang to make up for the failure of this battle, but when he arrived at the north gate and the east gate, the defenders' counterattack troops had already withdrawn to the city, leaving him no chance at all. The Guoqi United originally had nearly 5,000 people, but after repeated hard battles, there are now only more than 3,000 left. That is, the 5th Division has now lost more than half of its combat strength. Such a loss is not something that can be prevaricated by just a few excuses, and Antenlige can even feel that he will not stay in China for too long. He walked up to Isoya and looked at the baggage soldiers who were busy carrying the corpses around him, frowned, and sighed softly.

Ryosuke Isoya glanced at him sideways, and comforted him softly: "An Tengjun, don't be discouraged, as long as we can capture Taierzhuang as soon as possible and advance to Xuzhou, this morning's loss is nothing." ”

Antengriji smiled bitterly: "Isoya-kun, when are you going to attack?" ”

"As soon as the air force arrives," Ryosuke Isoya said, pointing to a force heading towards the West Gate, "I am going to launch a feint attack at the Northwest Gate, and then carry out a breakthrough from the West Gate." Just now, Akino Shaosa of the Seya detachment reported to me that there was a crack in the section of the city wall 300 meters to the left of the west gate, and I was going to have the air force carry out intensive bombing there, directly destroy the city wall there, and then form a breakthrough. As long as our army can fight through there, we can divide the enemy army at Ximen in two, and then annihilate each of them. An Tengjun, I also ask your troops to maintain pressure at the East Gate and the North Gate to avoid the enemy army in Dongcheng District from supporting Xicheng District. ”

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Then please."

Tatsunobu Nagai wiped the sweat from his head, took two deep breaths, and then carefully stabbed the bayonet into the dirt in front of him.

Nagai Tatsunobe is an engineer who belongs to the cabinet brigade, and it has been more than three years since Nagai entered the Chinese battlefield, but this is the first time he has come into contact with this kind of demining practice.

He sent two brigades of infantry to advance quickly towards Pixian, first encountering a guerrilla ambush at a place called Cuihe, and then encountering a minefield less than five miles from the Xiashui River.

The mines were laid by the scouts of the Cadet Army led by Ge Zengfu to guide the guerrillas of the Red Gun Society and the Wanxian Society, and the means of laying were quite ghostly, and the Japanese army lost two beans in a row, and after nearly a hundred devils, they did not dare to act rashly. After leading the large army to catch up, he lost a few motorcycles and a dozen soldiers while exploring the road, and he could not figure out how many mines the Chinese army had laid, so he decided to clear the mines directly from the main road.

On a dirt slope about 500 meters away from the minefield, two clumps of wild grass were shaking slightly. A voice said: "Camp, Taierzhuang has already started fighting, and our task of delaying the enemy army has been completed." What should I do next, should I let Boss Fu and them retreat immediately? ”

At this time, it was about half past four o'clock in the morning, the sky was bright, and at a distance of more than 500 meters, with the help of a telescope, I could clearly see the devil who was clearing mines in front.

The mines brought by Lei Ying made a great contribution this time, and the civilian armed forces, which were not valued by the Japanese, relied on more than 700 mines to delay a brigade in the vicinity of the Xiashui River for more than two hours, which was something that no one expected at the beginning.

Hidden under another bush of weeds was Ge Zengfu, who lowered his binoculars and set up the sniper step. As he began to aim, he whispered, "This devil is powerful, he has already discharged nine mines, and he must be killed." ”

"Good. Yingza, do you say that Brigade Commander Liu and Division Commander Huang choose to stay in Pixian or retreat? Pixian can't fight, right? ”

"Shhh

Demining is a mental job, and because of the high level of tension, Nagai Tatsuyan is completely soaked. He carefully put the bayonet on a mine that had just been raised, and his hand touched a wire under the mine - this was a treacherous mine, two mines connected together, and the use of metal detectors to detect the mine would often make people ignore the mine below, thus causing the accidental death of the demining engineer.

Fingers touched a cold, hard thing in the floating soil, Nagai let out a long sigh of joy, and the next moment, he suddenly froze, and then fell headlong.

Several devil sappers next to him clearly saw that his head was blooming, and red and white things were splashing, and one of them couldn't help but scream in horror. "Boom!" Nagai pulled the wire as he fell, and the thunderbolt exploded. The sudden sound of gunfire and explosions frightened the devils behind them to lie down, and many people shouted even more. There are also devil snipers who are always watching the surroundings and discover the source of the gunshots, and they raise their guns to shoot one after another.

In one shot, Ge Zengfu grinned with satisfaction and shouted, "Let's go!" He rolled over and rolled down the dirt slope. He led more than a dozen people to run back all the way, straightened up more than 300 meters away from the dirt slope, glanced back at the Japanese army, and then swaggered out the two-wheeled motorcycle hidden in the field, got into the car and flashed people.

"Eight grids!" In the face of the arrogant Ge Zengfu and others, the cabinet was angry. However, in the face of the unknown number of mines ahead, he did not dare to order the pursuit.

"Fire! Fire the cannon and blow them up with a cannon for me! In the end, he gave such an order that was purely angry.

"Boom!" Several shells exploded behind Ge Zengfu and the others. Ge Zengfu said with a smile: "The little devil is so polite, he actually sent a salute to see us off." ”

"Ha Lu Ha!" Everyone galloped towards Pixian in the laughter of Da Lu and the roar of motorcycle engines——