Seeing that the soldiers who rushed forward were suppressed in the open ground by the Japanese firepower, let alone attacking forward, it was difficult to even raise their heads, and the battalion commander He Dazhuang was also anxious with his eyes on fire, and he couldn't wait to rush up and solve the Japanese troops in the position. But now the only thing he could do was to get the covering machine gunners to increase their fire and suppress the Japanese troops in their positions.

At this time, the commander of the second battalion rushed to He Dazhuang's side with the soldiers of the second battalion, except for the artillery who was still firing at the mortars of the Japanese army, the rest of the soldiers were reinforced. Now it is very difficult for a battalion of soldiers to attack, but it is not easy to retreat, and the Japanese troops on the position will shoot from behind when retreating, which will bring a large number of casualties to the first battalion.

Compared with He Dazhuang, Wei Shan was much calmer, and Wei Shan's first order was to let dozens of sharpshooters of the second battalion shoot freely and snipe the light machine gunners and officers on the Japanese position. Although these dozens of sharpshooters are not as good as the official snipers in the guard brigade and reconnaissance brigade, they are not too far behind, and each of them has a Mauser rifle equipped with a quadruple scope, and it is really not difficult to snipe the enemy at a distance of more than 100 meters.

The marksmanship of dozens of sharpshooters and pistols with headshots suddenly panicked the Japanese troops on the position, and at the same time, the low-ranking officers who commanded the battle were also sniped one after another, and the Japanese troops on the position were suddenly in chaos. The chaos of the Japanese army put a lot less pressure on the officers and men of the first battalion, and some soldiers had already launched a counterattack against the Japanese army on the ground. At this distance, the rushing and frontal guns in the hands of the soldiers just exerted their maximum power, and the Japanese troops on the position gradually became overwhelmed.

Ten minutes passed, and the artillery of the 2nd Battalion completely destroyed the Japanese artillery positions, and adjusted the muzzles in time to smash the shells on the heads of the Japanese troops in the trenches and fortifications. These shells became the last straw that broke the camel's back, and directly collapsed the chaotic Japanese army. Several Japanese soldiers took the lead in fleeing towards the mountain, and with these soldiers taking the lead, more and more soldiers turned around and fled towards the mountain, and several Japanese commanders tried to stop them, but as soon as they stood up, they either died under the guns of the sharpshooters, or were narrowly wrapped by the soldiers and fled to the mountain.

When the opportunity came, the soldiers of the first battalion and the second battalion seized the opportunity at the same time, and the soldiers of the suppressed first battalion jumped up from the ground and rushed towards the fleeing Japanese soldiers, and the soldiers of the second battalion were not far behind, chasing behind the soldiers of the first battalion, and rushed towards the hill together after the fleeing Japanese troops. Originally, the Japanese army had only one brigade headquarters and more than 100 soldiers on the mountain, but there were still 2 or 300 Japanese troops who fled to the mountain, but these 2 or 300 Japanese troops were already frightened birds, and it was difficult for them to recover their combat effectiveness at once.

He Dazhuang and Wei Shan did not pursue the Japanese army with the troops, they watched the soldiers of the two battalions rushing towards the mountain like a rainbow, and smiled reassuringly. The two of them understood that they had won this battle, and the remaining Japanese troops were already trapped beasts and had nothing to fear. He Dazhuang even sent a signal corpsman to report the situation to the regiment commander immediately.

While the soldiers were pursuing the Japanese army and charging towards the hill, the 543rd Regiment was also attacking the Japanese positions on the mountainside. The 543rd Regiment and the 542nd Regiment launched an attack on the Japanese positions on the hill at the same time, but in the battle plan, the 542nd Regiment was the main attack, the 543rd Regiment was a feint, and the artillery directly under the brigade was supported in the direction of the 542nd Regiment.

After the meeting at the brigade headquarters, Tang Weimin returned to the regimental headquarters of the 543rd Regiment and also called his battalion commanders over. Tang Weimin didn't want to just be a foil to carry out a feint attack on the Japanese position, and several battalion commanders under him didn't want to do so, so this pre-war meeting became a discussion with everyone on how to really attack the Japanese position without artillery support.

It is said that there is no artillery support, but there is no support from the more than 30 field guns directly under the brigade headquarters, and there are not many artillery pieces of the 543rd Regiment, and there are more than 30 heavy artillery guns alone, and each battalion also has light artillery for support. What's more critical is that the 543rd Regiment has the best sharpshooter in the whole army, Liu Yi, the commander of the heavy firepower battalion.

This Liu Yi was originally an artillery instructor of the Nanjing Central Teaching Team, and in the defense of Nanjing, he once commanded four mortars to destroy six Japanese combat vehicles with more than a dozen shells. Tang Yikuan once wanted to transfer him to the Heavy Artillery Regiment of the 90th Division as the commander of the regiment, but Tang Weimin refused to let him go, so he stayed in the 543rd Regiment.

When discussing whether the heavy attack could serve as the heavy duty of covering the attack, everyone's eyes were on Liu Yi. Liu Yi thought for a while, and said unhurriedly: "Tuanzao, I can do it with the artillery in the regiment as a cover for the attack, but I also have the conditions." First, the artillery position was advanced to a distance of 300 meters from the Japanese position; second, the artillery of the entire regiment was uniformly mobilized and commanded by us, including the five 82-caliber howitzers and artillery guns in the hands of the guard battalion. ”

These five 82-caliber grenades and artillery were transferred to Tang Yikuan by Tang Yikuan after Tang Weimin begged Tang Yikuan many times as his nephew, and only the 543rd Regiment had five in the regiment-level troops. Hearing Liu Yi's request, Tang Weimin hesitated, but in order to capture the Japanese position, Tang Weimin still nodded and agreed.

At 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the artillery of the 543rd Regiment fired in unison, and the five grenades and projectiles were all proofread and aimed at the target by Liu Yi himself, and the five shells destroyed five bunkers on the Japanese position in one fell swoop. The artillery fire of the 543rd Regiment was not fierce, but the accuracy was quite high, and the 20-minute artillery bombardment made the Japanese position at the foot of the mountain a mess, and the Japanese soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

Under such circumstances, the 543rd Regiment also quickly captured the Japanese position at the foot of the mountain. It was only when they advanced towards the mountainside position that they encountered interception by Japanese artillery fire. Compared with the hill attacked by the 542nd Regiment, the density of trees on this hill was smaller, and the Japanese troops on this hill not only had more than a dozen artillery guns, but also several Type 92 infantry guns, and the dense artillery fire once stopped the attack of the 543rd Regiment.

In this case, Liu Yi made another move, he first adjusted the firing angles of the five grenades and shells, and then personally commanded the heavy mortars to advance not far from the foot of the mountain, aiming at the Japanese artillery position. After more than half an hour of artillery fighting, Liu Yi finally wiped out all the Japanese artillery at the cost of the destruction of six heavy mortars, and then the 543rd Regiment was able to continue to advance to the mountainside position.

During the attack on the Japanese mountainside position, the 543rd Regiment was also again blocked by the open ground, but Liu Yi also came up with 30 mortars to reinforce it. Under the precise attack of the artillery commanded by Liu Yi, the fortifications and bunkers built by the Japanese army were cleared one by one, coupled with the accurate sniping of many sharpshooters, the Japanese army could not bear it for a long time.

The two battalions of the 543rd Regiment took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese position, and soon after the 542nd Regiment took the mountainside position, the 543rd Regiment also took the Japanese mountainside position. As soon as the reports of the two regiments came to Tang Yiqun's hands, Tang Yiqun couldn't help but praise after reading the telegram, "Good job!" I thought that I could take one hill first, and then concentrate my forces to attack another hill, but I didn't expect that the 543rd Regiment also gave me a surprise.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the 542nd Regiment sent a report that it had captured the hill and completely annihilated an infantry brigade of the Japanese army, with 42 casualties and 164 wounded of its own troops. Half an hour later, the 543rd Regiment also sent a report that it had captured the hill and annihilated a Japanese infantry brigade, with 69 casualties and 147 wounded in its own troops.

The good news of annihilating two Japanese infantry brigades at a small cost, and seizing two hills, opened the door to Hunan Province, was enough to make Tang Yiqun excited and proud. Tang Yiqun immediately telegraphed the news to the division commander Tang Yikuan. When the 271st Brigade was preparing to attack the Japanese position, Tang Yikuan received information, and Tang Yikuan was about to transfer the heavy artillery regiment and mixed armored battalion to reinforcements.

However, the division's heavy artillery regiment is still more than 20 kilometers away from the 271st Brigade, and it will take two hours to arrive at the fastest on the mountain road, which is not easy to walk, and the mixed armored battalion can arrive in an hour, but the armored battalion is not very useful in attacking the mountain. Tang Yikuan could only order the division's heavy artillery regiment to rush to the front line as soon as possible on the basis of believing in the strength of the 271st Brigade.

When receiving Tang Yiqun's telegram, Tang Yikuan was also taken aback. Although he also believed that the 271st Brigade could win this battle with its own strong strength, he was still surprised by such a short period of time and such a small number of casualties. Now that the 271st Brigade has made a good start with a complete victory, it is time for the 90th Division to exert its strength.

After taking the Qishan Ridge, the road went out of the mountains and into the hilly area, which not only meant that the road was easier to walk, but also meant that the Japanese army did not have a favorable terrain to set up a blocking position in a short distance. Tang Yikuan ordered the troops to speed up and choose a place to camp after passing through the mountains. Finally, shortly after dark, the entire 90th Division passed through the mountains and stopped at a hill forest twenty-five kilometers south of Yongzhou City.

After camping, Tang Yikuan called Tang Yiqun over. As soon as Tang Yiqun arrived at the tent of the temporary division headquarters, he found that Zhang Lingfu, commander of the 272nd Brigade, Li Changqing, commander of the divisional reconnaissance regiment, and Tang Lin, commander of the division's heavy artillery regiment, were all there. Tang Yikuan first praised Tang Yiqun, and then said: "Everyone, according to the report of the reconnaissance team under Changqing, not far in front is the Xiangjiang River, which flows east-west in the south of Yongzhou City, just in front of Yongzhou City. Relying on the Xiangjiang River, the Japanese army has repaired the defense line on the north bank of the Xiangjiang River, and we will face the Japanese army's Xiangjiang defense line tomorrow, and we will discuss how to break through the Japanese army's Xiangjiang defense line and cross the Xiangjiang River. ”

On the map, twenty kilometers south of Yongzhou City, the Xiangjiang River crosses from west to east, and joins Xiaoshui in Lingling County. In order to attack Yongzhou City, it was necessary to cross the Xiang River first, and the Japanese army took advantage of this to invest two wings on the north bank of the Xiang River and build a defensive line. Looking at the map, everyone was pondering, and after half a day, Tang Yiqun suddenly spoke: "Division, I think we can choose a few places as attack points, and use our superiority in strength to disperse the Japanese troops on the defense line." ”