The Chinese troops, who were attacking again in the direction of the North Gate, lined up in battle formation, ignoring the fire of Japanese light weapons on the position, and kept firing with vehicle-mounted artillery and vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns while attacking forward. Behind the armored body, the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 568th Regiment, while using armored vehicles as cover, were also cautiously guarding against the Japanese army's use of human bombs and bombs again.

The armored vehicles gradually approached the front of the Japanese position, and the Japanese suffered heavy casualties, and the living ones were also suppressed by the bullets fired like a torrential rain, and they could not even lift their heads. Seeing that the armored vehicles were about to break through the trench, the two captains of the Japanese army pointed forward with their command knives at the same time, and the ghost shouted: "Kill it!" and then took the lead in rushing towards the attacking Chinese army, and they were accompanied by hundreds of soldiers who could still fight.

The officers and men of the 568th Regiment did not learn from the Japanese army what kind of "bushido" spirit the Japanese army played, and the commander of the first battalion, Feng Lisan, shouted: "Hit hard!" He took the lead in pulling the trigger of the hand rush and the front gun, and a string of bullets flew out, knocking down a Japanese soldier who rushed in front. Other fighters also emerged from behind the armored vehicles and pulled the trigger on the Japanese troops.

The continuous fire of the fighters, coupled with the assistance of the heavy machine guns on the armored vehicles, in a matter of minutes, hundreds of Japanese soldiers, including the two Japanese captains, fell to the ground. After crossing the trench, the armored vehicles stopped, the officers and men of the first battalion took up the task of guarding, and the officers and men of the second battalion scattered in search of the occupied positions to remove the fish that had slipped through the net.

In the temporary command post, Mu Suzhong used high-powered binoculars to see that the troops had captured the first line of Japanese positions, and a smile appeared on his face. In the command post of the 35th Brigade of the Japanese Army under the city, Major General Hirano Zhuang San gritted his teeth and scolded: "Baga!" In just one day, more than 2,000 people of the two infantry brigades on the first line of positions were basically wiped out, and the position was also lost, which made Major General Hirano Zhuang feel angry and frightened at the same time.

Mu Suzhong saw that the sun had turned westward, so he did not continue to attack. A day of intense fighting finally paid off, and Mu Suzhong was quite satisfied with the performance of the fighters. Mu Suzhong ordered the troops occupying the position to be stationed on the spot and pay attention to vigilance, and only then did he feel a little tired. However, before it was time to rest, Mu Suzhong left the command post and walked to the division headquarters, preparing to report the situation to the division commander Li Yuanhong.

Compared with the direction of the north gate, the results of the south gate and the west gate are much worse, here at the south gate, Wei Erxi commanded the troops to launch four attacks, but the Japanese mountain artillery is really not powerful, and repeated bombardment has not knocked out many bunker fortifications on the Japanese position. The attacking troops faced many heavy machine-gun fire points of the Japanese army, coupled with the lack of cover from combat vehicles, and suffered many casualties in the storm. In order to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, Wei Erxi could only carry out feints again and again.

However, even if it was a feint, the soldiers' excellent individual quality, good teamwork, skilled group cooperation, coupled with the accurate long-range sniping of the sharpshooters, also caused a lot of casualties to the Japanese troops stationed there, and they felt great pressure. In the face of the defense of the Japanese army, which is known as the strongest army in Asia, the attacking side suffered fewer casualties than the defending side, and only Wang Haitao's 90th Army could play such a record.

As for the West Gate, Tang Longzai didn't dare to exert his strength at all, if the West Gate attack used all his strength, the record would never be worse than the direction of the North Gate, and he could even attack the city of Hanoi at once. However, if the direction of the main attack is exposed too early, the Japanese army will definitely mobilize its forces in the direction of the West Gate, which will be detrimental to the siege battle later. Tang Longzai understands Wang Haitao's intentions very well and will not make such a mistake.

Therefore, in the direction of the west gate, with a small number of artillery and a large number of mortars, the road of attack was first bombarded unhurriedly, and then a small number of infantry was dispatched, and the fire points exposed by the Japanese army were repeatedly bombarded with artillery fire until they were destroyed. Such an attack made Li Changwu, the commander-in-chief of the front line, hold his breath, but he understood Wang Haitao's battle plan, so he could only fight like this first.

When it got dark, the assault on Hanoi Castle was temporarily halted, and the Japanese were relieved, and Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano again came to the headquarters of the 16th Army. Commander Imamura and Chief of Staff Kiyozaburo Okazaki were both there. Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano saluted and said: "Your Excellency Division Commander, today the Chinese army attacked our position outside the north gate with heavy troops, and broke through my first line with many heavy artillery and chariots. ”

Commander Jun Imamura knew exactly what was going on outside the castle today, and he understood why Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano had come. Commander Imamura also believed a lot in the Chinese army's use of the North Gate as the main direction of attack, but Chief of Staff Okazaki always believed that the North Gate direction was a feint attack by the Chinese army in order to mobilize the defenders of the castle. Because of Chief of Staff Okazaki's insistence, Commander Imamura was a little hesitant.

Before Commander Imamura could answer Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano's words, Chief of Staff Okazaki said: "Sano-kun, the Shina people are very cunning, I think that the attack of the Shina army in the direction of the North Gate is just a feint, and I ask Sano-kun to hold on." "Kiyozaburo Okazaki, the chief of staff, is only a major general, and Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano is not so polite to him.

Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi said coldly: "Okazaki-kun, the people of China have used a large number of heavy artillery and chariots, and the number of attacking soldiers is not less than 3,000, if such an attack is still a feint, then what kind of weapons will be used for the main attack? How many troops will be dispatched? Can this Hanoi City still be defended?" Chief of Staff Okazaki was stunned for a moment, looked at Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi and asked: "Sano-kun, do you know how many troops the people of China have to attack Hanoi this time? If it is the main attack, how can they only send 3,000 people to attack? What about the rest of the troops?" ”

Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi snorted coldly and replied: "Aren't there both the South Gate and the West Gate where the Shina army is attacking? But the elite main force of the Shina people should be placed in the direction of the North Gate, otherwise how could my more than 2,000 well-trained soldiers all be shattered in one day? Does Okazaki-kun think that all the troops of the Shina army that are not the elite main force are stronger than our Great Imperial Japanese Army?"

Seeing that the two of them were arguing, Commander Imamura's face was cloudy, and finally he couldn't help but say, "Okay, don't fight." Whether the Chinese army in the direction of the north gate is not the main attack, the main thing is to block the attack of the Chinese army. Sano-kun, how long can your position outside the north gate hold back the Shina army?" After hearing Commander Imamura's words, Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi ignored Major General Okazaki Kiyozaburo and seriously considered Commander Imamura's question.

After a while, Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano replied: "Your Excellency, my Excellency, now there are only three infantry brigades left in the 35th Brigade of our division, and we have lost the support of artillery, and if there are no reinforcements and artillery, it is impossible to support it for too long, and at most two to three days will lose all the positions outside the city. Commander Imamura Jun was surprised by Sano Tadayoshi's answer, and he asked in surprise, "What about it? Will you lose all the positions outside the city in two to three days?"

After seeing Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano's affirmative nod, Commander Imamura thought silently. The headquarters was quiet for a moment, and the atmosphere was very depressing. It took a while for Commander Imamura Jun to break the oppressive atmosphere, and he said, "Sano-kun, you select soldiers with combat effectiveness from the troops in the castle of your division, replenish them to the position outside the north gate, and I will provide supplies to your troops." In addition, another field artillery brigade will be transferred to you for command, and you must hold the position outside the north gate for more than five days. ”

Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano thought for a moment and replied, "I also ask Your Excellency the Commander to continue to ask for support from the flight troops, and only the bombing of aircraft can deal with the chariots of the Shina people." Commander Jun Imamura nodded in response, "Sano-kun, don't worry, I will continue to ask for support from the plane." Only then did Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano agree: "In this way, I will definitely fulfill the order of His Excellency the Commander." ”

Commander Imamura Jun nodded and said, "Yo Xi, then please leave Sano-kun outside the north gate." Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano replied, "Hey! After Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano left the headquarters, Commander Jun Imamura said to Major General Kiyozaburo Okazaki: "Okazaki-kun, tomorrow the infantry brigade directly under the direction of the West Gate will be transferred to the direction of the North Gate, and the field artillery brigade deployed in the direction of the West Gate will also be handed over to the commander of the Sano Division. ”

Major General Kiyozaburo Okazaki exclaimed: "Your Excellency Commander, what if the Shina people attack from the West Gate?" Commander Imamura Jun shook his head and replied: "The West Gate should be the most unlikely to be the main attack direction, and if the North Gate cannot hold on, it will not be the same result? Besides, there is an infantry wing stationed on the position outside the West Gate, and it is still possible to block the attack of the Shina army for one day, right? One day, it is too late to mobilize troops. ”

Major General Kiyozaburo Okazaki saw that Commander Imamura Jun was determined to make up his mind, and although he had ideas, he could only carry out the commander's orders. After Mu Suzhong returned from Division Commander Li Yuanhong in the temporary command post outside the north gate, he gathered several of his commanders. After everyone sat down, Mu Suzhong said: "Everyone, all the troops performed well in today's battle, and the division also praised everyone. Now let's talk about how tomorrow's battle should be fought. ”

As soon as Mu Suzhong finished speaking, Li Chunshan, the commander of the 568th Regiment under his command, said: "Brigade seat, I have seen the position, the Japanese army has dug a very wide trench on the position, and I am afraid that the armored vehicles will no longer be able to provide cover for the infantry when they attack tomorrow." However, the position is complex, and our regiment has the ability to use the complex terrain to infiltrate the Japanese position, and even without the cover of armored vehicles, it will definitely be able to capture the Japanese position. ”

As soon as Li Chunshan finished speaking, Wei Yongshou, the commander of the 569th Regiment, said in agreement: "Brigade seat, Lao Li is right, without the cover of armored vehicles, we can still capture the Japanese position." To deal with the Japanese fire points, it was enough to have a mortar strike. The commander of the armored regiment* also said: "Armored vehicles cannot cover the infantry to attack together, can't you still use vehicle-mounted artillery and heavy machine guns to suppress the Japanese troops on the position, I will order the armored vehicles to make mobile fire points behind the infantry to support the infantry attack." ”