Relying on the speed of the cavalry, he finally escaped from the siege of the Shina army, but Iwata Shaosa was still in shock. Returning along the same route that pursued the Jin army, the cavalry squadron had lost all the vigor it had when it came.

It wasn't until they turned out of this valley of death and saw the outline of Fengdian City from a distance again that everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, they didn't know that just now, the Otsuka United had already begun an attack on the county seat of Fengdian, and the first attack failed.

Iwata's most urgent task now is to count his battle losses.

This cavalry squadron of Iwata Shaosa was part of the Katsura Palace Cavalry Wing of the Sena Division. According to the organization of the Japanese Army, each army division was assigned to a cavalry wing. But for the same wing, the composition of cavalry and infantry is very different: the infantry wing is based on three infantry brigades, and the total number of wings is more than 3,000 people. The cavalry wing, on the other hand, consisted of only two cavalry squadrons, each of which had three cavalry squadrons, and the total number of men and horses in the wing did not exceed 300.

The Katsura Palace Cavalry Wing is currently divided into two, and a squadron is personally led by the wing commander Katsura Fushiosa, and is stationed in Taiyuan with the headquarters of the Sena Division; The other squadron was this one of Iwata Shaosa, which was temporarily assigned to the Otsuka Wing.

Due to the scarcity of horses and the difficulty of training (there is also a theory that most of the cavalry members came from the Japanese royal family and aristocracy), the Japanese army often valued cavalry and rarely involved cavalry wings in frontal combat, whose main tasks were reconnaissance, search, and patrol.

But this morning, the cavalry squadron under Iwata Shaoza, while carrying out reconnaissance and patrol missions, recklessly pursued the rout of the Jin army and fell into an ambush, and was forced to get involved in a bloody battle. The price of the bloody battle was that the whole squadron was not a lottery, and a third of the men did not escape, apparently, they were either killed or captured.

Despite the howling wind, a cold sweat broke out on Iwata's back: in this encounter, the cavalry squadron only destroyed one of the radio cars of the Shina Army (of course, several warriors also stripped off the clothes of a female soldier of the Shina Army), but lost a full forty-two people, and even the corpses were never brought back! How should he explain to the two co-captains of Otsuka and Katsura Palace?!

The cavalry squadron, which had lost its troops and hung its heads, marched to the camp of the Otsuka Coalition outside the northern city of Fengdian, and the knights who had flaunted their might just now trembled when they saw the swaying of the withered yellow weeds on the mountain beams in the distance.

……

In just twenty minutes, Kosuke Otsuka received two blows in succession, and Fukudaoka's brigade, which had just been defeated, was still scribbling to count the battle damage, and the report of the ambush of the Iwata cavalry squadron came.

Underestimate the enemy, or underestimate the enemy!

As the captain of the wing, he underestimated the defensive strength of the defenders of Shina, and Iwata, the bastard, actually led the cavalry deep into the unfamiliar valley. But Otsuka didn't scold Iwata too much, one is the noble status of the cavalry in the division (Iwata, as the captain of the squadron, actually has the rank of junior sa, and the three captains under his command are only the rank of sada); Second, the son of a Hokkaido rancher brought back a piece of information that alerted Otsuka, and according to Iwata himself and a number of subordinates, the Shina Army that had just been ambushed was obviously not the same unit as the one being pursued, and the words on the armbands of their military uniforms were: Eight Roads.

Eight ways!

Kosuke Otsuka immediately remembered the telegram sent by the brigade headquarters from Taiyuan before the attack on Toyodian. The Eighth Route Army really appeared, and it appeared on the flank of its own wing!

So far, the Otsuka Wing has never met the Eighth Route Army head-on, and after attacking Shanxi from Niangzi Pass, Otsuka Kosuke only heard that the Miura Brigade of the Itagaki Division was ambushed and severely damaged by the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army at Pingxing Pass (the radio and newspapers of the Shina government ridiculously advertised the annihilation of 10,000 enemies, but in fact there were more than 1,000); In addition, it is reported that the aviation regiment was destroyed by a night attack by a section of the Eighth Route Army at an airfield in Yangmingbao. In addition, there are few operational reports about the Eighth Route Army. What is the combat power of this mysterious Chinese army?

And the intelligence of the head of the Taiyuan secret service said that the number of the Eighth Route Army, which is currently infiltrating the central and southern parts of Jin, is suspected to be the 115th Division!

Otsuka carefully questioned the entire course of Iwata's encounter and ordered him to recall as many details as possible, especially the number of soldiers on the Eighth Route. According to Iwata, there were "thousands" of ambush soldiers rushing down from the mountain beams, which made Otsuka suspicious. According to his understanding of the Chinese army, one of its divisions consisted of two brigades, and if the number of soldiers reached "thousands", it was already close to the strength of one brigade! Could it be that the main force of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army has opened here?

Otsuka didn't expect that he was deceived by his own subordinates. In order to cover up the defeat just now and evade the responsibility for the loss of the army, Iwata Shaozo deliberately lied and exaggerated the number of ambushes of the Eighth Route Army.

Before departure, the original information given by the brigade headquarters to the Otsuka Wing was that the defenders of Shina in Fengdian County were about two regiments; Otsuka estimated that the men and horses he brought should be about the same as the defenders of China in terms of numbers; And the combat power of the Imperial Army is enough to defeat three enemies with one, so Otsuka did not take the enemy very seriously before the war. However, right now, on his flank, a main force of the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared, and it may be the 115th Division that had attacked the Miura Brigade. This made Otsuka start to be careful.

He ordered an immediate telegram to be sent to the brigade headquarters, requesting that the infantry brigade that he had left behind in the Junling Tomb be considered to be transferred two squadrons to strengthen the wing's current flank protection in Fengdian. For now, he temporarily ordered Fukudaoka to draw a squadron, and together with the cavalry squadron that had just returned, he went out to the right front of the wing camp to set up a guard. At the same time, he decided that the second attack on Fengdian County would be changed to the main attack by the Xiangchuan Brigade.

The field artillery brigade reported that the main point of fire exposed by the defenders of China at the head of the northern city was two heavy machine-gun positions, one of which, during the second shelling just now, had been destroyed. Otsuka finally showed a smile, this was the only good news this morning, he praised the captain of the field artillery brigade, and promised that after the city was broken, the field artillery brigade would give priority to the selection and enjoyment of the captured Shina woman.

……

The three Maxim heavy machine guns allocated to the 1st Battalion of the 391st Regiment had indeed fired two in the battle just now, and they were mounted on the head of the city; The third one was erected on the sandbag bunker in the gate hole, and although the Japanese artillery fire blew open a city gate, its infantry did not have time to advance to the city gate hole, so the soldiers in the gate hole bunker, including the Makqin heavy machine gun, did not fire.

Zhao Mutou brought back the news that a Makqin heavy machine gun was blown up, although this made Qin Zhongxiao angry, but it was not surprising that for more than half a year, the colonel of the Central Army had become accustomed to the pain of being hit by the powerful firepower of the Japanese army, and this pain even became a little numb. Fortunately, the second Makqin urgently shifted its position, and Zhao Mutou sighed: The little devil's cannon is really fucking accurate, as long as he is half a step slower, the second Makqin will suffer the same catastrophe.

Qin Zhongxiao didn't let Zhao Mutou go back to Beicheng, and the first battle proved that the first battalion could still withstand the critical moment; Now he suddenly came up with an idea, since the Japanese army is not besieging the city (only a small group of rangers appeared outside the west city), can you quietly release a surprise army from the east gate, sneak out to the flank of the devil's camp, and make it a guy? No matter what the outcome of the battle is, it is better than blindly shrinking in the city and being beaten now.

He told the chief of staff and Zhao Mutou about this idea. The chief of staff seemed very embarrassed, he had a tight army at hand, and if he released some more, the city defense might not be supported; Zhao Mutou was excited, this kid is not a fuel-efficient lamp on weekdays, and at this moment, when he heard that he could sneak in and stab the devil in the ribs, and his face was still stained with cigarette ash, an ugly smile suddenly bloomed.

Zhao Mutou remembered that when he ran into the yard just now, he saw the hostess and her maid Sun Nier, and the women's panicked and speechless expressions made his heart sour, and it also made him instantly have the pride to protect them: even if it is to defend the innocence of women, little Japan will never be allowed to break the city!