Kosuke Otsuka's truck convoy overtook his deputy captain on the road from Junling to Toyodian, which was still more than 30 miles away from the county seat of Toyodian at that time.

Otsuka didn't give the order to stop, and the truck team squeezed Aso Nakasa and them to the side of the road and drove away. When Otsuka's own truck passed by Aso's mount, the co-captain simply rolled the window and told his lieutenant: Speed up and meet at the bottom of Toyoden Castle.

He was deliberately humiliating the vice-captain of the Wing, who was easily lost to Toyodian Castle and Fukudaoka's whereabouts unknown, and Aso was to blame him, and it was through this humiliation that he and the defeated soldiers were reinvigorated.

The convoy also did not stop when it drove past a conspicuous chicken grass shop on the side of the road, and Wing Commander Dazuo did not know that at this moment, in this small shop, there were not only the shopkeeper and Xiao Er, but also several spies from the special service company of the 391st Regiment of the Central Army. They have been staying here, preparing to pick up the military commanders who have entered Fengdian County.

Surprised to see a large number of Japanese convoys galloping past, the spies of the spy company immediately understood that this was the main force of the Japanese army in the direction of Junling to counterattack Fengdian County. However, the spies had no radio in their hands, and they could not outrun the wheels of the Japanese, so they could only watch the trucks full of heavily armed Japanese soldiers drift away.

Otsuka led three squadrons of the Nara Infantry Brigade (the other squadron remained in Bunjo to defend the Bunjo Army) and carried two 92 infantry guns from an artillery squad within the brigade, a total of six Type 97 mortars attached to the three squadrons, and two machine gun squadrons from a machine gun squadron belonging to the brigade, with a total of eight Type 92 heavy machine guns. In addition, the group of deputy wing commander Aso, who was left behind by him, also had a mortar and two heavy machine guns.

Although this firepower configuration was far from catching up with the lineup of the Otsuka Wing when it first attacked the county seat of Fengdian—at that time, there was a field artillery brigade under the division and 12 field guns of 105 caliber to help—but it was more than enough to deal with today's Fengdian city wall.

Otsuka knew that since the last time they used field artillery to collapse the northern wall of Toyoden, those two gaps that had collapsed badly had not been repaired intact. The winter weather in Shanxi is cold, and if you want to repair the masonry and mud walls on a large scale, you must wait until after the spring thaws. Therefore, the Otsuka United, who occupied Fengdian, only coerced the strong men in the city, temporarily picked up some bits and pieces of bricks and rubble, and barely piled them up at the gap, which was perfunctory.

This inadvertently gave them an opportunity to counterattack Fengdian this time.

Last time, the warriors of the wing were forced to enter through the blasted north gate, but this time, Otsuka had already decided to carry out an assault through the gap between the two walls. Last time, the people of the Nara brigade stayed behind in the Junling and failed to catch up with the strong attack on Fengdian, and this time, it was just a good time to make up for them.

Thinking of the metaphor of making up for the image, Wing Captain Osa couldn't help but smile proudly.

The reason why Kosuke Otsuka is so relaxed is that he understands that there is another strong force outside Minami Castle to cooperate with him in this counteroffensive. An infantry brigade sent back from the Tongpu Road front by the division commander, plus two 75 mountain guns originally attached to the Little Elm Mountain, will then flank the Zhina Army in Fengdian with him in the north and south.

Speaking of Fengdian's Zhina Army, Otsuka had already learned that it was still the 391st Regiment of the Central Army, and that the regiment should have suffered heavy losses in the last battle when it was driven out of the county by the main force of his wing; This time, they took advantage of the lack of garrison strength of the imperial army to steal the county seat, and according to Deputy Wing Captain Aso, the combat effectiveness was no longer so strong; Aso, this guy, commanded more than 20 people to defend the county government at that time, and when he didn't have heavy weapons, the other party couldn't attack for a long time - his strength declined, which can be seen.

In the distance, the outline of the Fengdian city wall appeared at the end of this road, which was around two o'clock in the afternoon. Kosuke Otsuka previously learned through the battle report that the Shina Army had captured a Type 92 infantry gun and a Type 94 mortar of his own wing - this was discarded by Aso when they abandoned the city and fled, damn it! - So he didn't let the convoy go too far ahead, and when it was still three or four miles from the city, he ordered it to stop, and all of them got out of the car and lined up.

In Otsuka's binoculars, the Shina army defending the castle was visibly busy, and they spotted the team outside the castle.

"Send a telegram to the brigade commander, saying that I command the Nara brigade to arrive at the foot of Toyoden Castle, and the attack can be launched at any time!" The arrogant and angry captain of the Japanese army was not even willing to wait any longer.

After receiving the report of the Japanese army outside the northern city, Qin Zhongxiao couldn't help but be shocked: being able to come in a long line of trucks, no need to ask, is undoubtedly the elite unit of the Japanese army. It seems that he, the military commander, and even the Eighth Route Army are still too optimistic about the enemy situation in this area! Regardless of the previous reason, the Japanese obviously had no intention of abandoning Fengdian, so they finally sent troops to make a comeback.

Qin Zhongxiao rushed to the head of Beicheng with the chief of staff as soon as possible.

Since the 1st Battalion and the Special Service Company had already planned to attack Little Elm Mountain, the task of defending the city was completely handed over to the 2nd Battalion. At this moment, the two companies of the second battalion are all at the head of the city and the city gate of Beicheng, this direction is the direction of the defeat of the Japanese army, and it is also the direction of Junling City, so Qin Zhongxiao will focus on the defense. Another company of the 2nd Battalion was in Dongcheng, not only defending the city, but also stationing straggler-like sentry posts in the direction of the Great Elm Mountain Pass along the way out of the East City Gate, so as to meet the main force at any time to withdraw to the camp in the mountain.

What Qin Zhongxiao saw now was the three infantry echelons that the Japanese army had set up in turn outside the northern city, and it was inferred from the number of people that it should be the size of three infantry squadrons. At the forefront, there were two 92 infantry guns, and judging their posture, it seemed that they were going to push the forward guns at the beginning of the attack.

There is no field heavy artillery from the last time! Qin Zhongxiao put a little snack - at least the defenders at the head of the city would not be hit by heavy artillery fire before the engagement. He ordered that all the machine gun companies currently assigned to the first battalion assembled in the southern city be transferred to the northern city. He and the chief of staff briefly analyzed it, and felt that with the number of five or six hundred people who had come to attack the Japanese army and the artillery fire, the county town still had a defense: of course, the plan to attack Little Elm Mountain must be completely shelved.

Unexpectedly, his order to mobilize the machine gun company had not yet been carried out, but even more shocking news came from Nancheng: from the east pass of Xiaoyushu Mountain, a steady stream of Japanese troops were sent out to assemble outside the southern city of Fengdian, and there were about 1,000 people in sight, during which they carried 75 mountain guns, and it was very likely that they were preparing to attack the city.

The colonel of the Central Army couldn't help but look up to the sky and sighed: It's over, Fengdian is difficult to defend! With only the strength of the Japanese army currently outcropping, it is already far above the 391st Regiment, and the follow-up enemy situation is unknown, trapped in the lonely city, and the soldiers are taboo.

"The Japanese are not idle at all," Chief of Staff Zhang Hong shouted angrily: "We must have been secretly deploying a counteroffensive, we are too careless!" ”

Qin Zhongxiao didn't have the heart to reflect on the secret deployment of the Japanese, at present, with the situation of the Japanese army attacking from the north to the south, his two battalions and special service companies would definitely not be able to resist, rather than fighting hard at the head of the city to attract the flames of war, it was better to evacuate quickly as soon as possible, so that the people in the city would be less affected by the chaos of guns and artillery!

The colonel of the Central Army gritted his teeth and gave the order to retreat.

This sudden retreat completely disrupted the original plan of the 391st Regiment, and Qin Zhongxiao made a decision: since he has decided to abandon the city, then simply abandon it completely.

He asked the two companies of the 2nd Battalion to be fully deployed at the head of the north city to implement a tight defense. Because there is a gap in the north city wall, and the Japanese army under the city has already launched an attack formation, if it is not resisted strongly, once the Japanese army quickly breaks through from this side, it will bring a catastrophe to the retreat of the whole regiment.

Then, he wanted to leave a few people in Zhao Mutou's spy company in Xicheng to guard the city gate, and the rest drove to Dongcheng at full speed, and after leaving the city gate, set up two defense lines in the north and south in the direction of the suburbs of Dongcheng leading to the Great Elm Mountain Pass, so as to strictly prevent the Japanese army from outside the city from detouring in the direction of Dongcheng - this is a retreat and cannot be cut off.

The first battalion and machine gun company that had originally assembled in the southern city left one platoon to guard the city gate, and the rest immediately retreated along the city wall to the east gate, and then retreated out of the city to the Great Elm Mountain.

It turned out later that Qin Zhongxiao's forbearance and determination allowed the 391st Regiment and the people of Fengdian to escape.

The Japanese brigade, which was personally commanded by the chief of staff of the Hagiwara Brigade, set up a formation outside the southern castle, and before they could finish erecting the two 75 mountain guns, they discovered the movement of the Shina Army at the head of the castle. The binoculars clearly saw a large number of soldiers of the Chinese Army evacuating along the city walls. Quite unexpectedly, the river hurriedly informed the brigade commander, Major General, that at this time, the siege of the northern city had begun.

Akira Hagiwara learned of this, pondered for a moment, and ordered a tentative artillery bombardment by the river to observe the further movements of the Shina army. As a result, several mountain artillery shells hit the city, and the opponent did not return fire at all. Major General Hagiwara realized that the Shina army was likely to abandon the city in fear of battle, and if so, Nancheng might as well postpone a forcible attack. After all, this infantry brigade was forced to be transferred from the Nantongpu Road front, and it could return to Zhao as completely as possible without losses.

There was no war in the southern city, but the northern city opened the pot.

When Kosuke Otsuka received the news that the troops on the other side of the mountain pass in the small elm mountain pass had been dispatched, he immediately ordered an attack. The two 92 infantry guns slowly began to advance towards the two gaps in the northern city, followed by an infantry squadron in each of them. Nearly a mile from the northern city, two infantry guns opened fire at the same time, aiming directly at the two gaps in the walls.

Qin Zhongxiao found the two 92 infantry guns placed in the front line, and he understood the Japanese army's intentions, and he had already decided to abandon the city, so he did not plan to pay more casualties. He asked the commander of the second battalion to leave only a small number of troops to wait behind the ruins of the gap, and more men to hide near the gap, and only when the Japanese army was about to climb the city from the gap, then mobilize troops to block the attack.

Thankfully, the power of the infantry artillery was not as good as that of the field artillery, and although the shells were blown up in the gaps in the city wall, they did not expand the collapsed area much; The two companies of the 2nd Battalion of the 391st Regiment concentrated light machine guns and other firepower at the head of the city to suppress the Japanese squadron behind the infantry guns and prevent them from easily approaching.

Kosuke Otsuka had only three squadrons in his hands, which was a far cry from the two brigades at the time of the last siege. While fighting, he waited for his deputy wing commander to lead his men over, and at that time, he would have Aso Nakasa take his part of the men to attack the other end of the northern city to disperse the defenders. The experienced wing captain Dazuo also saw that the number of Zhina troops in the city at the moment was not much.

Qin Zhongxiao had already sent the chief of staff to Dongcheng to command the retreat, and from the walkie-talkie, he learned that the retreat was proceeding quite quickly, and there had been no Japanese army in Xicheng, and the devils under the southern city did not even move. It seems that it should not be a problem to get out of the way. It was only at this moment that the colonel of the Central Army felt a tingling in his heart: the lost territory that had just been regained was about to be surrendered to the Japanese before it was hot. Thinking of the people in the city once again becoming slaves of the country, and thinking of their ecstasy when they welcomed the return of the Central Army not long ago, Qin Zhongxiao's eyes were sour.

The people of the military commander let the regimental guards protect and retreat to Dongcheng, Qin Zhongxiao didn't know Major Wang Suihua's mood at this time, it must have been very bad. What secrets did this woman have in Little Elm Mountain, and she wanted to force the 391st Regiment to attack it like this? The answer can only be found later.

And the Eighth Route Army!

The deputy battalion commander Wu Zijian should have been mobilizing his troops, but unfortunately, the situation in Fengdian has changed abruptly. I hope that the Eighth Route Army will not come too quickly, Qin Zhongxiao told the chief of staff in Dongcheng to quickly send someone to the western foot of Guanmen Mountain to report the news. The two armies joined forces, and the coming day was long.

Farewell, Fengdian. I'll call back again!