The 544th Regiment, under the command of Wei Hai, soon began to attack, and it was still the 45 heavy mortars in the regiment that first launched an artillery attack on the Japanese positions, and then dozens of heavy machine guns on the heavy machine gun positions also began to cover and fire. Ten minutes later, artillery fire extended deep into the Japanese position, and the officers and men of the first battalion also began to attack. However, as soon as the officers and men of the first battalion advanced about 100 meters, the sound of counterattacking artillery suddenly sounded on the Japanese position, and at the same time, the machine gun fire points that had survived the artillery fire also began to block the firing.

The sudden artillery fire caught the officers and men of the first battalion off guard, but fortunately, the soldiers were all experienced veterans, and they could react at the first time when they found something wrong, and in this way, there were still more than a dozen soldiers who fell under the artillery fire. Seeing that the soldiers fell under the Japanese artillery fire, Wei Hai couldn't care about his anger, and ordered the artillery to adjust the muzzle and immediately suppress the Japanese artillery fire.

In fact, Wei Yongqiang had already done this without waiting for Wei Hai's order, but it took time to calculate the direction of the Japanese artillery position, and in just a few minutes, Wei Hai could only watch the officers and soldiers of the first battalion bear the bombardment with their bodies. In Wei Hai's eyes, these few minutes were so long, and finally his own artillery readjusted the muzzle and began to return fire.

For some reason, dozens of heavy mortars bombarded for more than ten minutes, and the Japanese artillery fire did not weaken, and the first battalion was suppressed on the ground, not only unable to attack forward, but also constantly suffering casualties among soldiers. Wei Haijian saw that it was really difficult for the first battalion to attack forward, unless it was fought with human lives under Japanese artillery fire. Wei Hai would not do such an attack, so Wei Hai could only let the first battalion withdraw first.

The first attack of the first battalion was abandoned halfway, and more than 30 soldiers were killed and wounded, which made Tang Weikang very annoyed, and Wei Hai's eyes were even more on fire. Wei Haidang asked Tang Yiqun for artillery support. Soon after the azimuth coordinates of the Japanese artillery positions were reported, a group of heavy artillery shells whistled down on the Japanese positions. Tang Yikuan was also desperate in order to complete the task assigned by Wang Haitao, and this shelling was an artillery bombardment of the Japanese position by three heavy artillery regiments.

Among the three heavy artillery regiments, the 152-caliber howitzers and artillery of the heavy artillery brigade are quite powerful, but they are still not as powerful as the Japanese-style 240-mm caliber heavy grenades and projectiles. It took more than 100 heavy artillery pieces to concentrate their artillery fire for 20 minutes, plowing the Japanese position twice before the shelling stopped, and after the smoke and dust cleared from the military position, there was a strange silence on the Japanese position.

Seeing that there was no movement on the Japanese position, Wei Hai immediately ordered the 1st and 2nd Battalions to attack at the same time. This attack went relatively smoothly, and when the troops advanced to a hundred meters away from the Japanese position, the Japanese position was shot out, and the gunfire was not dense. After Tang Weikang commanded the bazooka group to knock out three Japanese machine-gun fire points, the officers and men of the two battalions launched an overwhelming charge at the Japanese position.

The sporadic blocking on the Japanese position was not very lethal, and soon more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the two battalions rushed to the Japanese position, and seeing the soldiers rushing to the Japanese position, Wei Haicai put down the stone in his heart, and a slight smile appeared on his face. At this point, even if the Yumu Mountain position fortified by the Japanese army was completely taken by the 90th Division, Wei Hai looked at his watch, and it was already half past three in the afternoon.

When Wang Haitao received the good news from the 90th Division in the headquarters, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. Knowing that the 90th Division was going to prepare to advance to Hengyang City overnight, Wang Haitao did not stop it, but only asked the signal corps to send a letter to the 211th Division, ordering the 211th Division to pass through Yumu Mountain early tomorrow morning and march towards Hengyang. And the headquarters will follow the rest of the troops behind the 211th Division through Yumu Mountain.

Yumu Mountain is only 30 kilometers away from Hengyang City, and these 30 kilometers are a flat river, and there is no place to set up a blocking position, and the reconnaissance unit also confirmed that there is no Japanese blocking position between Yumu Mountain and Hengyang City. After crossing Yumu Mountain, the 90th Division traveled all the way and arrived outside Zhujiayan Town, which was only eight kilometers away from Hengyang City, in the middle of the night.

In the face of the mighty brigade of the 90th Division, the Japanese army still had the courage to fight, while the puppet army was as pale as dirt and had no courage to resist at all. It's just that under the suppression of the Japanese bayonets, they are barely guarding the wall. For the 90th Division, the number and combat effectiveness of the puppet army are completely acceptable.

Because it was the middle of the night, the troops were tired from continuous fighting, and there was still one day before Wang Haitao issued the task, so Tang Yikuan did not rush to launch an attack on Zhujiayan Town, but ordered the troops to rest in place. At this time, Wang Haitao, Su Zuxin, Tang Longzai, and Li Changwu in the headquarters were all surrounded in front of the map, and the topography of Hengyang City on the map was clear at a glance.

Hengyang City is on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, there is the Xiangjiang River in the east as an obstacle, outside the east gate is the wharf and the market town, easy to defend and difficult to attack, outside the south gate is the Hengyang Railway Station, and there is a large warehouse area, the terrain is complex, not to mention, those warehouses are also relatively solid, and the difficulty of attack is also not small. Only the west gate and the north gate are flat ground, which is relatively easy to attack, but these two places are also the key defensive directions of the Japanese army.

In front of Wang Haitao was the latest information sent by the reconnaissance brigade, which contained information about the defense of Hengyang City. Because the rest of the three divisions of the Japanese army were concentrated in Hengyang City, the defensive strength of Hengyang City was still quite sufficient. An infantry wing of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army was stationed at the east gate, two wings of the 68th Division were stationed at the south gate, two infantry wings of the 3rd Division were stationed at the west gate, and an infantry wing was stationed at the north gate.

Wang Haitao and the others made a decision after discussing for a while, attacking the north gate with the 211th Division, the west gate with the 90th Division, and the second and third regiments of the guard brigade attacking the south gate, and not arranging troops at the east gate. Among them, the north gate of the 211th Division was the main attack, the south gate of the 90th Division was the auxiliary attack, and the south gate of the guard brigade was a feint. The 152nd Heavy Howitzer and Artillery Regiment was deployed in the north direction of the city, not only to help the 211th Division attack the city, but also to cut off the waterway of the Xiangjiang River and prevent the Japanese army from retreating through the Xiangjiang River.

Early the next morning, the 211th Division first allocated battalions to advance to Hengyang City, and then the armored brigade, heavy artillery brigade, baggage troops, and headquarters set off successively through Yumu Mountain to Hengyang City, and the guard brigade remained last. When Wang Haitao and his headquarters arrived outside Zhujiayan Town, the 90th Division had already taken Zhujiayan Town and headed for the west gate of Hengyang City, and the 211th Division also passed through Zhujiayan Town and advanced to the north of the city.

Wang Haitao set up his headquarters in Zhujiayan Town, and at the same time, the 130th Heavy Cannon Regiment also selected a site to build an artillery position in the south of the reclamation. After the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the Guard Brigade also advanced to the south of the city, Wang Haitao left only one guard battalion in the town, and the other two guard battalions were sent to serve as guards for the heavy artillery regiment. The 152nd Heavy Howitzer and Artillery Regiment went to the north of the city, and the Armored Brigade also sent four mixed armored battalions to support the 211th and 90th Divisions respectively.

By evening, the whole army was in position, and even the air defense units were dispatched. In the afternoon, two Japanese reconnaissance planes circled over Hengyang for a while before leaving, which also reminded Wang Haitao to pay attention to air defense. After all the units were in place, Wang Haitao received a telegram from Tang Hongming of the 210th Division, who reported to Wang Haitao that the 210th Division had rushed to Youxian at noon, and that there were a small number of Japanese troops and a regiment of puppet troops stationed in Youxian County, and that the 210th Division had now occupied Youxian and was rushing to repair the fortifications, and the reconnaissance troops had not yet discovered the reinforcements of the Japanese army.

Outside Hengyang City, Li Changwu, Tang Yikuan, and Tangshan Leopard all observed the situation of the Japanese defense, and the defense of the three city gates was different, and the three people had different ideas. Li Changwu outside the north gate is the strongest, the 211th Division suffered little losses in the previous battle, and rested for a few days, plus the self-propelled howitzer and artillery regiment of his own division and the 152 heavy howitzer and artillery regiment attached to it, the firepower is extremely powerful, and the 211th Division also has a rocket artillery battalion with large destruction.

With such a strong support firepower, Li Changwu was full of confidence. The Japanese army's defensive position outside the north gate was built two kilometers away, and various bunker fortifications were densely repaired, but these fortifications were not worth mentioning in Li Changwu's eyes. Li Changwu had absolute confidence that these bunker fortifications would be a pile of ruins with artillery fire alone.

Outside the west gate was the most heavily defended place for the Japanese army, not only the positions were built farther away, but there were also more fortifications, and the largest number of troops were invested. Although Tang Yikuan didn't pay attention to the fortifications on the Japanese position, he was still observing carefully. Although the power of the 85 mm caliber howitzers and projectiles of the heavy artillery regiment of the 90th Division was a little smaller, Wang Haitao transferred 24 Japanese-style heavy howitzers and projectiles to his command, and there was also a 130 heavy cannon regiment behind him as a backer, and Tang Yikuan was also full of confidence in attacking Hengyang City.

As for Tangshan Leopard here, although it is said that the two regiments are only feinting, Tangshan Leopard is not willing to only play a supporting role. Although the guard brigade does not have the support of a heavy artillery regiment, their own firepower is absolutely strong, not only each platoon has two rocket launcher groups, but also the only ten 14.5 caliber Gaoping dual-purpose twin heavy machine guns in the whole army are also in their brigade, and the soldiers of the guard brigade are the elite of the elite who have been carefully selected, and in terms of attack power, one regiment of them can use two regiments of the 211th Division.

Tangshan Leopard faced the Japanese army's heavily guarded railway station and several strong warehouses, and it was not easy to attack, but this could not stop Tangshan Leopard's determination to attack, especially after the armored brigade sent a mixed armored battalion to support Tangshan Leopard, Tangshan Leopard's confidence was even stronger. The brigade's 80 heavy mortars and 24 75-caliber field guns have been grouped together, and these guns will also play an important role once the attack begins.

It was getting dark, and the troops had completed their preparations for the attack, and after sending in enough vigilance forces, the troops began to recuperate and prepare for tomorrow's attack. At this time, the commander of the Japanese army in Hengyang City was called by Lieutenant General Yamamoto Sano, the commander of the 3rd Division, Lieutenant General Sumita Laishiro, the commander of the 39th Division, Lieutenant General Sakuma, the commander of the 68th Division, and the chiefs of staff of the three divisions.