After Major General Kenji Chigami left the headquarters of the Eleventh Army, Commander Anan still felt that it was not safe to defend Yueyang City with only more than 6,000 troops, so he immediately sent a telegram to several division commanders and independent mixed brigade commanders, asking them to quickly retreat back to Yueyang City. Several division commanders and brigade commanders were taken aback when they received the telegram, and hurriedly ordered the troops to return to Yueyang City at full speed.

Tang Renxin led the armored brigade and the guard brigade to break through to the east gate of Yueyang City at five o'clock in the morning. At this time, the Japanese army on the wall of Yueyang City was prepared, and several high-power searchlights illuminated more than 1,000 meters outside the city wall as if it were daylight. In the face of a fortified city like Yueyang City, Tang Renxin was not in a hurry to launch an attack, and before he found out the truth of the Japanese garrison, he rashly launched a large-scale attack, and he might suffer heavy losses.

Although the guard brigade did not carry artillery, there were not many mortars in the brigade, 56 heavy mortars of 120 mm caliber alone, 60 medium mortars of 100 caliber, and even more light mortar of 82 caliber and 60 caliber. In the position where Tang Renxin and the others stayed, except for the 60 mortars that could not hit the city wall, the rest of the mortars could hit the city wall.

In order to prevent the counterattack of Japanese artillery, Tang Renxin built several mortar positions, and then mobilized several 82-caliber light mortar guns to solve the searchlights on the Japanese city wall first. The artillery of the Guards Brigade was selected from among the troops, and everyone had a unique skill, and it was a piece of cake for these artillerymen to hit such a searchlight with such a clear target in the dark night.

Several guns, some of which used secondary shells, and some even hit the target with one shot. After several cannons knocked out the searchlights on the city wall, it was dark again outside the city wall, which caused panic among the Japanese troops defending the city. Several heavy machine-gun fire points at the head of the city were ordered to strafe the darkness outside the city. This purposeless blind firing will not cause any harm to the Chinese army except for exposing the point of fire.

Tang Renxin commanded two brigades that had already set up offensive positions, with a row of eight Cheetah heavy tanks in the front, twelve Type 62 light tanks behind them, followed by the first regiment and the second battalion of the guard brigade and fifteen six-wheeled armored vehicles. The attack prepared by Tang Renxin was a tentative attack, and the eight Cheetah heavy tanks that were at the forefront of the main attack could ignore the bombardment of ordinary artillery, but could not prevent the damage of the Japanese heavy artillery, and if the Japanese army had heavy artillery, then Tang Renxin would have to change the way of attack.

At six o'clock in the morning, the sky began to be a little cloudy, and the warriors, who were ready for all the attacks, launched the first attack on Yueyang City. In the roar of the engine, the headlights of the tank vehicles in the front illuminated the front, and the 120 heavy mortar group used for cover in the back also hit the shells directly on the wall of Yueyang City.

The commander of the 36th Infantry Brigade of the Japanese Army, who was in charge of the command on the city wall, Naoyasu Yoshino, braved the artillery fire and saw that the Chinese army had dispatched chariots to attack the city, and hurriedly called the brigade headquarters to request the mountain artillery brigade to attack the attacking Shina chariots with artillery fire. Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami, the brigade commander who was sitting in the brigade headquarters, was mentally prepared for the Chinese army to use chariots to attack the city, and now he received a call from Yoshino Daisa, and he hurriedly ordered the mountain artillery brigade to open fire.

In fact, there are four Type 92 infantry guns, four 37 mm rapid-fire guns, and more than a dozen mortars on the head of the city. If it were another national army attacking the city, the artillery pieces alone would be enough to inflict heavy casualties on the besieging troops. But now, under the intensive mortar fire of the guard brigade, these small guns do not dare to use them at all, otherwise shells will immediately fall on the head.

When the tanks in front rushed to a distance of 600 meters from the city wall, the shells of the Japanese mountain artillery fell. As soon as the Japanese artillery shells fell, Tang Renxin, who was nervously watching the battle on the rear positions, and Li Yuanhong, the commander of the armored brigade, breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. The Japanese 75 mm caliber mountain gun has limited power, not to mention that it is difficult to fall directly on the nose of the tank, even if it falls on the nose of the tank, even the Type 62 light tank will not suffer much damage, let alone the Cheetah heavy tank.

It's just that the six-wheeled armored vehicles and infantry have to suspend the attack, and these mountain artillery shells will still cause damage to the six-wheeled armored vehicles, not to mention that there is a battalion of infantry behind the armored vehicles. Tang Renxin and Li Yuanhong don't have to worry about this, and the commander of the armored vehicle battalion who served as the offensive knew what to do. When the Japanese shells fell into the ranks of the attacking tanks, the sky was full of gunsmoke and dust, and the Japanese soldiers on the city walls cheered in their bunkers, ignoring the shells falling on their heads.

But after a while, these Japanese soldiers froze, only to see one after another chariots emerge from the smoke and dust, roaring and continuing to meet the city wall. Naoyasu Yoshino, who was commanding the castle, hurriedly ordered to open fire. Light and heavy machine guns in bunkers and fortifications at the head of the city spat out tongues of fire, and grenades from grenadiers flew towards the tanks.

On the front armor of the tank, the machine-gun bullets rang out, but these bullets could not stop the tank from moving forward. The tanks drove until they were 300 meters away from the city wall, and then they lined up, and the vehicle-mounted guns turned their muzzles and aimed at the Japanese fire points on the city wall. The Cheetah tank is equipped with a 100 mm caliber rifled gun, and the Type 62 light tank is equipped with an 85 mm caliber tank gun, both of which are more powerful than 75 mm caliber guns.

Under the combined attack of mortars and tank guns, a Japanese infantry brigade on the city wall suffered heavy casualties, and the captain of the brigade, Naoyasu Yoshino, hurriedly called the headquarters for help. The brigade commander, Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami, was stunned when he heard that the bombardment of the mountain artillery could not damage the chariots of the Chinese and could not stop their attack, and now that the Chinese were bombarding the castle with tank artillery, and that the 36th Infantry Brigade had suffered heavy casualties.

The medium tanks of his own tank unit would not ignore the bombardment of 75 mm caliber mountain artillery, but what kind of chariot did the people of China use to ignore the bombardment of 75 caliber mountain artillery? With doubts, Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami personally led the 37th Infantry Brigade to the east gate city wall to reinforce the 36th Infantry Brigade. As soon as Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami and his team approached the city wall of the East Gate, they saw fires everywhere on the city wall, with gunpowder smoke billowing and rumbling cannon sounds, but the intermittent machine gun sound on the city head was almost inaudible.

On the way to the top of the city, the 37th Infantry Brigade continued to have soldiers fall under artillery fire, and they rushed up the city wall with difficulty, and Major General Kenkichi Chigami looked out of the city from behind the battlements. By this time, the sky was already bright, and the siege tanks outside the city and the armored vehicles waiting to attack behind could be seen. Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami couldn't help but gasp when he saw the muzzles of the huge steel chariots lined up under the castle spewing fire.

These iron chariots were obviously a few sizes larger than the Type 96 chariots in their own army, and the shells fired from the thick barrels were very powerful, and the fortifications on the city head were destroyed by two blows. And it is true that 75 caliber mountain artillery shells have no effect on them. Major General Kenkichi Ikegami was also a very experienced commander, and when he ordered the 75-caliber mountain artillery to change its target, it was specifically aimed at striking at the Shina light tanks and infantry behind. He knew that with the chariot alone, the people of Zhina would not be able to occupy Yueyang City without infantry.

As soon as the Japanese mountain artillery changed its target, the armored vehicles and guard battalions behind were attacked, and losses and casualties began to appear. Tang Renxin and Li Yuanhong saw that the purpose of testing the Japanese firepower had been achieved, and in order to avoid excessive losses, they ordered all of them to retreat. First the guard battalion and the armored vehicle battalion were out of the range of the Japanese mountain artillery, and then the tanks in front calmly turned around and returned to the front of the attacking position.

As soon as the siege chariots withdrew, the Japanese troops on the city wall breathed a sigh of relief, and the 36th Infantry Brigade lost more than half of its men and horses, and was ordered to withdraw with the bodies of the wounded and the dead to rest, leaving the 37th Infantry Brigade at the head of the city to defend. Major General Kenkichi Chigami rushed to the headquarters of the 11th Army again to meet with General He Nanwei and report the situation.

On the offensive position, Tang Renxin called Li Yuanhong, Tangshan Leopard, and several regiment commanders of the two brigades together to discuss how to capture Yueyang City while minimizing the battle losses. At the meeting, everyone believed that the Japanese artillery was the greatest threat to the attack, and if the Japanese artillery could be defeated, it would not be too difficult to capture Yueyang City.

Everyone understands the situation, but the problem is how to deal with the Japanese artillery, the Japanese artillery positions in the city, the 120 heavy mortars with the longest range in the troops cannot reach, and without artillery, the Japanese artillery cannot be destroyed, this is a dead knot that cannot be untied. At this time, Li Yuanhong said: "Deputy military seat, I have an idea of humbling duty, now my armored brigade is attacking one city gate, the strength is more than enough, it is better for us to divide our troops to attack other city gates, so that we can disperse the Japanese artillery fire, so as to reduce losses." ”

Li Yuanhong's words made everyone's eyes shine, especially Tang Shouxin, who had entered a dead end of thought was suddenly opened, and Tang Renxin, who had a smile on his face, patted Li Yuanhong on the shoulder and said: "Okay, you old Li, you haven't followed behind the military seat in vain, and you have learned a lot! This idea is timely and correct! Let's discuss it according to this line of thought." ”

Then everyone started a discussion according to the idea of dividing the troops to attack the city, you say one, I will add one point, and finally Tang Renxin summarized and came up with a new plan for attacking Yueyang City. The new plan is to transfer one Cheetah heavy tank battalion and one Type 62 light tank battalion, plus one heavy armored vehicle battalion, two light armored vehicle battalions, supplemented by the Second Guard Regiment and the Third Guard Regiment, to secretly move to the south gate of Yueyang City. The east gate was first launched by tanks to make a feint, and after attracting Japanese artillery fire, a surprise attack was launched at the south gate, striving to open the south gate of Yueyang City at one time, and then launch an attack into the city.