Wang Haitao's words made everyone in the room blush and bow their heads again. Wei Bin also blushed and said: "Commander, due to the command error of our department in the battle, we have caused heavy losses to soldiers and materials, and I also ask the commander to give a heavy punishment according to military law. Wang Haitao waved his hand with a cold face and said: "I will investigate the responsibility afterwards, but now is not the time." First of all, you can report on how the troops are doing now, and how much combat strength they still have. ”

Wei Bin replied: "Report to the commander, after this period of rest and recuperation in Zhangshu City, the combatable strength of our division can make up for four full regiments, and there is basically no shortage of light weapons, but there are only two bases of ammunition. There were 122 howitzers and 18 artillery pieces, and 75 field guns and 30 more guns, but the shells were almost gone. There were six heavy tanks, eight light tanks, twelve heavy armored vehicles, and fifteen light armored vehicles.

The Japanese army is still holding positions outside the east and north gates, and is constantly attacking our city gates. The headquarters of the 463rd Brigade was stationed at the north gate, and the 872nd and 873rd regiments were stationed at the east gate. The garrison of the city was sufficient, and the Japanese army could not pose a major threat to the city in a short period of time. Listening to Wei Bin's words, Wang Haitao's face looked a little better, he had just been angry, and he still had to drum up the morale of these subordinates, and Wang Haitao still understood the reason that it was too much.

Wang Haitao then said: "It seems that the 210th Division has not been defeated because of a single defeat, and this is worthy of affirmation! The Japanese troops outside the city do not need to worry, the 32nd Division has been basically wiped out by our army, and only one 116th Division remains, so there is nothing to fear! The ammunition and military supplies transported from Longzhou have arrived in Hengyang and will be delivered here soon.

Now Zhangshu City is the base of our army, your 210th Division will first draw out two regiments of troops, cooperate with the 462nd Brigade, I will solve the 116th Division outside the city, and completely solve the siege of Zhangshu. As soon as the ammunition and supplies arrive, I will lead you to attack Nanchang City, and I will make the Japanese army's Commander Yokoyama Yong pay for his blood debts!" As soon as Wang Haitao's words fell, everyone in the room applauded vigorously, and their lowered heads were raised, with excited expressions on their faces.

Wang Haitao pressed his hand, the room was quiet again, and Wang Haitao said again: "In this battle, although our army eliminated the 32nd Division, the casualties of the officers and soldiers were not small, Wei Bin, you notify the field hospital and make every effort to rescue the wounded." I immediately ordered all the doctors and nurses accompanying the army to report to the field hospital, and the medicine was also distributed and used by the field hospital. After hearing this, Wei Bin replied, "Yes, Commander." I immediately sent someone to inform the hospital to make arrangements. ”

Wang Haitao looked at his watch at this time, it was already more than one o'clock in the afternoon, and said to Wei Bin again: "You first gather two full regiments to rest and stand by, and I am ready to attack the 116th Division of the Japanese Army at 4 o'clock in the afternoon." Long Zai, you go out of the city to the 462nd Brigade, let Li Changwu lead his troops to rest first, and start to attack the Japanese army at the East Gate at four o'clock, and contact the Jurong Independent Brigade to let Huang Guizhong concentrate his forces to cut off the retreat of the Japanese army in the direction of Nanchang. ”

After Tang Longzai left, everyone in the 210th Division also left, and everyone scrambled to participate in the battle to attack the 116th Division, and in the end, Wei Bin made the decision, and he personally led the 872nd Regiment and the 873rd Regiment to participate in the battle, and ammunition and heavy weapons were given priority to these two regiments. The troops in Zhangshu City were also under the command of Brigade Commander Liu Mingde. The artillery concentrated all its ammunition and meowed at the Japanese positions outside the east gate.

Wang Haitao's troops temporarily rested, and the commander of the 32nd Division, Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo, and the remnants of more than 1,000 horses were able to escape from the battlefield. Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo felt that something was wrong after receiving the desperate telegram from Yoshio Kiduki, and Yoshida Eijiro Osa, who had fled back in embarrassment, reported to him that the Chinese troops in the city had broken through the blocking line and killed the rear of the 32nd Wing's garrison position, so that he understood that the 32nd Division was on its way.

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo handed over the telegram sent by Yoshio Yoshio to Yoshida Eijiro for a look, and Yoshida Eijiro Osa said to Lieutenant General Inide Tiezo in a heavy tone after reading it: "Your Excellency the division commander, if the infantry wing of Kidu-kun fails again, then our division will have no hope of victory, in this case, I also ask Your Excellency the division commander to order a retreat immediately." Only after joining up with the 116th Division can we find a way to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese troops. ”

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo angrily yelled at Yoshida Eijiro Osa: "Yaga, do you want me to abandon Mu Du-kun and the 32nd Infantry Wing and run away in disgrace? No, this is by no means something that the Yamato warriors can do! I will personally lead my troops to rescue Ki Du-kun and his wing. Yoshida Eijiro Osaku persuaded bitterly: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, now that there are less than 2,000 troops left in my division's regiment, how can we fight against the tens of thousands of Chinese troops?

After listening to Yoshida Eijiro's words, Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo forced himself to calm down, and it was true that he now only had one guard and some auxiliaries in his hands, with a total strength of less than 2,000 men, and a lack of heavy weapons. To take such a team to fight hard against the extremely powerful Chinese army, it is no different from sending it to death. There is an old Chinese saying: If you stay in the green mountains, even if there is no firewood, it is better to withdraw first and join up with the 116th Division before making plans.

Thinking of this, Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo glanced at the direction of the 32nd Wing's battle with some unbearable feelings, sighed and said to Yoshida Eijiro Osa: "Yoshida-kun, pass me on the order for the whole army to retreat!" In this way, Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo led the remnants of the 32nd Division of less than 2,000 defeated generals to retreat in the direction of the west gate of Zhangshu Castle. But as soon as the troops approached the West Gate, they heard fierce gunfire coming from the direction of the West Gate.

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo was shocked, and hurriedly sent people to check, and after a while, the people sent back rushed back to report to him that the imperial army's position outside the west gate of Zhangshu City in front was being fiercely attacked by the Shina army, and the Shina army had captured a imperial army position and was attacking the second position. Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo hurriedly asked, "How many troops do the people of China have?" The person replied, "Your Excellency, the commander of the division, there are several thousand people in the army of China, and there is a considerable number of artillery. ”

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo turned his head and said to Yoshida Eijiro Osa: "Yoshida-kun, when we asked for help from the 116th Division, Takeuchi-kun replied that his division was also under full-scale attack, and it seems that Takeuchi-kun is telling the truth. What should we do now?" Yoshida Eijiro replied: "Your Excellency the division commander, if the Shina army captures the position outside the east gate, it will also block the way for us to retreat, it is better to launch a surprise attack on the Shina people from the flank and rear now, maybe we can defeat the Shina army in one fell swoop and help the commander of the Takeuchi Division relieve the siege." ”

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo nodded again and again and said, "Yo Sai! Yoshida-kun's words are very reasonable, so he ordered the troops to assemble, and I will personally lead the team to attack the Shina people." It was here that Yoshida-kun led the baggage troops. When Yoshida Eijiro heard this, he said in his heart: "Don't, I'm sitting here, your division commander leads the team to attack, in case you have a mistake, how will I mix in the future?" So Yoshida Eijiro Osa hurriedly said: "Your Excellency the division commander, you are the commander of the division, and you must not be moved lightly." I'll lead the attack on the Chinese people, and you just need to command it here. ”

Lieutenant General Iide Tetsuzo still wanted to insist, and the captain of the guard around him also stopped him, so he had no choice but to let Yoshida Eijiro Osa take a team of more than 1,000 people to attack the Shina army, which was already all the troops that could go into battle, and even the guards around him only left a squad of troops. After gathering the troops, Yoshida Eijiro Osa led them to the battlefield not far away.

Huang Guizhong also launched an attack on the Japanese troops at 8 o'clock in the morning, and the first battalion of the regiment took the lead in launching a surprise attack on the Japanese positions under the cover of more than 40 mortars of large and small calibers in the whole regiment. The total strength of the Japanese army on the position was two infantry brigades, with a total of more than 2,500 troops, which was about the same number as a regiment. However, the position outside the east gate was to prevent the Chinese troops inside the city from breaking through, and the fortifications were all facing the side of the city wall.

A regiment suddenly launched an attack on the Japanese army from behind, taking the Japanese army by surprise, and dozens of mortar shells rained down on the Japanese position, and the Japanese soldiers who were blown up cried wolf and were killed and wounded. By the time the Japanese had reacted and hurriedly turned their guns, the first battalion had already advanced to a distance of only 150 meters from the Japanese position. The Japanese commander on the position hurriedly withstood the mortar bombardment and ordered his soldiers to block the attack of the Chinese army.

The independent brigade had no combat vehicles to cover the surprise attack of the soldiers, and the assault of the first battalion was quickly suppressed after the Japanese opened fire on the position, and Niu Dajiang, the commander of the first regiment commanding in the rear, saw that the attack of the first battalion was blocked, and hurriedly gave the commander of the heavy fire battalion an order to suppress the Japanese fire point with mortars and heavy machine guns. Under the precise attack of the mortars, several heavy machine gun fire points on the Japanese positions were destroyed one after another, and the soldiers were also so pressed by more than a dozen heavy machine guns that they could not even lift their heads.

The commander of the first battalion saw that the Japanese firing points on the position had been muted one after another, and the bullets fired had also been sparse, so he ordered his soldiers to continue to break through to the Japanese position. The soldiers of the first battalion bent over and fired at the position as they moved forward, and in this way, at the cost of more than 200 casualties, they broke through to a place just over 50 meters from the position. Because the troops had already approached the Japanese position, for fear of accidental injury, the commander of the heavy fire battalion ordered the mortar to stop the bombardment.

At this time, the Japanese troops on the position breathed a sigh of relief, and the commander saw that the Chinese troops had approached the position, and hurriedly mobilized a few light machine guns and more than a dozen grenadier canisters to fire at the rushing Chinese troops. The Japanese army's rapid fire caused dozens of officers and men of the first battalion to fall down at once, and the rest were forced to lie on the ground to avoid the Japanese bullets, grenades, and bullets. The commander of the first battalion saw that he was about to attack the Japanese position, but he suffered such a big loss, and his eyes were red with a sudden blush.