The commander of the second company, leading an infantry platoon and a heavy fire platoon, had just arrived in the grove, and when he saw that the Japanese army had already attacked the position in the dark, he asked the machine gunner to set up a light and heavy machine gun and opened fire on the Japanese who were just about to charge. As soon as the Japanese arrived, they bombarded the grove, but when they saw that there was no movement, they thought that the defenders had withdrawn, so they did not guard against the ambush of the defenders in the grove.

As soon as the dozen or so machine guns in the grove rang out, the Japanese soldiers who were about to charge fell down one by one, and the Japanese captain who commanded them was also taken aback, and he didn't care about charging upwards, so he hurriedly ordered some soldiers to turn their guns and fire back at the grove. But there were still defenders on the top of the slope, and Tang Yigang saw that the machine guns in the woods were fired at the right time, so he stopped fighting with the Japanese army, concentrated his firepower, and strafed the chaotic Japanese army.

The commander of the Japanese wing who was watching the battle at the bottom of the hill was also startled by the machine gun fire in the woods, and he had the intention of bombarding the grove again with artillery fire. After the wing commander ordered the attacking infantry brigade to retreat, the commander of the attacking brigade hurriedly commanded the troops to retreat.

Seeing that the Japanese army had retreated, Tang Yigang finally breathed a sigh of relief, and also ordered the soldiers to abandon their positions and retreat quickly, and at the same time did not forget to inform the second company commander in the woods to lead the team to retreat. Just as Tang Yigang and his team had just withdrawn to the bottom of the slope, on the new artillery position of the Japanese army, the artillery began to shell the grove and the top position of the slope again. Tang Yigang glanced back at the slope top position that was full of gunpowder smoke from the bombing, sneered, and walked towards Xibu City without looking back.

The 1st Battalion held off the Japanese troops at the top of the slope for three hours, buying time for the 547th Regiment to rush to repair the fortifications here in Xibu. In three hours, the 547th Regiment had rushed to repair a relatively complete defensive position. The 547th Regiment did not need to hold out for long in Xibu, as long as it held until the evening, the 547th Regiment could quickly get rid of the Japanese army and rush to join the main force of the brigade.

When Tang Yigang arrived in Xibu, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, Du Haifeng saw Tang Yigang's battalion come back, looked at his watch and carefully inquired about the situation of the Japanese army. With the strength of the 547th Regiment, it was not a big problem to block the attack of a wing of the Japanese army.

When it was almost four o'clock, the Japanese infantry wing hurried to the outside of Xibu City, there was only one infantry wing, and it was also an infantry wing that had been hit in the previous battle, and Du Haifeng did not take this infantry wing seriously. Standing on a high place, Du Haifeng looked coldly at the infantry wing that came in a hurry through the binoculars, and said to Li Guiyong, the commander of the artillery battalion next to him: "Battalion Commander Li, the little Japanese are only an infantry wing, and there are not even a few artillery pieces, do you want to welcome them with artillery?"

Li Guiyong replied with understanding: "Yes, Tuanza! You just see, our artillery battalion will guarantee to surprise little Japan!" After speaking, Li Guiyong rushed towards the artillery battalion position. Eighteen 75-caliber imitation German-style field guns and eighteen 12O-caliber heavy mortars of the artillery battalion were already in position position. Li Guiyong ran to the position in one breath and sent several observers to the Chengtou Heights to observe the azimuth coordinates of the important targets of the Japanese army.

After half an hour of wanton bombardment of the grove and the hilltop position, the Japanese infantry wing sent another infantry brigade to attack the hilltop position, and at the same time sent an infantry squadron to attack the grove. After the two Japanese troops cautiously approached the target, they found that the two places were empty, and the defenders had already withdrawn from their positions, and when they returned to report, the Japanese wing commander was so angry that he cursed a few times: "Baga!" and then led his men to chase in the direction of the retreat of the first battalion.

When the Japanese army pursued the city of Xib, they saw that the defenders had built fortifications here. The commander of the wing, knowing that the number of the Chinese army he was facing had increased considerably, still arranged the artillery positions and set up offensive positions in accordance with the arrangement. Just as the Japanese were busy with all these things, there was a scream of high-flying shells in the air.

The wing commander was startled, and as soon as he shouted: "Hide, the shelling of the Zhina!" shells fell one after another. The target of the first round of shells of the field artillery battalion of the 547th Regiment was naturally the artillery positions of the Japanese army. The dozen or so small guns left of the Japanese infantry wing were covered in the smoke and fire before they could be fired.

After destroying the Japanese artillery position, the field artillery battalion adjusted the muzzle, and the shells then fell on the Japanese offensive position. The commander of the Japanese army could not care about the attack at this time, and hurriedly ordered the whole army to retreat. By the time the Japanese escaped out of the range of the artillery in one go, they had already lost more than a thousand men. The wing commander of the Japanese army gathered the remnants of the soldiers, and did not dare to force them up anymore, so he could only ask for help from the division headquarters behind him.

The main force of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army was not far from the front wing, and the division commander, Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa, received a telegram asking the troops to move forward quickly, and an hour later, they joined the front wing. Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa listened to the captain's report on the situation of the Chinese army, and learned that he had been repelled by artillery fire before he could even figure out how many defenders there were in the city.

Knowing that the defenders had a large number of large-caliber guns, Morioka arranged dozens of guns of the artillery wing according to the maximum firing range, and then let the troops approach the city of Sibu and set up barracks. By the time the Japanese army was done with these things, the sky had already darkened, and Morioka knew that it was impossible to attack again today, so he could only put the attack on tomorrow.

At ten o'clock in the evening, the 547th Regiment, under the leadership of Du Haifeng, quietly left Xibu City from the northeast, and then took advantage of the night to follow the Yunnan-Burma Highway all the way to the northeast to catch up with the main force of the 271st Brigade. The 547th Regiment marched hastily all night, and arrived at Nalang the next morning, catching up with the 271st Brigade, which was resting in Nalang.

Nalang is only 40 or 50 kilometers away from Lashio, and the 210th Division sent by Wang Haitao to meet the 271st Brigade has also arrived at Nalang. A distance of 40 or 50 kilometers was a matter of two or three hours for the 90th Army, which had a high degree of mechanization. The 271st Brigade and the 210th Division arrived at Lashio at 10 o'clock in the morning.

After Wang Haitao arrived, he commanded the Engineer Corps and the 93rd Division to strengthen the defensive position, and now the city of Lashio has built a complete defense system inside and out, with such a defense system, Wang Haitao is confident that he will hold on to the strength of the 90th Army for more than 10 days.

At this time, Wang Haitao's 90th Army had completed its assembly at Lashio, and the Fifth Army and the 66th Army had all withdrawn to the country. Chongqing sent a telegram to Wang Haitao, saying that although the expeditionary force's mission in Burma had been completed, in consideration of the need to deploy heavy troops on the Sino-Burmese border to prevent the Japanese army from invading Yunnan, the Chongqing side demanded that the 90th Army still hold out on the Burmese border for 15 days, so that the country would have time to deploy defenses on the Sino-Burmese border.

After receiving the telegram, Wang Haitao immediately sent a telegram back to the Chongqing side, saying that the 90 th Army promised to complete the tasks assigned by the Chongqing side and hold out in Burma for more than 15 days. With the strength of the 90th Army, it is not a problem to hold out in Lashio for 15 days, and now Wang Haitao is a little worried that the Japanese army will bypass Lashio City and attack the Sino-Burmese border; as far as Wang Haitao knows, in Ruili, the base camp of the expeditionary force on the Sino-Burmese border, only one division of the 36th Division is stationed, and once the Japanese army makes a detour to attack Ruili City, it is difficult to say how long it can hold with the strength of the 36th Division.

Wang Haitao thought about it for a while and decided to put the 210th Division, which had the strongest mobility, to Xingwei City north of Lashio, which was only 120 kilometers away from Ruili, and once the Japanese army made a detour to attack Ruili City, as long as the 36th Division could hold on for a day, the 210th Division would be able to rush over for reinforcements. With the ability of the 210th Division Mechanized Division, even against the two divisions of the Japanese army, it will not fall behind.

After the 210th Division and all the wounded and sick of the whole army left Lashio, Wang Haitao still had 20,000 men in the 90th and 93rd Divisions combined, plus the guard brigade, reconnaissance brigade, armored brigade, and heavy artillery brigade, and the number of soldiers in battle exceeded 40,000, which was enough to fight the Japanese army. Wang Haitao also sent two regiments of the reconnaissance brigade out to closely monitor the movements of each unit of the Japanese army, so that he could firmly control every move of the Japanese army.

The position outside Lashio was given to the 93rd Division for defense, the 90th Division was responsible for the defense of the city walls and inside the city, the Guard Brigade was the reserve of the whole army, and the heavy artillery brigade and the armored brigade were selected several places outside the city for concealment and standby. The reason why the heavy artillery brigade and armored brigade were placed outside the city was that Lashio was a little smaller, and once the Japanese planes bombed it, the targets of the heavy artillery brigade and armored brigade were too large and too obvious, and they could easily suffer losses.

In addition, the heavy artillery brigade has a long range, and it cannot wield the advantage of heavy artillery in the city, and the armored brigade is placed in the city, and it loses the advantage of mobility and flexibility, so Wang Haitao did not hesitate to put these two brigades outside the city. In view of the inevitable bombing by Japanese planes, Wang Haitao arranged all the air defense weapons in a targeted manner.

Wang Haitao believed that if the Japanese planes wanted to break through the layers of anti-air firepower networks, they would definitely pay a huge price, and as for whether the Japanese army could afford to spend such a large price to persist in the air raid on Lashio, Wang Haitao did not know.

Lashio City has been fortified from the outside to the inside, and the officers and men of the whole army are in strict formation waiting for the arrival of the Japanese pursuers. The 16th Division of the Japanese Army, which was pursuing, had no idea what kind of defensive position was waiting for them here in Lashio, let alone what kind of steel plate they would kick in Lashio!