Just as the tanks rushed to less than 200 meters from the city wall, the sound of artillery was heard in the city, and soon one shell after another screamed and fell on the tanks. Listening to the sound of the explosion, the Japanese army knew that it was not a small cannon like a Type 92 infantry gun or mortar, but a regular artillery.

If the Japanese artillery fire caused a lot of damage to the tanks, this loss would be unbearable for the 90th Army. Tang Yikuan immediately ordered everyone to retreat, Tang Yiqun hurriedly said: "Master, you have already approached the city wall of Hengyang, and now retreating will be wasted!" Tang Yikuan gritted his teeth and said: "Withdraw! This is an order!" Tang Yiqun could only reply: "Yes, Shizuo!"

The troops quickly withdrew, and Tang Yikuan personally went to the withdrawn troops to take a look around, and learned that the losses of the tank vehicles and the 543rd Regiment were not large, the heavy tanks basically had no losses, and only two light tanks had damaged their tracks, so they could not move for the time being, as long as they repaired it, they would be fine. And the 543rd Regiment had the cover of light tanks, and the fighters protected themselves at the first time, so they suffered less than a hundred casualties.

The failure of the first attack was a blow to the morale of the troops, but before the Japanese artillery position was solved, Tang Yikuan did not dare to attack easily, Tang Yikuan called Tang Lin, the commander of the division's heavy artillery regiment, to the division headquarters and asked him if he could determine the azimuth coordinates of the Japanese artillery position. And Tang Lin gave Tang Yikuan a disappointed answer.

At night, it was impossible to see the flight trajectory of the Japanese artillery shells, so there was no way to calculate the specific orientation coordinates of the Japanese artillery, and it was only as large as judging the direction of the artillery position. In this case, if you want to hit the Japanese artillery position, you can only do covering bombing in this direction. But this is simply impossible, there are tens of thousands of people living in Hengyang City, and how many innocent people will be killed or injured by this kind of covering bombardment, this is something that the 90th Division must not do.

Tang Yikuan thought for a long time, and now there is only one way available, that is, to let the divisional reconnaissance regiment send a reconnaissance team, carry a small radio station to enter Hengyang City at night, find the Japanese artillery position, and then send back the azimuth coordinates, but this will not only face huge danger for the reconnaissance team, but also delay time. In addition, Tang Yikuan has no better way.

Just when Tang Yikuan was about to ask the signal corps to call Li Changqing, the head of the reconnaissance regiment, the guard at the door reported that Li Changqing, the commander of the reconnaissance regiment, was going to meet Tang Yikuan with a few people. Li Changqing suddenly asked to see him at this time, something must have happened, and Tang Yikuan hurriedly called someone to call Li Changqing and them in. After a while, Li Changqing walked into the division headquarters with a few people.

Tang Yikuan saw that Li Changqing and several people around him were wearing military uniforms, and there was a person wearing a long shirt in the middle. Tang Yikuan was about to ask, but Li Changqing had already preemptively reported: "Report to the division, my reconnaissance team caught a spy not far from the position, but this person claimed to be from the Chinese Communists and had something important to meet with the division, so I brought this person over." ”

At this time, the man in the long robe took two steps forward and said, "May I ask if you are General Tang Yikuan, the commander of the 90th Division?" Tang Yikuan casually called out his name as soon as he heard the other party, and asked in surprise: "Who are you? How do you know me?" The person who came smiled and said: "I am an intelligence officer of the Chinese Communist Party stationed in Hengyang City, and I was ordered by my superiors to send a map to the general, which marked the location of the important departments of the Japanese army in Hengyang City. I believe that General Tang will use it in the later battles. ”

After speaking, this person tore off the left cuff, took out a map from his shirt and handed it to Tang Yikuan. Tang Yikuan took it and opened it to take a closer look, this is a map of Hengyang City, which marks the location of important institutions such as the Hengyang City Defense Headquarters, the arsenal, and the gendarmerie brigade headquarters of the Japanese army.

For this map, Tang Yikuan will not doubt its authenticity at all, and Tang Yikuan is also convinced of the identity of the person who came. As a close confidant of Wang Haitao, Tang Yikuan knows how deep his relationship with the CCP is that this commander has. Tang Yikuan said happily: "Great! This is really sleepy, someone will send a pillow! This map sent by Mr. is so important! Thank you so much for sending this map, this is really a charcoal in the snow!"

After speaking, Tang Yikuan remembered that he didn't even ask the other party's name, and said a little embarrassed: "Sir, your surname, I'm really sorry, I neglected Mr. on the battlefield!" The person smiled and said: "My surname is He, you can call me Lao He." In addition to asking me to hand over the map to your army, the superiors asked me to ask General Hou Wang Haitao on my behalf, and there is no need to say thank you, what we did was really insignificant compared to what General Wang did for us. My contact details are on the map, so please contact me if you need our help. I wish General Tang a victorious start and take Hengyang City as soon as possible. Farewell. ”

Tang Yikuan asked Li Changqing to send the people out of the barracks, and then said to Tang Lin, the commander of the heavy artillery regiment beside him: "The location of the Japanese artillery position is here, you immediately determine the bearing coordinates according to this position, and lead the joint heavy artillery brigade to destroy the Japanese artillery position in one fell swoop." Tang Lin took the map and replied: "It's the division's seat, and I will do it immediately!" After speaking, he turned around and left the division headquarters.

Twenty minutes passed, and all the heavy artillery on the artillery positions behind the position began to roar again, this time the shells did not fall near the city walls, but flew directly into the city. As the explosion of the cannonballs rang out, fires lit up in many places in Hengyang City. The targets of this heavy artillery bombardment were not only two artillery positions, but also some important organs such as the city defense headquarters and the gendarmerie brigade headquarters.

After an hour of artillery bombardment, the city of Hengyang was already in chaos, and several important places were shelled at the same time, causing the Japanese army to be in chaos. The commander of the 3rd Division, Lieutenant General Sanbenshano, had a big fate, and he happened to be patrolling the troops during the bombing and escaped. The commander of the 39th Division, Lieutenant General Sumita Laishiro, was fine at the West Gate, and only the commander of the 68th Division, Lieutenant General Sakuma, remained at the city defense headquarters, and he was seriously wounded in the bombing.

The two artillery positions were the objects of heavy artillery, and the shells of countless heavy artillery fell at the first time. The Japanese officers and soldiers on the artillery position were cheering and celebrating the repulsion of the Chinese army's attack, but they did not expect the shells of revenge to fall so quickly. The power of the heavy artillery shells was extremely great, and a single shell not only completely destroyed the two artillery positions, but also caused heavy casualties to the surrounding Japanese troops due to the detonated ammunition.

The sound of explosions in all parts of the city also caused panic among the Japanese troops guarding the wall of the West Gate, and just as they were still in terror, the second attack of the Chinese army began. Because it was not certain whether the Japanese artillery positions were completely destroyed, the tank formation of this assault was pulled wider, and the distance between the heavy tanks in front and the light tanks in the back was also widened.

The officers and men of the 543rd Regiment were still following the assault with the light tanks, and this time the officers and men of the 543rd Regiment advanced more carefully. At 300 meters, 200 meters, and 150 meters, the Japanese artillery fire never sounded, which also gave the attacking battlefields greater confidence. The Japanese troops on the city wall and in the gap opened fire, and neither light nor heavy machine guns, grenadiers, nor even mortars and Type 92 infantry guns could damage the tanks, but these heavy weapons were suppressed by all kinds of firepower.

The vehicle-mounted artillery on the tank focused on the small artillery of the Japanese army, and the vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun door against the light and heavy machine gun firing points. For the firing points hidden in the fortifications of the city walls, there were bazooka teams to solve them. In addition, there were heavy machine gun positions and mortar positions dedicated to providing fire support on the Chinese positions, and the ferocious firepower made it difficult for the Japanese to form an effective blockade.

Heavy tanks stopped advancing a hundred meters from the city wall, and they were to be used as fixed fire points, providing close fire support for the attacks of the light tanks and infantry behind. Soon the light tanks and the officers and men of the 543rd Regiment crossed through the gaps in the heavy tanks, approaching a few gaps little by little. In two larger breaches, there were four light tanks and a battalion to take charge of the attack.

About 50 meters away from the two large gaps, the light tanks also stopped advancing, and at this distance, the terrifying lethality of the heavy machine guns of the four tanks caused heavy casualties to the Japanese troops guarding the gaps, and the living were also suppressed behind the pile of rubble and did not dare to show their heads. The infantry behind the light tank took the opportunity to charge into the gap.

The soldiers of a battalion quickly rushed to the gap, and for fear of accidental injury, the heavy machine guns on the tank stopped firing at the gap, and the Japanese soldiers guarding the gap were just relieved and were about to poke their heads out to see the situation, when they were killed by the Chinese soldiers who arrived on the ground. Lieutenant General Seishiro Sumita, who personally commanded the Japanese army, desperately commanded his subordinates to reinforce the gap, trying to recapture the gap, but the soldiers who rushed up were knocked to the ground in pieces.

Tang Yiqun saw that the 543rd Regiment had captured two large gaps, and knew that the time had come to attack the city, so he immediately ordered the prepared 20 heavy armored vehicles and the 544th Regiment to enter the battle. When the heavy armored vehicles and the 44th Regiment also rushed to the city wall, Lieutenant General Cheng Yin Lai Shiro understood that the Ximen City Wall could not be recaptured, so he could only impatiently order all of them to retreat.

After capturing the West Gate City Wall was only the beginning of the siege, the next would be a more difficult street battle, Tang Yiqun reported to Tang Yikuan that he had captured the West Gate City Wall and attacked the city, and he also personally led the 542nd Regiment into the city. Fierce gunfire suddenly rang out in the direction of the west gate of the city. When Wang Haitao got Tang Yikuan's battle report, he personally gave Tangshan Leopard an order to attack Hengyang City.

In the rear of the 271st Brigade, the Guards Brigade had been in a tight position for a long time, but the 271st Brigade was attacking urgently, and the Guards Brigade did not receive the order to attack, so it could only wait for orders while watching the battle in the rear. After the first attack of the 271st Brigade was frustrated, the three commanders of the guard brigade wanted Tangshan Leopard to ask Wang Haitao for battle, but they were all suppressed by Tangshan Leopard, who knew Wang Haitao's temper, and now they finally received the order to attack, and the guard brigade was as excited as if they had eaten a stimulant from top to bottom.