Shortly after Lieutenant General Morioka sent a telegram to Commander Yamashita Fumi, he received a call back from Commander Yamashita Fumi. In the reply, Lieutenant General Morioka was asked to decide whether or not to pursue him, but Commander Yamashita Fumi's telegram mentioned that if Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa inflicted heavy damage on the 90th Division of Shina during the pursuit, or eliminated one of its parts, the headquarters would ask for credit for him in front of General Terauchi Shouichi.

Commander Yamashita kicked the ball back to Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa, and this reply letter made Lieutenant General Morioka feel embarrassed for a while. Although it is said that Commander Yamashita Fengwen let himself decide whether to pursue or not, it can be seen that Commander Yamashita Fengwen still hopes that the 16th Division will catch up, even if it is to destroy the part of the 90th Army of China, Commander Yamashita Fengwen will be very happy.

&bsp;&bsp;A wing of the 16th Division and the 33rd Division, the losses in these ten days were very small, and Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa also had enough troops to pursue, Morioka Hayabusa thought about it for a long time, but decided to try to pursue, he still could not believe that the 90th Army of this branch had left a strong defensive position, and could still defeat the powerful Imperial Japanese Army in the field.

&bsp;&bsp;Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa immediately ordered the troops to intensify surveillance of the Shina troops in the frontal position, and as soon as it was discovered that the Shina troops had withdrawn from their positions, they immediately followed up and occupied the positions of the China. The 278th Brigade abandoned its position at 10 o'clock, and a Japanese infantry squadron touched the position abandoned by the 278th Brigade in the next half hour, and immediately reported to Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa.

Only then did Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa believe that the Shina army had truly retreated, otherwise it would be impossible to give up even such an important peripheral position. So Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa immediately ordered the whole army to go out and prepare to occupy Lashio City. At 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, as soon as the 278th Brigade and the 1st Guard Regiment led by Wang Haitao left the city from the east gate, the 9th Infantry Wing of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army opened the west gate and entered Lashio City.

After entering the city, Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa learned that the Shina army had just left the city from the east gate, and the number was only a few thousand, and his eyes showed a fierce light. Lieutenant General Morioka Hayabusa called out to Captain Takeyoshi Takeshi of the 9th Wing and Captain Naono Kawaguchi of the 20th Infantry Wing, and asked them to immediately lead the Ninth Infantry Wing and the 20th Infantry Wing out of the east gate to pursue the fleeing Shina army.

When the two wing commanders received the order, they did not dare to slack off, and immediately gathered their troops, and chased out of Lashio with the chariot squadron as the lead. By the time the Japanese army chased out of the city, the 278th Brigade had already left for an hour. Xiang Wenbin, the commander of the 573rd Regiment, who was walking at the back, muttered to Chen Guangliang, the commander of the first battalion beside him: "Guangliang, it's been an hour since I left the city, and Little Japan hasn't moved yet, I'm afraid I won't dare to chase after you, right?"

Chen Guangliang replied: "Tuanza, it doesn't matter whether the little Japan is chasing after us or not, as long as we receive the order, anyway, the people of the reconnaissance brigade are already monitoring the little Japan at the city gate, and if there is any movement in the little Japan, the people of the reconnaissance brigade will notify us." Xiang Wenbin sighed and said: "Don't say anything else, this little Japanese has been surrounded in front of the position for more than half a month, and I didn't dare to attack a few times, originally I thought that our regiment would catch one or two battles, but Zheng Daodong at the front didn't fight much, and our regiment didn't even put a gun, if he returned to China like this, he was really a little unwilling." ”

Chen Guangliang persuaded: "Tuanza, you can rest assured, as long as you follow the division seat and the military seat, even if you return to the country, there will be a war." Didn't Junzao say that as long as little Japan is still invading our country, we will not lay down our weapons and must drive all little Japan out of China. You look at it, and when you return to China, you will soon have something to do with the little Japan in the country. ”

Xiang Wenbin scolded in the face: "You kid, do you still need to say these words? I don't understand? I just feel a little unwilling in my heart." It's almost 10 kilometers out of the city, right? Brigade let us defend at 10 kilometers, you kid go to the first camp to have a look, don't miss the brigade seat. Chen Guangliang replied with a smile: "Don't worry, I have sent a platoon to prepare ten kilometers first, and I will definitely not make a mistake." ”

As the two were talking, a signal corpsman flew over, stood up and saluted, and said: "Report to the regiment, the people of the reconnaissance brigade have sent intelligence, more than 10,000 people from the two wings of the Japanese army, with the chariot unit as the lead, have chased out of Lashio, and the brigade commander ordered our regiment to speed up its advance, block the Japanese army ten kilometers east of the city, and wait for reinforcements." Xiang Wenbin said with joy on his face: "Grandma's, little Japan is finally here, and the whole group is ordered to run forward and rush to ten kilometers at the fastest speed!"

With the strength of the 573rd Regiment, the troops rushed towards the 10 kilometers at a rapid pace. Half an hour later, the first battalion of the 573rd Regiment arrived at the destination, and Chen Guangliang did not care about resting, and immediately led the soldiers to repair the defensive position. Immediately afterwards, the 2nd Battalion, the 3rd Battalion, and the Heavy Firepower Battalion also arrived one after another, and everyone threw themselves into the emergency repair of the defensive position.

Xu Hua, commander of the heavy firepower battalion, learned that the Japanese army was using the chariot as a light guide, and immediately arranged four 82 recoilless guns and two 40 rocket launchers on the position. The rest of the dozens of light and heavy machine guns were also in position. As soon as the position was set up, the lights of the vehicles were heard in the distance. Xiang Wenbin looked at it with a telescope for a while and said, "There are a total of eight tanks, which should be a tank squadron in Little Japan." ”

The Japanese tanks are a difficult steel monster to deal with in front of other ** troops, but the ninety officers and soldiers who are accustomed to seeing heavy tanks do not take these Japanese tanks seriously, in their eyes these tanks are thin-skinned coffins, as long as it dares to come up, a few cannons can make it a big fire. Not long after, the Japanese tanks approached, and even the roar of the engines could be heard clearly.

Xiang Wenbin ordered the soldiers on the position to prepare to meet the enemy, and the four 82 recoilless guns were also aimed by the gunners, and the muzzles of the guns were pointed at the Japanese tanks that were advancing step by step. The Japanese tanks were moving forward along the road, and when they were still about a thousand meters away from the position, the roar of the engines sounded at the same time from the side and rear of the position, and at the same time, countless lights pierced the night like sharp arrows and shot in the direction of the Japanese army.

Xiang Wenbin turned around in surprise, and almost all the soldiers of the 573rd Regiment also turned around. Behind the hillside a few hundred meters behind the position, one after another steel behemoths drove out, and the behemoth driving in the front was none other than the most powerful Type 59 heavy tank of the armored brigade. Fifteen heavy tanks were at the head, followed by dozens of light tanks, and the officers and men of the Guards Brigade were accompanying the heavy armored vehicles.

The torrent of steel rolled towards the Japanese army, and the Japanese tank had stopped, and then the machine guns on the Japanese tank roared, and the muzzles of the guns spat out tongues of fire. The tanks of the armored brigade ignored the machine guns on the Japanese tanks at all, and the heavy machine guns on the vehicles were on the move, and the coaxial machine guns fired, and tracer bullets slashed out a bright light and pounced on the Japanese troops.

At the same time, the 100 mm smoothbore gun on the vehicle also began to fire, and the shells flew straight towards the Japanese tank as soon as the muzzle fire flashed. Fifteen 1 mm smoothbore guns on fifteen heavy tanks opened fire at the same time, and in an instant there was a burst of fire and explosions in the ranks of the Japanese tanks.

The light tank, which was following the heavy tank, saw that the cannon was fired in front, and it was not slow, and the 85 mm caliber tank gun on the car also roared. In a series of shell explosions, all eight Japanese tanks burst into flames, and the flames completely illuminated the figures of the infantry next to them. Japanese soldiers exposed to the flames became the best targets for tanks with heavy machine guns.

The armored brigade stormed and the Japanese simply could not resist. The tanks were loaded with artillery, the heavy machine-gun attacks continued, and soon the 9th Wing, which was in front, was in a rout. The rout of the 9th Wing immediately disrupted the formation of the 20th Wing behind it, and at the same time caused panic among the soldiers of the 20th Wing. The co-commander of the 20th Wing, Naono Osa Kawaguchi, hurriedly ordered to be stationed on the spot, but the soldiers, who were already in some confusion, did not listen to his orders.

The attack of the armored brigade did not meet resistance, and the 2nd and 3rd regiments of the police brigade that followed the armored brigade became very relaxed, and they were not in a hurry to participate in the attack, but just followed the vehicles of the armored brigade step by step. At this time, Xiang Wenbin and the officers and soldiers of the 573rd Regiment were dumbfounded. At this glance, he could exchange fire with little Japan, and the machine gun and 82 recoilless gun were all in place, but they were flashed by the armored brigade, and Xiang Wenbin didn't know what to do at this time.

Chen Guangliang, the commander of the first battalion, came up and said to Xiang Wenbin: "Tuanza, this is nothing to do with us? The brothers can hold back their strength, are we also rushing up with the armored brigade and letting the brothers open the meat?" Xiang Wenbin glanced at Chen Guangliang and said: "I haven't received the order to attack, why don't I ask the brigade seat for instructions?"

Chen Guangliang became anxious when he heard this, and shouted: "Tuanza, please ask for instructions from the brigade, and wait for the brigade's approval, the daylily will be cold! Besides, as long as we don't lose our position, the brigade won't say anything." Xiang Wenbin was also a little moved when he heard what Chen Guangliang said, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Okay, but there must be someone on the position!" In this way, the third battalion and the heavy firepower battalion stayed in the position, and the first and second battalions attacked with me. ”

As soon as the order was given, the first and second battalions followed Xiang Wenbin and rushed out of the position, leaving only Qiu Zhongjie, the commander of the third battalion, Xu Hua, the commander of the fire battalion, and the officers and soldiers of the second battalion looking at the backs of the officers and soldiers of the first and second battalions with a look of resentment. The 1st and 2nd Battalions quickly rushed to the front of the 2nd and 3rd Regiments of the Guard Brigade, followed the tanks, and rushed towards the chaotic Japanese troops together.

Under the impact of tanks and heavy armored vehicles, the Japanese army was already in disarray, and the two battalions of the 573rd Regiment charged like this, and the 20th Wing was even more unable to parry, and the wing commander Kawaguchi Naono Osa could only order a retreat, which could not be controlled, and these Japanese soldiers scattered desperately on two small short legs. Kawaguchi Naono Daisa, under the protection of the guards, fled in one breath until he saw the walls of Lashio Castle before stopping.