At 3 a.m. on December 4, 1941, ten kilometers north of Dai County.

At this moment, it is the most likely time for normal people to get sleepy, and it is also the most suitable time to launch a night attack.

"Gentlemen, you must be cautious in your next actions. Pay attention to your feet at every step, the enemy has most likely laid out a minefield ahead. ”

"No one should act rashly, and if there is any situation, you must report it to your superiors in time."

"There are no war horses and no armored vehicles to protect them this time. But as the only search wing in the group, we must get off to a good start. ”

Since the Third Wing of the Motorized Infantry was crippled by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region during the day, the vanguard of this night attack was composed of the search wing of the cavalry group and the remnants of the second brigade of the independent mixed brigade.

The Search Wing is a new establishment added by the Japanese Army in 1940 to divisional and regimental units.

Although this kind of unit bears the title of wing, its actual strength is only about 500 people.

It is responsible for reconnaissance, breakthrough, pursuit, and other tasks in important battles, and has high mobility and good combat effectiveness.

If it is a low-intensity battlefield, the search wing can really achieve a certain degree of rampage with armored vehicles and war horses.

It's a pity that in order to be able to covertly approach the position of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, the devils were forced to give up the vehicles they relied on for survival, and could only temporarily transfer to cannon fodder infantry and advance on foot.

In a sense, the cavalry group has really reached the point of exhaustion.

As for the artillery of these two armies and the 17th Wing of the chariot as the killer weapon, they were on standby in the prepared sortie positions.

The former would open fire as the advance army approached the positions of the Eighth Route Army, using artillery shells to open a channel for the infantry to attack.

The latter needs to identify the enemy's firing point before acting, after all, the enemy has French anti-tank guns in the list of equipment, and there is also a powerful artillery unit.

The remaining light and medium tanks are the lifeblood of Nishihara's Kazuke, and he must ensure that these armored units are on the scene at the critical moment to deal a fatal blow to the Eighth Route Army.

As for the selection of the reserves, they could only be filled by half-disabled cavalry wings, wounded soldiers, engineer corps, baggage corps, brigade and group guards.

With such an arrangement, it can be seen that the two old devils, Nishihara Kazuse and Mano Goro, are ready to sacrifice themselves for the locusts at any time.

The two, who had not been on the front line to fight for a long time, even selected the rifles in advance, showing the grassroots commanders that they would never be reluctant to steal their lives.

Half an hour later, the search wing and the 2nd Separate Mixed Brigade arrived at the planned starting point of the charge.

More than 2,000 devils took out the awakening potion from their pockets and took it, and they turned into ice shooters, ready to launch the last pig rush charge of their lives.

"It's dark! Onboard! ”

The current position, even if you move forward silently, there is a high chance that it will be discovered by the light and dark sentinel of the Eighth Route Army. Instead of advancing with fear, it is better to shout slogans to raise the momentum of the troops.

With the shouts of the three big bosses, the devils rushed forward with their bayonets as fast as they could.

······

"Calm down, don't rush to start the device. The movement of that thing is not small, and it will startle the enemy to be alert. ”

"Wait for the instructions of the superiors, and then there will be flares and flares into the air. In winter, the dawn is late, and we have kung fu to play with the little devils. ”

Night battle is the skill of the Eighth Route Army to press the bottom of the box.

After determining that the enemy would come to attack at night, Commander Yang arranged a large number of secret posts on the first line of defense. The purpose of such a large battle is to discover the enemy's traces at the first opportunity, so that troops at all levels can be prepared to meet the enemy.

After all, the number of infantry in the cavalry group was only half that of a normal division.

As long as you can take out a large number of infantry and destroy the system of devil infantry coordination, those remaining armored troops will become lambs to the slaughter.

When the time comes, don't say it's just a ninety-seven type Zhongtan, even if you are replaced by a tiger and a leopard in Desan, the supermen of the Eighth Route Army can stage a feat of individual anti-tank.

While the searchlight 121 regiment was waiting, some of the charging devils broke into the minefield and stepped on the mine, and a series of explosions sounded in front of the position.

Boom Boom!

Almost at the same time, nearly 1,000 red and white signal flares suddenly rose into the night sky over the Xinding Basin, illuminating the endless earth as bright as day.

It was at this time that the 121 regiment on the position received an order from its superiors: ignite! Initiate!

In an instant, nearly 100 90-centimeter carbon arc lamps hidden in various places, as well as searchlights captured from the artillery tower of the First Army, were energized at the same time.

The snow-bright lights stretched to a kilometer behind the forward position of the devils. The night, which was completely starlit, was illuminated as if it were day.

The dazzling pillar of light made it impossible for the enemy's night raiding troops to look ahead at all, and even the devils in the front row directly shed blood and tears.

Such a spectacular scene, the high beam dog of later generations will see it and call the ancestor to appear. Magic Thunder players who play the Night Battle mode will understand how much the searchlight in the game has been weakened.

Compared with the terrified and blind devils, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region is clear about the current every move.

"Put!"

Guided by the lights, mortars of all calibers on the forward positions began to roar.

At the direction of the observation post, a well-fed shell flew like a meteor into the enemy's ranks. The violent explosion instantly made those devils who had knocked the medicine go to see the locusts of the past dynasties.

The artillery regiments of the military districts and the artillery brigade of the headquarters in the rear were not idle, they also began a fierce bombardment with the help of lights, and constantly corrected their positions with the help of school firing aircraft.

The stormy shells poured down on the Japanese positions for twenty minutes, as if the weapons were about to expire at dawn and must be used up in the early hours of the morning.

Didi

"Comrades! Follow me! ”

A loud charge sounded from the position, and the artillery fire began to extend.

Under the leadership of the grassroots commanders, the infantry jumped out of the trench in dazzling lights and followed the cicada tank to take the first step to recover North China.

The attack of the Fourth Column went very smoothly and met almost no decent resistance.

As the comrades expected, heavy artillery fire wiped out most of the Japanese troops at the front. Most of the devils who survived were also deaf and dizzy, and they were delirious.

The balance of victory is tilting in favor of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.

······

Cavalry group, underground command post.

Nishihara Kazuce, dressed in a shabby lieutenant general's uniform and a katana from the Locust at his waist, sat precariously on his lap. At this time, he listened to the staff officer's report on the battle situation with a serious face.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, we are defeated, and we are completely defeated."

"Maybe if you don't hold out until dawn, the Eighth Route Army will hit the group headquarters."

As soon as the staff officer's words fell, the faces of several devil officers changed in unison, with obvious despair in their eyes. The only ones who can remain calm are Nishihara Kazuse and Mano Goro.

The gap is really too big.

The cavalry group plus the independent mixed second brigade group was only 25,000 men, while the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side conservatively estimated that it had 45,000 men, almost twice as many.

If it's just a two-to-one force, then it can still fight.

The army of the younger Japanese country was not afraid of any enemy, and the manpower of the preserved fruit was many times higher than that of its own side, and it was still pressed to the ground and hammered.

Bushido, elite soldiers, and advanced tactics are enough to bridge the gap in numbers.

But the biggest problem now is that the firepower and equipment are so bad that everyone despairs.

The Eighth Route Army still had at least 100 tanks, 200 barrel guns of various calibers, and more mortars than its own grenadiers.

The cavalry group and the independent mixed second brigade group, even if they were fully formed before departure, had less than 50 mountain and field guns and eight 105 howitzers.

The most uncomfortable thing is that the range and power of the pride of the empire, the 91-style 105 grenade, are not the opponent of the Eighth Route Army at all.

Such a huge gap in firepower and equipment cannot be made up by courage and tactics, not to mention that the enemy has an unparalleled air force.

Rumble!

Before Nishihara could speak again, a violent explosion could be heard from above, and the kerosene lamp overhead became crumbling.

Inside the headquarters, the devils were visibly flustered. Now you can feel a noticeable tremor, and even some unsteady standing, which means that the enemy shelling has reached the vicinity.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General! The XVII Tank Wing attacked. Montenegro Dazuo has just sent a farewell telegram. ”

"yes, got it."

Nishihara nodded expressionlessly, letting the dust and dirt fall on him.

Now you can fight to change a few tanks, and you can also kill some infantry at the most. If it drags on for a few more minutes, you may really have to be named by the enemy's dive bombers.

Infantry and artillery coordination, coupled with air-ground coordination, it turns out that this is the situation of the French back then.

"Pass my order, send people to destroy all transport trucks and supplies, and you can't leave anything for the Eighth Route Army!"

"If you send another telegram to Lieutenant General Ganji Jutaro and General Okamura Ninji, let's just say that our cavalry group has done its best, but the enemy is as high as tens of thousands."

"It's okay, come with me to the battlefield and be loyal to His Majesty the Locust!"

The mid-level officers of the Japanese army may have all kinds of problems. But loyalty to his brother's country, that's definitely full value.

In the midst of a howl of ghosts and wolves, Nishihara Kazusei and Mano Goro led a group of staff officers and commanders to the position in the crossfire. (End of chapter)