"Baga!" Yoshimoto Satoshi said angrily, "Why didn't you say it earlier?"

"Hayi." Shibata Nobuya paused, but thought to himself, "I've said it would be useful?" I haven't applied for materials from the Front Command, but is the result useful?"

Front Command should give priority to ensuring the needs of the 3rd Flying Regiment.

Because the 3rd Flying Regiment had to assist the North China Front Army in carrying out a sweep of the Eighth Route Army Hebei Central Military Region.

It is said that the gasoline and aviation bombs of the 3rd Flight Regiment are not enough, because the base camp allocated most of the gasoline and aviation bombs to the Navy and the Pacific battlefield.

To put it bluntly, domestic industrial capacity cannot keep up with demand.

Especially after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the demand gap is even larger.

Although the base camp had reserved a lot of combat supplies in the previous two years, it was still in short supply.

Shinichi Yoshimoto soon realized it and said with a dark face: "So now, can't we do anything except watching the entire Sixty-Nine Division be overthrown?"

The section chiefs and staff members remained silent.

At present, I can only watch it.

Yoshimoto Sato sighed and sat down on the chair dejectedly.

In addition to his annoyance and helplessness, Shinichi Yoshimoto found himself a little thankful. Fortunately, he had just arrived as the commander of the First Army, so the entire 69th Division was not counted on his head.

Otherwise, he would likely set a disgraceful record of the shortest term as the commander of the army.

...

Let’s talk about the Eighth Route Army Northwest Shanxi Column.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the main force of the Northwest Column of Shanxi rushed back to Anhua and quickly entered the peripheral attack position.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the artillery regiment directly under the Western Column of Jinbei rushed to Anhua and quickly built an artillery position in a large area of ​​cornland five kilometers away from Anhua.

The brigade commander and Wang Ye were still very cautious.

Although the journey from the Pig Slayer north was not bombed by the Japanese aviation army, the brigade commander and Wang Ye did not take it lightly and still built the artillery positions in the middle of the lush large cornfield. This way, even if the Japanese aviation bomber group came to bomb, it would be difficult to find the target.

The endless green gauze tent provided excellent cover for the artillery.

Unless the Japanese aviation force has the ability to carry out carpet bombing of cornfields within a radius of more than ten kilometers, it is impossible to destroy the artillery of the Northwest Shanxi Column.

So does the Japanese Air Force have this ability?

The answer is obviously no, and there is no such ability at all.

After all, this is a green gauze tent, and it can't be burned with a sulfur bomb.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the artillery regiment began to carry out artillery fire on the Japanese peripheral positions.

The entire shelling lasted for a full hour, and a total of more than 10,000 shells were fired.

The simple fortifications built by the Japanese army on the periphery of Anhua were turned upside down.

At 6 pm, the main force of the column, after a brief rest, invested six regiments of troops and launched a scattered general attack on the Japanese defensive positions outside Anhua!

...

Ichiro Akiyama, the Japanese sergeant who was captured in this battle and joined the Eighth Route Army after being transformed, wrote this in one of his memoirs:

We know that the Eighth Route Army's large troops have returned.

We also know that the Eighth Route Army has transferred heavy artillery troops.

We also guessed that the situation in Anhua would become very bad.

However, when the Eighth Route Army began shelling and attacking, we realized that the situation was far worse than we thought. Since the Sino-Japanese War broke out in the 12th year of Showa, we have never despaired like this.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, rows of shells hit our positions from all directions.

The Eighth Route Army's artillery positions were hidden in the cornfield a few kilometers away, and they could not be seen, but their shells poured into our positions in rows.

Because time is too tight, we only have time to dig out the trenches that are not deep.

There was no time to reinforce the side walls of the trench with wood.

Therefore, when the Eighth Route Army's shells fell in rows, our positions became fragmented.

I curled up and tried to shrink my body into a ball before I could barely hide in the newly dug anti-aircraft hole.

Diagonally opposite my anti-cannon hole was the anti-cannon hole that Inoue Jun and Kobayashi jointly dug. Their anti-cannon hole was very deep, and except for Inoue Jun and Kobayashi, three more people hid in.

Then, when a shell fell, their anti-cannon hole collapsed.

I really want to help them and dig them out of the collapsed anti-aircraft hole.

However, I dare not, because just a moment ago, when Lu Yejun bent over our anti-cannon hole, a shell fell down. We hid in the anti-cannon hole and escaped. However, Lu Yejun was blown up, and his body disappeared from below his waist, leaving only a piece of flesh and blood.

Lu Yejun wailed for more than ten seconds before finally dying.

But his eyes were not closed, and he kept staring at me.

Before his death, Shino-jun was begging me, begging me to bring the suicide note from his shirt pocket back to Japan and hand it over to his wife.

I was afraid that I would become the second Shino-kun, so I couldn't muster up the courage to leave my cannon hole and help Inoue-kun, Kobayashi and others who were buried alive.

An hour later, the Eighth Route Army's shelling finally stopped.

At this time, there is no need to dig Inoue and the others again.

Because no one was buried alive under the ground for more than an hour and could survive.

Let them sleep underground in a foreign country, but I took away Lu Yejun's suicide note.

A sharp whistle sounded from the position, and the captain Kasahara roared at the top of his lungs: "The Eighth Route Army has attacked, check the weapons and ammunition, and quickly enter its own shooting position!"

I resisted the dizziness and picked up the rifle and entered the shooting position.

I saw that the entire position was completely covered by thick smoke, and I couldn't see clearly if I could more than ten meters away.

The air was filled with the smell of pungent smoke, the eyes were so hot that they could not open it, and the edges of the trench pressed under the arms were also boiling, as if they had just been roasted by fire.

"All machine gun teams, speed up clearing the shooting range!"

"Grouter tube team, heavy machine gun team reinforces positions!"

The captain Kasawa was still roaring loudly: "Infantry Detachment, get bayonet!"

I mechanically pulled out the bayonet from my waist and inserted it into the slot, pulled the bolt and pushed the bullet into the chamber, and then opened the security of the rifle.

Putting a bayonet in advance will have an impact on the accuracy of the rifle, so in most cases we will not put a bayonet in advance, and only do this in specific situations.

And today, this is the specific situation.

Because Captain Toda was worried that we would not have time to get bayonets.

After I was ready, I turned my gaze to the side. I saw that Gumin Junshi was taking his heavy machine gun team members, slapped the ground with a pickaxe of engineers, trying to tighten the floating soil that was plowed by the artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army.

Because the recoil of heavy machine guns is far greater than that of light machine guns, it must have stable ground support.

Unfortunately, there is no time because the Eighth Route Army has launched a general attack.

The first thing that sounded was the loud charge of "Dudadadadadudududu". In the next three years, I had been fascinated by this sound countless times, but at this moment, I had only fear in my heart.

Accompanied by the loud charge, there were tides of shouting and killing.

At this time, the smoke that was shrouded in the position had dispersed and could be seen a hundred meters away.

But I saw that countless Eighth Route Army had already covered the entire earth and rushed up like a tide.

People who have not experienced that kind of scene will never experience the shock and tremor on their soul when you stand opposite to this wave.

That feeling cannot be described in words.

It is as if you have been abandoned by the whole world, and the only one between heaven and earth is your enemy, countless enemies, rushing towards you.

My legs were all weak at that time.

Although I have experienced many battles.

"Shoot! Open up firepower, kill them and shoot!"

Amid the roar of the captain Kasawa, the entire team opened fire.

Including the Gumura heavy machine gun team that was temporarily assigned to our team, but before a bullet board was finished, one side of the bracket was trapped in floating soil and could no longer be shot.

Because the muzzle jumps randomly as soon as it is opened, it can only waste bullets.

Without a suitable heavy machine gun position, Tanimura Junshi ordered Private Kawata to hold onto the heavy machine gun with his shoulders.

After barely firing two metal bullet plates, Private Kawada's shoulders and hands that pressed the machine gun's radiator tube began to squeak in blue smoke, and it was probably about to be cooked.

The heat of heavy machine guns is amazing.

But Private Kawada gritted his teeth and said nothing.

But even so, the firepower did not last long.

Because a grenade dropped, it fell next to the military commander of the Gumura.

Tanimura Junshi and Kawada Second Class were overturned by the air waves caused by the explosion, and the Type 92 heavy machine gun carried on the shoulders of Kawada Second Class also fell into the trenches.

The Upper Kitani rushed up and wanted to carry the machine gun again.

But there is no chance anymore, because the Eighth Route Army has rushed to our trenches.

I fired a shot, but failed to hit it, and then rushed out of the trench with a bayonet rifle, preparing to fight the Eighth Route Army for the final battle, but I was completely confused at the time.

A tall Eighth Route Army rushed towards me.

According to the teaching of infantry training, I followed by a sprint.

The Eighth Route Army on the opposite side blocked the gun, and my bayonet was knocked to the side.

After blocking my bayonet, the Eighth Route Army stabbed again. I quickly dodged. The bayonet was dodged, but my body also lost its center of gravity and fell backwards into the trenches.

Before I could get up, the Eighth Route Army also fell down and pressed against me.

A stray bullet that flew from nowhere hit him. This is war, life and death only existed in an instant.

I admit that I was scared at that time, and wiped my face with blood from the sacrificed Eighth Route Army, and then lay under him and pretended to be dead until the Eighth Route Army found out and captured me.

...

In less than half an hour, all the Japanese troops' peripheral positions were lost.

The two brigades of more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers guarding the periphery were all wiped out.

Then the Northwest Column of Jin launched a fierce attack on the fortifications of Anhua through the fortifications built by the Japanese army.

There were about 6,000 Japanese soldiers guarding Anhua. In addition to the artillery, the remaining more than 5,000 were temporarily organized into five infantry brigades by Inoue Sadashi.

Two of the infantry brigades guarded the outer positions and had been annihilated.

Two infantry brigades and artillery corps were in the city, preparing to fight the Eighth Route Army, so there was only one brigade of more than one thousand men in the Japanese army guarding the city wall.

More than a thousand people seem to be quite a few.

However, evenly spreading the city walls seven or eight kilometers, it immediately became very difficult.

On average, there was only one person in about ten meters, and the density was already very low. The Eighth Route Army launched a fierce attack on Anhua from all directions.

So, the city wall defense line is also shaking.

After receiving the news that the Castle Wall was in a hurry, Sadashi Inoue's face turned green.

"Igarashi Jun!" Inoue Sadaki asked the Communications Division Chief Miya Igarashi with a dark face, "When will the reinforcements of the 36th Division and the 37th Division arrive?"

Igarashi Mi smiled bitterly and said, "The commander of the division, the reinforcements of the 36th Division and the 37th Division are still entangled with the Tu Eighth Route Army in the Taiyue Bandit Area and the Taihang Bandit Area, and I am afraid that I will not be able to come to support it in a short period of time."

"Damn it, these damn idiots!" Inoue Sadae roared angrily.

As he was roaring, a messenger rushed into the war room in a dusty state and reported: "Chief of the division, the Eighth Route Army has broken through the defense line of the East Gate City Wall!"

"What? So fast?"

Sadashi Inoue was really shocked and angry when he heard this.

At that moment, Inoue Sadae said to Igarashi Mi again: "Igarashi Jun, order Noda brigade to launch a counterattack, take back the East Gate City Wall, and regain the East Gate City Wall..."

Before he finished speaking, another messenger broke in.

"Teacher Commander, the Eighth Route Army has broken through the city wall in the northeast corner!"

Immediately afterwards, several messengers broke in and reported to Sadashi Inoue.

"The division commander, Ximen City Wall has been broken by the Eighth Route Army, and Major Toda has sacrificed his life for the country."

"The division commander, the city wall in the southwest corner is in danger. Captain Ito requests emergency reinforcements from the division headquarters, otherwise the city wall in the southwest corner will not be able to be defended."

"The division commander, Lieutenant Takenouchi has broken his jade."

"Teacher Commander, the city wall in the southeast corner has been lost..."

One after another, the commanders came to the division headquarters.

Report one bad news after another to Sadae Inoue.

Sadae Inoue was confused, and there was no way to remedy it now.

The entire city wall defense line has leaked from all sides, how can I fix it?

He sighed dejectedly, and Inoue Sadashi said helplessly: "Order the Fifth Battalion to withdraw from the city and cooperate with the Third, Fourth Battalion and the Mountain Artillery Corps to engage in the final street battle with the Eighth Route Army."

...

At the East Gate of Anhua City Pass.

The entire Dongmen City Pass has fallen under the control of the Eighth Route Army.

Therefore, the areas on both sides outside the city gate are absolutely safe.

The soldiers of the Third Detachment and the Third Regiment were stepping up cleaning up the sandbags that blocked the city gates and clearing the attack passage for the armored company.

This attack just now was the first time that Li Sigen's armored company participated in the war, because the previous battles of Zhanggezhuang, Chenzhuang, Ping'an County, and Zhukou, the armored company did not participate.

It’s not that Li Sigen doesn’t want to participate, nor that the brigade commander doesn’t want them to participate, but that there are always reasons that will cause the armored vehicles to not be able to participate in the battle.

Fortunately, the final attack finally caught up.

Amid the rapid sound of horse hooves, Wang Ye rode the flames to the east gate of Anhua.

"Sigen, where are Li Sigen?" Wang Ye blocked the war horse and asked loudly.

"Captain, I'm here." Li Sigen poked out of the turret of a Type 95 tank.

Wang Ye urged the horse to come to Li Sigen's tank and said in a deep voice: "Sigen, whether you can destroy the remains of the Japanese in the city in the shortest time this time depends on your armored company."

"Captain, please give orders!" Li Sigen said proudly.

Wang Ye said with a nod and said, "You have only one mission. Propel forward along Dongmen Street, and advance to the Japanese Division headquarters in the shortest time and destroy it!"

"Yes!" Li Sigen said proudly, "Please ensure that the task is completed."

Wang Ye's eyes turned to Chen Quan's body again and said in a deep voice: "Chen Quan."

"Yes." Chen Quan put away his usual laughter and said with a serious look on his face, "Please instruct!"

Wang Ye said: "The mission of your third regiment is to coordinate the attack of the armored company. Keep up with the attack rhythm of armored vehicles when advancing forward. Don't cause the infantry to be disconnected from the tanks, and don't let the Japanese get close to our tanks!"

During the Battle of Shanghai, the Kuomintang's tanks were easily blown up by the Japanese engineers because they had no infantry protection.

Wang Ye didn't want their armored company to repeat the mistakes of the armored company of the Fifth Army of the National Army.

"Yes!" Chen Quan said solemnly, "As long as there is one person in the third regiment, we will never let the Japanese get close to our tank!"

While speaking, a cheer suddenly sounded in the direction of the city gate ahead: "It's open! The city gate is opened! The city gate is opened!"

Wang Ye nodded slightly at Li Sigen and Shen Quan and said in a deep voice: "Old Shen has four more, so let's start quickly!"

Li Sigen responded, immediately raised his right hand and waved it forward and shouted loudly, "Armored Company, attack!"

Almost at the same time, nearly a thousand soldiers from the Third Regiment also rushed into the East Gate like a tide. After a continuous battle, the Third Regiment had lost more than half of its personnel, leaving only less than a thousand people.

However, there were not many casualties, most of them were only injured.

After entering the city through the city gate corridor, Li Sigen immediately retracted his turret.

Through the narrow viewing hole, you can roughly see the streets ahead and the houses on both sides.

Fifty meters away, the Japanese army built a circular barricade in the middle of Dongmen Street. Seeing this, Li Sigen immediately smiled grimly.

"Go to die, the Japanese!"

Li Sigen grinned and stepped hard under his feet.

With a loud bang, the Type 95 tank vibrated violently.

Then a red light roared out from the muzzle of the 37mm caliber main gun.

Li Sigen looked closely and saw a red light rising from the circular barricade fifty meters away. In the smoke of gunpowder, the Type 92 heavy machine gun originally mounted on the barricade had already overturned.

Several Japanese soldiers guarding the barricade were also broken.

It was really broken, and the broken limbs and body were scattered all over the ground.

Seeing this extremely bloody scene, Li Sigen only felt a sense of pleasure.
Chapter completed!