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Xu Le stepped into the headquarters and shouted, "Everyone listen up, convey my instructions to all departments!"

Upon hearing the voice, dozens of people in the headquarters immediately put down their work and stood up.

Wei Junjun murmured to himself, wondering why the young marshal was so impatient. He just left and hurried back in less than an hour.

However, her years of military career had made her stand up straight out of habit.

"There is no need to worry about Advisor Wei, Staff Officer Fang will take care of it. All divisions and artillery brigades do not need to wait, immediately launch the attack according to your respective plans and unleash your firepower!"

"Communicator, contact Commander Zhu of the Logistics Department and have him notify the governor immediately and send an engineering team to prepare to repair the bridge!"

"Order all the 60th Army troops that have not yet crossed the river to cross the river!"

As soon as the order was given, the headquarters became busy instantly. All telephones were activated and no radio station was idle.

It is not easy to fully mobilize the troops. Ammunition transportation must keep up, ferry boats must be guaranteed, and medical personnel must be in place in time...

Xu Le's sudden order confused everyone, including Fang Yue.

However, they had no way of knowing the casualties of the Japanese. If they could infer it from the system like Xu Le did, they would probably be more eager to give orders than Xu Le!

You know, in the Battle of Shanghai, the Tang army deployed 80 troops, and retreated after suffering 30 casualties. The casualty ratio was too high.

Although 30 accounts for 80% of , this is the number of casualties, not the number of deaths.

Now, more than half of the Japanese have suffered casualties, and this place is not their homeland, so there is no need to defend it to the end. So at this moment, the Japanese look well-organized on the surface, and their positions look quite realistic.

In fact, the army was already in disarray, and only a few generals were trying to force the soldiers to hold on.

"General Staff, what's the next step?"

Fang Yue shook his head and smiled slightly: "Our young commander is really hard to figure out. Many of his actions are very strange, but the results are always unexpected. Give orders to the 101st Division to attack Banqiao and block Gongpo! Artillery Regiment 5 and Artillery Regiment 101 concentrate their firepower and fire, and Mechanized Infantry Regiment 7 prepares to cross the river!"

If we were to say who was the most excited after receiving the attack order, it would definitely be Liu Quanhua. He almost thought he had not slept well last night. After confirming the order again and again, he directly ordered the infantry fighting vehicles of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment to charge, and the Type 85 122mm self-propelled artillery battalion followed behind, running and firing.

That scene was so lively!

In Banqiao, Dai Ming was waiting for Wei Li's 8th Regiment.

"Damn it, I've been waiting all night, and now I don't have to wait any longer. The 102nd and 103rd Regiments go surround Baoshan, and all the mortars from the 101st Regiment should be concentrated to bomb the enemy's Banqiao position!"

Boom boom boom....

54 mortars roared and bombarded the positions frantically, as if they wanted to tear the enemy to pieces.

The dense artillery shells like raindrops hit the Japanese positions like a violent storm. The explosions resounded through the sky and shook the earth.

Each infantry squad followed the cover of artillery fire and advanced forward cautiously, their eyes full of determination and resoluteness.

In previous battles, carpet bombing with heavy firepower was often the key to breaking through the enemy's defenses, with infantry following up to clean up the remaining enemies.

In fact, soldiers do not have many opportunities to fire continuously for a long time. Many of them have only turned on the fully automatic shooting mode during training so far. In actual combat, soldiers are more likely to wait and fire in bursts.

Now, apart from mortars, there is no other heavy firepower support, and the soldiers can't help but feel a little nervous.

When they picked up the Type 81 automatic rifle and fired, they truly felt its powerful force.

Although it may not feel as good as the former M16 rifle, its firepower and accuracy are not much inferior, which shocks every soldier.

This dense firepower, spewing out like a fire dragon, gave the soldiers more confidence. They seemed to have become one with the guns in their hands and completely fell in love with this reliable weapon.

"Commander, something is wrong." Zhu Yuan said anxiously, "We don't have heavy firepower, and the Japanese occupy the high ground. According to common sense, they should use their advantage to fight back with all their strength. But you see, why is their firepower so sparse? This is really not in line with common sense."

Dai Ming nodded slightly, his expression serious. Just a few minutes after the start of the battle, Zhu Yuan was able to judge the abnormality from the enemy's firepower, which fully demonstrated his keen insight and rich combat experience.

Zhu Yuan's voice was filled with anxiety and uneasiness. He continued, "Commander, this abnormality may mean that the devils have some conspiracy. We can't take it lightly. We must find a way to deal with it as soon as possible."

The division commander took a deep breath. He knew that Zhu Yuan's worries were not unreasonable. On the battlefield, any abnormality could be a trap set by the enemy. He stared into the distance, thinking about his next move.

"Oh no, something is wrong! Captain Zhu, is there any other road from Banqiao that can lead to Baoshan?" Dai Ming's voice was filled with anxiety.

"It's the one we're on right now, and we've completely occupied it!" Zhu Yuan answered crisply, but then he seemed to suddenly remember something and added hastily, "Oh, no, there's another one! My fellow villagers said there's a small river to the north of Banqiao that flows to the south of Baoshan County!"

Dai Ming was shocked when he heard that there was a water route. He immediately made a prompt decision: "Quick, Commander Zhu, get your regiment to rush up as quickly as possible and seize the position. The Japanese may have already started to escape!"

This was his intuition accumulated from many years of fighting. In such a desperate situation, if the enemy did not resist strongly, they would either intend to surrender or run away.

It was obviously impossible for the Japanese in Banqiao to surrender, because they still had a lot of firepower. These were most likely the troops they left behind to cover their retreat!

This situation is not unique to this place. Gongguo is also facing the same situation. Time is running out. Every second may determine the outcome of the battle. We must race against time!

Fang Yue, who was supervising the battle at the front line, had a sharp eye and keenly noticed that there was something wrong with the Japanese's firepower.

According to common sense, if the Japanese wanted to defend this natural barrier, they would definitely go all out and open fire.

However, the reality is confusing.

After a night of rest, under normal circumstances, the Japs should have mobilized their troops overnight under the cover of darkness, strengthened their defenses, and prepared for battle. However, the firepower at this moment was so weak, not even half as strong as last night!

Doubts and worries surged in Fang Yue's heart. He frowned and stared at the battlefield. The scene before him made him feel uneasy. The enemy's behavior seemed to be full of mysteries.

He thought to himself, is there something the devil is up to? Are they deliberately showing weakness to lure us in? Or have they secretly deployed other troops to launch a surprise attack? All kinds of speculations swirled in his mind, making him feel even more depressed.

"The 101st Division's tracks must have been exposed last night. The Japanese realized their situation was bad, so they retreated before daybreak!"

A communicator stood up and reported: "Reporting to the General Staff, Division Commander Dai called and said he suspected that the main force of the Japanese troops we surrounded might have escaped. The 101st Division has accelerated its advance and hopes that our troops will speed up and meet up with the division as soon as possible!"

"Understood, report the situation to the young commander!"

.....