Quartermasters can also fight the devils

After Staff Officer Hao and Sakurai Shota chatted about other things, he sighed casually, "Alas, we don't know when we can capture Hongcheng. The damn Chinese army is too tenacious, and the soldiers have suffered too many casualties."

When Sakurai Shota heard the lieutenant's sigh, he also felt the same way and said, "Yes, even the cavalry brigade has been changed to infantry to participate in the battle in the city. This is a scene that has never been seen before."

After hearing what Sakurai Shota said, a light flashed in Staff Officer Hao's eyes. He now understood that the owners of these war horses had become infantrymen to fight in the urban area. It seemed that the headquarters of the Japanese 9th Division was indeed short of troops and it was not a disguised trap.

"Yeah, we were ordered to go out on patrol right after we retreated and hadn't had much rest. Really, can't the defense forces of the division headquarters go out on patrol? Why are we asked to do such work? We are already very tired at the front line." Staff Officer Hao also complained along with what Sakurai Shota said.

Sakurai Shota also looked at the lieutenant with a sad face, and then comforted him: "Sir, there is nothing we can do about it. There is only one cavalry squadron guarding the division headquarters now, and the manpower is really too tight. It is the best thing that you can withdraw and rest. I haven't heard of any unit being able to withdraw and rest."

Staff Officer Hao was shocked. Damn, he almost got exposed. Fortunately, the Japanese soldier did not suspect that the headquarters of the 9th Division was defended by a cavalry squadron that was converted into infantry. This was a great opportunity. It seemed that the Japanese troops on the front line had been used to the limit. Not a single troop was able to withdraw for rest. The 9th Division was really fighting hard.

After getting the result he wanted, Staff Officer Hao waved his hand and asked the suicide squad members who were resting on the side to line up, and left as if to continue patrolling.

Li Zhengying waited anxiously until the long-awaited Staff Officer Hao returned to the hiding place of the suicide squad with his men. As soon as he saw Staff Officer Hao, Li Zhengying couldn't wait to ask, "How is it, Staff Officer Hao, have you found out the situation of the Japanese army?"

"Captain Li, we have figured it out. The headquarters of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army is now guarded by a squadron that was temporarily converted from cavalry to infantry. The Japanese Army really has no extra troops to guard this place now. Almost all the troops have been sent to the city to attack." Staff Officer Hao also quickly reported the news he had found out to Li Zhengying. He is also very excited now.

When Li Zhengying heard that the Japanese army did not set any traps and they really had no troops left, he laughed. At the same time, he cursed himself in his heart. He had wasted more than a day, which was simply a waste of time.

Li Zhengying looked at the time. It was already 11 o'clock in the evening. There was a squadron of Japanese soldiers on guard. Now that he had figured out the strength of the Japanese army, he would find out more about the situation of the surrounding sentries and attack tomorrow night. He would have more time to prepare, and the effect and success rate of the sneak attack would be greatly improved.

Therefore, Li Zhengying asked Chen Sanpi to take more people to find out more about the Japanese sentries and see if there were any that had been missed before. This time they had more than 200 people, and facing the Japanese squadron of soldiers, they did not have much advantage in numbers, so they still had to be careful.

Early in the morning, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, commander of the 106th Division of the Japanese Army at Wanjialing, stood for a long time looking to the south. To the south was an infiltration force of the 106th Division that was engaged in a fierce battle with the Chinese army.

Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura knew that it would be difficult for this group of Japanese troops to get close to his own troops. The gunshots from the south had been continuous all night, and now the gunshots and explosions were much smaller than last night, which showed that the number of officers and soldiers in that group was gradually decreasing.

"Your Excellency the Division Commander, Colonel Ichikawa, commander of the 145th Infantry Regiment, sent a telegram saying that his infiltrated troops were attacked at night by a large number of Chinese troops. Now the troops have been divided and surrounded. He feels that it will be difficult for his troops to reunite with us under the attack of the Chinese troops. He decided to burn the regiment flag and organize a final desperate charge in the hope that some officers and soldiers can break through the blockade of the Chinese army and reunite with us." Colonel Yoshio Sonoda, commander of the 147th Regiment, walked to Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura with a telegram with a worried look on his face and said in a low voice.

Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura did not read the death telegram. This was the third death telegram he had received in the past three days. He was a little numb. He turned to Colonel Yoshio Sonoda and ordered: "Captain Sonoda, order all officers and soldiers to build fortifications on the spot. From now on, we can only hold on here and wait for reinforcements to arrive."

Colonel Yoshio Sonoda looked at Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura in surprise and said, "Your Excellency, the 11th Army Headquarters ordered us to attack forward and break out of the encirclement of the Chinese army. If we stay where we are, we will violate the order of the 11th Army Headquarters."

Colonel Yoshio Sonoda had to remind his division commander that this was an act of disobedience, and he would be severely held accountable after the war.

Lieutenant General Matsuura Junrokuro looked at the sky in the south and said sarcastically, "The order from the 11th Army Headquarters. Ha, when their order comes, they can only collect our bodies. Be prepared in advance. Captain Sonoda Yoshio, I estimate that the 11th Army Headquarters will soon issue an order for us to hold our ground. If those drawing masters in the headquarters do not change the combat order when they see that we only have two routes of officers and soldiers left, then they are either stupid or they really want to see us die."

Colonel Yoshio Sonoda nodded. He also felt that it would be impossible to break through the encirclement of the Chinese army without concentrating troops. Holding on and waiting for reinforcements would be much more costly than attacking by force.

The news that the Japanese army had begun building fortifications on the spot was reported to Commander Xue by the First Corps on the front line soon after. Commander Xue was also troubled when he learned that the Japanese army was preparing to hold on to the death. Seeing that the third route of the Japanese 106th Division was about to be wiped out, if the remaining Japanese troops continued to break out in the same way as before, he could continue to follow suit and eat them up one by one.

But if the Japanese army holds on to their positions, it will take a long time to eliminate them. Now the Chinese troops lack heavy firepower for attacking the enemy. Facing the attacking Japanese army, the Chinese troops can still rely on fortifications to barely resist, but if the Chinese troops want to attack the Japanese defensive positions, that is another matter.

"Tell the 90th and 91st Divisions to eliminate the Japanese troops in their encirclement as soon as possible, and then attack northward. Stop after encountering Japanese fortifications." Commander Xue also quickly gave orders to the communications staff. He decided to eat up the Japanese troops at hand first, and then he needed to think carefully about how to eliminate the remaining Japanese troops.

While the remaining officers and soldiers of the 147th Regiment were working hard to dig field fortifications, a telegram from the 106th Army Headquarters ordering all troops of the th Division to hold their ground arrived as expected. After receiving this telegram, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura ordered the troops below to build fortifications as quickly as possible. He also planned to stop moving and wait for the th Army Headquarters to send reinforcements.

As the commander of the division on the front line, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura felt that the current tragic situation of the 106th Division was entirely caused by the blind command of the officials in the 106th Army Headquarters. They did not even understand the specific situation, but ordered their own troops to infiltrate and divided the troops into five routes. Now, only three routes of officers and soldiers are left in his th Division. Oh, no, there will soon be only two routes.

Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura felt that if he could return alive, he would definitely settle accounts with the guy at the 11th Army Headquarters who formulated this plan.

The gunfire from the south finally stopped. Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura knew that his 106th Division had lost another brave warriors of the Empire of Japan. He really wanted to draw out his command sword and chop something, but he tried hard to control himself. His actions would affect all the officers and soldiers. He needed to stay calm so that the officers and soldiers would not be so anxious.

When night fell, Li Zhengying gathered all the members of the suicide squad. During the day, he discussed a battle plan with several captains and Staff Officer Hao.

According to the plan discussed, the suicide squad's sneak attack would only have ten to fifteen minutes to operate. If they could kill the commander of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army, Yoshizumi Ryosuke, that would be the best. If they failed to kill Yoshizumi Ryosuke, that didn't matter either. Any kind of damage inflicted on the Japanese army would be acceptable, as long as they could scare them. In this way, the Japanese army would have to withdraw troops from the city to defend the division headquarters.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, Chen Sanpi's team set off first. According to the plan, they would kill all the Japanese sentries. After they killed the sentries, Liu Daoba would lead his men to set up a blocking line at the intersection to block the Japanese soldiers from returning to support in the front fortifications. Li Zhengying would lead other team members to lurk in the headquarters camp of the 9th Division and start attacking the Japanese camp at twelve o'clock.

Inside the headquarters of the 9th Division, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke was listening to Major General Ishu Nobutoki's report on the pace of progress in the city today.

"Your Excellency the division commander, today the attacking force advanced 300 meters in the urban area, but the troops have suffered too much losses. Many squadrons now have only about half of their officers and soldiers. I personally feel that it will be difficult for us to occupy Hongcheng without replenishment of personnel." Major General Jing Shuxuanshi reported the situation pessimistically, and then he also expressed his own views.

Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Yoshisuke knew that what Major General Jing Shuxuan said was true. He had also read the casualty report of the troops. He had to say that he also felt that it would be difficult to complete the task of occupying Hongcheng with the remaining exhausted officers and soldiers of his 9th Division.

He now regretted why he had brought his troops south to take care of the 101st Division's mess. Now his 101th Division was trapped in Hongcheng, and as a result, all the people in the st Division went to the west of the Ganjiang River for vacation. What a waste of time.

(Thanks to Su Qing who likes Yang Jin, the petite Bai Feng Yu Heng, the indestructible Guaiguai, Mu Yue who likes fried crucian carp, Lu Yilin who likes to chop melons, the Duke of Weiguo who is called Wu Shu and likes beef jerky, and I have a small candy bean for their gifts! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)