Quartermasters can also fight the devils

"Your Excellency the division commander, our two troops have successfully joined forces. Now we can hold out longer." Colonel Yoshio Sonoda came to Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura and reported with excitement.

Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura looked at the map on the ground and did not answer Colonel Yoshio Sonoda's words. He was not thinking about how to defend, but calculating the distance between himself and the troops attacking from the direction of Hongcheng.

Waiting for rescue was a last resort before. Now that the rescue troops are attacking, I must seize this opportunity. While the Chinese troops' attention is on the troops coming from Hongcheng, I should immediately organize the troops to attack the 101st Division.

The Chinese troops certainly could not have expected that he would suddenly lead his troops to attack. This way, he could catch the Chinese troops by surprise. After joining forces with the troops of the 101st Division, they would quickly move towards De'an and Xiushui. If he waited for the 101st Division, even these troops of the 101st Division might be surrounded by the Chinese army.

Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura made up his mind. He looked up and ordered Colonel Yoshio Sonoda: "Captain Sonoda, order all officers and soldiers to get ready. We need to attack the Chinese troops outside the encirclement in the direction of the 101st Division as soon as possible. We must actively move towards the 101st Division. You make arrangements as soon as possible. I will report this to the th Army Headquarters. I will ask the Air Force to blast a path for us."

Colonel Yoshio Sonoda obviously did not react at first after hearing the division commander's order, but when he saw that the division commander had made up his mind, he turned around to organize the attack troops. He knew that now was the most critical moment for the 106th Division. Whether they could escape depended on this attack. If they waited until dark, that would be the Chinese troops' home court.

The sudden and fierce attack by the 106th Division of the Japanese Army in the encirclement really caught the First Corps troops responsible for the encirclement off guard. The troops in the encirclement left most of the officers and soldiers in the back to rest and prepare for the night attack.

In the subconscious of the First Corps, the Japanese 106th Division in the encirclement had tried to break out many times before, but none of them succeeded. Currently, the Japanese troops in the encirclement are already in a state of holding on and waiting for reinforcements. They must be waiting for the Japanese troops outside to open the encirclement and provide support before they will move.

The 106th Division of the Japanese Army also made a desperate attempt this time. Colonel Yoshio Sonoda organized a "vanguard team" of people. When the planes in the sky were bombing the positions of the Chinese army, this Japanese "vanguard team" hung grenades on their bodies and held rifles, risking the possibility of being accidentally injured by their own planes and rushed towards the positions guarded by the First Corps.

The First Corps troops defending in this direction had just emerged from the anti-artillery holes under the bombing of Japanese aircraft when they found that the Japanese "Volunteer Corps" soldiers had already rushed to their positions. Colonel Yoshio Sonoda and his follow-up troops also followed the footsteps of the Vanguard Corps and rushed to the positions of the defending troops.

In a very short time, this section of the position was broken through by the fierce charge of the Japanese 106th Division, and other Japanese troops also quickly poured out through this breakthrough.

The First Corps' defensive forces in this section also quickly dispatched officers and soldiers who were resting in the back to block the Japanese army, but the Japanese "Vanguard Squad" rushed towards the First Corps' reinforcements. When the two armies' assault troops were about to come into contact, the soldiers of the Japanese Vanguard Squad pulled out the safety of their grenades and rushed into the Chinese reinforcements and died together with the officers and soldiers of the Chinese troops.

The crazy behavior of the Japanese army was unexpected by the reinforcement troops of the First Corps. The officers and soldiers were shocked by the ferocity of the Japanese army and their morale dropped sharply.

Colonel Yoshio Sonoda, who was following behind, also led the main attack force and took advantage of the declining morale of the reinforcements of the First Corps, and used bayonets to kill their way out.

The sudden attack of the Japanese 106th Division made the First Corps headquarters busy. Commander Xue was very angry that the encircled troops failed to stop the 106th Division from breaking out. The duck in his mouth was about to fly away. He had worked so hard on a combat plan for so long, but something went wrong at the last minute. This was unacceptable.

"Report to the commander, the Japanese 106th Division in the encirclement has broken through our encirclement and is now rapidly moving towards the Japanese troops attacking from Hongcheng. The troops in the encirclement are organizing forces to pursue the Japanese troops of the 106th Division." A staff officer reported the contents of the latest telegram received to Commander Xue, whose face was livid, with sweat all over his head.

Commander Xue knew that he could not hold on to the remnants of the Japanese 106th Division. Now between the two Japanese forces, he only had two broken divisions blocking the 101st Division. The division that was previously transferred had not yet reached the designated position due to the continuous bombing by Japanese planes. However, even if this division reached the designated position, it would not be able to withstand the attack from two Japanese forces.

How come the Japanese troops in Hongcheng were like they were injected with chicken blood and attacked so quickly? The troops we sent to block them hadn't even finished repairing their field fortifications yet, but they attacked already. Why were they fighting so desperately?

Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama was overjoyed when he received the news that the 106th Division in the encirclement was attacking towards him. He had been worried about the pursuit of the New 106nd Army behind him. Now that the th Division took advantage of the chaos and broke through the encirclement of the Chinese army, his mission this time would be much easier.

Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama also told the news to Colonel Kotaro Fukui, the commander of the 157th Regiment in charge of the attack in the front. He ordered the troops to increase the intensity of the attack and meet up with the troops of the 106th Division as soon as possible. Then the two troops would collectively move to De'an. He wanted to get rid of the pursuit troops of the New nd Army behind him as soon as possible, otherwise he would always feel like there was a big bomb behind him.

Under the pincer attack from two directions, the two divisions responsible for blocking the enemy were quickly defeated. The two Japanese armies finally joined together. When the news of the successful reunion reached the Japanese 106th Army Headquarters, all the staff in the headquarters breathed a sigh of relief. They knew that the th Division had finally escaped the crisis of annihilation.

"Your Excellency the Commander, Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama of the 101st Division sent a telegram saying that their troops have successfully joined up with those of the 106th Division, and that he will immediately lead all the troops to quickly move toward De'an. Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama said that behind them, the New nd Army in Hongcheng has also sent out a pursuit force, and he is worried about being entangled by the troops of the New nd Army." Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto blushed as he recounted the telegram sent by Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama. He wondered when the warriors of the Empire of Japan became so afraid of the New nd Army.

Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura nodded. Only now did he feel less nervous. Although the 106th Division suffered heavy losses this time, as long as the division commander, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, returned safely, it would be the best result. Soldiers and junior officers could be replenished and the troops could be strengthened soon. But if the division commander was gone, the unit would lose its soul and it would take a long time to reorganize and restore morale.

"Tell Fukutaro Nishiyama to withdraw to De'an as soon as possible to rest and recuperate, and then fight again after the personnel are replenished. By then, we must capture Hongcheng and destroy the hateful New 22nd Army of the Chinese government." Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji said fiercely after looking at the position of Hongcheng on the sand table.

Now the New 22nd Army is not only the obsession of the expeditionary army and the headquarters, but also the obsession of Okamura Neiji. The Battle of Hongcheng is an indelible stain on him. Only by completely destroying the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government can his shame be washed away. He has asked the intelligence department to specifically organize detailed intelligence on the New 22nd Army. He needs to get to know this army well.

Commander Chen of the war zone felt it was a great pity that the 106th Division of the Japanese Army escaped, but he was more open-minded as he had the battle record of the New nd Army to back him up. Commander Xue of the First Corps was very upset. Although the New nd Army also belonged to the First Corps, they had won their battles through their own efforts, so everyone had to admit that.

Although we successfully wiped out more than 106 men of the 106th Division this time, we failed to completely wipe out the entire th Division, which is a bit regrettable. However, the Japanese army fled too fast, as if there was some terrible beast chasing them. The troops of our First Corps could not catch up with them at all due to the interference of Japanese aircraft.

When he learned that the Japanese 101st Division and the th Division had indeed retreated from Hongcheng, Zhang Wenwu ordered his troops to fully reoccupy the urban area of ​​Hongcheng. At the same time, he asked Commander Huang to send some people from the west bank to help clean up the ruins of Hue Gate and Yonghe Gate. It was summer now, and some Japanese bodies were still buried under the ruins of these two gates. They had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

"Commander, how do we deal with this Japanese iron lump?" Li Zhengying ran to Zhang Wenwu with sweat on his face and asked.

Now Zhang Wenwu is leading a large group of officers and soldiers to dig in front of the tank trap. He needs to dig out a gentle slope to get all the Japanese tanks in the trap out. As for the Japanese soldiers in the tanks, the lucky ones have been successfully rescued by the troops of the 9th Division, but at least half of the Japanese tank soldiers did not survive.

Zhang Wenwu looked at Li Zhengying and said, "Captain Li, you take the officers and soldiers of the death squad to check all the Japanese tanks trapped in the city to see how many tanks have not been completely destroyed by the Japanese. Then we can get a few trucks to see if we can drag the tanks out. These are all interesting things."

Zhang Wenwu knew that the Japanese army must have destroyed all the tanks, but it didn't matter. Among so many tanks, he could always find a few that were not too badly damaged. Then he could ask someone to remove the parts from other tanks, and maybe he could make a few tanks by patching them up.

As for those tanks that cannot be repaired, they are also military achievements. When the time comes to report the military achievements to the war zone and ask for rewards, these will be evidence.