The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Colonel Mikichirō Sato (equivalent to the rank of colonel) died.

Death has no sense of existence.

When the soldiers cleaning the battlefield found his body, the former senior Fuso officer had been hit by several bullets and there were still a lot of mortar shell fragments in his body.

No one knew who had killed the colonel, so this great military achievement could only be attributed to the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, which was the main attacker.

As for the air support he had been waiting for?

The six Type 97 heavy bombers and the 12 escorting Nakajima Type 1 fighters that took off from Mandalay completely lost their way after takeoff due to lack of ground guidance and flew towards the Xinwangping Village base by mistake.

It was intercepted by eight F4U-4Bs from the 212th Division's Independent Flying Squadron that were on air patrol.

Then 12 P-40s arrived upon hearing the news, and a fierce melee broke out between the air forces of both sides.

The poor Type 97 heavy bomber became the best prey because of its heavy fuselage and lack of self-defense firepower (only 5 7.7mm small water tubes).

Except for one Type 97 heavy bomber that dropped its bomb and escaped early when it saw the situation was not good, the remaining five Type 97 heavy bombers were all shot down.

In addition, six Nakajima Type 6 fighters were also shot down.

However, the independent flying team also paid the price of losing three P-40s, and the remaining aircraft were all damaged.

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Without air support, the 2nd Regiment of the 212th Division easily wiped out all the Japanese on Hill 33.

The entire operation took just over 13 hours, from the general offensive in the early morning to the final end of the battle at night.

However, despite the smooth progress of the battle, Division Commander Zhang Chi was still filled with complicated emotions.

Zhang Chi is clear that this victory is a matter of chance that cannot be replicated.

There are more than 3000 elite Japanese soldiers. Logically speaking, even if they do not have an advantage in firepower, if they can fully utilize the terrain and defense lines to deploy their troops and engage in a bloody battle for each position with the 2nd Regiment, they can at least resist for a few days.

However, Sato Mikichiro's underestimation of the enemy and miscalculation caused the entire regiment to gather in a small, indefensible area near Hill 33, allowing the 212th Division's heavy artillery and tank units to fully utilize their firepower and quickly encircle and annihilate them.

(The reason why the reorganized 74th Division died so quickly at Menglianggu was because its control area was too small. The troops were concentrated together, and a single artillery shell could kill several soldiers.)

Therefore, Zhang Chi also knew that once the Japanese were prepared for the exaggerated firepower of the 212th Division, he would have to rely on his troops to fight hard if he wanted to encircle and annihilate the Japanese next time.

Unlike the relaxation that requires more consideration, for the soldiers on the front line, the joy of victory is pure.

It is absolutely a unique achievement to encircle and annihilate an entire regiment of the Japanese army head-on with a 1:1 ratio of troops.

Qi Quan, the commander of the 2nd Regiment, was standing on the high ground at this moment, looking at the burnt Japanese regiment flag, and couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

Although the last Japanese flag guard team fought hard to defend the flag, they were ultimately unable to ensure that it was completely burned in the flames.

A small piece of the tasseled flag and half of the gilded flagpole remained, becoming the most valuable spoils of the battle.

There were also countless other captured light weapons and damaged artillery pieces.

However, all six Type 6 medium-sized modified tanks were completely destroyed in the fierce artillery fire.

According to post-war statistics, the casualties in this battle were very small. The 2nd Regiment, the Artillery Regiment, and the Armored Battalion only suffered nearly 300 casualties, the loss of a 25-pound gun, and the damage of two tanks.

Compared with the Japanese casualties, the casualties of the 212th Division were relatively small, but the amount of ammunition consumed was staggering.

光88mm的杀爆弹就消耗近两千发，105mm主炮的高爆弹近千发，其余60/82迫击炮炮弹与M8自行火炮的75mm炮弹又是数千发。

Fortunately, Zhang Chi purchased various artillery shells needed for tanks from the system at a very low price, and there were also a large number of mechanized vehicles and fleets to transport ammunition. Otherwise, after this battle, the 212th Division would have been left with no ammunition.

(For comparison, over 190 million rounds were fired at Shangganling. Note that this does not include mortar rounds, but rather 75mm, 105mm, and 155mm barreled guns.)

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同一时间，60多公里外的鬼子 18 师团的高本拓磨第 114 联队正在郝猗的 1 团的不断骚扰下努力前进，试图增援 146 联队。

Because the radio of the 146th Wing was blown up by Big Head's Type 81, the 146th Wing did not have time to send a farewell message before its destruction. At this time, the radio of the 114th Wing was still trying to call the other side.

"Still can't get through?" Takamoto Takuma frowned and asked the communications soldier.

The radio operator wearing the headset shook his head. "I've called all the usual channels, but there's been no response."

"Should we increase the radio's transmission power? Could it be that the other party's radio is malfunctioning?"

Takuma Takamoto asked without giving up. He didn't want to believe that the 146th Regiment was completely destroyed in less than a few hours. He firmly believed that the opponent's radio station had malfunctioned.

"Perhaps the 146th Regiment has successfully broken through? Maybe they burned the code book before retreating? Let's try calling in plain language." A staff officer next to him suddenly suggested.

Takamoto Takuma thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

So the signalman picked up the microphone and started calling directly in Japanese.

Soon, a pure Edo-accented Japanese language responded from the radio:

"Hello? Call your wing commander. I need to speak to him."

The communications soldier immediately handed the microphone and headphones to the regiment commander Takuma Takamoto.

Takamoto Takuma took the phone and asked excitedly, "Hello? I'm Takamoto Takuma, is this Mikichiro-san? How are you guys doing?"

However, what responded to him was not the Japanese language, but a loud voice of Qianguo language:

"I'm your uncle Zhang Chi. Listen up, Takamoto Takuma! I'm going to fuck your ancestors! You little devils, clean your necks and wait! I'm sending in the tanks to send you all to the sky!"

Then the call ended.

Takamoto Takuma, who came from an aristocratic family and had a deep understanding of Qianguo culture, took off his headphones, threw them to the signalman, and said with a sigh:

"The 146th Regiment is finished. The enemy has seized their radio frequencies, and their codebooks may be in their hands as well. Send someone to notify division headquarters immediately."

Takamoto Takuma didn't know that Zhang Chi just accidentally found out that his radio station had found the enemy's frequency and heard a call in plain language, so he suddenly "connected to the microphone" and cursed a few words on a whim.

He was quite cautious and stopped using the code book because he thought too much.

Hearing his words, the staff officers and signalmen around him all showed shocked expressions.

It's only been less than a day, right? A fully equipped regiment is gone?

The advisor quickly suggested:

"The enemy's firepower is so strong that it can easily annihilate the 146th Regiment. Should we immediately withdraw and break contact with the enemy in front of us?"

Takamoto Takuma stretched out a finger and shook it:

"No, no, no. There's an old saying in the Kingdom of Qian: 'The art of war is to deceive.'"

Then Takamoto Takuma said calmly in a didactic tone:

"The enemy's claim in the call that they would send tanks to destroy us was merely a bluff. They must have paid a heavy price in destroying the 146th Regiment and must be exhausted now."

In Takamoto Takuma's opinion, even if the Qian people quickly destroyed the 146th Regiment through a bloody battle, they must have suffered more than three times the casualties and consumed a large amount of ammunition.

Just like before the Huaihai Campaign, the White Party judged that Nakano must have suffered heavy casualties in the previous battles in eastern Henan and Jinan, and would never launch another large-scale battle in the near future. Takamoto Takuma confidently ordered:

"Therefore, we cannot retreat. Instead, we must seize the opportunity to attack and not give the enemy a chance to regroup."

The staff officer immediately stood at attention and flattered the emperor subtly:

"Hey, Commander-in-Chief, you're incredibly knowledgeable and have some brilliant ideas. I'll go deploy the attack right away."