Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

If we count from that time, we only need to defend for about twenty days. But if we count from now, we need to defend for another month. Amakasu Shigetaro said softly, "We will defend for a month from now on."

"Will there really be reinforcements?"

Toyojiro Inamura couldn't help but ask.

A division of reinforcements?

Amakasu Shigetaro looked up at Inamura Toyojiro and smiled softly. He understood that Okamura Neiji was just trying to appease them. He said it would take a month, but the North China Front Army wouldn't have any troops to support them in a month.

Gan Shigetaro was an old subordinate of Ningji Okamura, and had fought with him in the Kwantung Army and the Central China Front Army.

I know my boss very well.

Okamura Neiji was already gearing up, preparing to sweep through the Jizhong Military Region. Once the arrow is shot, there's no turning back. How could Okamura Neiji's grand strategy, which he had been preparing for months, change just because of Zhangjiakou?

In the current situation, although Ningji Okamura knows the importance of Zhangjiakou, he will definitely not change his previous grand strategy because of Zhangjiakou.

Zhangjiakou couldn't expect any reinforcements in the current situation, so they could only fend for themselves. However, Amakasu Shigetaro looked at Inamura Toyojiro and nodded, saying confidently, "The North China Front Army has just reorganized the 59th, 62nd, 63rd, and 69th Divisions. Once these divisions are complete, they will definitely be sent to support us. It only takes a month. As long as we hold out for a month, we'll be able to receive reinforcements."

"That's fine, that's fine."

Toyojiro Inamura is no fool either.

It wasn't easy to get reinforcements. But compared to waiting to die, it was always better to have a little hope. Even if that hope was slim, it was still better than waiting to die without hope.

"boom-"

"boom

"Boom! Just as the two were talking, they suddenly heard a shocking explosion.

The sound is very loud.

Even the command center far away from the explosion site felt the earth shaking.

Just by hearing the explosion, the two men knew the bomb was massive. Otherwise, it wouldn't have had such an effect. They exchanged glances, wondering what kind of heavy artillery could have produced such an effect. Even heavy artillery couldn't have produced such an effect.

The two men immediately walked out of the room to see where the explosion had occurred. Soon, an officer at the headquarters received a call from the front line and understood what had happened. He immediately came to report the situation to Shigetaro Amakasu and Toyojiro Inamura.

"Commander, it's the city wall. The Eighth Route Army used a large amount of explosives and blew it down."

"Using explosives? Impossible. The Eighth Route Army has used explosives before. How could it have such an effect?"

Toyojiro Inamura shook his head in disbelief.

The Eighth Route Army had previously used explosives during nighttime attacks. Small units would approach the city walls and use explosive packs to blow them up. But the effectiveness was only moderate, with each attempt only able to destroy a small portion of the wall.

But the explosion just now was completely different from the previous use of explosive packs by the Eighth Route Army.

“It’s true, they used a large number of bombs to blow down the city walls.

"How much land collapsed? What are the specific circumstances of the collapse?"

"The information we've received so far is that five sections have collapsed. Two sections have collapsed at the East Gate. The other gates have collapsed about ten meters, and the gap at the East Gate has collapsed over twenty meters. Judging by the explosions, the Eighth Route Army used at least 3000 kilograms of explosives this time."

"Ten meters? Twenty meters?"

Shigetaro Amakasu and Toyojiro Inamura's faces changed drastically.

Although the Japanese army did not take these city walls seriously during the attack, because the Japanese field troops not only had infantry guns and field artillery, but also howitzers. In addition, the Japanese artillery units were skilled and could easily blast a hole through the walls of ordinary cities in just a few hits.

Even the nationalist army thought the city wall was a hindrance.

Not only was it unable to stop the Japanese attack, but it also hindered the troops from building defensive fortifications.

The Japanese army looked down upon these walls during their attack, but they attached great importance to them in the areas they occupied. This was because the artillery of the Nationalist army was far inferior to that of the Japanese army. It was not easy for the Nationalist artillery to blast through the walls like the Japanese army did.

Not to mention the Eighth Route Army troops which had little heavy firepower.

Having a city wall is more useful than anything else.

But now?

The Eighth Route Army troops had already blown open a number of areas. However, those areas were not very large, and the Japanese were able to block them completely.

But this time is different.

It blasted more than ten meters, or even more than twenty meters.

Previously, the Japanese army could still rest a little. After all, there was a city wall blocking the way. But in this situation, the troops could not rest even more than before. If they were not careful at night, the Eighth Route Army would rush in.

"idiot."

Gan Shigetaro is a man who has given up everything.

But no one expected that the Eighth Route Army would blow open the city wall so quickly.

If he could hold Zhangjiakou for a month, then even if he lost Zhangjiakou in the end, he would still have something to say when he returned. But judging from the current situation, it was doubtful whether he could hold Zhangjiakou for even half a month.

"Have the Eighth Route Army outside begun their attack?"

Kanryo Jutaro asked as he listened to the sound of gunfire outside.

"I gonna go see."

Toyojiro Inamura went out immediately.

The Eighth Column certainly wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. To prepare for this particular blowdown, they had been preparing explosives since the end of last year. Military factories were producing large quantities of explosives. After capturing Xuanhua, Huaian, and Wanquan, they seized even more. After taking over the Xuanhua Explosives Factory, they continued to produce explosives.

More than 3400 kilograms of explosives were used this time.

The Japanese army was caught off guard.

The Japanese troops were completely stunned. The Eighth Column's troops, of course, launched a swift attack. Heavy weapons arrived at the forefront of the position under cover of darkness. The moment the explosives collapsed the wall, the troops' heavy firepower opened fire.

The Japanese suffered the greatest losses in their defensive positions behind the city walls.

After they set up their defensive positions, they were resting at night when the city wall suddenly collapsed, followed by the Eighth Route Army's mortar and flat-fire artillery bombardment.

More importantly, these people were basically newly armed overseas Chinese. After being bombarded by the Eighth Route Army's mortars and flat-fire artillery, they had no idea what to do.

It was not until Toyojiro Inamura arrived here that the troops were reorganized and launched a counterattack.

The Japanese army’s weapons and equipment are still too good.

Thanks to the organization and command of Toyojiro Inamura, the Eighth Route Army was finally repelled. Afterwards, Toyojiro Inamura returned to the headquarters exhausted and said to Shigetaro Amakasu, "Commander, the East Gate is about to be lost. If the Eighth Route Army launches a few more attacks like this, it will be difficult for us to hold it. I went to see the collapsed city wall. The Eighth Route Army dug a tunnel and buried bombs under the city wall. If they come a few more times, the East Gate will become an open area. Now there is a large space of nearly 270 meters at the East Gate. The mortars and flat-fire artillery of the Eighth Route Army will be very powerful at night. We must reorganize our defensive positions at the East Gate. But we don't have enough troops at the East Gate. Tonight, the Eighth Route Army blew down two parts of the East Gate wall and launched another attack. The Imperial Army suffered more than 140 casualties, and the Guard Regiment suffered more than casualties. What's more problematic is that there are more than a dozen deserters in our troops. When the Eighth Route Army attacked, more than a dozen people threw down their weapons and ran away. I have ordered them to be shot."

The Japanese army really did not expect that the Eighth Route Army would dig tunnels and then use large amounts of explosives to blow down the city walls.

This is completely inconsistent with the tactics the Japanese army learned in military academies.

But the effect is so good.

The Japanese and puppet troops suffered 420 casualties.

The Japanese and puppet troops, who were already short of manpower, were further stretched. The Japanese and puppet troops could feel that among the three offensive routes of the Eighth Route Army, the Eighth Route Army troops in the Xuanhua direction had the strongest combat effectiveness.

The two sides fought for nearly ten days, and the Japanese and puppet troops suffered the greatest casualties on the east gate side.

As the fighting intensified, desertions began to appear among the armed expatriates. This was absolutely unacceptable.

"Then transfer two squadrons from the west gate to the east gate. What's the situation on the other two sides?"

"It's better than the East Gate. The Eighth Route Army troops at the East Gate are more powerful. They should be the main forces of the Eighth Column, the Cha'nan Detachment and the Cha'dong Detachment. The Eighth Route Army troops to the south should be the Eighth Column's Cha'xi Detachment, and the Eighth Route Army troops to the north are the Eighth Route Army's Cha'bei Detachment. The Eighth Route Army troops on these two sides are much weaker than those at the East Gate. However, they also caused us a lot of casualties tonight. The main problem now is that after the city wall was blown down by them, the protective function of Zhangjiakou City Wall is about to be lost."

"Transfer two more squadrons from the west gate, and send one squadron each to the south and north gates."

Chapter 421 General Attack

The Chahar Campaign had lasted for 15 days.

Although the attack was to be accompanied on three sides, it didn't mean they wouldn't attack. If they didn't attack, how could they possibly attract the main force of the Japanese army? Furthermore, Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun also planned to use this opportunity to show the various units of the Eighth Column what a fortified battle was like. They would learn how to attack a city in the midst of war.

Furthermore, the three accompanying attacking forces belonged to different detachments. Although they were all part of the Eighth Column, there was competition between the detachments. No one wanted to be underestimated.

Zheng Weishan originally joined the Eighth Column later, and he had always been in charge of the teaching brigade and the training of new recruits in the Eighth Column. Because of his outstanding ability in training new recruits and cultivating cadres, many cadres of the Eighth Column gradually accepted Zheng Weishan. But this was far from enough, because Zheng Weishan had no military achievements in the Eighth Column. If he wanted to truly convince the arrogant soldiers and generals of the Eighth Column, he still had to rely on his ability to lead troops in battle. Zheng Weishan had been stupid for many years, and now he could finally lead troops in battle, and he wanted to fight a beautiful battle. So after the Battle of Zhangjiakou began, he counted the number of hours he slept for half a month.

Gao Wei himself was a commander who refused to concede defeat. Furthermore, Gao Wei was a veteran of the Eighth Column, having been part of the group of cadres who had accompanied Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun into Sheng County. With so many troops from the Eighth Column engaged in the Battle of Zhangjiakou, how could he possibly concede defeat? The same was true of his defeat against Feng Mulin.

Of the five detachments of the Eighth Column, the Chabei Detachment was the weakest, but Feng Mulin refused to resign. Ever since Cao arrived at the Chabei Detachment, he had focused on training the troops. This time, Feng Mulin, Cao Mo, and the others wanted to show the column the Chabei Detachment's combat effectiveness.

So they tried every possible way to attack.

There are all kinds of folk remedies.

After the Japanese city wall was blown down, the Eighth Route Army's attack became even more fierce. Because a large hole was opened in the city wall, the Japanese defense system built on the wall had collapsed.

In order to reduce casualties, the troops this time used Zheng ammunition tubes on a large scale.

The troops captured thousands of grenade launcher shells in Xuanhua, using them extensively during this siege. Of course, the Japanese were not to be outdone. Infantry guns, rapid-fire cannons, and flat-fire artillery weren't enough. Finally, Inamura Yutaka and Jiro pulled all the howitzers from the arsenal and began bombarding the Eighth Column's positions. The Japanese troops in Zhangjiakou brought out four Type 91 howitzers, 105mm in caliber and with a kill radius of nearly 30 meters.

It is a real heavy artillery.

As the howitzers opened fire, despite the protection of the trenches, the casualties on the 8th Column rose sharply. It should be said that this was the first time the 8th Column had encountered Japanese howitzers. In all the years of fighting against the Mongolian troops, the Mongolian troops had never been equipped with howitzers. Including the Pingbei Detachment, they had only encountered independent mixed brigades and had never encountered howitzers before.

I didn't expect the howitzer to be so powerful.

It is simply not comparable to infantry guns and mortars.

When the Japanese pulled out so many cannons, they said they were accompanying the attack, but in fact both sides were already fighting fiercely.

By this time, the Japanese were completely convinced that the Eighth Route Army was indeed using the tactic of "encircling three sides and leaving one side open." Because the fighting on these three sides was becoming increasingly intense, while there had been no movement in the west, they gradually moved their troops to these three sides, especially to the east gate, which had strong offensive power.

7000 Japanese puppet troops.

It looked like a large number of people. Unfortunately, the 2000 garrison troops had absolutely no morale. Seeing the Eighth Route Army's bravery, they were eager to surrender. And the puppet police were even more afraid to fight. Of course, at such a dangerous moment, the Japanese didn't trust the puppet troops.

After all, there have been mutinies in puppet troops before.

Whether it was Zhuolu or Wanping, it was only because the puppet troops suddenly defected that the Eighth Route Army captured the city. If the security regiment defected at this moment, Zhangjiakou would be lost.

So the Japanese army was always wary of them.

They even separated the guard regiments and prevented them from gathering together.

The Guard Corps certainly sensed the Japanese army's distrust. Unfortunately, trust between people is like this. Once one side begins to distrust, the other will also distrust. This is the current relationship between the Japanese and puppet troops, and the situation on both sides is very delicate.

The Japanese army currently still needs the help of the puppet army to defend the city, and the puppet army dare not resist the Japanese army.

Therefore, the two sides reluctantly united.

The remaining 4000 Japanese troops were almost the strength of a mixed brigade. If this was truly a mixed brigade, the Japanese would not be afraid of the Eighth Route Army's attack. Unfortunately, most of these people were armed expatriates and had no combat effectiveness at all.

The fighting lasted for 15 days, and the Japanese and puppet troops suffered heavy casualties.

Especially on the day when the explosives collapsed the city wall, the casualties of the Japanese and puppet troops on three sides reached nearly 700. In addition, the two sides had been fighting fiercely in the past few days, and the casualties on the th Column increased, and the casualties of the Japanese and puppet troops were also increasing.

Since the outbreak of the Zhangjiakou Campaign, the casualties of the Japanese and puppet troops have reached about 1600.