Chapter Seventy-two: Breaking Out of the Encirclement

  Dusk has fallen, the battle for Yao Mountain is still fierce, and the gains and losses at the top of the mountain have been repeated twice; only with the change in the combat intentions of both sides, the Japanese army west of Yao Mountain is gradually moving eastward, while the Japanese army near Lianhua Temple is gathering more and more.

  Not far from the northwest of Jinan Shangbu, Zhang Xueliang and I looked around in the bunker; Yuexianzhong has launched another regiment to counterattack in the direction of Yaoshan, and there is only one reserve team left for the 51st Army! Zhang Xueliang was really anxious, "Zi'an, do you want to start a counterattack? Or transfer a brigade to reinforce?"

  I gazed up at the sky, the last batch of planes still circling and refusing to leave. "Now?"

  Zhang Xueliang looked up at the sky and sighed, then pointed at the aircraft in the air: "How are they going to land?"

  I wondered, "Are there big fires lit around the airport or are spotlights used to guide the landing?"

  "Why can't we go to the airport?"

  "That requires prior preparation. As for why there was no preparation, you northerners should go ask Song 'Hero', and you easterners should go ask Han 'Ranran'!"

  On the top of Yaoshan, the 51st Army Supplemental Regiment charged into battle under the bombardment of Japanese artillery and bombs at the cost of half casualties, and drove the already exhausted Japanese army back to the foot of the mountain again. However, most of the officers and soldiers also fell on Yaoshan. Following this was another round of intense Japanese artillery fire, but a large number of Japanese planes finally began to return, with only some fighter jets diving down with machine guns firing.

  "6:50!" Zhang Xueliang excitedly shouted!

  "What's going on in the city?"

  "Not a sound."

  "Alright, inform Generals Zhang, Feng, Guan and Wu to initiate the first plan of action. Now it's up to Jiuyan's performance! Brother Hanyi, based on your interactions with the noble families, which path do you think Jiuyan will take?"

  "It's hard to say. It mainly depends on the determination of the Shanxi people."

  "Although Iwata and Nakajima haven't taken down Yakusugi yet, I think Kurenai will break through by 9 points!"

  "Why?"

  "Because we have this map, the defense of Shangguan Ridge will become a tragedy; while the city wall blocked our army's attack, it also blocked the Japanese army's breakout. The Japanese army defending first and then escaping is most beneficial to us." I spread out the detailed map of Jinan old town, smiling and saying, "If Ju Yan and Shangguan knew we had this map, they would have chosen to break out in daylight!"

  At 7 o'clock, as the last ray of sunlight disappeared in the western mountains, the Japanese army also gave up its attack on Yao Mountain and other places, and the whole army retreated to the vicinity of Longkou, with only the artillery on the north bank continuing to bombard. At this time, a large number of torches appeared simultaneously from the east, south, and west directions, advancing towards the inner city of Jinan.

  At 7:25, with the arrival of the 52nd Army, which was the farthest from the enemy in the west, our army's attack began! 12 120mm heavy howitzers and over 150 81mm mortars poured down on the ancient city walls of the Ming Dynasty like rain, firing several thousand shells within a few minutes. The curved trajectory of the mortar shells not only blasted the simple fortifications on the city wall to pieces but also landed directly behind the city wall, blowing up large numbers of Japanese troops waiting in ambush into smithereens. The Japanese army on the north bank of the Yellow River used 105mm howitzers for long-range suppression fire, but most of the shells didn't know where they flew to, occasionally even falling into the city and exploding, causing a burst of boos.

  At 7:30, the 2nd Division launched a charge on the old city from the west, the 107th and 108th Divisions from the south, and the 37th Division from the east.

  At 7:33, the artillery ceased fire, and the Japanese army rushed up to the city wall amidst the sound of bugles.

  At 7:37, just as the Japanese army began to attack, **artillery fired again at the city head! The shells accurately hit the main force of the Japanese army that had just climbed up the city wall, and hundreds of shells exploded in the midst of the Japanese soldiers' mournful cries; while below **still quickly approached, with shells constantly falling on their own heads! Many Northwest Army and Northeast Army hesitated, but most officers and men still charged to the foot of the city wall without hesitation, setting up cloud ladders! Hundreds of machine guns followed closely behind, opening fire at the city wall from over 100 meters away, making the Japanese army dare not show their heads, only constantly throwing hand grenades over the parapet.

  At 7:42, the first batch of ** climbed onto the city wall, but was immediately knocked down by the rì army; The large batch behind threw hand grenades upwards while climbing, and quickly rushed up to many city walls; While the rì army's follow-up troops were limited by the slope leading up to the city, many places did not even have time to fill in the gaps! And **'s mortars accurately hit the rì army's shelters and the slopes near the ladders! The rì army that had just poked its head out was blown to pieces. Before 8 o'clock, many of the city walls that lacked reinforcements were easily defended, as ** continued to pour onto the city wall, the rì army was defeated in a series of setbacks; While the rì army's reserve troops behind were squeezed into a few places and could not be deployed, the situation above and below the city became chaotic.

  Kabutoyama rushed out of the command center, his face pale with sweat, and was about to argue when he was slapped by Kabutomaru. He quickly shut up and ran out to make arrangements. "I order an immediate breakout!"

  At 8 o'clock, although the four city gates were still in the hands of the Japanese army, more and more city walls were being controlled by ***, and there were constantly *** using hand grenades to open roads and kill into the city. Kōtetsu Tani and Shinpei Motokawa could no longer hold on.

  At 8:20, as the Japanese artillery group on the north bank of the Yellow River ended its rapid shelling of the old city of Jinan to the north, the Japanese army's breakout began! In the firelight, only the North Gate was wide open, and more than 3,000 soldiers from the relatively intact 69th Brigade rushed out of the city in a dense formation, rushing towards the Yellow River. They were followed by armored car squadrons carrying high-ranking officers and guard units, and then large numbers of Japanese troops joined the escape to the north; as soon as they saw the Japanese army leaving the city, the two sides outside the city, which had been prepared in advance, immediately sealed off with dense machine gun fire, sweeping away rows of Japanese soldiers. At the same time, the Japanese army at Liankangkou also launched an attack southward under the support of light artillery and was immediately met with strong crossfire and shelling from both sides.

  4,500 meters, 4,000 meters, 3,500 meters, tens of thousands of Japanese troops in Jinan city were fleeing northward, and the southern troops were approaching rapidly. Although both sides had extremely fierce firepower, with large numbers of light and heavy machine guns mowing down batches of outer Japanese troops, the roads and their surroundings did not have any obstacles, only those "damn landmines!" shouted Kuang Yan, who was covered in burns and had just crawled out of an armored vehicle that had been blown up by continuous explosions. However, Kuang Yan immediately shut his mouth because before he could get into another armored vehicle, shells flying from hundreds of meters away were blowing up one armored vehicle after another!

  3000 meters, 2500 meters, the road is getting narrower and narrower, the leading 69th regiment has almost nothing left; The remnants of the 107th and 119th regiments, under the command of Gokudō and Motokawa, are desperately covering both sides as they rush forward with Kurenai and Yamagata being carried by guards; Landmines continue to explode at their feet, the ** fire on both sides is getting denser and denser, mixed with the explosions of mortars, sweeping away batch after batch of Japanese soldiers.

  At 2000 meters, 1500 meters, the commanders of the three brigades of the 10th and 16th Divisions on the north side also took to the field in person, disregarding casualties and driving large numbers of Japanese troops southward; while still not making a frontal interception, they lightly killed Japanese troops with dense firepower on both wings.

  "1,000 meters! Time to strike?" Zhang Xueliang observed the explosions along the way in the darkness.

  "You're the commanding officer." I said with a smile.

  "Let's wait until the devils are happy!" Zhang Xueliang also said with a smile.

  There were still 1000 meters to go, and the Northern and Southern Route armies cheered again as they trampled on over a thousand landmines, causing massive casualties and chaos. In the midst of the chaos, even Shan Guang was knocked down, but he continued to sprint forward with the support of his guards.

  Finally, the Rì army running in front realized that a large group of "enemies" were approaching, and after having run wildly for over 2000 meters under a hail of bullets, they summoned their last bit of courage. Under the officers' shouting guidance: "Throw grenades!" As they fired off their last round of ammunition, a batch of "sweet melons" flew towards the enemy, followed by a bayonet charge!

  Sasaki Michiichi, Tanifuji Nagahide and Honkawa Sanzo, three 'brave' Major Generals were killed in this 'charge', which the Japanese military called the most tragic one. Along with them, thousands of Japanese soldiers were also killed!

  Just as the armies of the North and South were in a state of utter chaos, green signal flares began to rise from the front command post, signaling the start of the true final assault!

  The 38th Division of the 59th Army and the 25th Division of the 52nd Army launched a surprise attack on Lukuang from both east and west; The eastern group, consisting of the 180th Division of the 59th Army, the 132nd Division of the 77th Army, and the 179th Division of the 77th Army, the western group, consisting of the 117th Division of the 67th Army, the 181st Division of the 3rd Cavalry Army, and one division each from Sun Lianzhong and Yu Xuezhong, together with the central group, consisting of the 2nd, 107th, 108th, and 37th Divisions, which had been pursuing the enemy from the direction of Jiucheng, suddenly formed a close combat situation with most of the 2nd Army's direct troops, almost all of the 109th Division, and three regiments each of the 10th and 16th Divisions.

  Darkness, heavy casualties, disorganized troops, exhausted physically, ammunition shortage, reserve troops still on the north bank of the Yellow River, and all sorts of difficulties converged to crush the rì army!

  "Fire!" cried Matsumoto and Nakajima in unison, then simultaneously stopped the artillery from firing at the chaotic battlefield where His Imperial Highness was present. The army redeployed over 70 field guns and howitzers to Mt. Kasuga, which could only sporadically fire at the edge of the battlefield to show their presence.

  The Northern Army is desperately trying to escape to the Yellow River, while the Southern Army in front has already begun to retreat northward. The ones behind are still advancing southward, and then from all sides, they surround and kill the chaotic Northern Army. Even in the last direction, near the mouth of the river, the 2nd and 38th Divisions are also launching a fierce attack, and the thin defense line of the Northern Army is shaking under the hail of bullets.

  Kojima and Nakajima hesitated whether to throw in another brigade to cross the river for reinforcement. Only then did they realize that the sound of gunfire was already ringing out behind them, and the Gui Army had finally arrived! The 10th and 20th Cavalry Brigades were completely unable to withstand the attack of the 7th and 48th Armies, and in an instant they were defeated and fled into the main position, also thoroughly dispelling Kojima and Nakajima's plans.