Chapter 59: The Army Besieges the City

  The Japanese troops advanced very slowly on the road, and the Second Brigade and Cavalry Regiment taught the Japanese what guerrilla warfare was.

  For this hit-and-run tactic, Toshiyori Maeda was completely powerless.

  Didn't dare send too few troops to pursue, but sending a large army to pursue didn't gain anything either.

  The Eighth Route Army, which had been marching and stopping all the way, finally arrived at the outskirts of Guangfu County at 4 pm.

  Maeada Toshi did not immediately launch an attack, but ordered the troops to rest and regroup. After all, the Japanese army had also become somewhat fatigued after the long march, let alone the encounters along the way, which had already caused the morale of the 8th Division to plummet.

  At five o'clock, the 16th Regiment, which was responsible for the detour advance, also successfully reached the flank of Guangfu County and waited for the attack order.

  At one time, the whole city of Guangfu County was actually surrounded by the Japanese army.

  However, on the periphery, there are three troops of the second brigade, cavalry regiment and tank regiment.

  In the county town, the faces of the people have obvious worries, and many people have already closed their doors and windows.

  Chahar Tümen's advance unit is inside.

  Apart from a few staff officers who were still busy, all the rest of the personnel had rushed out of the city.

  The Fourth Brigade defending the county seat temporarily withdrew two battalions of troops to serve as a reserve for the outer defense forces.

  A weary Yang Junran, since rushing to the county town, began preparing for the start of an intense battle.

  The troops of the First and Third Brigades have already begun preparations at the front line.

  Two thousand meters away from the front line position, there are many antennas erected.

  This was Yang Jun-ran's frontline command post, directing the combat of two brigades on the spot.

  "Commander, our left wing has a large number of Japanese troops, estimated to be over 7,000 people. In front of us are also Japanese troops, with more than 10,000 people, equipped with cavalry and tanks. The Japanese currently have no intention of attacking, seemingly waiting for something." Chief of Staff Fang Hanqin quickly reported the situation.

  Yang Junran looked at the map, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

  "Let the deputy commander of the First Division, Jin Mingcheng, command two battalions of the Fourth Division and one battalion of the First Division to defend the left wing position. At the same time, send a telegram to the two divisions in front, telling them to be sure to keep their reserve troops, with the division's guard battalion as the overall reserve troop. As long as the battle is over in front, I will lead the guard battalion to charge up and fight a decisive battle against the Japanese." Yang Junran furrowed his brow as he gave the order to Fang Hanqin.

  Looking at Yang Junran's gaze, Fang Hanchen shook his head helplessly and walked over to the side.

  It wasn't until six o'clock that the Japanese army began to unfold its attack.

  As the main attacking Fourth Division, after dispatching two squadrons to launch a probing attack without success, it immediately committed its own divisional main force and launched an offensive against the position.

  The 5th Infantry Brigade, with two infantry battalions, concentrated on attacking the position of the 1st Regiment.

  On the left wing of the 5th Infantry Brigade was the 31st Infantry Brigade, with a force of one and a half infantry brigades, pinning down the position of the 3rd Brigade.

  The artillery firepower of the Japanese army concentrated on the position of the First Division.

  36 120mm howitzers continuously fired shells onto the positions of the First Brigade.

  The Type 38 120mm howitzer, which had been discontinued by the Imperial Japanese Army due to its weight, short range and lack of firepower, became one of the least popular artillery pieces.

  However, due to Japan's limited resources, these discontinued equipment were still equipped in some independent artillery regiments.

  This time, the reinforced artillery regiment for Toshio Maeda had these 120mm howitzers with a range of just over five thousand meters as its main firepower.

  On the front line of the first trip.

  His face was covered with sweat and smoke, but there was no fear on his face.

  The troops under him acted quickly, and the 94th Mountain Gun Regiment was continuously counterattacking, engaging in a shootout with the Japanese artillery brigade.

  The Type 94 mountain gun, as the main artillery of the Japanese army, has a range of more than 8,000 meters, which is significantly better than the performance of the Japanese artillery.

  The Longyan Artillery Regiment also discovered that the Japanese artillery seemed to have a weakness in its firepower, and immediately asked Yang Junran to suppress the Japanese artillery.

  Even the worst 41-style mountain gun in the artillery regiment had a range of over 6,000 meters, which was much farther than the range of the Japanese 120mm howitzer.

  Moreover, the artillery regiment also has a range of over 10,000 meters with its 105mm field guns.

  Yang Junran looked at the front position and then at the artillery regiment's request. Without any hesitation, he directly agreed to the artillery regiment's request.

  Under the command of Yang Jun-ran, the artillery regiment's 20 105mm field guns, twelve Type-41 mountain guns and twelve Type-94 mountain guns, a total of forty-four various artillery pieces, began to fire.

  Thirty-six 120mm mortars that prematurely exposed their positions were quickly subjected to a powerful artillery strike by the artillery regiment.

  Two traveling artillerymen also received orders to assist in the bombardment of the artillery battalion.

  There were sixty-four large and small cannons in total, but they fired desperately.

  Yang Junran at the front command post held up binoculars to observe the Japanese army's position in the distance.

  The above has already been a smokescreen, and the attacking Japanese troops have all retreated.

  "Damn it, the artillery is doing a good job." Yang Junran couldn't help but curse.

  In fact, what he was most grateful for was the ring on his hand. If it weren't for this ring, relying solely on the twenty or thirty captured artillery pieces would not have been enough to suppress the Japanese artillery's firepower.

  The headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.

  Maeda Toshiie's complexion was bad, and the order to stop the attack was given by him.

  The thirty-six guns of the artillery regiment have now lost twelve, which makes Toshiie Maeda somewhat angry.

  But he won't retreat with his tail between his legs, after all, the Eighth Division's signboard is placed here.

  If they retreat this time, the Eighth Division will become a laughing stock for all troops.

  "The division commander, based on the staff officer's identification, said that there were more than sixty large and small artillery pieces, and..." At this point, the chief of staff hesitated.

  Seeing Lieutenant General Toshio's gaze, the Chief of Staff said helplessly: "Moreover, they are all artillery produced by our empire, including 105mm field guns."

  "Hakka, the stationed Mongolian troops are a bunch of good-for-nothings! Are they supposed to be the supply unit for the Chinese army? Why did so many artillery pieces fall into the hands of the Chinese army?" Furuya Toshi shouted loudly in anger.

  "Division Commander, a telegram from the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, Itō Sei, inquiring about our progress. The telegram also says..." A staff officer rushed in and reported quickly, but the content of the telegram was not dared to be said further.

  He glanced up at his division commander's face and the staff officer secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately he hadn't continued speaking, otherwise it would have been him who ended up in trouble.

  "Let me see." Toshiyuki Maeda took over the telegram and looked at it.

  His face turned iron-gray with anger, and he quickly tore the telegram into pieces.

  "Tojo, you fool! You think you can laugh at me just because of your little achievements? I'll show this bastard what I'm made of. I am Toshio Maeda, a superior soldier!" Toshio Maeda shouted loudly.

  The chief of staff and his aide exchanged a glance, gazing out at the scenery with some helplessness.

  "Order the troops to stop attacking and rest in wait for further orders. Tonight, I will give the Chinese army a good show." Said Maeda Toshi, coldly.

  The staff officer let out a swift "Hai!" and ran outside.

  In an instant, the troops who were just in fierce battle had begun to rest.

  Many of the Japanese soldiers began to take out their dry rations and drink cold water, starting their dinner.

  The two sides did not really engage in battle, but rather engaged in an artillery duel.

  However, it allowed the artillery troops of Chahar Right-wing Army to win, and the soldiers on the position were very happy and celebrated this great victory.

  Some veterans looked incredulously at the artillery behind them. In their impression, the Japanese artillery was almost invincible.

  They didn't know that the artillery regiment of the 8th Division had been transferred, and the temporarily reinforced artillery regiment used only eliminated 120mm howitzers.

  "Chief of Staff, issue a commendation order to the artillery regiment and two divisional artillery battalions, rewarding the artillery regiment with 4,000 taels of silver and each of the two artillery battalions with 1,000 taels of silver." In the frontline command center, Yang Junran quickly issued the commendation order. He knew that at this time, he had to use money to boost the soldiers' fighting spirit.

  Sitting on the chair, Yang Junran carefully looked at the map in front of him.

  He knew that the Japanese army had only one division, and if it were normal, it would be no problem for several Chinese armies to eat them up.

  But now the Japanese army is clearly underestimating them, they absolutely would not have thought that their own troops were equipped with a considerable number of artillery and light and heavy machine guns.

  "Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Qin Litian and let him unify the command of the Second Brigade, Cavalry Regiment, Tank Regiment and other troops. Wait until nightfall and launch a surprise attack, but do not mobilize the tank regiment, pin down the Japanese army's forces." Yang Junran hesitated for a moment, saying to Fang Hanchin beside him.

  Fang Hanchen said hesitantly: "Shifu, if there were tank troops deployed, the effect might be even better."

  Yang Junran shook his head, he wanted to keep the tank troops in the last, giving the Japanese army a fatal blow.

  After seeing Yang Junran shake his head, Fang Hanqin didn't ask much either, he just nodded and walked towards the radio station on the side.

  The staff beside him received Fang Hanqin's order and quickly started sending telegrams, and the sound of "drip drip" was heard in the command center.

  In the suburbs of the county seat, although it seemed that the Japanese army had surrounded Yang Junran's troops.

  However, around the Japanese army, there were still three troops led by Yang Junran in action.

  Although the 2nd Brigade and Cavalry Regiment suffered some casualties after several battles, it did not affect their combat effectiveness at all.

  Especially with the cavalry regiment having a fighting goal, morale is extremely high.