pappabearbooks Chapter 155 Isogai Rensuke decisively disperses and breaks through; the massacre begins.
Chapter 155 Isogai Rensuke decisively disperses and breaks through; the massacre begins.
After only a brief moment of contemplation, Isogai Rensuke decisively stated:
"Order the troops to disperse and break through, and move towards Yixian County."
They still had troops deployed in Yixian County. The enemy's tank units did not directly attack Yixian County, also out of fear that the troops there had already made defensive deployments.
But it was different for those troops who were marching and retreating in the field. They didn't even have foxholes and were exposed on the open ground.
The enemy tank force accelerated and charged forward, and they were completely unable to resist.
Even with a considerable number of anti-tank guns, they still need the light of flares to fire in such a dark environment.
In a maximum of two rounds, the enemy's high-speed armored tracked vehicles can directly defeat them from the front.
Although breaking out in small groups would mean abandoning a lot of ammunition, supplies, and weapons, it would preserve manpower.
In the warehouse in Yixian County, they still had the weapons and ammunition they had previously stockpiled, and the logistics of the 20th Division could also provide them with supplies.
As long as the personnel are still alive, the battle can continue for Isogai Rensuke.
Umemura Atsuro had not expected that Isogai Rensuke's order would be so decisive, saying that they should disperse and break out directly.
"yes!"
He had little doubt and decisively relayed the order.
Just as the order was given, the tank battalion of Baicheng Mountain had finished the battle at the front and charged toward the main force of the Japanese 10th Division.
In the darkness, the Japanese troops had dispersed into companies and even squads, and then desperately broke through towards Yixian County.
When the flares went up, Bai Chengshan was quite surprised to see the surging Japanese troops running wildly across the plains.
"That's really decisive; they dispersed and broke through as soon as they said they would."
Bai Chengshan originally thought that the enemy would at least symbolically organize a defense, even if there was no time to do so.
But now it seems he underestimated Isogai Rensuke; this man is cunning.
"Order all units to annihilate as much of the Japanese army's manpower as possible!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the artillery and machine guns opened fire almost simultaneously. At the same time, the soldiers in the troop carriers and trucks disembarked and began to carry out combined arms tactics, slowly advancing forward with the tank group.
The soldiers, armed with rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, and other weapons, opened fire on the Japanese troops attempting to break through the encirclement.
After being ordered to disperse and break out, the soldiers of the Japanese 10th Division who broke out had lost their previous organization and discipline and were more like a disorganized mess.
However, these scattered individuals all used squadrons or platoons as their basic combat units.
When attempting a frontal breakout, they did employ some tactics.
The massacre has begun.
After continuous firing, the barrel of the vehicle-mounted machine gun begins to glow red-hot, requiring it to cool down or be replaced.
The artillery continued to unleash shells, firing on the areas where the Japanese troops were most concentrated.
A single shell could often take the lives of seven or eight Japanese soldiers.
Japanese soldiers kept falling, and the Japanese soldiers behind them continued to advance, stepping over their corpses.
The so-called Bushido spirit has no effect in the face of steel and flames; it only makes them die on the way by charging forward.
While the frontal assault was underway, the armored vehicle group of the rear guard battalion had also arrived.
The Japanese tank units behind them did not hold them off for long before being completely annihilated.
Looking ahead, Long Wenzhang noticed that a large number of Japanese troops were already breaking through to the north.
All of this was made particularly conspicuous by the light of the flares.
Just then, the phone rang, and Li Jianghe's voice came through.
"Long Wenzhang, take your men and flank them from both sides to pursue those Japanese soldiers who have broken through the Baicheng Mountain defense line. They are all fish that have escaped the net; kill as many as you can."
At this point, Li Jianghe was well aware that since Isogai Rensuke's troops had broken through in different directions, it would be difficult for them to pose a significant threat to their tank units.
This was a one-sided hunt and massacre.
With troops from Baicheng Mountain already positioned in front, the most logical option is to have the guard battalion flank them and pursue any remaining Japanese soldiers.
"Boom!!!"
The roar echoed across the entire plain, and the darkness was illuminated by flares and the flashes of exploding shells.
After communicating with Bai Chengshan, the armored vehicle unit of the guard battalion bypassed the enemy from the flank.
During the flanking maneuver, Long Wenzhang discovered that there were also a large number of Japanese troops attempting to break out.
"Fire!!!!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Long Wenzhang decisively gave the order, and the pursuit operation officially began.
On the front, the Seya Kei Brigade is engaged in fierce fighting with the Northwest Army and the Sichuan Army.
But at this moment, Kei Seya was looking back with a worried expression.
The sky there was already illuminated by the flames of the explosion, and the booming sound could still be faintly heard.
The sky there was already illuminated by the flames of the explosion, and the booming sound could still be faintly heard.
Without a doubt, the fighting at the main force of the 10th Division was much fiercer.
As for the brigade he led, it was originally intended to block Li Jianghe's armored forces, but now it seems to be of no use whatsoever, and can only be used to block the Northwest Army and the Sichuan Army.
He currently has only over 5,000 soldiers under his command, while the Sichuan Army and the Northwest Army opposite him have significantly more troops.
Even so, Seya Kei's brigade was more than capable of holding off the attacks of the Northwest Army and the Sichuan Army head-on.
Because their weapons and equipment were so poor, even with the cover of artillery fire, it was still difficult for them to make a breakthrough against the heavily defended Japanese positions.
In other words, during nighttime operations, the Japanese army's firepower advantage could not be fully utilized; otherwise, their casualties would have been even greater.
Even so, Commanders Chi Fengcheng and Wang Mingzhang showed no sign of stopping.
Because they knew very well that once the attack stopped, the opposing Seya Kei could divert troops to reinforce the 10th Division that was being pursued.
At that time, Li Jianghe's third detachment will be caught in a pincer movement.
What they had to do was to hold off Seya Kei so tightly that he couldn't move on this blocking position north of Taierzhuang.
"The enemy's offensive has been almost uninterrupted, and we can't even retreat if we want to."
Chief of Staff Suzuki Kitano walked over and said with an extremely grim expression.
Kei Seya had wanted to lead troops to reinforce the main force of the division before.
He abruptly turned his head to look at the front lines of the battlefield and said:
"Damn it, those damn bastards, they're like ghosts that won't leave you alone!!!"
He hated this ragtag army; they had no equipment and their combat skills were not strong.
But like tenacious cockroaches, they are impossible to kill or eradicate; they always find ways to launch repeated attacks.