Chapter 1 The Commander Yata Yoji Saw a Shell Hit the Position

The Yata Yoji battalion commander's face changed instantly.

Just now, a shell had blown away the observation balloon.

So quickly, another test shell came.

"It's over!" That was the only thought left in his mind.

Although his thoughts were singular, his feet had already started to run away.

While running, he issued orders: "Retreat!

Retreat!"

At this point, with the National Revolutionary Army's shells already falling on the position, how could they retreat?

In less than a minute, a rain of shells fell on the still-unfinished artillery positions of Yata Yoji's artillery battalion.

Those artillery pieces that had not yet entered the position danced in the artillery fire.

Some artillery pieces were blown into the air.

Some artillery pieces were blown over.

Some artillery pieces were blown to pieces.

Newly delivered shells were also detonated in the bombing.

Some of the Japanese devils in Yata Yoji's artillery battalion reacted quickly.

Seeing the test shells land, they started running away.

Now, they stood five hundred meters away, watching with heartbreak as the artillery pieces danced in the artillery fire.

Those slow-witted, foolish Japanese devils, upon hearing Captain Yata's order to retreat,

tried to take the artillery with them, and their efforts finally sent themselves and the artillery together.

Battalion Commander Yata Yoji looked at the artillery position not far away, bitterness filling his heart.

He was now full of regret: "I shouldn't have listened to Commander Terauchi Hisaichi's orders."

Professional matters are not always clear to senior officers.

Terauchi Hisaichi and a group of senior commanders were hiding in a temporarily built command post.

Although this command post was temporary, it was very sturdy.

Even if a 150mm shell hit the top, it would not harm the Japanese devils inside.

This was why Terauchi Hisaichi was still so calm.

When he heard the sound of shells exploding around him, he immediately ordered:

"Return fire! Return fire!"

He believed that since his artillery had raised the observation balloon into the sky, they should be able to find the enemy's artillery position at this time.

It was time to return fire.

Terauchi Hisaichi did not know that the artillery of Yata Yoji's battalion had not yet entered the position and could not fire a single shot.

Battalion Commander Yata Yoji knew that he would have to silently bear all the blame.

"It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let the observation balloon rise into the sky so early."

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi interrupted his self-criticism:

"You haven't realized your mistake, are you saying the observation balloon went up too early?

No!

It's that your artillery entered the position too late.

What was your artillery battalion doing?

Ten minutes early, no!

Even one minute early, to destroy the enemy's artillery position.

That is the correct approach.

You should be examining why the artillery entered the position so slowly."

"Hai!" With nothing left to say, Battalion Commander Yata Yoji finally realized deeply:

It was all his fault!

…

Regiment Commander Hou Wentian's round of artillery fire perfectly helped Battalion Commander Yata Yoji complete the selection of the battalion's Japanese devils.

At least the Japanese devils who survived this time were smart enough.

Those who were not smart enough and quick enough had become cannon fodder.

Now, these smart, lucky Japanese artillerymen who had escaped with their lives,

gathered together, watching the smoke-filled positions from a distance.

Although their artillery had all been destroyed, of the 999 Japanese devils in the entire artillery battalion, more than 400 remained.

The bombardment of the Japanese artillery position took only ten minutes.

Next, the artillery regiment began to bombard the infantry artillery that the Japanese devils had deployed in the forward positions.

This was completely an adult bullying a child.

At the same time, the First and Second Regiments of the Lunan Detachment also began to approach the Japanese positions.

Before the artillery bombardment, when the infantrymen of the First and Second Regiments tried to approach the Japanese devils,

they were always bombarded by the Japanese artillery from a great distance.

Now, the Japanese artillery was finally behaving itself.

The two infantry regiments of the Lunan Detachment launched an attack on the Japanese devils from three directions.

The frontal attack was carried out by the First to Fourth Companies of the Second Regiment, but only the First Company launched the charge.

The remaining companies waited behind as reserves.

Company Commander Ou Lezhi of the First Company of the Second Regiment commanded his troops to enter the area 1,000 meters from the Japanese position for the second time.

This time, the Japanese shells no longer fell.

Without the interference of the Japanese artillery, the speed of the advance was very fast.

In less than five minutes, they had advanced five hundred meters.

The artillery bombardment of the Japanese positions continued.

Ou Lezhi commanded the First Company to continue advancing two hundred meters.

Here, they had to stop and wait for the artillery regiment to stop.

While the artillery regiment of the Lunan Detachment was bombarding the Japanese positions, one company of Japanese devils who had been ordered to rush over from the direction of Taierzhuang finally arrived.

The Tanaka Taiichi Company was originally stationed in Nanluo Village.

Upon receiving the order from Brigade Commander Seiya Keiji, they acted quickly.

Now they finally arrived at the battlefield.

Captain Tanaka Taiichi was personally received by General Terauchi Hisaichi at the command post.

This treatment excited Captain Tanaka Taiichi.

He listened as the Supreme Commander of the North China Front Army ordered his company to act as a reserve force.

First a battalion, then an artillery battalion, and now an infantry company had arrived.

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi finally calmed down.

With these Japanese devils arriving, would the remaining Japanese devils be far behind?

At this time, neither the Supreme Commander of the North China Front Army, General Terauchi Hisaichi,

nor the Commander, Lieutenant General Umezu Yoshijiro,

nor the Commander of the Jinpu Railway Operations, Lieutenant General Prince Naruhiko,

nor the Commander of the Jiaoji Railway Operations, Major General Mitsumao Kazuo, were willing to continue running away.

For these Japanese devils, escaping from Lincheng today was already a very shameful thing.

Now that they had a certain amount of strength in their hands, they wanted to turn the tables.

Shame could only be washed away with victory.

For them, nothing could wash away their shame more than annihilating the pursuing troops behind them.

When that time came, the escape from Lincheng would become a personal act of luring the enemy deep by the high command of the North China Front Army.

Setting a trap, gathering the enemy in the field, and annihilating the National Revolutionary Army guerrillas who threatened the rear supply lines.

Anyway, everything was written by the victors, and they could write it however they wanted.

The voices of those who had been defeated, even if they spoke the truth, would be drowned out by the cheers of the victors.

In order to achieve the complete annihilation of the pursuing troops behind them, Terauchi Hisaichi certainly did not want to leave like this.

Sure enough, before the artillery fire had ended, two more companies had arrived from the direction of Taierzhuang.

With more and more Japanese devils under his command, the smiles on the faces of the Japanese devils in this temporary command post grew wider.

The plain-based balloon observer, at an altitude of 300 meters, watched as one team after another of Japanese devils arrived at the battlefield.

He immediately reported these situations to the people below.

Lin Fan, hearing that the enemy reinforcements were arriving one after another, found this somewhat difficult to handle.

He had never thought that he could turn the tide with just his own team.

Hou Wentian's artillery regiment had now stopped the bombardment.

This was because the aerial balloon observer had seen that the Japanese position was completely shrouded in smoke.

He could not see anything behind it.

The artillery finished bombing, and the infantry charged.

Company Commander Ou Lezhi, seeing that the artillery bombardment had stopped, immediately commanded his troops to charge forward.

Defending this position they were attacking was the Kawashima Shunsuke Battalion, which had just run over from Hanzhuang.

The Tsugawa Eita Company was the most combat-effective unit in the Kawashima Shunsuke Battalion.

This was why they had been assigned to defend the road.

The recent artillery bombardment had caused heavy casualties to the Tsugawa Eita Company.

This was mainly because the hastily dug trenches were not yet complete, and also because the cannons of the Lunan Detachment were too large in caliber.

Before the infantry had even officially engaged, the Tsugawa Eita Company had already suffered more than half its casualties.

Although the casualties were heavy, they did not affect the morale of this unit.

These Japanese devils had seen Terauchi Hisaichi and Prince Naruhiko when they had just arrived at the battlefield.

They knew that today's battle was being fought in front of these generals.

The ambitions in the hearts of each Japanese devil were quietly growing like spring grass.

Every Japanese devil had the desire to become an officer.

Today's situation made them feel that this wish was so close.

After this battle, some Japanese devils would definitely be promoted, and they wanted to be one of them.

With ideals and ambitions, these Japanese devils certainly had to fight well.

Although the bodies falling around them constantly reminded them:

If you want to be promoted, you must first survive.

This group of Japanese devils had not yet crossed swords with the Lunan Detachment.

They had not yet received the beating of the Lunan Detachment, and still held some illusions.

Sergeant Tokugawa Ryo was such a Japanese devil.

As soon as the artillery bombardment stopped, Company Commander Tsugawa Eita loudly ordered all the Japanese devils to quickly take their positions.

Ready to meet the National Revolutionary Army infantry attack.

At this time, they also had reserves from the rear rushing to the position to carry away the wounded.

The wounded on the position would seriously affect the morale of the Japanese devils.

Every minute the wounded stayed on the position increased their risk of death.

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi certainly did not want these Japanese devils, who could still be saved, to become cannon fodder on the position.

Sergeant Tokugawa Ryo was an experienced grenade launcher.

He opened fire on the First Company, which was still 200 meters away.

Although the grenade fired by the grenade launcher did not explode in the middle of the attacking team, it was only slightly to the right.

This could be adjusted.

The Japanese devils' grenade launchers were very annoying.

The heavy machine gun at the front of the First Company's charge, along with the mortars and infantry guns behind it, immediately opened fire on Tokugawa Ryo's position.

Company Commander Tsugawa Eita watched as his position had just fired a grenade,

and it was as if he had poked a hornet's nest, immediately attracting a large wave of counterattacks.

The Japanese devils of their entire company watched as the position where Tokugawa Ryo had just been was completely under artillery bombardment.

Tokugawa Ryo had not escaped and had also dragged down two Japanese devils around him, all dying together.

This made the Japanese devils of the Tsugawa Eita Company hesitate.

They could all see that whoever stood out, whoever stirred up trouble, the opposing National Revolutionary Army would attack them!

This put the Japanese devils in an awkward position!

Weren't they here to fight?

Of course, fighting required firing guns.

Company Commander Tsugawa Eita clearly saw the thoughts of his men.

Seeing that the attacking National Revolutionary Army had closed to within 100 meters,

he immediately ordered, "All Japanese devils, open fire together!"

If everyone fired together, the opposing National Revolutionary Army would not be able to intentionally target one place, right?

The remaining Japanese devils of the Tsugawa Eita Company did indeed all open fire.

The heavy machine guns of the charging First Company attacked the Japanese machine guns.

The mortars and infantry guns attacked the Japanese machine guns.

The soldiers of the First Company fired at those Japanese devils who were firing rifles.

Company Commander Tsugawa Eita discovered something he could not understand:

Under the full firepower of the entire company, the opposing team was still advancing.

Although they were advancing more slowly,

the distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters, and at this rate of advance, it would not take long for them to charge into the trenches.

What to do?

Company Commander Tsugawa Eita was a little flustered.

All the Japanese devils were paying attention to the battle on the front line.

The difficulties faced by the Tsugawa Eita Company were also in the eyes of Battalion Commander Kawashima Shunsuke.

Now that he was the front-line commander, seeing this situation,

he immediately ordered, "Tanaka Taiichi Company, go and reinforce immediately."

The Tanaka Taiichi Company was their first reserve force here.

Initially, it had been very valuable, but two more infantry companies had arrived.

Battalion Commander Kawashima Shunsuke's forces had become plentiful, and of course, he was unwilling to mistreat the main force of his battalion.

The Japanese devils of the Tanaka Taiichi Company were a fresh force.

Whether in terms of numbers or physical strength, this company was still full.

Although they had been somewhat tired from the forced march, they had rested for a while.

They had recovered.

Company Commander Ou Lezhi, who was advancing smoothly, saw that the number of Japanese devils in front of him suddenly increased.

And the firepower of the Japanese devils also became fierce.

Had the Japanese devils received reinforcements?

The First Company, which was advancing, had to retreat.

They retreated to a position 100 meters from the Japanese position before re-establishing their footing.

Six heavy machine guns began to establish a line of defense, and the soldiers of the First Company also began to dig fortifications.

If they could not charge up, they had to at least take root here.

Regiment Commander Hua Deze was a little anxious: the First Regiment's attacks were always swift and decisive.

How come when it came to his attack, it was abandoned halfway?

Fortunately, he heard from the radio that Regiment Commander Gu Xiuming of the First Regiment was also shouting:

"The Japanese devils' reinforcements have arrived."

The First Regiment's attack was also not going smoothly.

At this time, the balloon observer at a high altitude sent another message.

A team of Japanese devil cavalry was running out from the south.

They were rapidly approaching.

Lin Fan no longer hesitated and ordered the First and Second Regiments to shrink their forces.

They prepared to retreat after dark.

Now that the two sides were entangled, it would be difficult for the Lunan Detachment to retreat.

A cavalry battalion of Japanese devils arrived at the battlefield, but they did not immediately launch an attack.

It was not that they did not want to, but they could not.

The Hoshino Juichiro Cavalry Battalion had rushed over from Pi County, and they had been advancing at full speed all the way.

After arriving here, the warhorses were already exhausted.

They could not immediately be put into battle.

Although they could not immediately join the battle, their presence reassured all the Japanese devils.

The First and Second Regiments began to retreat.

Battalion Commander Kawashima Shunsuke immediately commanded the Japanese infantry to tightly bite down on the Lunan Detachment.

This was not just his command, the entire high command of the North China Front Army was commanding from the command post not far behind.

These Japanese devils had lost face today, and now that they had the opportunity,

they would of course do everything to get their face back.

Terauchi Hisaichi still had a trump card that he had not used:

There was an armored battalion, with a full 70 tanks, that had just gotten off the train in Hanzhuang.

They were advancing here.

Now that team had been ordered to stop advancing.

The opposing National Revolutionary Army had artillery, and he did not want the National Revolutionary Army's artillery to pose a threat to the tanks.

As long as the National Revolutionary Army began to retreat, it would be time for the tanks and cavalry to attack with all their might.

He did not believe that the infantry's two legs could outrun the four legs of the cavalry and the mechanized tank convoy.

Lin Fan had already sent a telegram, ordering the Fourth Regiment in Lincheng to set off immediately and prepare to meet them at Zhao Village, 10 kilometers outside Lincheng, that night.

The sun slowly set in the west.

This afternoon was an exciting afternoon for the Japanese devils.

Two more infantry battalions and a cavalry battalion had arrived successively.

There were already four infantry battalions, two cavalry battalions, and a tank battalion gathered here.

From 5:00 PM, these Japanese devils began to attack the defensive lines of the First and Second Regiments.

At the same time, they tried to outflank the rear of the Lunan Detachment.

Also from 5:00 PM, Lin Fan ordered the regiments to prepare to retreat that night.

However, before the breakout, they still had to launch a wave of attacks.

This time, the direction of the Lunan Detachment's planned assault was to the east.

Defending in this direction was the Fourth Battalion of the Akashiba Yaezo Regiment.

This battalion now had only two infantry companies, but after being reinforced with a machine gun company,

the strength of the entire battalion had at least doubled.

When these Japanese devils faced the sudden attack launched by the First Regiment,

Sato Yuto commanded his machine gun company to continuously strafe.

The heavy machine guns, mortars, and infantry guns of the First Company launched a three-pronged attack in succession.

Facing such fierce firepower from the First Company, both Captain Nakai Tatsuya and Lieutenant Sato Yuto were shocked.

Especially Captain Nakai Tatsuya; his battalion had suffered casualties all the way this morning.

Now, being attacked by the First Company, he finally realized what the opposing team's combat effectiveness was like.

Ou Lezhi had received Regiment Commander Gu Xiuming's desperate order this time: he had to seize the position on the east side.

To achieve this goal, four more companies cooperated in the attack.

Behind these four companies, there was also artillery support from the First Regiment's reserve team.

The First Company's attack went very smoothly, suppressing the Japanese machine guns.

They successfully approached the front of the Japanese position to within 50 meters.

At this time, the soldiers of the First Company threw a round of grenades.

Then they made a quick sprint.

They rushed into the trenches and began to engage the Japanese devils in close combat.

Terauchi Hisaichi, staying in the command post, had not expected that the opposing team would break through his carefully arranged encirclement with just one round of charge.

Fortunately, he now had strong forces in his hands.

Even if the first line of defense on the east side was broken,

he still had a second line of defense.

This long day was coming to an end, and the night was about to arrive.

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi of course knew that everything the National Revolutionary Army was doing now was for their next action.

This was also a common point for all teams throughout history: it was always easier to retreat at night.

Since this team was attacking to the east, it was obvious that they wanted to break through from the east.

Having found the direction, Terauchi Hisaichi immediately reinforced the east with an infantry battalion to prepare.

In his heart, what he wanted most now was for this team to retreat in the direction of Lincheng.

Because in the following time, tens of thousands of Japanese devils from the entire North China Front Army would arrive,

completely surrounding Lincheng, leaving this team with nowhere to escape.

Night fell!

Lin Fan had already transmitted the team's retreat plan.

In fact, the Lunan Detachment's retreat was very simple.

It was to retreat towards Lincheng.

The Second Regiment led the way, the artillery regiment was in the middle, and the First Regiment brought up the rear.

Night fell!

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi of the North China Front Army immediately ordered the 70 tanks that had been lying in ambush to move out immediately.

These tanks were a full 10 kilometers from the battlefield.

Their direction of advance was the east side of the current battlefield.

That was the direction the First Regiment had finally occupied.

The Japanese devil commanders believed that the opposing National Revolutionary Army had seen that retreating to Lincheng was a dead end.

Therefore, they would break through in another direction.

The First Regiment did not disappoint them. In the darkness, the First Regiment concentrated its artillery fire to bombard the second line of defense fiercely.

The Japanese devils, who were preparing to meet the National Revolutionary Army infantry charge after ten minutes of artillery bombardment,

did not see a single soldier of the National Revolutionary Army.

At this time, they realized that they had been fooled.

Battalion Commander Kawashima Shunsuke immediately ordered his troops to pursue.

The Japanese devils of the Tanaka Taiichi Company had blocked the Second Regiment's attack in the afternoon.

Now they began to charge towards the Second Regiment's position.

100 meters, no one paid attention to these Japanese devils.

50 meters, and still no one fired a gun.

The Japanese devils of the Tanaka Taiichi Company used flares to look at the position in front of them, which seemed to have no soldiers.

These Japanese devils all became excited and rushed forward.

When they were 30 meters away from the position, a series of explosions rang out.

Most of the Tanaka Taiichi Company fell at once.

The Japanese devils who had this experience were not only the Tanaka Taiichi Company.

All the Japanese devils who attacked encountered such bomb attacks.

With just one round of counterattack, at least 500 Japanese devils were killed or wounded in less than half an hour.

Such casualties were like a bucket of cold water, instantly calming down the North China Front Army command post.

Stop chasing!

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi had no choice but to issue such an order.

He did not know how many landmines the retreating team had buried in this darkness.

The difficulties that Lin Fan had anticipated did not appear.

Their retreat was very smooth.

The team returned to Lincheng at dawn.

In Lincheng, the south wall had been personally blown into dozens of pieces by Lin Fan yesterday.

The defensive capability was very poor.

However, Lin Fan still wanted to fight another battle with the Japanese devils here.

Anyway, his job was to fight the Japanese devils.

However, thinking that the Japanese devils had concentrated a large number of troops nearby,

this was a dangerous place, and there was no need to fight the Japanese devils head-on.

Lin Fan could not just fight the Japanese devils here.

The railway from Lincheng to Teng County was still controlled by the Lunan Detachment.

The four regiments that had just arrived in Lincheng, plus the Fifth Regiment that had been left to garrison Lincheng,

Lin Fan ordered the Fourth and Fifth Regiments to retreat to Teng County overnight.

At the same time, he ordered the Third Regiment to attack Zou County overnight along the railway line.

Only now did Lin Fan have time to contact the Fifth War Zone, but he could not get in touch at this time.

The headquarters of the Fifth War Zone was also retreating urgently by night.

However, their retreat route was very tortuous.

Originally, the Wuhan headquarters required Lin Fan to report the battle situation once an hour.

From the afternoon, the Japanese devils gathered more and more.

It was no longer possible for the Lunan Detachment to complete the task of capturing Terauchi Hisaichi and those Japanese devils.

Therefore, there was no need for an hourly report.

Now that he could not contact the Fifth War Zone, he could only report to the Wuhan headquarters, "The assassination of the headquarters of the North China Front Army of the Japanese devils has failed.

The Japanese devils have gathered nearly 10,000 troops near Hanzhuang.

The Special Operations Brigade can no longer fight the Japanese devils head-on."

Chiang Kai-shek, who had been waiting for news, was very sorry to have missed such a good opportunity.

However, he also knew how dangerous Lin Fan and his team were around Lincheng at this time.

Since Terauchi Hisaichi had received reinforcements from a large army, the Special Operations Brigade should consider retreating.

He issued an order on behalf of the National Revolutionary Army headquarters for Lin Fan to carry out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.

Although they had not been able to catch Terauchi Hisaichi, Umezu Yoshijiro, or Prince Naruhiko this time,

the Special Operations Brigade was able to mobilize the main force of the Japanese North China Front Army north of Xuzhou.

This provided a very good opportunity for the retreating troops of the Fifth War Zone to break through.

From this point of view, the Special Operations Brigade's pursuit was very successful.

As for whether the Special Operations Brigade could successfully retreat now, Chiang Kai-shek was actually no longer paying much attention.

Anyway, this was also a team that did not belong to him.

After reporting today's battle to Wuhan,

what followed was the Lunan Detachment's own strategic policy.

Although Chiang Kai-shek's meaning was very clear: he wanted Lin Fan's team to hide temporarily.

Let the Japanese devils not find their whereabouts, and come out after the storm has passed.

After all, tens of thousands of Japanese devils could not stay in Lunan all the time just to find this one team.

According to Chiang Kai-shek's deduction: the Japanese devils' army around Lincheng would not stay for more than seven days at most before they would go their separate ways.

Lin Fan, who had carefully considered the battlefield situation,

was not prepared to lie dormant at this time.

The Japanese devils had used most of the troops of the entire North China Army for the Battle of Xuzhou.

Most of their troops in the rear were concentrated on the Sino-Soviet border.

The Japanese devils had always been afraid of the Soviets attacking.

From the beginning of this war, the Soviets' support for Chiang Kai-shek had never stopped.

To this day, they were also the only country that fully supported the war of resistance.

Thinking that the Japanese devils had a weak force in North China,

Lin Fan had long been tempted.

He ordered: "The Third Regiment of the Lunan Detachment will advance along the railway to Zou County.

The Fourth and Fifth Regiments will take over Teng County."

The Lunan Detachment will go to Zou County again.

The Third Regiment had rested for half a day in Teng County in the afternoon.

Compared to the other regiments, they had rested relatively well.

Captain Miyamoto Sho, who was guarding the Zou County train station, had never thought

that he would suddenly encounter thousands of Imperial soldiers armed to the teeth returning from the front line

in such a small station in a small county.

Captain Miyamoto Sho had originally been resting.

But he was awakened by a crude knock on the door.

Listening to the station master telling him that a Taijun (Japanese soldier) who had retreated from the front line was looking for him,

Miyamoto Sho quickly got up after asking clearly that this was a team of thousands of people.

A team of thousands of Japanese devils was a battalion.

After meeting, the captain did not say much. He simply ordered him to gather the entire squad immediately.

At the same time, he asked the station master to gather the employees of the station.

He wanted to give a speech.

This captain was Shan Huacan, who had been found from his own team.

When the Third Regiment set off from Teng County, Lin Fan had specifically asked them to disguise themselves as Japanese devils.

At this time, Shan Huacan realized that there were hundreds of soldiers in his team who could speak Japanese.

These soldiers had originally wanted to learn the Japanese language well so that they could show their loyalty in front of the Japanese devils.

In order to make a name for themselves.

As a result, reality disappointed these people: the Japanese devils were not willing to pay attention to them at all.

This made the language they had learned useless.

Unexpectedly, it would be used here in the Lunan Detachment.

Miyamoto Sho's squad of more than 50 Japanese devils were surrounded by the First Company.

Shan Huacan did not want to get information from these Japanese devils.

The brigade commander had said: At this time, the Japanese devils would not be honest.

If you want intelligence, look for the traitors who work for the Japanese devils.

The station master watched as more than 50 Japanese devils were beaten to death.

Even the two Japanese devils who were in charge of guiding the work under his command were dragged out and killed.

At this time, he understood that this was a team that was resisting the Japanese.

They had disguised themselves as Japanese devils to attack and occupy the station.

Looking at the blood-stained ground, he did not dare to hide anything in his answers to Regiment Commander Shan Huacan's questions.

From the station master's reply, Shan Huacan learned that there was only one company of Japanese devils stationed in Zou County.

One squad at the station and two squads in the city.

Forcing the station master to lead the way, the Third Regiment sent four companies to attack.

The remaining eight companies had begun to establish defenses at the station.

At the same time, under the guidance of the station staff, they began to transport the military supplies and the goods of the Japanese merchants at the station.

On April 18, when the sun rose,

the vanguard of the Lunan Detachment, still the Third Regiment, had already set off for Yanzhou.

Terauchi Hisaichi, who had slept well last night, was stunned by the telegram he received:

Overnight, a guerrilla force had occupied Zou County.

Teng County had been occupied by guerrillas yesterday.

And the team that occupied Lincheng yesterday was now nowhere to be found.

Combining the information, Terauchi Hisaichi strongly suspected that the team that occupied Zou County last night was the team that had been chasing him yesterday.

Were these teams made of monkeys?

They had run to Zou County so quickly.

Losing Zou County was not what Terauchi Hisaichi was most afraid of.

What he feared most was that this team would discover a secret: the Japanese devil's control over the occupied areas was actually not strong.

If they continued to fight along the railway,

the impact on him would be too great.

Thinking of this, he immediately ordered the next station in Zou County, Yanzhou, to prepare to prevent the guerrillas from attacking.

At this time, Lin Fan was still in Lincheng with three regiments, waiting for the Japanese devils to attack.

Terauchi Hisaichi also issued an order to the Second Army Group stationed in Jinan:

"Defend Jinan strictly. Under no circumstances can Jinan be lost."

He was really scared now.

He was afraid that this team would fight all the way to Jinan. If that were the case,

the empire's face would be lost by him.

The setback at Taierzhuang a few days ago had already caused the empire to lose face and substance internationally.

Although he did not think there was anything remarkable about the deaths of more than 20,000 Japanese devils,

this was, after all, the first time the empire had lost so many Japanese devils and had not yet captured Taierzhuang.

The Japanese devils originally had a battalion defending in Jinan.

The headquarters of the North China Front Army, which was stationed in Beiping, immediately dispatched two battalions of Japanese devils from Beiping along the railway to reinforce Jinan.

The Japanese devils also had only one company defending in Yanzhou.

Although they knew in advance that a guerrilla force would come to attack,

they did not know that this team was actually a well-equipped, armed-to-the-teeth team.

The scouts sent out by the two cavalry battalions that arrived on the battlefield yesterday quickly had good news to report:

There were still National Revolutionary Army soldiers guarding Lincheng.

Such news could be said to be great news for the current North China Front Army.

They had more teams arriving last night. This time, it was no longer just one battalion arriving at a time.

A Sakamoto Jun Brigade had arrived directly.

Terauchi Hisaichi received the news that there were still National Revolutionary Army soldiers in Lincheng, and he immediately ordered the tank battalion to attack.

The two cavalry battalions attacked.

The Hoshino Juichiro Cavalry Battalion was the first cavalry team to arrive yesterday.

Now his battalion was charging at the front.

While the cavalry battalion and tank battalion were advancing,

the Japanese devils' infantry was also setting off.

How they had escaped from Lincheng yesterday was how they would return.

Commander Terauchi Hisaichi's group was doing just that.

It took the Hoshino Juichiro Battalion an hour to reach the south of Lincheng.

Looking at the city wall that had been broken into more than a dozen large openings,

he laughed happily.

When these city walls had just collapsed, they had been a little messy.

Through the First Regiment of Gu Xiuming's tanks, each large opening was now like a road that had been opened up.

Although it was not very flat, it was enough for warhorses to gallop on.

What was there to hesitate about?

Cavalry Battalion Commander Hoshino Juichiro immediately commanded his team to launch a charge.

There were more than a dozen roads in the south of the city.

All roads lead to Lincheng!

The Japanese devils of Hoshino Juichiro's team did not make a choice.

There were Japanese devil warhorses galloping on every road.

Guarding the south of the city were the First and Second Companies of the First Regiment.

Lin Fan had not only arranged for the main force of the First Regiment here,

but also arranged for the First and Second Companies of the artillery regiment here.

And Lin Fan was also behind this city wall.

Because the Japanese devils would see the south of the city first when they counterattacked.

And the only wall in Lincheng that had been completely destroyed was the south wall.

It was the best direction to attack.

Cavalry Battalion Commander Hoshino Juichiro personally urged his warhorse to launch a charge.

When they were still 300 meters away from the city wall, they were shot at by rifles.

Japanese devils fell from time to time.

Such casualties were within normal limits.

In fact, Battalion Commander Hoshino Juichiro was somewhat happy that the defending team had not used machine guns to strafe.

In another ten seconds, his team would be able to rush into the city.

Not far behind them, another cavalry battalion had also charged up.

Further away, the tank battalion was also following up.

Everything was so perfect. The cavalry battalion rushed into the city.

The tank battalion provided cover in the rear, and by the time the infantry came up,

the battle would be over.

Battalion Commander Hoshino Juichiro thought so in his heart.

The only bad thing was that the section leading into the city was uphill.

And it was very steep, which made the speed that the warhorse had picked up during the charge drop too quickly.

But this was not an unacceptable shortcoming.

After all, the speed of the warhorse's charge was too fast.

So fast that the defending troops had not reacted.

Battalion Commander Hoshino Juichiro smiled and waved his command sword.

He finally stepped into Lincheng.

His warhorse had just rushed into the gap in the city wall.

Immediately, he felt the earth shaking.

Explosions went off at more than a dozen gap locations.

Directional bombs planted inside and outside the city exploded one after another.

Of the 700 Japanese devils in the entire Hoshino Cavalry Battalion, less than 100 were still riding on their warhorses.

Now they finally heard the "tuk-tuk-tuk" sound like a woodpecker pecking.

This was the sound of the heavy machine guns produced by the Japanese devils firing.

Now these heavy machine guns were being used by the soldiers of the First and Second Companies.

All the gap positions on the south side of the city were filled with fallen warhorses and Japanese devil corpses.

In the end, less than 50 Japanese devils of the entire Hoshino Juichiro Cavalry Battalion escaped by chance.

Such a tragic scene made the Japanese devil cavalry battalion behind them dare not continue to charge.

They frantically detoured around the south of the city and patrolled along the south of the city.

They tried to find a better direction to attack.

To their disappointment, after running all over the outside of the city, the only place suitable for a cavalry attack was the south of the city.

By the time this cavalry team returned to the south of the city,

they no longer had to worry about it.

A huge tank team had already gathered not far away.

The cluster of 70 tanks was very shocking in everyone'