The Hayato Shirota Brigade was suppressed by intense fire and couldn't move on the banks of the Bai River.

He didn't yet understand what had gone wrong.

He had actually been very, very careful this time coming to Luying Town.

The last time he passed through here, he didn't even send out scouts, leading the entire brigade whistling past.

For the past ten days or so, he had led the cavalry brigade rampaging across this land, never suffering a loss. What was happening tonight?

Could it be that the scouts sent out this afternoon had attracted the Chinese army's heavy artillery and these soldiers?

"That's impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The Chinese army's heavy artillery regiments were very few and far between, and not well-equipped to the various group armies.

What he thought now didn't matter.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, fiery lines suddenly crisscrossed the sky over Pingluo Village, the firelight turning half the sky red.

By the time the sound of the explosions reached Luying Town, it was very faint.

But it could still be heard vaguely, and the Japanese devils in Luying Town became excited: "The reinforcements are here!"

"Our reinforcements are here!"

The Tano Hachiro regimental commander and the Ishii Kahosu regimental commander met and agreed to send out a team to break out.

Break out in the direction the reinforcements were coming from.

A Japanese assault team of more than a hundred men was quickly formed and immediately rushed out.

At the headquarters of the 59th Army, when Zhang Zizhong saw the fiery lines of artillery shells streaking across the eastern sky, he immediately notified all regiments of the special brigade's plan to ambush the Japanese cavalry brigade at Dapingluo Village.

He ordered them to immediately notify each company and platoon of this combat plan, and to notify every soldier.

There was only one purpose: to reassure the soldiers that these were friendly forces proactively ambushing the Japanese devils.

At the same time, he ordered all regiments to be wary of the Japanese devils in Luying Town making a desperate leap, organizing a breakout attempt.

The easiest direction for the Japanese devils to break out was, of course, in the direction of Pingluo Village.

Regimental Commander Zhang Yingjiu finally understood at this moment: why the army commander had insisted that all regimental commanders personally command the front lines tonight.

And also ordered all regiments to prepare plans for the Japanese devils' nighttime breakout. It turned out that the army commander had thought of this long ago.

Even as he was thinking this, some Japanese devils were already sneaking out of Luying Town, trying to quietly feel their way forward.

Company Commander Suzuki Shiro led a hastily assembled force of more than one hundred and fifty Japanese devils.

The entire company was pieced together by reorganizing scattered Japanese devils from various companies. Their mission was to be the vanguard of the breakout.

To tear a hole in the defending forces' line for the subsequent breakout force.

When they sneaked out of Luying Town under cover of darkness, they didn't provoke any reaction from the defending forces outside.

Company Commander Suzuki Shiro was secretly pleased, and Regimental Commander Tano Hachiro, hiding even deeper, was equally excited.

According to the current state of affairs, as long as Suzuki Shiro's company charged into the defending forces' line, Regimental Commander Tano Hachiro would immediately lead the remaining Japanese devils out.

More than a thousand Japanese devils surrounded in Luying Town were all ready to go.

More than a thousand pairs of eyes stared at those shadowy figures sneaking around outside.

More than a thousand Japanese devils were praying for them. If their Amaterasu Ōmikami really had any power, she would surely be moved and show her power.

Regimental Commander Zhang didn't let the soldiers open fire. He was waiting patiently, waiting until the Japanese devils were less than a hundred meters from his defensive line.

Only then did he give the order: "Fire!"

His regiment now had two newly equipped infantry guns, ten mortars, two heavy machine guns, and more than twenty light machine guns.

All these weapons were used tonight. The infantry guns fired at the charging Japanese devils.

One shot blew more than a dozen Japanese devils into the sky.

The mortars fired, blasting the Japanese devils hiding behind the walls into the air as well.

The heavy machine guns swept, cutting off the Japanese devils' escape route.

In this way, the more than one hundred Japanese devils who had quietly sneaked out were truly in a dilemma.

Company Commander Suzuki Shiro was now suppressed in the middle ground. Want to attack?

It was simply impossible. The firepower in front was so fierce. How could he possibly charge up with the fifty or so remaining Japanese devils in his company?

Want to retreat? Also impossible. The retreat route had been blocked.

At least ten Japanese devils were shot dead trying to retreat, and not a single one succeeded in escaping back into the town.

Regimental Commander Tano Hachiro said angrily, "Baga! The Chinese army is too deceitful! Machine gun fire!

Fire cover! We must let Suzuki-kun retreat."

Of course, the regimental commander's order was obeyed by more than a thousand Japanese devils.

More than a thousand Japanese devils all fired their machine guns and heavy machine guns at Zhang Yingjiu's regiment outside the town. This suddenly made it somewhat difficult for Regimental Commander Zhang to cope.

Regimental Commander Zhang immediately reported to the army headquarters, "Commander! The Japanese devils are suddenly firing at me with everything they've got. Their firepower is too fierce. I can't suppress them."

Zhang Zizhong asked, "Have the Japanese devils charged out?"

"No! They're hiding in Luying Town attacking me!"

Hearing this, Zhang Zizhong immediately understood, "The Japanese devils want to cover the retreat of the team that broke out earlier, not break out themselves."

Regimental Commander Zhang Yingjiu suddenly understood, "I will definitely not let them retreat back."

"I'll have the artillery on your left and right wings support you, and send two more battalions over. You must hold on."

"Yes!"

Zhang Zizhong put down the phone and immediately issued reinforcement orders to the teams on the left and right sides of Regimental Commander Zhang, and also ordered the artillery of each regiment to bombard the northeast direction of Luying Town.

When the shells fell, Regimental Commander Tano Hachiro immediately led his men out of the area, not because he wanted to preserve his strength.

It was simply that his 34th Infantry Regiment only had five hundred or so Japanese devils left, and he couldn't afford to lose any more.

Unlike Regimental Commander Ishii Kahosu's 18th Regiment, which still had more than a thousand Japanese devils, even if some died, it would still be stronger than his own force.

Regimental Commander Tano Hachiro led the Japanese devils to retreat. Although Regimental Commander Ishii Kahosu didn't order the entire regiment to retreat, he himself still retreated.

A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall!

Moreover, tonight the Chinese army was only bombing the northeast corner of Luying Town. Of course, he had to withdraw from the area being bombarded by artillery shells. Let his subordinates command the battle here.

In fact, there was nothing to command here. It was just concentrating firepower, suppressing the opponent's firepower, so that Suzuki Shiro's company could retreat.

In order to save Suzuki's company, Regimental Commander Ishii Kahosu put his heart into it and spared no expense.

Company Commander Suzuki Shiro also had a strong desire to survive. From the dense sound of gunfire coming from behind, he knew what the regimental commander was thinking:

The regimental commander cared about him. They were covering Suzuki's company's retreat.

"Ono-kun! Your squad will cover the rear. I'm retreating first!"

Squad Leader Ono Ryota said "Hai" in response, which was considered an agreement.

Company Commander Suzuki Shiro led more than thirty Japanese devils to retreat from the front line, but as he led his team, taking advantage of the light of the flares.

Looking left and right, he couldn't find a way to retreat back.

Now he was facing Luying Town, and could see the scene of the entire regiment covering his retreat more clearly.

He could also see more clearly the artillery shells falling from the sky, exploding in the middle of those Japanese devils who were covering him.

It was difficult to see clearly at night, but what he could see most clearly was the muzzle flash from each gun when it fired, which could not be hidden.

Visibly, the muzzle flashes in the darkness became less and less.

From the initial thousands of muzzles, to seven or eight hundred later, and now to more than a hundred muzzles.

The speed at which these muzzle flashes decreased was much faster than the speed at which autumn winds swept away leaves.

He didn't know whether those Japanese devils had fled, retreated, or been killed by artillery shells.

Company Commander Suzuki Shiro finally despaired when he saw that the last gun in the village had disappeared.

Without the weapon suppression from the large Japanese army, Zhang Yingjiu's regiment's firepower returned.

At this time, the two battalions sent over from the left and right wings also arrived.

Although Zhang Yingjiu was a regiment, his defensive line was not just a small section in front of him. His regiment had a long defensive line to guard.

In fact, the troops he deployed in this section were definitely less than a battalion. Now the commander suddenly sent two battalions here.

Regimental Commander Zhang was no longer satisfied with just defending in place. He commanded his troops to counterattack.

The two newly arrived battalions quietly felt their way over from both sides.

Suzuki Shiro's company was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, spinning around in that blocked area.

He couldn't help but be anxious. From the increasingly sparse gunfire of Squad Leader Ono Ryota, it could be judged that:

Ono Ryota's squad couldn't hold on for long.

If they couldn't find a way out within five minutes, the entire company that had broken out tonight would die here.

Just as Company Commander Suzuki Shiro was thinking this, a dark mass of hand grenades was suddenly thrown out of the shadows on the left and right sides.

These hand grenades exploded in his team, and then one after another agile figures rushed out of the shadows, firing at them.

The team, which had originally had only more than thirty Japanese devils, had already been decimated by the explosion of dozens of hand grenades.

After being strafed like this, only three or four of the Japanese devils in Suzuki Shiro's company were lucky enough to survive.

Another flare rose into the sky. Company Commander Suzuki Shiro fell in a pool of blood. His eyes saw pairs of large feet wearing cloth shoes walking past.

"Give each Japanese devil another shot!"

Then he heard a series of gunshots, and he closed his eyes forever.

Regimental Commander Ishii Kahosu, in the command post, heard the report that the entire regiment of Japanese devils had retreated from the northeast corner of Luying Town.

"What about Suzuki's company?"

No one answered!

That was the answer: no one returned!

He sighed, "What are the casualties?"

"In the bombing just now! Eighty-nine warriors were honorably killed, thirty-four warriors were seriously injured, and seventy-nine were slightly injured."

The number of casualties made Regimental Commander Ishii Kahosu gasp. Adding the casualties of Suzuki's company, this wave of breakout attempts tonight had resulted in nearly four hundred Japanese devils being killed or wounded.

Regimental Commander Tano Hachiro also felt a pain in his teeth when he heard this. Now Ishii's regiment's strength was about the same as his own.

How would they defend next?