"Tick-tock...."With the sound of the main gate charge, the three regiments attacking at the back gate quickly knocked out the three turrets in front of them after using the tactics of cannons and bayonets.

Under the cover of heavy machine guns, the soldiers slowly contracted the encirclement, and finally, the defenders were all compressed to the city wall.

"Order two regiments to surround the county seat, organize the attack force, all the artillery will be assembled immediately, and prepare to cover the city wall to shoot, Staff Officer Wang, send a telegram to the first regiment to ask, is there any movement in the direction of Taiyuan and the direction of the Sakai brigade?" Liu Hua saw that it took less than an hour for the troops to take the outer positions in Jinzhong, and ordered excitedly.

"Yes, Commander..."

Let's talk about the high command of the Jinzhong Army, originally, when it was attacked, the supreme commander Murata Dazuo was still very confident in the fortifications of Jinzhong. Especially the several cement turrets at the gate of the city, Dazuo believes that without heavy artillery, it is impossible to take down these turrets, let alone attack the county seat. Therefore, Dazuo did not report it.

However, what happened next was unexpected. In less than an hour, one of his own turrets was destroyed one after another, and the Eighth Route Army outside the city had already attacked to the foot of the city wall, preparing to launch a final attack on itself.

"Baga, when did the Eighth Route Army fire so fiercely again, hurry, send a report to the Taiyuan headquarters and ask for support. Also, send a report to the North China Headquarters and General Terauchi Shouichi, Jinzhong has stored a division's combat supplies for several months, and it must not be lost, so go and send a report..."Murata scolded the staff officer beside him who was disturbed by his dreams.

"Hey, Your Excellency Commander, I'm going to send a report...."The Chief of Staff fled from this violent command with his head bowed.

Taiyuan headquarters of the army. "Your Excellency Commander, a large number of cavalry troops were found at the north gate, and it is preliminarily estimated that at least one regiment of cavalry troops, the Zhouzhuang stronghold was attacked, all the defenders were killed, and the entire stronghold was ransacked." A staff officer hurriedly came to the commander with a telegram and said.

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, the South Gate has been attacked by Chinese cavalry troops, a military station has been destroyed, all the materials stored in it have been burned, and a squad of defenders has been completely annihilated." Another staff officer came to the command headquarters in fear and said.

"Your Excellency Commander, Jinzhong City...."The door to the commander's office was pushed open again.

"Enough, enough, where did so many cavalry units come from, our cavalry squadrons? Why didn't our cavalry go out of the city to destroy these [***] squadrons. The commander interrupted the chief of staff, who was about to speak, and scolded.

"Your Excellency Commander, our cavalry squadron went out of the city yesterday to retaliate, but was ambushed by the squadron [***], and all the jade was shattered." The scolded chief of staff replied in horror.

"Baga, how can this be, order the garrison of the city to immediately enter a state of combat readiness, and the defenders of the stronghold outside the city will hold the stronghold and prohibit the battle. From now on, close the city gates to prevent the sneak attack of the [***] team. Go and deliver the order right away. Staff officer, what telegram did you have just now, what's wrong with Jinzhong City? There was almost a hoarding of combat supplies for a division for several months, and there must not be any problems. The commander calmed down and said slowly.

"Your Excellency Commander, Jinzhong City was attacked by the Eighth Route Army, the formula of the Eighth Route Army was very violent, and now all the peripheral positions have been fully realized, and the troops are trapped on the city wall, asking us to send reinforcements." The chief of staff replied.

"Baga, how come? What does the Eighth Route Army want to do? What do they want to do? Dispatch troops? Where do I have troops, now that Taiyuan City has been continuously attacked, where do I dare to send troops? Chief of Staff, what is your opinion? The commander asked.

"Your Excellency Commander, I agree with you, we can't send troops, and the city defense of Taiyuan must not be weakened anymore. It's just that we must carry out reinforcements in Jinzhong City, because there are a lot of combat supplies stored in it, and we can't afford to lose them. The chief of staff replied.

"Well, do you have any good opinions?" The commander nodded and asked approvingly.

"Your Excellency Commander, I think we should report this situation to the general headquarters of this campaign, the North China Headquarters, and let the headquarters decide whether to draw the main force from the front line for reinforcement..."

"Yo department, chief of staff, just do what you said, and send a report to the North China headquarters immediately." The commander said with a smile.

Although it is very late now, the entire North China headquarters is indeed brightly lit. The office of General Shouichi Terauchi was indeed quiet, and the chief of staff and the others sat motionless at the desk. As the commander, General Terauchi Shouichi kept flipping through the two telegrams in his hand, one from Taiyuan and the other directly from Jinzhong.

"Chief of Staff, the winter encirclement and suppression operation was collectively approved by your General Staff, what do you think of these two telegrams?" The general shook the two telegrams in his hand and said.

"Your Excellency General, I think that now the Eighth Route Army's reading-style base has reached a life-and-death juncture, otherwise they will not attack Jinzhong City, which has strong fortifications, regardless of casualties at this time, this is obviously for us to return to reinforcements and let us withdraw our troops." The chief of staff replied cautiously.

"Well, do you mean that we ignore the Eighth Route Army's attack on Jinzhong City and continue to launch our winter encirclement and suppression?" The commander asked rhetorically.

"No, Your Excellency General, Jinzhong City has stored a large amount of supplies, and we must not lose them. If the Eighth Route Army is allowed to snatch this batch of materials, on the one hand, it will replenish the blood of the dying Reading Power Type and make him active again, and on the other hand, after the loss of materials, the entire Shanxi garrison army will be in the process of running out of clothes and ammunition in the next few months, then this will give the other Eighth Route Army a good opportunity for development, which is a plan that outweighs the losses. Listening to His Excellency's sarcastic rhetorical question, the chief of staff hurriedly corrected.

"Hehe, the chief of staff has a unique vision, so does the chief of staff have any good solutions!" The commander asked, still without any emotion.

"Your Excellency, the base area of the Reading Force has been almost destroyed by our Sixth Route Army, and the only goal that has not been achieved is that the main force of the Reading Force Division has not been destroyed. So, according to the pre-war plan, now we can withdraw our troops. We can use the large amount of materials in Jinzhong City as bait to attract the Reading Division, and then let the main forces immediately return to help, surround the Reading Division under the Jinzhong City, and eliminate the main force of the Reading Division in one fell swoop. The chief of staff replied confidently.

"Well, very good, just do what the chief of staff said, I'm tired and want to rest, if there is any situation, just report it directly to the chief of staff, go down!" General Shouichi Terauchi waved his hand, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

"Hey...," the crowd replied, standing up.

"Commander, there hasn't been any movement in the first regiment yet, but a telegram has been sent from the base area, and the devils are showing signs of retreating, and besides, the Sakai brigade seems to be moving." Counselor Wang replied.

"Okay, very good, it seems that our rapid response rate is a big bait, and it has affected the army's record army. How are the individual assault units prepared, are the artillery ready? Liu Hua nodded with satisfaction.

"Report to the commander, all attacking forces are ready to attack at any time." Another staff officer replied in the affirmative.

"Okay, five minutes later, start the shelling on time, each cannon will fire five rounds at the city wall, and then, the various assault troops will immediately start attacking, be sure to catch the defenders by surprise, and before the defenders can react, blow up several walls with explosives packs." Liu Hua ordered.

Soon, the entire Jinzhong was filled with a roaring cannon, and the entire city wall was instantly covered by fierce artillery fire. Five rapid shots were completed in less than a minute. Just when the sound of artillery was just thinning, the assault troops with their upper bodies and explosives bags on their backs rushed out of their positions and rushed towards the city wall... However, at this moment, something else appeared, and when I thought that the devils had reacted from the shelling, the assault team would be able to rush under the city walls. However, just as the soldiers rushed out of the starting position and stood under the empty city wall, countless shooting holes suddenly appeared on the originally bare city wall, and tongues of fire erupted from the shooting holes.

"Alas! The commander of the second battalion, continue to organize commandos ... I don't believe it, the city wall is right in front of us, and we can't rush through. Looking at the bodies of dozens of soldiers lying in a pool of blood, the regiment commander Luo Zhihui scolded loudly.

"Yes, Captain..."

"Wait a minute..."Suddenly, Liu Xiaogang of the Special Operations Brigade stopped the second battalion commander who wanted to leave.

"Commander, I have a way to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, you wait a minute. Squadron Leader, go, bring two earthen tanks and let the devils taste the power. Liu Xiaogang said mysteriously.

"Captain Liu, don't be joking, such a dense vitality, and the devil also has grenadiers, mortars, and earthen tanks that don't play any role at all, I think it's better to continue to charge!" The second battalion commander who was stopped said.

"Wait a minute, let's see how our Captain Liu can reduce casualties?" Liu Hua spoke, and a few people could only temporarily stop the attack and wait for the arrival of the earthen tanks of the special operations brigade.

After a while, the roar of two cars was heard from behind, and several bright headlights shone on the position. Everyone hurriedly looked over and saw two cars appear in everyone's field of vision.

"Captain Liu, you're talking about a car, I thought it was something, the second battalion commander, organize the commando team to continue the attack..."Looking at the car that was getting closer and closer, Commander Luo Zhihui said dissatisfiedly.

(To be continued)