When a detour meets firepower, it turns into a tragedy. Under the blow of the cross-cutting and vertical fire of the entire trench system, the amount of firepower delivered by the Renaissance Army was four times that of the Russo-Japanese War, not to mention the mortars attached to it, even the 72 machine guns attached to each division were enough to smash the Japanese army's onboard charge.

However, the commander of the roundabout force in the rear, Harumitsu Horio, did not want to give up, after the previous wave of attacks had been confirmed to be unsuccessful, taking advantage of the last darkness before dawn, he once again ordered the troops to storm the positions of the Shina Army, and the division staff officer Miyata who was traveling with him also agreed with this order, the roundabout troops have been exposed, if they cannot successfully penetrate the flank of the Shina Army, then it will be difficult for this force to retreat, and the gap between the lake and the Longwan River that has passed before is estimated to have been blocked by the Shina Army, so, The entire detour force was trapped in the narrow triangle constructed by the North Canal and the Longwan River, and if the defense line was not penetrated, the troops would eventually be surrounded and annihilated by the Chinese army.

At 4:13, after firing the signal flare that the headquarters was about to charge to the death, the mountain artillery carried by the entire roundabout unit once again concentrated on bombarding the defense line of Beicai Village, and when all the shells were empty, the Japanese army began to stage the tragedy of flesh and blood against steel again.

After receiving the news of the Japanese army's detour from the east side, the front command strengthened the defensive firepower of Beicai, and the machine guns and mortars of the entire division were concentrated there, and when the report of the Japanese charge was repulsed, Beicai Village was no longer the focus of the command's attention, but the news that the Japanese army had erected a pontoon bridge on the Yongding River from the night patrol airship surprised everyone, which showed that Lei Yizhen's judgment was correct, and the Japanese really detoured on both sides at the same time, but their plan should be to attack the east first. Wait for the defenders' attention to move eastwards before attacking from the west. Of course. It is also possible that because of the farther detour to the west, the attack has not been launched so far.

After confirming the accuracy of the airship's information once again. Lei Yizhen suddenly asked, "When is dawn?" ”

"Dawn? Half an hour maximum. Xu Dachun said. Do you mean that the enemy on the western flank will attack at dawn? ”

"That's what it means." Lei Yizhen nodded and said, "It's the best time to do it, once it's dawn, no matter how well they hide it, they will show their tails." After saying this, he walked around the house a few times, and then said: "Order: All artillery regiments on the Western Front should carry out a covering artillery bombardment of the area around Huanghuadian in Douzhangzhuang, so as to sweep away the enemy in front of the formation and disrupt its white-edged charge; The 121st Division stationed in Langfang was immediately mobilized. After dawn, drive south along the Beijing-Tianjin line to the East Malaysia Circle to garrison it; The 123rd Division stationed in the East Malaysia Circle was immediately mobilized, and after dawn, the Beijing-Tianjin Line was flooded and drove south to Douzhangzhuang to garrison it; And ......"

The more Lei Yizhen said, the brighter the eyes of the staff officers, the order was to move the troops of the entire defense line forward, is this not to attack? Sure enough, without waiting for a few seconds, Lei Yizhen continued: "The artillery regiment of the southern front immediately shelled the enemy in front of it in preparation for artillery fire, and at dawn the 4th and 38th divisions began to attack, and the 4th division attacked from the west side of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway along the North Canal to the south and occupied Beicang; The 38th Division was on the east side of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway. Attack and occupy Liu Anzhuang along the railway to the south. The attack must be swift and decisive, and if the Japanese army breaks up and retreats into the concession, they can be pursued; If there is an order to retreat into the concession, it is enough to occupy Beicang and Liu Anzhuang. ”

Lei Yizhen said. The combat staff officer was on the side to record orders, and when Yi Qiē finished speaking, he felt that there was nothing to add. So he said, "Repeat my order!" ”

"Order: All artillery regiments on the Western Front will carry out a covering artillery bombardment of the area around Huanghuadian in Douzhangzhuang. to sweep away the enemy in front of the formation and disrupt its white-knuckle charge; Garrisoned in Langfang 121st Division. Mobilize immediately, and after dawn, drive south along the Beijing-Tianjin line to the East Malaysia Circle to garrison it; The 123rd Division stationed in the East Malaysia Circle was immediately mobilized, and after dawn, the Beijing-Tianjin Line was flooded and drove south to Douzhangzhuang to garrison it. The combat staff officer paused in one breath, and then continued:

"The artillery regiment of the southern front immediately shelled the enemy in front of it in preparation for artillery fire, and at dawn the 4th and 38th divisions began to attack, and the 4th division attacked south along the North Canal from the west side of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway and occupied Beicang; The 38th Division was on the east side of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, and along the railway to the south, attacked and occupied Liu Anzhuang. The attacking force must be swift and decisive, and if the Japanese army breaks up and retreats into the concession, it can be pursued; If there is an orderly retreat into the concession area, it is enough to occupy Beicang and Liu Anzhuang. ”

After the staff officer finished repeating, Lei Yizhen was about to ask him to send it out immediately, when Xu Dachun, the chief of staff next to him, said worriedly: "This restriction on the prohibition of garrisons within twenty miles of Tianjin City......

"I'm watching." Lei Yizhen Road. "Beicang and Liu Anzhuang are both twenty miles away, as for the pursuit, according to the pre-war agreement, the Japanese army within twenty miles of the concession can only be harmless, if they lead the battle to this area, then it is not our responsibility." After he finished speaking, he said to the combat staff officer: "Send it out immediately, and all departments must not delay!" ”

"Yes!" The staff officer glanced at Xu Dachun, and when he saw that he didn't explain, he immediately went out to give an order.

In the eyes of the generals of the Japanese army, the Chinese army, like the Lu army, was a timid army, they did not dare to attack, they would only retreat, of course, because they were fighting on the mainland, the Chinese army did not dare to retreat after retreating for a while. In the face of such an army, you only need to attack, and you don't have to worry about the opponent counterattacking at all; In the face of this situation, the Japanese explanation is very absurd, they believe that the servility of the Shina people has made them develop a character that will only be beaten and will not resist, which is not only the conclusion of the Japanese press, but even the Manchurian army, which also holds such a view, and the counterattack of the 433 high underground and the Daqing River valley was completely ignored by the Japanese high-level brassives.

The Zhili Dispatch Army Headquarters, which had been up all night, when the news came out that the herald had attacked the troops on the east flank, all the staff officers fell into calm, and the excitement and busyness that had been pretended before suddenly dissipated, just when everyone was thinking about the troops from the west, the artillery fire rose from the north, and as these shells hit the ground and exploded, the tables and chairs in the headquarters also began to shake slightly, and the hanging electric lights flashed a few times before they barely recovered.

Everyone was moved, and Deputy Chief of Staff Matsuishi Yasuji said: "Where is the shelling of the Chinese army? Can't the heavy artillery wing suppress them? ”

He asked, and the staff officer next to him whispered: "The flying plane of the China Army is here again, and after the observation balloon of the heavy artillery wing is shot down, it is no longer possible to suppress the China Army." ”

"Oh......" Matsushi Yasuji sighed with great regret. He increasingly felt the need to send planes out after dawn to reconnoiter the situation on the battlefield. However, thinking of the machine gun on the China flying plane, he held back the words when the words came to his lips.

At this time. A few phone bells rang, and a staff officer just listened silently after taking it, and only after he finished talking on the phone did he turn around and seem to be calm to the people: "The Chinese army is shelling the surprise attack troops of our army crossing the Yongding River, and the troops have suffered heavy losses. ”

Lieutenant General Akiyama is Akiyama Yoshiko, a major general of the 1st Cavalry Brigade during the Russo-Japanese War, who defended Lord Li in the Battle of Heigoutai and did not retreat, but also because he sent the Naganuma death squad to go deep behind enemy lines and detour the flank of the Russian army during the Battle of Mukden. He is known as the father of the Japanese cavalry. After the war, he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed commander of the 13th Division, but he was such a fierce man who was not afraid of death that he would ask for a delay in the attack.

Chief of Staff Shigeru Fujii said angrily, "Is Akiyama drunk?!" It took the price of the jade crushing to draw the attention of the Shina people to the east, and if he didn't attack at this time, would he have to wait for the airship of the Shina people to regain control of the battlefield at dawn? ”

Fujii Shigeta is indeed the poison that Iguchi Shugo said, and all the staff officers in the staff who are at odds with him are driven away by him, and although Akiyama drinks, he doesn't like to take a bath. But his courage was the best among the many generals, and if he couldn't attack, it must have been under heavy bombardment from the artillery fire of the Chinese army. Since the Shina Army will bombard the west, it means that the Horio Wing has not completely turned the attention of the Shina commander to the east.

Many staff officers thought so, but no one dared to say it explicitly. Just when Shigta Fujii wanted to order Akiyama to attack immediately, another unfortunate news came.

"Your Excellency. The Shina artillery was shelling the forward positions of our troops, and Lieutenant General Iguchi believed that the Shina Army was about to launch a counteroffensive. After the staff officer took the call. Sweating profusely, but had to report immediately to the chief of staff. Unlike the previous news, at this time, the staff officers in the room stood up in shock, and the chief of staff, Fujii, shouted: "Nani! When did the Chinese army dare to take the initiative to attack? ”

Fujii's roar was to no avail, and the staff officers were indifferent to his roar, and Deputy Chief of Staff Matsuishi Yasuji said: "Your Excellency, the troops should immediately turn to the defensive, and the troops sent out in a roundabout way should also be immediately withdrawn to the front." There are at least 15 to 20 divisions in the first line of Yangcun Langfang, and if they take the initiative to attack, it is not something that our six divisions can stop, and they should immediately retreat into the concession......"

"Yaga! When did the Japanese Army need to hide in the concession for preservation? Chief of Staff Shigeta Fujii glared at Matsushi angrily, and then ordered the staff officer next to him. Immediately order the Kawamura Division and the Akiyama Division to retreat, and the other four divisions to hold the current defense line and not take a step back! ”

"Hay!" The staff officer next to him immediately agreed.

Looking at the staff officer standing next to him, he said again, "I'm going to wake up His Excellency Kuroki." ”

In the rumbling of artillery, no one knew that the Japanese army actually chose to defend to the death, you must know that after a night of labor, at this time the Japanese army only hastily dug two trenches, and because the war materials had not yet fully arrived, the barbed wire was only pulled an extremely thin one, and the shells were also exhausted in the bombardment and feint attack in the middle of the night yesterday afternoon, it can be said that once the revival army attacked, the only thing that could stop them was the Japanese rifles and machine guns, but these were not a problem, even if it was a complete Japanese fortification, with the sharpness of the artillery of the revival army, it could also be broken fiercely, Then he drove straight into the Yellow Dragon.

In the darkness before dawn, Zhang Fugui, the commander of the 4th Division, who received the order to attack the former commander, was extremely excited, and when Xinhai was in a big uprising, he was transferred from the northeast to the 2nd Army, and he had never fought at any other time except for entering the capital. The Battle of Fengtian in Xinhai and the Battle of Liaodong that began at the end of last year, he only had to watch, and now as soon as the Japanese army came ashore, he ordered him to be ruthless, and even to attack the concession area in one fell swoop, which was exactly what he wanted.

Looking at Zhang Fugui, who was full of happiness, political commissar Liu Yide reminded: "Lao Zhang, don't forget the commander's final confession, only if the devil breaks up and retreats into the concession area, can he be pursued." ”

"Don't worry, political commissar, what the commander means, Lao Zhang knows it very well. Doesn't this just want our division to make a quick assault, as long as the fight is fast, the devils will definitely break up, and it is certain to chase into the concession area. Zhang Fugui patted his thigh and said, as if he was excited that he understood the commander's order. Now it's up to the little devils to be capable, but I really think they shouldn't be too soft. Otherwise, it won't be interesting to win. ”

The backbone of the 2nd Army came from the 1st Army, as long as they had spent time in the 1st Army. They are all a little tiger-like, and Zhang Fugui, who received the order, is excited about it. However, Qian Ding, the commander of the 38th Division, was rarely cautious. After he conveyed the order to attack, he looked at the map of the entire northern part of Tianjin with great anxiety, Liu Anzhuang was three kilometers east of the Beijing-Tianjin line, and it happened to be on the outskirts of Tianjin City twenty miles. The 38th Division occupied Liu Anzhuang, and the 4th Division occupied Beicang. The two divisions happened to take the Beijing-Tianjin line as the central axis, and each other was in a horn situation, and if the Japanese army was defeated, it was entirely possible for the two divisions to advance together and attack the concession.

When Qian Ding looked at the map, Yang Shujie, the chief of staff of the division next to him, said: "Third brother Ding, the Japanese army has fought all night, and it is already a tired division, and the commander ordered to attack at this time." What a great opportunity. ”

"I know this is a good opportunity, but ......" Qian Ding thought that the 38th Division had not actually fought any hard battles, although the training was very strict, but what kind of level. It's hard to judge.

Knowing that he was worried about embarrassing the 13th Army if he didn't fight well, Yang Shujie said with a smile: "It's a mule or a horse, and it always has to be pulled out to slip away." Let's not think about it so much. Let Yishan and Wen Liang have a headache. ”

A mountain is Wang Yishan, a native of Xunyang, Shaanxi. Like many officers of the 38th Division, he was a student of the former Qing Shaanxi Army Middle School. According to history, he was the chief of staff of Yang Hucheng's 17th Route Army later, but at this time he was the commander of the 1st Brigade of the 38th Division; And Wen Liang is Niu Cexun, originally from Su County, Anhui Province, his father Niu Yuancheng followed Zuo Zongtang into Xinjiang, because of his military merits promoted to the chief soldier of Yili Town, he was born because of his father's hereditary shadow, in the early years into the Moscow Military Academy, and then entered the Shaanxi Army Middle School, according to history he did not have much achievements, but at this time he hung the rank of major general, as the commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 38th Division.

Yang Shujie made the two brigade commanders have a headache, Qian Ding just smiled, he believed that his subordinates were already grinding their fists and couldn't wait at this time. smiled at the moment: "Okay! Let's let them have a headache, but we still have to watch the point, we can't let them be too aggressive, and we should be cautious. ”

Since Qian Ding dared to devote himself to the revolution in his early years, he was naturally bold, but he was extremely cautious in dealing with things in addition to being bold, he was so, but his two subordinates were not like this, when the artillery was full of fire, the first brigade commander Wang Yishan had already gone to the trench to mobilize the regiment and battalion commanders: "Comrades, I heard that every wing of the Japanese army has a wing flag, which is a gift from the Japanese emperor, extremely precious, my request is very simple, this attack, get a few wing flags back and send them to the capital, and it will be a long face of our 13th Army." Now all the troops that can fight in the country have come, some are inside the pass, some are outside the pass, some have killed the enemy and captured more or less, and some have not taken a step back from holding their positions, but they have not heard of the surrender of the flag, if our brigade can capture a few of them, then ......,

Although the national war is a turning point in the fate of China, it is also a good opportunity for soldiers to make meritorious contributions and serve the country. Finished! ”

Wang Yishan hastily made a mobilization, he and he came to capture the flag of the Japanese army, and after the mobilization was completed, the two regiment commanders and six battalion commanders hurriedly ran to the command post, and it was about to dawn, and they had to return to the army to sit down.

As the moonlight and starlight converged, the heavens and the earth suddenly darkened, but such a deep twilight reflected the artillery fire more dazzlingly. To the ears of all the soldiers, the sound of artillery in the second half of the night has not only not stopped, but has tended to become more and more intense. As the bombarded side, the Japanese soldiers hid their heads deep in the trenches, no longer expecting the shells to stop sooner, but only praying that the shells would not fall on their heads. This is the luxury of the soldiers, and unlike the soldiers, many officers who heard before the war that the Chinese army had only two million shells cursed in their hearts, is this the Chinese army with only two million shells? In the end, this was only 2 million shells for the Shina Army or only 2 million shells for the Great Japanese Army.

The commander of the officer's cursed division, Iguchi, did not know, but he knew that the Chinese were about to attack, and without a telescope, just by looking at the position and frequency of the artillery fire of the Chinese army in the dark night, he could conclude that the barbed wire fence and various obstacles on his front line had been completely destroyed by the Chinese artillery, and as with the attack yesterday afternoon, once its artillery fire extended to the rear, it would be the time for the Chinese army to charge. In this regard, there is no way for our own side to do so, not to mention that there are airships in the sky that are constantly calibrating the Chinese artillery, that is, there is no airship, and with the quality of the Chinese army's artillery and the shells that seem to be inexhaustible, our own artillery will not be able to compete with it. War, modern warfare, in the final analysis, is still a war of artillery, and it is extremely simple to destroy the enemy's obstacles, suppress the enemy's artillery, block the enemy's reinforcements, and destroy the enemy who is isolated and has no cover.

Iguchi sat in the tent set up by the command post, the old god was there, and he was a little bored, and he even found a piece of paper and wrote a correct word 'cannon' with a brush. He was not at all alarmed by the attack of the Shina people, but rejoiced in this attack, in his opinion, victory may be important, but the method of victory is more important, let the Shina army make up for this lesson for the empire.

With the deflection of time, at 4:40, the twilight suddenly faded at this moment, and the originally invisible place began to be hazy at this time, and the artillery of the Revival Army had been bombarded for more than half an hour, and finally extended the firepower to the depths of the Japanese position, intending to suppress the Japanese artillery with all their might, and block the rear Japanese army to reinforce the front line. The Japanese front-line troops, who had suffered heavy losses, had no choice but to retreat into the rear trenches again, only waiting for the artillery fire of the Revival Army to extend back again.

was deceived twice, and when the artillery fire of the third revival army extended behind him again, from Cao Chang to the squad leader, they were all staring at each other, not knowing whether they should go to the front line to wait for the enemy, but at this moment, a shout came and roared, and the explosion of grenades sounded intensively on the front line, and when they wanted to enter the trenches and fight to the death, the torrent of the revival army dressed in camouflage rushed in, and scattered the remnants of these soldiers who had been baptized by artillery fire many times and were lucky not to die. Ignoring these remnants, the officer in charge of the breakthrough ran towards the target ten kilometers away without hesitation.

Before the artillery fire of the Shina Army stopped, the trenches on the front line had been lost, and the news reached the headquarters of the dispatch army, and everyone was shocked, and Fujii asked urgently: "Is it the 2nd Army of China?" ”

The chief of staff was still concerned about the number of the enemy army at this time, and the staff officer who received the news had no choice but to reply: "I didn't say it on the phone, but the front line said that the Chinese army was like a broken bamboo, and the first-line trenches were quickly lost." ”

Hearing this, Deputy Chief of Staff Songshi, who seemed to have found evidence, said: "Only the 2nd Army of China has such strength, and their main force has been dispatched." ”

Seeing that Songshi exaggerated the enemy's superiority again, Fujii coughed dissatisfiedly and then looked at the commander Kuroki Weizhen: "Your Excellency, the situation is critical now, please decide on a strategy." ”

Kuroki Weizhen didn't speak from the beginning, he was seventy years old after all, he didn't have enough energy, he fell asleep last night, and when he woke up, he found that his shape had changed greatly, and the battlefield situation had actually changed from offensive to defensive, which really made him unbelievable, when would the Zhina army also attack, isn't this the sun coming out of the west? And why did the decisive charge fail, could it be said that the military might of the Great Japanese Army had to fall to the ground in front of the Chinese people?

Kuroki, who had a mess in his head, calmed down for a while, and when he heard that the front trenches had been broken through by the Shina Army, he immediately asked, "Where are the Akiyama Division and the Kawamura Division?" ”

"Your Excellency, they have been ordered to come back to help, but the Akiyama Division is separated by the entire triangular lake and cannot rush back for a while; The Kawamura division was closer, and he was at this time on the eastern side of the entire defensive line. Fujii Shigeta said, wiping the sweat from his head as he spoke, fortunately it was Akiyama and Iguchi who reported it back and forth, and he had no choice but to terminate the attack plan, otherwise......

"We can't retreat into the concession!" After Kuroki nodded for Zhen, he said extremely firmly. "If it is impossible to contain the offensive of the Chinese army, then order the front-line divisions to launch a fearless and decisive assault to crush the offensive of the Chinese army. The honor of the Imperial Japanese Army would rather be broken than be trampled under the feet of the Shina people, otherwise, we will be the sinners of the empire and the guilty servants of the emperor. ”

Kuroki's words were heavier than one sentence, and after he finished speaking, he bowed to everyone and went back to his room to sit down. In his opinion, the honor of the Imperial Japanese Army, except for the decisive charge of the front-line soldiers, can only pray for the blessing of Amaterasu. (To be continued......)