Okamura Neji had been in a difficult position like this for the first time since he became the commander of the 11th Army.

Both the palm and the back of his hand were flesh. On one side was the 5th Infantry Brigade with eight thousand devils, and on the other side was the Air Force transport squadron.

What kind of choice should he make?

This was a very difficult decision.

His Chief of Staff, Kinoshita Isamu, saw the commander's difficulty and, with the idea of ​​solving the commander's worries, reminded him:

"Your Excellency Commander! The 3rd Infantry Division only has the strength of the 5th Brigade left."

The implication was that if the 3rd Infantry Division lost the 5th Brigade again, although it would not be removed from the roster, it would lose all its veteran soldiers capable of fighting.

Even if a group of soldiers were replenished in the future, the combat effectiveness of this division would be reduced to that of a second-rate or even third-rate team.

The chief of staff's words immediately tilted the balance in Commander Okamura Neji's mind.

He immediately ordered: "Let the Air Force squadron prepare to prepare supplies for the 5th Brigade.

Be sure to supply a batch of heavy machine guns and infantry artillery."

Commander Okamura Neji was very clear about how passive a team without heavy weapons would be on the battlefield.

At the same time, he also issued an order to the 13th Division to speed up their march. At this time, Okamura Neji hoped that the 13th Division could march fifty kilometers in one day.

Lieutenant General Katayama Riichiro, commander of the brigade, received a notice from the headquarters of the 11th Army: An Air Force squadron will come to Pingluo Village tomorrow morning to airdrop supplies to his team.

This made Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro extremely happy. The morale of the thousands of devils under his command was low, but after receiving this good news.

He immediately ordered the messengers to pass the news down, making sure it reached the ears of every devil.

These devils of the 5th Brigade were now building trenches and fortifications with torches.

During the day, they were exhausted and had nothing to eat.

In the evening, they ate a piece of meat of unknown origin and were asked to build fortifications overnight.

This made these already exhausted devils complain.

Even hearing that supplies would arrive tomorrow did not bring them much excitement.

Which would come first, tomorrow or death? These devils didn't dare to think about it at all.

The cheers that Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro had imagined did not appear. The devils under his command just wanted to sleep now.

They were just being forced by the squad leaders and had no chance to sleep at all.

However, the battalion commanders could rest well, and the company commanders could steal a moment to take a nap.

Then they heard the sound of heavy objects falling on the roof, and then a ball of fire exploded in the room.

More than a dozen devils in the room he was in were instantly blown into渣 (zhā, pieces) by the shell.

Gunji Shun'ichi, who had been under strict supervision, finally realized his dream of dying in his sleep.

This was not just the experience of the 6th Infantry Regiment; the experience of the 68th Infantry Regiment was the same.

The only difference between them and the 4th Cavalry Brigade's last attack was that until now, no infantry had launched an attack on them.

Major General Katayama Riichiro was busy until midnight before he fell asleep. Although he went to bed earlier than ordinary soldiers.

He was also awakened from his sleep by the artillery bombardment.

They were bombarded by artillery like this at this time yesterday, and the same artillery bombardment came again today.

Yesterday's artillery bombardment was completely borne by the 6th Infantry Regiment, but today was different: the entire 5th Brigade was being bombarded everywhere.

This made the devils of the 5th Infantry Brigade unable to bear it.

With a pair of eyes above their heads, the devils in Pingluo Village felt even more uncomfortable: the accuracy of the artillery bombardment was higher.

With aerial observation to guide the bombing targets, whether it was the three rocket artillery companies of the Special Operations Brigade or the newly established artillery regiment of the 59th Army, they could clearly know the location of the target.

The Japanese 5th Infantry Brigade had been struggling in the artillery fire for an hour and a half, and there was no sign that the bombardment by the National Army was over.

This made Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro very uncomfortable. He received reports from various battalions that after an hour and a half of shelling.

All the fortifications built last night were destroyed, and more than half of the devils were killed or injured.

Devils in the front-line fortifications had already thrown away their weapons and fled backwards.

This was a signal and a serious problem.

Katayama Riichiro originally wanted to hold on here for a day and leave after receiving the airdropped supplies.

Now it seemed that this idea was a bit unrealistic.

If he didn't give the order to break out of here, the devils under his command would scatter.

After figuring out the pros and cons, Brigade Commander Katayama Riichiro finally issued the order to retreat:

"Attack towards Luying Town!"