Chapter 1 Chifeng City Receives the Mission to Defend Taierzhuang

When Chi Fengcheng received the mission to defend Taierzhuang, he arrived there.

The 20th Army Corps, heading north, was passing through the southern station of Taierzhuang.

Chi Fengcheng made a special trip to meet with Tang Enbo, the commander of the 20th Army Corps, and Guan Linzheng, the commander of the 52nd Army.

Tang Enbo emphasized, "The 31st Division's task of guarding Taierzhuang is of great importance. You must block the Japanese advance south.

The key to victory or defeat in this decisive battle lies in whether Taierzhuang can be defended.

As long as the 31st Division engages the Japanese,

The 20th Army Corps will immediately launch an attack on the Japanese from their rear.

All related matters will be under the command of Commander Guan."

Chief Li emphasized that Taierzhuang must be well-defended, and the corps commander also emphasized that Taierzhuang must be held.

Chi Fengcheng was alert and asked:

"Once the 31st Division engages the Japanese, how many days do we need to hold Taierzhuang?"

Guan Linzheng said, "As soon as the 31st Division makes contact with the Japanese, our army will immediately return.

From the perspective of the journey, it will only take one day.

The 20th Army Corps can return and attack the Japanese flanks.

Therefore, only three days are needed; the 31st Division only needs to hold out for three days."

Taierzhuang is more than 50 kilometers away from Xuzhou.

The Grand Canal flows from the south of the town, with a depth of more than two meters.

Since ancient times, it has been a land and water terminal in southern Shandong.

Although its name is Taierzhuang, it is actually a small town.

It has complete ramparts surrounding the entire town.

When Lin Fan led the Special Operations Brigade to Taierzhuang, the 31st Division had already arrived.

The people in the village heard that there was going to be a war here, and they all ran away.

Lin Fan looked at all the houses in the village, which were all made of stone.

"Every house here is a bunker!

There will be a lot of street fighting!"

Lin Fan's team only had one company.

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng found it difficult to arrange them.

So he ordered, "Consider yourselves as the reserve team!"

After receiving the order, Lin Fan returned to the camp.

This time, he chose his residence inside Taierzhuang, finding a particularly solid stone house to serve as the command post.

But Lin Fan was not careless and used sandbags to protect the surroundings.

Only then did he order all the soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade:

"Everyone, in units of platoons, immediately familiarize yourselves with every street in Taierzhuang.

Every house.

Not only must you be familiar with the roads you walk on the ground.

You must also be familiar with the roads you walk on the roofs.

We are here to fight a difficult street battle with the Japanese.

The more familiar you are with this place, the easier it will be to fight in the future.

Everyone must remember how the windows of each house open.

Do you understand?"

"Understood!"

After the dismissal, the soldiers of the Special Operations Company immediately began to shuttle and busy themselves in Taierzhuang under the leadership of the various platoon leaders.

The Japanese Northeast Army was single-mindedly trying to open the Jinpu Railway Line.

March 22nd: Lieutenant General Seguya Keizō, commander of the 33rd Brigade of the Japanese Army, ordered:

1. The pursuit force on the right will serve as the Hanzhuang garrison, responsible for guarding the vicinity of Hanzhuang;

2. The Second Battalion of the 63rd Infantry Regiment, with an attached field artillery battalion, will depart from Yixian on the 23rd to secure the area around the Grand Canal near Taierzhuang;

3. The 10th Infantry Regiment will depart from Lincheng on the 23rd and advance towards Linyi to support the Sakamoto Detachment in its operations;

4. The main force of the brigade will assemble near Yixian.

At this time, Seguya Keizō already knew that the National Army had gathered a large number of troops in Taierzhuang.

But he still decided to send a battalion to attack Taierzhuang.

In his eyes, the soldiers of the Empire were capable of fighting a hundred enemies each.

As for the fact that his brigade had been severely damaged by the Special Operations Brigade in Tengxian a few days ago,

That only happened once.

And after the Seguya Keizō Brigade occupied Tengxian, it took no effort to attack Lincheng, Hanzhuang, and Zaozhuang.

The success of attacking these cities made Lieutenant General Seguya Keizō feel that the encounters in Tengxian a few days ago were all illusions.

The Special Operations Brigade, which arrived in Taierzhuang on the 21st, finally had a little free time.

The First Company began to train the soldiers who had newly joined the team.

Ideally, each veteran would lead a new recruit.

Starting with the disassembly and assembly of the Type 38 rifle, all the way to aiming and shooting.

The current Taierzhuang is the front line, and when there are no Japanese soldiers in sight.

The Special Operations Brigade also strictly enforced the order: no random firing.

Long Fei and the other new recruits could only do some dry-firing exercises.

Dry-firing practice shooting is particularly damaging to the firing pin when firing.

In order to protect the firing pin, Long Fei and the other new recruits needed to disassemble the firing pin.

And put it back in after training.

Lin Fan knew that the next battle would be very brutal for these new recruits who had only been in contact with rifles for a few days.

It was necessary to teach them simple rifle bayonet techniques and grenade use as soon as possible.

This meant that Long Fei, Long Shu, Long Xi, and the other new recruits spent the whole day training.

Not only did they have to familiarize themselves with the terrain of the entire Taierzhuang every day, but they also had to cooperate with the exercises proposed by Lin Fan.

Sun Zhonglian, the commander-in-chief of the Second Army Group, had already deployed the 30th Army.

The 30th Division was deployed on the left flank of Taierzhuang, with Zhang Jinzhao as the division commander.

The 27th Division was deployed on the right flank, with Huang Qiaosong as the division commander.

The 31st Division was deployed in the middle to defend Taierzhuang, with Chi Fengcheng as the division commander.

The 31st Division had two brigades and four regiments under its command, plus the division's directly subordinate artillery battalion, communications team, and other units.

The total force was about ten thousand men.

The rifles used by the entire division were mainly Hanyang-made Type 88 rifles, as well as Japanese Type 38 rifles, Zhongzheng rifles, and Czech-made Type 26 rifles captured on the battlefield.

Each company was equipped with three light machine guns and one heavy machine gun.

Each regiment had a mortar company equipped with four 82mm mortars.

The firepower configuration of such a regiment was roughly equivalent to the current firepower of the First Company of the Special Operations Brigade.

At 11:00 a.m. on the 22nd, Guan Linzheng, the commander of the 52nd Army, issued an order to the 31st Division:

The 31st Division must enter Taierzhuang no later than this evening, with its main force controlling the area on either side of Nan Hailuo and Bei Luo.

Send troops to occupy positions near Zhangshan and be on alert towards Yixian.

Cover the 52nd Army's crossing of the river.

Before dawn on the 23rd, the high ground should be occupied on the front line of Zhangshan, Tiangui Mountain 115 High Ground, and Baixi Mountain.

And send a force to attack the Japanese in Yixian.

At the same time, send another force to harass the direction of Hanzhuang.

Upon receiving the order, Chi Fengcheng, the commander of the 31st Division, immediately convened all officers above the regimental level at 3:00 p.m. to deploy the mission:

The 185th Regiment of the 93rd Brigade will be deployed in Bei Luo for defense, sending a battalion to the Qiancheng and Zhao Zhuang areas.

The 93rd Brigade will immediately send a plainclothes team to search and advance towards Zhangshan, Beixi Mountain, and Huangshan Lake and occupy positions.

At dawn on the 23rd, launch a feigned attack on the Japanese in Yixian to attract the Japanese towards Bei Luo.

The 186th Regiment will be responsible for the defense within Taierzhuang, and the 182nd Regiment will be responsible for the Grand Canal's south bank guarding.

The 181st Regiment of the 91st Brigade will be deployed in Taierzhuang.

The division's cavalry company will operate in the southeast and northwest areas of Yixian at dawn on the 23rd to attract the Japanese.

The division headquarters will advance to Taierzhuang.

The engineer battalion will collect ships and build a pontoon bridge outside the west gate of Taierzhuang.

Lin Fan, as the brigade commander of the Special Operations Brigade, participated in this military meeting.

But at the meeting, Chi Fengcheng clearly did not assign him, this reserve team, any tasks.

On this day, the 23rd, the 31st Division followed the orders of Division Commander Chi Fengcheng.

Liu Lanzhai, the company commander of the cavalry company, led the cavalry company, and Wang Baokun, the deputy battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 185th Regiment, led a strengthened infantry company to advance towards Yixian.

Behind them, Nie Zibin, the brigade commander of the 93rd Brigade, led the main force of the 185th Regiment.

At this time, the 2nd Infantry Battalion sent by Seguya Keizō, the brigade commander of the 33rd Brigade of the Japanese Army, also departed from Yixian.

Captain Dōi Yūma ordered: The Nakata Tetsu Company will lead the way.

Advance along the railway branch line towards Taierzhuang.

In the eyes of Captain Dōi Yūma, attacking Taierzhuang was the same as their occupation of Lincheng and Yixian.

Effortless! You don't even need to fire a shot, and the National Army soldiers guarding the city will naturally run away.

Nakata Tetsu, the company commander, sent the Ōtsuka Kurō squad to the front.

More than fifty Japanese soldiers of the Ōtsuka Kurō squad swaggered along the railway line.

The cavalry company of the National Army's 31st Division was also exploring and advancing along the railway line towards Yixian at this time.

Their task was to attract the attention of the Japanese to Taierzhuang.

The enemy and our side moved in opposite directions.

Soon they met in Kangzhuang, twenty miles south of Yixian.

The Ōtsuka Kurō squad, which discovered the National Army cavalry, was extremely excited.

Squad Leader Ōtsuka Kurō immediately ordered the grenade launchers and machine guns in the team to fire.

Company Commander Liu Lanzhai led 133 cavalrymen, spread out their formation, and charged towards the Japanese.

As soon as they made contact, the Japanese grenade launchers exploded in the charging ranks.

The warhorses were startled.

The Japanese machine-gun firepower was very fierce, and the Japanese rifles also fired accurately.

They found it difficult to hit the soldiers on horseback.

But these Japanese soldiers' marksmanship was accurate when hitting the warhorses.

This caused the cavalry company, which launched the charge, to suffer many casualties from the beginning.

The charge had just begun and had already ended.

Company Commander Liu Lanzhai was clear about his team's mission: to attract the Japanese to advance towards Taierzhuang.

Now the goal has been initially achieved.

It was time to retreat.

The Ōtsuka Kurō squad was just the vanguard of the entire Nakata Tetsu Company.

When Company Commander Nakata Tetsu learned that the National Army cavalry company had been encountered ahead,

He excitedly believed that he had found the main force of the National Army.

He loudly urged the Japanese soldiers of the entire company to march in a hurry, and must leave all the National Army cavalry company in front.

He sent the Kamite Yūto squad to penetrate from the flank, and continued to penetrate to the Zhao Zhuang position to establish a sniper position.

Cut off the cavalry's retreat to Taierzhuang.

At the same time, his company headquarters and the last squad rushed up, entangled the cavalry company to prevent them from leaving the battlefield.

The strengthened infantry company following the Liu Lanzhai cavalry company also arrived on the battlefield under the leadership of Battalion Commander Wang Baokun.

Under the command of Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Baokun, the infantry company launched a fierce attack.

The Ōtsuka squad, which had been going smoothly, suddenly suffered a dozen casualties.

In particular, their machine guns were taken out by the infantry company.

Squad Leader Ōtsuka Kurō, who could not maintain the defense line, had no choice but to order the remaining Japanese soldiers to snipe desperately.

Sergeant Shibuya Misato personally witnessed the cavalry team rushing and disappearing.

However, the National Army's offensive did not end there.

Before the cavalry had retreated, the infantry had already rushed up.

The light machine guns in the infantry team were even more than their own.

The dense machine-gun fire immediately killed the machine gunner, Amano Taiki.

Next, Squad Leader Ōtsuka Kurō arranged for one deputy machine gunner after another to go up.

These Japanese soldiers were shot dead one after another by the National Army in front.

In less than half an hour of fighting, the entire squad had suffered fifteen casualties.

Fortunately, at this time, Company Commander Nakata Tetsu led a team to rush up.

Finally, the situation stabilized.

Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Baokun commanded the strengthened company to attack the Japanese army, and the casualties were also very large.

The Japanese army on the opposite side defended tightly, fought bravely, and had good marksmanship.

The soldiers under his command were shot by the Japanese infantry as soon as they showed their heads slightly.

Their current mission was to attract the attention of the Japanese army.

Now Deputy Battalion Commander Wang believed that the mission had been accomplished.

The cavalry company in front and the infantry company in the rear retreated along the way they came.

The cavalry company had just retreated less than three miles when it was stopped by the Japanese soldiers of the Kamite Yūto squad.

When Battalion Commander Dōi Yūma received the first report of contact with the National Army,

He did not pay attention to the National Army at all.

In his opinion, the National Army team would soon retreat.

The battle lasted for two hours, and the National Army not only did not retreat,

But there were more and more people fighting.

Battalion Commander Dōi Yūma then sent two infantry companies and the 10th Independent Light Armored Vehicle Company along the railway line to reinforce.

The Japanese army that suddenly appeared on the battlefield completed their deployment at 12:00 noon.

Liu Lanzhai's cavalry company, Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Baokun, and the strengthened company led by Company Commander Kou Baozhen were all surrounded by the Japanese army.

The cavalry company charged back and forth between Kangzhuang and Zhao Zhuang, but always failed to break through.

Whenever they charged, there would always be Japanese machine guns firing.

The cavalry company suffered more and more casualties.

The Japanese armored vehicles charged left and right on the battlefield, as if entering an uninhabited land.

At this time, the 31st Division had no weapons to deal with the Japanese armored vehicles.

The Special Operations Brigade had infantry guns for direct fire, and the 185th Regiment only had four mortars.

They did not have Lin Fan's accuracy, and using mortars to hit tanks was only a special program of the Special Operations Brigade.

The cavalry company and the strengthened infantry company trapped in the encirclement suffered heavy casualties, and Company Commander Kou Baozhen and Deputy Battalion Commander Wang Baokun of the infantry company both died on the battlefield.

Brigade Commander Nie Zibin had no choice but to lead the main force of the 185th Regiment to rush in from Zhao Zhuang.

After opening up a passage and rescuing the two teams trapped in the encirclement,

They retreated all the way to Bei Luo.

The artillery battalion led by Kumasaka Osei, which followed the Dōi Yūma infantry battalion, had also caught up.

Twelve 75mm field guns violently bombed the fortifications built by the 93rd Brigade on the north bank of the Luo River.

The simple fortifications dug out by these soldiers last night were almost completely destroyed.

The Japanese soldiers of the Nakata Tetsu Company, with the cooperation of the armored vehicle team, continued to attack the north bank of the Luo River.

The 185th Regiment, which had retreated all the way from Zhao Zhuang, held on until evening.

Regimental Commander Wang Yubin saw that the Japanese army's offensive was too fierce and had to order the team to retreat to the south bank.

On this day, the 23rd, the Special Operations Brigade had arrived in Taierzhuang for three days.

During the three days, they not only familiarized themselves with the roads and buildings in Taierzhuang,

Lin Fan was still familiar with the surrounding area of Taierzhuang several times, just like the normal operations of the Special Operations Brigade.

Fighting here was very different from previous battles.

Here in Taierzhuang, there were rivers and streams everywhere.

This caused a lot of inconvenience to the Special Operations Brigade, which strongly relied on roads.

The cars that the First Company had been following during marches, the prepared springboards, and the wooden frames for bridge erection,

These things were all in Jurong.

At this time, the Special Operations Brigade needed to re-manufacture them, but fortunately Taierzhuang was now rich in these materials.

However, these materials for building bridges and paving roads were very bulky, and without car transportation, the Special Operations Brigade could not take much away by manpower alone.

The sound of guns and cannons from the battle on the north bank of the Luo River could be heard clearly by the Special Operations Brigade, which was still training in Taierzhuang.

At the military meeting held by the 31st Division on the evening of the 23rd,

The officers of the 30th Division unanimously believed that the number of Japanese soldiers who attacked during the day was small, but their combat effectiveness was strong.

Especially in the afternoon, the firepower of the Japanese armored vehicles and field artillery battalion left a deep impression on these regimental commanders.

It was only the first day of engagement, and the teams that engaged the Japanese army were still retreating while fighting.

More than 100 people had been killed and more than 200 people had been injured.

The cavalry company and the strengthened infantry company, which were the first to engage the Japanese army, had suffered more than half of their casualties.

At 7:00 a.m. on the 24th, Company Commander Nakata Tetsu, as the vanguard, sent the Kamite Yūto squad to tentatively attack the Luo River's south line position.

Yesterday, their squad had fought a beautiful penetration battle.

The Japanese soldiers of the entire squad were very excited.

They were the first to grab the task of attacking today.

Squad Leader Kamite Yūto loudly mobilized all the Japanese soldiers:

"Gentlemen! Yesterday's deeds have reached the ears of the brigade commander.

Lieutenant General Seguya Keizō greatly praised this squad's heroic and good fighting.

Today, everyone must continue to work hard and not disappoint the company commander, and not disappoint the brigade commander."

"Hai!"

The Japanese soldiers of the entire squad boiled over.

They immediately held their rifles and rushed towards the 31st Division's position on the south bank of the Luo River.

The 185th Regiment, which had retreated to the south bank overnight,

Had already learned the lesson that the fortifications were too simple yesterday and were destroyed by the Japanese field guns.

They had been strengthening the fortifications on the south bank of the Luo River overnight.

This time, when they saw the Japanese infantry rushing over,

The soldiers immediately opened fire.

The dense rain of bullets immediately caused five or six Japanese soldiers from the Kamite Yūto squad, who were charging fiercely, to fall down.

These Japanese soldiers had not even reached the river and had suffered such heavy casualties.

This surprised Company Commander Nakata Tetsu:

"Why does this team still have such combat effectiveness?"

He thought that the National Army team had been killed and injured so many people yesterday.

Today, the National Army should continue to run away when they launched the first attack.

The Nakata Tetsu Company, unwilling to give up, organized another attack.

This time, under the personal command of Company Commander Nakata Tetsu, they left nearly twenty Japanese corpses before retreating.

The Japanese army's offensive made no progress.

Eliminating nearly thirty Japanese soldiers in two hours made Regimental Commander Wang Yubin very happy.

At this time, Battalion Commander Dōi Yūma led the entire battalion to rush up.

The first artillery battalion led by Kumasaka Osei also followed.

Battalion Commander Dōi Yūma concentrated the artillery of the entire battalion and cooperated with the first artillery battalion to launch another fierce bombardment of the position south of the Luo River.

The Japanese soldiers of the Nakata Tetsu Company launched another charge.

The 185th Regiment, which was suppressed by the Japanese artillery fire and unable to fight back, was forced to retreat again.

Liujia River, north of Taierzhuang, was occupied after being fiercely bombed by the Japanese artillery fire.

The Japanese army then attacked Yuanshangyuan Village, which was defended by the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 185th Regiment.

All the soldiers of the entire company fought to the death and refused to retreat. Only after the entire company was killed did the Japanese army occupy Yuanshangyuan Village.

Now, the Japanese soldiers of the Dōi Yūma Battalion could already see the walls of Taierzhuang.

The Japanese soldiers of the entire Dōi Yūma Battalion drove straight in, not afraid of exposing their backs and flanks to the National Army.

Behind this battalion, there was a Japanese brigade, which stayed in Yixian without moving.

They put on a posture that they could reinforce at any time.

This finally made Division Commander Chi Fengcheng understand: "The Japanese are going to attack Taierzhuang with all their strength."

He immediately sent telegrams to Tang Enbo and Guan Linzheng, asking them to immediately attack the Dōi Yūma Battalion from the flanks according to the original plan.

What this Northwestern man, Chi Fengcheng, never expected was that Tang Enbo replied that he was already engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese army far away from Taierzhuang.

He would not be able to return to encircle and suppress the Japanese soldiers attacking Taierzhuang for a while.

What the 31st Division had to do now was to annihilate the Japanese soldiers attacking from the front.

The honest man Chi Fengcheng was so angry that he vomited blood: flanking attack my ass!

The plan was well-thought-out to lure the enemy deep and make a pocket?

Now the pocket had been made, and the Japanese soldiers had come in.

But the person who was going to tie the pocket had run away.

He, the one at the bottom of the pocket, also had to tie the pocket.

The key was that the 31st Division did not have this ability at all.

More importantly, in the past two days of fighting, the 31st Division had only resisted a little.

After a fierce resistance, they gave the front position to the Japanese soldiers.

The goal of doing this was of course only one: to lure the enemy deep!

No matter how angry he was, Division Commander Chi Fengcheng immediately calmed down.

On the battlefield, anger and complaints could not solve the problem.

Now, the 31st Division was facing the attack of a Japanese battalion alone.

And they had to hold Taierzhuang, so they could not retreat any further.

He had to rebuild the defense line of Taierzhuang, so he had to recapture the ghost-like Liujia Lake Village and Yuanshangyuan Village.

Otherwise, the Japanese soldiers could directly attack Taierzhuang.

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng ordered: "The 185th Regiment must recapture Liujia Lake Village no matter what.

The 186th Regiment must also recover Yuanshang Village."

At 2:00 p.m., the 185th Regiment suddenly launched an attack from Nanluo.

Regimental Commander Wang Yubin personally supervised the battle from behind.

The Hada Taro squad, which was defending Liujia Lake Village, was caught off guard and was killed by the sudden attack of the 185th Regiment.

This immediately frightened the squad.

They quickly retreated from Liujia Lake.

The Ōtsuka Kurō squad, which was defending Yuanshang Village, suffered more than a dozen casualties.

But they still insisted on defending and did not retreat.

This made the attacking 186th Regiment unable to attack.

The Hada squad, which had just been driven out of Liujia Lake Village, under the command of Company Commander Masugi Ayumu,

Gathered the entire company and launched an attack on Liujia Lake Village.

At the same time, Battalion Commander Dōi Yūma sent the Kitakaze Ren Company to pass by Yuanshang Village, which was in the midst of a fierce battle.

They directly attacked Taierzhuang, and had Osei's field artillery battalion bomb Taierzhuang.

For a time, the entire north of Taierzhuang was in fierce fighting with the Japanese army.

The headquarters of the 31st Division, located in the railway station building in the south of Taierzhuang, was also hit.

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng had no choice but to lead the entire division headquarters to move to the railway bridge to command.

Lin Fan requested to fight on behalf of the Special Operations Brigade.

If he hadn't spoken, Division Commander Chi Fengcheng would have forgotten this reserve team.

Although the fighting was fierce, it was not yet time to use the reserve team.

However, the 185th Regiment had suffered more than half of its casualties since the start of the battle.

And the Japanese soldiers were now attacking from the north, and the offensive was very fierce.

The north of Taierzhuang was an open area with no protection.

The attacking Japanese soldiers were completely exposed to the defenders' fire.

They dug shelters as they advanced.

The defense of the 31st Division was resolute.

This also caused heavy casualties to the Japanese soldiers attacking the north of Taierzhuang.

In order to clear the obstacles, the Japanese army continuously bombed Taierzhuang for four hours.

Many gaps were blasted in the north wall.

Teams of Japanese soldiers rushed in from the gaps.

Regimental Commander Wang Zhen and Deputy Regimental Commander Jiang Changtai of the 186th Regiment each led a reserve team to provide emergency relief.

The Kamite Yūto squad, which had rushed into Taierzhuang, faced the defenders' machine-gun fire.

They still fought to the death and refused to retreat.

The attacking and defending sides were engaged in a fierce battle on the north wall.

Regimental Commander Wang Zhen and Deputy Regimental Commander Jiang Changtai of the 186th Regiment were both injured.

Deputy Division Commander Kang Faru of the 31st Division went to the front line to replace Regimental Commander Wang Zhen.

Kang Faru was injured by the Japanese army as soon as he arrived at the front line.

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng then sent Staff Officer Wang Guanwu to the front line to act as the regimental commander.

The reserve team of the 186th Regiment had all gone up.

When Acting Regimental Commander Wang Guanwu requested reinforcements,

Division Commander Chi Fengcheng finally ordered: "Brigade Commander Lin! Reinforce the 186th Regiment in the north city."

"Yes!" Lin Fan received the order.

He immediately ordered the First Company, which had been prepared for a long time, to attack.

This time, the entire First Company attacked, with new and old soldiers going together.

Lin Fan pointed to the simple Taierzhuang sand table that had been made in the past two days and ordered:

"The Japanese soldiers have now rushed in from the north wall.

The first platoon from the left, the second platoon from the middle, and the third platoon from the right, we will rush over from three directions.

The task of your three platoons is to kill or drive out the Japanese soldiers who have rushed into the city.

The artillery platoon will follow behind the second platoon.

If the Japanese soldiers are driven out of the city, they will be bombed as soon as they retreat from the wall.

Do you understand?"

"Understood." Lin Fan had already pointed out the three lines of attack on the sand table.

Among these lines of attack, only the middle one was a main road.

The other two lines were detours from civilian houses.

With a stop order, more than 400 members of the Special Operations Brigade set off together.

Company Commander Gu Xiuming led the first platoon to run quickly, and when he was near the north side,

He pointed to a yard and said:

"This is the Zhao family's yard. We will enter from the backyard.

Rush out from the front door, right in the middle of the Japanese army.

The first squad to the left, the rest charge to the right!"

Qian Tianyou, the second platoon leader who rushed up from the middle to reinforce, had already pushed two homemade tanks to the front line.

The firepower of the heavy machine guns immediately suppressed the momentum of the Japanese attack.

This immediately stabilized the defense line of the 186th Regiment, which was already in imminent danger.

Acting Regimental Commander Wang Guanwu asked, "Which unit are you brothers from?"

"The Special Operations Brigade!"

Originally, Wang Guanwu thought that Tang Enbo's 20th Army had returned.

Hearing that it was the Special Operations Brigade, he could not help but feel a little disappointed:

Not that he looked down on this team.

It was just that the number of people in this team was too small.

It was the number of people that limited the imagination of the officers and soldiers of the 31st Division on the combat effectiveness of the Special Operations Brigade.

The Japanese soldiers were hiding in the courtyard walls of the north city to shoot.

These courtyard walls were all made of stones.

The cunning Japanese soldiers, after hiding in, pulled down a stone, which was a shooting hole.

Those walls made of stones became their best shelters.

It was this situation that made all the soldiers of the 186th Regiment helpless.

They launched a charge with human-wave tactics.

Such a courtyard required the lives of dozens of soldiers to fill.

The corpses on the ground had already formed a layer.

Blood flowed on the stone road and slowly flowed into the canal on the side.

Qian Tianyou's eyes turned red when he saw this situation:

"Regimental Commander Wang! Let the brothers temporarily stop such charges.

Give me five minutes, and if we can't do it, let the brothers charge again!"

Of course, Regimental Commander Wang Guanwu didn't want to use his soldiers like this.

Hearing Qian Tianyou's request to fight, he immediately said, "I'll give you five minutes!"

The soldiers of the 186th Regiment retreated into the surrounding houses.

They also learned from the Japanese soldiers and dug out a shooting hole to shoot at the Japanese soldiers.

They wanted to suppress the Japanese firepower and try to create some opportunities for the brothers of the Special Operations Brigade.

What made Wang Guanwu and the soldiers under him stunned was that the soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade did not launch a charge.

The two heavy machine guns were still in front, and they didn't even fire.

They were just like bunkers, blocking the bullets.

Two infantry guns were pushed up.

They directly shot at the shooting holes where the bullets were fired.

The distance was too close, and the stone fragments blasted by the shells flew into the yards where the soldiers of the 186th Regiment were hiding.

Regimental Commander Wang Guanwu was dumbfounded: they didn't pile up with human lives, but directly with shells.

Gu Xiuming followed the first platoon and rushed out from the front door of the Zhao family.

While the Japanese soldiers were stunned, machine guns and grenades flew together.

The Ueo Akira squad had just been fighting fiercely with the 186th Regiment in front.

Suddenly, they were blown up from behind.

A dozen Japanese soldiers fell down at once.

The remaining Japanese soldiers immediately retreated into two yards.

They still imagined relying on the solid stone walls to resist stubbornly.

Platoon Leader Feng Ruili did not give these Japanese soldiers a chance.

He ordered: "The first squad! The second squad! Charge in."

Receiving the order, Hou Junnan led the dozen soldiers of the first squad and retreated back to the Zhao family's yard.

They had been practicing in Taierzhuang every day for the past few days.

Lin Fan had long taught them how to fight when the Japanese soldiers held on to the courtyard or even retreated into those houses built of stone.

Now the first squad, under the leadership of Squad Leader Hou Junnan, began to fight in actual combat.

The previous days were all exercises! The first squad retreated into the Zhao family's yard and passed through two houses continuously from the side.

Only then did they move forward through...

They soon entered the next door to the yard where the Japanese soldiers were located.

Here, they could even hear the Japanese soldiers talking to each other in the sound of gunfire.

This was not important. The soldiers of the first squad quietly raised their heads from the courtyard wall on this side and threw two grenades over.

The gunshots, which were like popping beans, stopped in this yard.

The situation in the other yard was the same.

This time, they did not even use the method of attacking the houses that the brigade commander said.

All the Japanese soldiers were in the yard.

Hou Junnan, Fu Yuansi, and the others had already jumped into the yard where the Japanese soldiers were located as the grenades were thrown and just as they were exploding.

The soldiers of the 186th Regiment in the distance saw the yard where the Japanese soldiers had been resisting fiercely.

A cloud of smoke rose up, and there were two explosions.

Then a dozen people were like heavenly soldiers and generals.

They jumped over the courtyard wall from the next yard,

Immediately followed by the miserable cries of the Japanese soldiers.

This was Hou Junnan and the others cleaning up the battlefield: the Special Operations Brigade did not leave any survivors.

Strictly speaking, they did not leave any survivors of no value.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Squad Leader Hou Junnan did not rush out of the yard immediately.

He shouted to the outside in the yard: "Brothers of the 31st Division.

I am Squad Leader Hou Junnan of the 1st Platoon, 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment of the Special Operations Brigade of the Fifth War Zone.

The Japanese soldiers in the yard have been killed by us.

We are coming out now, everyone must not shoot."

Someone outside answered: "Squad Leader Hou, I am Sha Lexin, the commander of the 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion, 186th Regiment, 93rd Brigade of the 31st Division.

You can come out with confidence!"

They saw the dozen soldiers walking out of the yard, each carrying two guns on their backs.

And many bullet bags.

Someone in another yard also shouted: "Brothers outside, we are from the second squad, don't fire at this yard anymore.

The Japanese soldiers inside are all dead."

The second squad also opened the yard door and rushed out.

They quickly ran to the Zhao family's yard and threw down the captured weapons.

They continued to rush forward.

The Japanese soldiers who Lin Fan had expected to withdraw from Taierzhuang did not appear.

These Japanese soldiers who had rushed in really died in Taierzhuang, and not one of them retreated.

Today was the 24th, and Chiang Kai-shek had come to Xuzhou at the risk of his life on the 23rd.

The fierce fighting that had taken place in Taierzhuang at this time had exceeded the expectations of the entire Fifth War Zone.

Now they realized a problem: perhaps Taierzhuang was the main strategic point