Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 176 Counterattack (2)

Zhang Wenwu and Ouyang Heng also led their own attacking troops to attack forward. It was the first time for Zhang Wenwu to go to the battlefield. When he was rushing forward with the troops, his legs were actually a little weak. Due to his nervousness, he became out of breath after rushing forward not far.

But when the officers and soldiers around him saw that the brigade commander had taken the lead in the charge, the morale became even higher, and they broke through the Japanese defense line as quickly as possible. Then no one cared about the remaining Japanese troops who had retreated to the yard and houses, but continued to attack the rear of the Japanese troops.

The remaining Japanese troops had just prepared for battle when they found that the Chinese army did not attack the houses and yards where they had retreated. When they were about to withdraw to the rear from these houses and yards, they were fired back by fierce fire from the Chinese army who had surrounded them at some point. After losing some soldiers, the remaining Japanese troops realized that they had been surrounded by the Chinese army.

Commander Huang commanded the remaining officers and soldiers to surround all the separated Japanese troops in separate courtyards and houses. They did not attack. As long as the Japanese dared to come out, they would just stare and shoot. This was a very easy thing to do for the Chinese officers and soldiers.

Colonel Fukuei Shinpei had been sleeping soundly in the temporary command center. He seemed to have a dream. In the dream, he led his 63rd Regiment to occupy Taierzhuang, and then received commendation from the division commander. Even the North China Expeditionary Army Command was going to award him medals and commendations. He was walking proudly under the reviewing stand with the officers and soldiers of the 63rd Regiment when suddenly a series of explosions rang out, waking him up from his sweet dream.

Colonel Fukuei Shinpei sat up straight with some dissatisfaction. He knew that the Chinese army had begun a night attack. He felt that this was just a pointless struggle of the Chinese defenders. He had specifically given instructions at some key defensive positions today, asking everyone to pay attention to the Chinese army's night attack and counterattack. If the Chinese army attacked too fiercely, the defending troops could withdraw to the nearby houses or to the second line of defense. After daybreak, these positions would be able to retreat under their powerful artillery attack.

When Colonel Fukuei Shinpei was about to lie down and continue his sweet dream, he suddenly stood up. He suddenly realized from the gunfire and explosions in front of him that the Chinese army's counterattack seemed different this time. Why did it feel like there was a firefight across the entire front? The Chinese army was counterattacking across the entire front? However, he did not receive a telegram from the brigade commander saying that the Chinese troops had a large-scale reinforcement, but why was there gunfire and explosions everywhere on the front line?

Before Colonel Fukuei Shinpei put on his pants, he heard the phone in the room ring. Colonel Fukuei Shinpei did not have time to put on his pants for the time being, and quickly answered the phone and said, "Where? This is Fukuei Shinpei, what? The Chinese army launched a counterattack across the board? The first line of defense has been defeated? Where are you? Hold the second line of defense for me, I will send you reinforcements immediately."

After hanging up the call for help from the second line of defense, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei quickly called the captain of the second battalion, Hirata Maogoro, who was resting outside the city. He asked Hirata Maogoro to quickly gather the more than 800 officers and soldiers who had withdrawn to rest outside the city and bring them into the city to reinforce the defenders of the second line of defense.

Colonel Fukuei Shinpei knew very well that there were only two battalions in the city that had suffered heavy losses. Judging from the fact that the Chinese army had defeated the defenders of the first line of defense so quickly, the number of people the Chinese army had deployed in the counterattack must be considerable. He had to quickly pull the only reserve force into the city to stabilize the front line. Although there were still many artillery units in the city, the role of artillery was limited at night, and now the Chinese army had been entangled with the garrison in front. If any shot was fired, there would be casualties on both sides.

After receiving the call from the regiment commander, Mao Goro Hirata quickly gathered the troops that had been withdrawn previously, and then led the troops to trot into Taierzhuang and rushed to the second-line position.

After Colonel Fukuei Shinpei hung up the phone, he finally had time to put on his pants. When he was buttoning up his military uniform, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. For no reason, he felt a very uneasy emotion spreading throughout his body. He quickly buttoned up his uniform, picked up the samurai sword on the table, and pushed open the door of the temporary command center.

"boom"

Just as Colonel Fukuei Shinpei opened the door, a loud bang was heard. Before he could react, a shock wave of the explosion hit him and blew Colonel Fukuei Shinpei to the ground in the room.

"It's over, the ammunition depot." Although Colonel Fukuei Shinpei felt a little dizzy now, he knew very well in his heart that an explosion of that magnitude just now could only be caused by the explosion of his own regiment's temporary ammunition depot in the city.

Compared to Colonel Fukuei Shinpei who was knocked to the ground by the shock wave of the ammunition depot explosion, the reinforcement troops led by Major Hirata Maogoro were extremely unlucky. When the ammunition depot exploded, the reinforcement troops led by him happened to pass by the side of the ammunition depot. The sudden explosion of the ammunition depot caused heavy casualties to the more than 800 Japanese soldiers led by Hirata Maogoro.

As the houses in Taierzhuang were all made of brick and stone, the explosion caused the stones and bricks on the ammunition depot and the courtyard walls to fly all over the sky. Most of the reinforcement troops led by Hirata Maogoro were killed or injured in the explosion. The remaining Japanese troops who were some distance away from the center of the explosion were all knocked unconscious. Most of them had bleeding facial features and were obviously suffering from serious internal injuries.

Colonel Fukuei Shinpei had no idea that the reinforcements he had sent out had been wiped out by Japan's own ammunition. He sat on the ground for several minutes before he staggered to his feet, holding onto the door frame. He called out to the guards loudly several times, but when no soldier came, he realized that the officers and soldiers of the regiment had probably lost their hearing due to the explosion. So he could only stagger out of the regiment headquarters, as he needed to take everyone in the regiment headquarters to reinforce the troops in front.

Zhang Wenwu was also startled by the sudden explosion. When he saw the huge ball of fire rising behind the Japanese army, Zhang Wenwu became excited. He knew that it must be the suicide squad that blew up the Japanese army's ammunition depot. This was good. After seeing this explosion, the Japanese army's morale would definitely be gone.

The Japanese troops on the defense line were indeed shocked by the huge explosion. The key point was that the explosion came from behind them, which made all the Japanese soldiers worried. Facing the fierce attack of the Chinese army, the Japanese commander of the second line of defense could not wait for the reinforcements sent by the regiment commander. The telephone lines had been destroyed, and the communications soldier sent to the regiment headquarters never returned. He could not contact the regiment commander, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei, so he could only command the troops to fight and retreat, hoping to meet up with the reinforcements sent by the regiment commander during the retreat, and then rearrange the defense line.

But when they retreated a little, they were suddenly horrified to find that an unknown number of Chinese troops appeared behind them and shot at them. Combined with the huge explosion before, they thought that their rear had been occupied by the Chinese army, so the commander decisively ordered the remaining troops around him to enter a nearby house and hold on until help.

The officers and soldiers of the supplementary brigade did not pay much attention to the remaining Japanese troops who retreated into the house, but continued to attack desperately.

Colonel Fukuei Shinpei had finally gathered together a squadron of soldiers from the regiment headquarters and was about to take them to reinforce the second line of defense when a burst of rapid gunfire suddenly rang out from the rooftop nearby. These were the eighty submachine guns that Zhang Wenwu had specially distributed to the suicide squad. Their performance in street fighting and encounters was very satisfactory.

More than 20 Japanese officers and soldiers of the squadron who had just gathered were knocked down by the sudden burst of gunfire. Colonel Fukuei Shinpei fell to the ground the moment the gunshots rang out. He soon discovered the shooting flames on the roof not far away, so he drew out his samurai sword and pointed it at the house where the Chinese soldiers were hiding, shouting at the soldiers to charge up, while also shouting at a light machine gun beside him to suppress the fire on the roof.

But before the Japanese soldiers rushed to the front of the house, a series of gunshots rang out from the roof on the other side, knocking down another seven or eight Japanese soldiers who were charging. This frightened Colonel Fukuei Shinpei a lot. The Chinese army had appeared near his regiment headquarters. Could it be that the second line of defense had been breached? How many people did the Chinese army send out? He had already sent more than 800 troops to the second line of defense. How could it be breached so quickly?

Is he surrounded? This thought flashed through Colonel Fukuei Shinpei's mind. He was not sure how many Chinese troops were launching a counterattack, but judging from the speed at which the Chinese defenders broke through his second line of defense, the number of people must be very large. He had to withdraw his troops from Taierzhuang first, otherwise his 63rd Regiment would become the first regiment to be wiped out by the Chinese army.

At this time, several Chinese soldiers appeared on the roof of another house. They knocked down several Japanese soldiers with their submachine guns. This made Colonel Fukuei Shinpei even more convinced of his judgment. He believed that a force equipped with so many submachine guns must be the most elite force of the Chinese government. The Chinese army was receiving a large number of elite reinforcements, and he had to retreat.

Under the command of Colonel Fukuei Shinpei, the remaining Japanese troops fought while retreating outside the city of Taierzhuang, which made the members of the suicide squad even more excited and they started shooting at the Japanese troops. However, the Japanese troops retreated very resolutely and did not engage in too much entanglement with the members of the suicide squad.

At four o'clock in the morning, the remaining one hundred or so members of the suicide squad followed the retreating Japanese army and successfully occupied the east gate of Taierzhuang. When Zhang Wenwu and his troops arrived at the east gate breathlessly, he knew that his plan had been a great success, and all that was left was to wipe out the Japanese troops in each small encirclement.