The chief of staff of the wing seemed to see through Colonel Takahashi's thoughts and hesitated for a moment of analysis: "Sir, as long as the artillery troops hidden around us in the National Salvation Army have always existed, the chariot brigade cannot go to the other side through the wooden bridge."

"The enemy has not left us much time. Beizhi proposed that the troops be divided into two, leaving an infantry brigade to protect the chariot brigade slowly across the river, and the remaining two infantry brigades advance lightly, marched quickly to Yangquan, and strive to take down the county town before dark!"

"After darkness, the National Salvation Army, which was suppressed by the planes, will definitely discredit and reinforce the place. If we drag the battle until tomorrow, Yangquan County will definitely add a large number of defenders, and it will be difficult to capture it again!"

The wooden bridge was blown up one after another, and the artillery troops of the National Salvation Army were too scattered. No matter how powerful the three artillery squadrons under their command were, they could not destroy them in a short period of time. This means that the wooden bridge was repaired and the possibility of the chariot brigade reaching the other side in a short period of time is almost zero.

Infantry does not need wooden bridges, and can easily reach the other shore by swimming.

Invisibly, the chariot brigade has become a burden to the entire offensive force.

The Chief of Staff’s proposal made Colonel Takahashi enlightened him and he immediately thought of a way to solve the current crisis.

An expression of agreement was revealed on the spot: "You are right. We cannot continue to waste time here. We must kill outside Yangquan City as soon as possible."

"Only by splitting troops to raid, we have the opportunity to take down Yangquan County before dark!"

"That's it. One or two brigades swam across the river. The third brigade left a brigade of protection chariots across the river. Then marched quickly to reinforce the brigade of the first and second brigades. We gathered in Yangquan County!"

"Sir, think twice!" The Chief of Staff was about to give orders, but the deputy captain suddenly stood up and opposed.

"This is the defense zone of the National Salvation Army. Isn't we now dividing troops to give the National Salvation Army a chance to defeat us?"

"And after the division of troops, the two brigades that raided the county town were only equipped with mortars and heavy machine guns, and there were not even siege artillery. How to attack the county town!"

"If there is a chariot brigade following us, we can break through the city defense fortifications under the cover of the chariots and break into the city!"

"If we leave the chariot brigade here, we can only rely on the flesh and blood of the warriors to rush hard. The troops will definitely suffer great losses. Please consider these issues carefully!"

As the captain of the corps, Colonel Takahashi must consider issues more comprehensively than his subordinates. He explained in response to his deputy's worrying eyes: "Don't worry, I have thought about these issues!"

"The main force of the National Salvation Army was dragged by the aviation army and could not move. At most, there was only one garrison team in Yangquan who had been crippled."

"Our two infantry brigades crossed the river and raided Yangquan County. Even if the traitors were all defended in the city, they could not stop our offensive!"

"As for casualties, it will be much greater. But if we drag this battle to tomorrow, our casualties will be also very large, and this offensive and defensive battle will be full of variables. Maybe in the end, they will lose both the wife and the army. Not only will they fail to take down Yangquan County, but the troops will still suffer heavy losses."

"So even if we pay more casualties, as long as we successfully take Yangquan County before dark, we will not suffer any losses in this battle!"

"Execute the order, you leave behind the command of the chariot brigade and the third brigade to cross the river, and the first and second brigades and two brigades followed me to march and raid the Yangquan County town!"

"Hayi!" The deputy captain wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back when he said something.

The team leader’s explanation just now was reasonable and evidence. He could not think of any reason to refute, so he could only nod his head and take the order.

Without the burden of the chariot brigade, more than 2,000 infantry swam across the river in less than twenty minutes, and then disappeared at the end of the official road under the command of Colonel Takahashi.

At the command center of the Yangquan Garrison of the National Salvation Army, Chen Zhong paced back and forth at the command center with his hands behind his back, and every few minutes he looked at the phones at the door and not far away, with a very anxious expression.

The stone bridge bombing and the troops harassed the Japanese were all arranged. As long as they successfully reach the combat goal, the fierce Japanese would not want to kill to Yangquan County on time.

"Dingling..."

The rapid phone ringing finally rang. The staff officer who was standing by quickly grabbed the microphone. Chen Zhong's eyes also focused on the staff officer at this moment, trying to judge the quality of the news on the phone based on the other party's face.

"Report to the captain, the engineer platoon successfully blew up the stone bridge, the Japanese were blocked on the other side of the river, and were building a wooden bridge across the river!" The staff officer put down the microphone and reported with an excited look on his face.

Chen Zhong's heart was relieved and he ordered: "Give me the artillery troops who cooperated with the bombing of the bridge. As soon as the wooden bridge built by the Japanese temporarily was completed, I would destroy it with shells. But when the action was done, I must protect my own safety. The longer they held the Japanese, the higher our chances of victory.

Two hours later, Chen Zhong received the second good news: the first wooden bridge temporarily built by the Japanese army was successfully destroyed by the artillery troops, which meant that the Japanese army would delay an additional hour by the river to build the wooden bridge.

An hour later, Chen Zhong received the third good news: the second temporary wooden bridge rebuilt by the Japanese army was destroyed, and a tank was bombed into the water...

Chen Zhong's face was already full of joy. According to the current progress of the Japanese, he would definitely not be able to kill outside Yangquan City before dark.

"Captain, in an emergency, we were blocking the Japanese on the other side of the river and divided our troops. Two infantry brigades swam across the river and marched quickly towards the county town. The speed was very fast." After receiving a new call, the staff suddenly became nervous and looked at Chen Zhong with a serious report.

"A infantry brigade and chariot brigade stayed on the other side of the river and continued to build wooden bridges across the river!"

"If we do not take measures to block the attack, the two infantry brigades that are marching urgently will definitely reach the county town before dark and attack the county town!"

The relaxed atmosphere at the command center just now became tense.

Chen Zhong's reaction was exactly the opposite of his subordinates.

These days he has been thinking about how to make a big battle for the Yangquan garrison at the last moment of the anti-sweeping raid.

As a result, more than 4,000 Japanese troops raided Yangquan County.

According to the orders of the regiment headquarters, the Yangquan garrison will definitely participate in this battle.

But Chen Zhong was not satisfied with this result. Compared to getting a piece of the pie on the battlefield, he wanted to eat meat more.

The Japanese army suddenly divided their troops to raid Yangquan County, undoubtedly giving him a chance to eat meat.

He looked at his worried subordinate and shouted confidently: "Everyone cheer me up!"

"If more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers were carrying twenty or thirty chariots and suddenly rushed outside Yangquan City, I might be scared. But now there are more than 2,000 Japanese infantry soldiers who are killed, and they are not even equipped with an infantry cannon. Do you think we still need to be scared?"

"In my eyes, these more than 2,000 Japanese devils were not here to attack the county town, but to die!"

The chief of staff on the side was even more excited than Chen Zhong.

Immediately responded: "After taking down Yangquan County, we have been trying to strengthen the city defense fortifications. In order to increase the difficulty of the enemy's attack on the county, we have dug a large number of machine gun castles in the city wall."

"The Japanese who raided the county town did not carry siege artillery, which means they could not destroy these machine gun castles at a distance, and could only send out suicide squads to blow them up with explosives."

"As long as we arrange a sufficient number of light and heavy machine guns in the castle, no matter how many Japanese people come, they will not be able to approach the city wall. So I completely agree with the captain's statement. There is no difference between the Japanese army's choice to split troops to raid the county town and hit our guns."

"Captain, in order to kill and injure the Japanese offensive troops in large quantities, I suggest hiding all the light and heavy machine guns equipped by our Yangquan garrison in the castle. Wait until the Japanese and puppet troops approach the city wall and raid them at close range, and kill and injure the Japanese and puppet troops through the city defense."

Chen Zhong ordered without hesitation: "Go to arrange it now and make sure that each gang is equipped with a light and heavy machine gun. However, when fighting with the Japanese, you cannot expose all the light and heavy machine guns at once. You must selectively invest a few machine guns according to the Japanese's strength in the battle!"

Under Colonel Takahashi's continuous urging, more than two thousand Japanese soldiers finally arrived outside Yangquan City at 5:30.

Looking at the confined city gate and the quiet city head not far away, Colonel Takahashi skipped the attack step directly and sent troops to attack the city head.

The sun has set and it will be dark in more than half an hour. He must seize the time to break through the city defense fortifications and enter the county town.

Of course, Colonel Takahashi is not the kind of person who gets impulsive when he gets up.

Although he eliminated the tentative attack, his vigilance did not relax.

Looking at the quiet city, he had a serious order: "The first, second, third, and three infantry squadrons of the First Infantry Brigade each strengthened a mortar team and a heavy machine gun team, and immediately went around to the other three directions of Yangquan County, and then tilted to attack the county town twenty minutes later."

"The Second Infantry Brigade attacked the county town from our direction, and attacked the city with the uprising troops. He fought for an attack and entered the county town."

"The Yangquan Garrison of the National Salvation Army is not many. We launch an attack in four directions at the same time. Their limited troops must be divided into four, so there will be few enemies in front of us."

"As long as the second team's offensive is strong enough and not afraid of casualties, they will definitely be able to enter the county town in one attack!"

At the same time, Chen Zhong also drove into a machine gun castle directly opposite Colonel Takahashi.

When Colonel Takahashi observed the city entrance, he was also observing the Japanese outside the city.

When the Japanese army first divided the troops, he knew that the other party wanted to disperse his troops and thus reduce the pressure on the main attack direction.

Chen Zhong was not worried at all because he had arranged a main force company in every direction of the county town.

In the Yangquan Garrison, each main force company was equipped with seven crooked rods, plus two heavy machine guns and one crooked rod that Chen Zhong specially strengthened for them. There were ten light and heavy machine guns in the other three directions of the county town to be on guard.

They were placed in a castle and hid in the dark to raid the enemy. Not to mention that the Japanese army attacked them had only one reinforcement squadron, even if the Japanese sent two reinforcement squadrons to defend the city easily.

As for the city where Zhou Cheng was located, because it was the main attack direction of the Japanese, it was responsible for most of the Japanese's anger, and thirty light and heavy machine guns were installed in the castle.

Everything is ready but the east wind is not available. What Zhou Cheng needs to do now is wait for the Japanese to take the initiative to launch an attack.

As the sun sets completely and the sky gradually darkens, the south side of the county town is the first to exceed the gunshots, followed by the other two defense lines, and there are also many mortar shell explosions in the middle.

"Boom..." Chen Zhong was attacked at the end of the city, but the artillery fire attacks he suffered were more powerful than the other three directions combined.

In just one minute, one hundred shells were hit on the top of the city wall.

The flames rising into the air and the smoke filled the city quickly covered the city, leaving no fingers.

Faced with the surprise attack, Chen Zhongmeng reacted for a moment: "The Japanese were cruel enough that they actually launched the general attack as soon as they came up, but our Yangquan garrison was not a vegetarian."

"Tell me the order. If the Japanese attacking us do not exceed one infantry squadron, they can only fire the light and heavy machine guns of the fourth company!"

"If the Japanese attacked us had two squadrons, all the light and heavy machine guns equipped by the 4th and 5th Company opened fire."

"If more than three infantry squadrons of attacking our Japanese devils, all the light and heavy machine guns in the castle will fire."

"But no matter how many attacking troops the Japanese dispatched, they had to wait for them to rush to a hundred meters outside the city before they could fire!"

The mortar fired very fast. In five minutes, more than 500 shells were fired at the city head, causing the city head to explode.

If there are really troops guarding the city, even if they don’t die, they will be blown off a layer of skin!

Colonel Takahashi obviously believed in his artillery troops, and as soon as the shelling stopped, he ordered the infantry to start attacking.

"Captain, the Japanese dispatched three infantry squadrons to attack us. They wanted to attack the county town in one go!" The chief of staff looked at the Japanese devils getting closer and closer outside the city, and shouted while waving their fists, very excited.

Chen Zhong was also very excited. If the three infantry squadrons could be severely damaged in the next battle, plus the results achieved in the other three directions, the Japanese in the two infantry brigades outside the city would be destroyed immediately.

Staring outside the city, he looked expectant and ordered: "Let everyone prepare for battle!"

The attacking troops at the beginning was very smooth, and the National Salvation Army on the top of the city seemed to be completely destroyed by the artillery fire just now. They were unstoppable and were not attacked. They easily rushed to a hundred meters outside the city.

Colonel Takahashi's tense nerves were relieved a lot, but he did not completely relax his vigilance.

As long as the attacking troops do not enter the county town, there will be a lot of changes in the attack in front of them.

"Da da da da...Da da da dong dong..."
To be continued...