Chapter 785, First round

Just as the Japanese army launched a continuous attack from the last position in all directions, an explosion suddenly came from Guanli Town. Han Liansheng immediately turned around and saw a fire on the town, and then there were a series of explosions.

"It's a shelling!" he said.

"Zhangzu, the town has been occupied by Xiaozhao. Could it be that they themselves are bombing their own people, right?"

"Of course not, it's reinforcements, it's reinforcements!" Han Liansheng shouted excitedly.

The soldiers who stood firm on the last line of defense were greatly encouraged, and reinforcements finally arrived.

The vanguard of the sixth Regiment, who received an emergency order from Laiyang County, finally seized the last time to arrive at Guanli Town. The vanguard carried four mortars. After discovering that Guanli Town was occupied by the Japanese army, it immediately bombarded the light in the city. The infantry rushed into the city, like a mantis stalking a cicada oriole behind the Japanese army. Although the *** defenders in the town left a warning force, the vanguard of the Sixth Regiment had sufficient troops, unlike the Japanese army who had to divide their troops to surround the northern suburbs, and they had an advantage at once.

Several brief firefights were held in the town, and the soldiers had to choose to retreat.

The vanguard of the Sixth Regiment controlled Guanli Town and sent reinforcements to the northern suburbs. However, when the reinforcements arrived at the northern suburbs, almost all the positions in the northern suburbs were lost. The vanguard commander decisively responded to Han Liansheng's remnants and retreated the defense line from outside the town to the town. During the retreat, Chinese soldiers used mortars and artillery company artillery that were captured by the Japanese army and recovered from the lost artillery company, blocking the Japanese offensive route in the northern suburbs for one section, and gaining more time.

As dawn gradually dawned, the follow-up troops of the Sixth Regiment arrived one after another, and set up temporary defense lines with Han Liansheng's remnants at the intersection of the town.

After two consecutive hours of attack, the Japanese army captured all positions outside the town, and felt weak in the cold weather. What disappointed Takahashi Town was that he launched an attack of almost all the regiments, and actually let Guanli Town lose it again. However, considering that the soldiers had just got off the ship yesterday and experienced the influence of night attacks, their physical fitness and morale naturally could not reach the best state, so they had to order a truce and rest.

As the attack of Guanli Town eased, the battles on Yang Chu, Bi E and Laiyang's eastern front stopped immediately.

While strengthening the defense line, China and Japan cleared the losses from the previous battle. The wounded were constantly transferred to the rear and supplies were continuously transported to the front line. For a moment, they were busy after the war.

In order to cope with the subsequent battle, the sixth regiment commanded the evacuation of the people of Guanli Town and let them move to the rear to temporarily avoid it. Although it was the winter and the year was approaching, many ordinary people didn't even know where to live, but in order to save their lives, the military had some considerations and arranged a marching account in the rear to temporarily settle the people. As for the dietary issues, the local government in the rear was responsible for sharing.

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In the First Division of Laiyang County, a staff officer jumped off the war horse. He didn't bother to pat the snow on his shoulder and quickly walked into the command's staff room. The moment he pushed open the door of the staff room, everyone in the room turned to this side. Sun Jizhi jumped up from the seat and walked forward.

"How is the situation in Guanli Town?" he asked urgently.

"The town has been recaptured, and the artillery company's artillery has also been recaptured, but all the positions outside the town have been lost." The staff officer said gasping.

"It's so hateful." Sun Jizhi clenched his fists. The fortifications were built with great effort. They were lost on the first day of the fight. It was really unprofitable. "What about the casualties?"

"The Han Liansheng Camp of the First Mixed Brigade was killed 119 people, 33 people were missing, 104 people were injured, and two company commanders died." The staff officer said with the latest statistics list.

He Yingqin walked slowly over from the side and said in a heavy tone: "This battle has crippled Han Liansheng Battalion. Fortunately, we have a reserve team and let the Sixth Regiment take over Guanli Town to strengthen the defense, so we should be able to stick to it."

The staff officer said again: "The Sixth Regiment has evacuated the people in the town overnight and plans to use the town as the defense line."

He Yingqin nodded and said with some relief: "It is right to do this. We don't have so much time to repair the fortifications now."

Sun Jizhi asked again: "How is the main force of the first mixed brigade in Yangchu and Bi'e defense lines?"

The staff officer said: "The First Mixed Brigade sent two battalions of troops to support Guanli Town, but was blocked by a Japanese brigade in the mountains and forests to the west. Because the eastern front was attacked by the enemy at the same time, Brigade Commander Dai did not dare to easily draw more troops from the main position, but he still sent the reinforcement company of the brigade headquarters. Both sides fought an encounter in the mountains and forests in the dark. We once forced the Japanese army to retreat outside the mountains, but the progress was still too slow."

Sun Jizhi was a little annoyed. A Japanese brigade was equivalent to a battalion. Judging from the total number of troops of the 18th Division, there were about a thousand people in a battalion. However, the two battalions and one reinforcement company fought so slowly, which was really too cowardly. He snorted and said, "A Japanese brigade has made it difficult for us to be at peace with one of our brigades and one of our reserve regiments, and also lost a position defense area!"

He Yingqin persuaded: "Minister, it seems that war is not about fighting for the leader. This time the Japanese army fought too trickyly, which was unexpected."

The staff officer continued to report: "Twenty-six people were killed in the battle of the First Mixed Brigade and more than one hundred were injured. However, there were eleven Japanese corpses found in the mountains, and there were not many that were not found."

Sun Jizhi's face was still unable to let go. After a while of silence, he asked again: "Where is the East Line? What is the situation of the Fourth and Fifth Regiments? Is there any specific report?"

The staff officer looked at the list and replied: "The situation on the Fourth Regiment and the Fifth Regiment is quite stable. Although the Japanese 57th Regiment sent three brigades to attack, it did not launch any strong attacks. It should be just to attract our army's fire. The main reason is that the 55th Regiment attacked Guanli Town. Except for the three people who died of artillery fire in the entire battle, the remaining 100 people were wounded, and there were not many serious injuries."

He Yingqin sighed and said to Sun Jizhi: "No matter what, the situation has finally been controlled. Alas, let's just act as a draw in the first round. First, they attacked the Japanese frontier positions, and then they let the Japanese attack the frontier positions of our army. It is neither good nor bad. From now on, we must be corrected and no longer think that we can take it lightly if we get a bargain."

Sun Jizhi said solemnly: "It won't be that easy today. Once the Japanese baggage troops arrive at the front line, the intensity of the battle will inevitably heat up straight. What I am worried about now is that the Japanese army will concentrate superior forces to attack Guanli Town. At that time, all the cannons and heavy machine guns will be greeted. Guanli Town, which has lost its peripheral positions, has almost no danger to defend. If Guanli Town cannot be defended, our Laiyang County Division Headquarters will have to press on the front line to fight!"

He Yingqin understood Sun Jizhi's concerns. This battle in Laiyang County originally wanted to hold back the enemy as much as possible, but it was more or less unreasonable to fall into such a situation in just one day of the war. After pondering for a moment, he immediately said: "We should report this matter to the War Zone Command as soon as possible. If possible, we might be able to launch a preparatory plan in advance. Besides, we should not worry too much. The Japanese army originally had more troops than us. Even if our First Division could not defend, there was a second division and the Third Division behind it, we would definitely be able to hold on."

Sun Jizhi nodded and said, "You are right. Now is not the time to save face."

After saying that, he immediately turned around and shouted to the communications office: "Receive me the phone number from the theater command."

At the same time, the headquarters of the 18th Division of Longkou Town, Kamio Mitsumon, had just read the raid report sent by the 55th and 57th Regiments. Although this battle was not within his authorization, fortunately the situation was not too bad. More importantly, it made a comeback and won a sigh of relief for the Great *** Empire.

"Call back, this is only once, no example." Putting down the report in his hand, Mitsumon Kamio explained to a correspondent.

"Yes." The communication officer saluted with his feet and then left quickly.

"God of General, it's time to pursue the victory. The logistics forces have been operating overnight, and the supplies and weapons of each unit have been basically allocated. In addition, the First 10 Regiment will also be launched from Lushun today, and we have prepared enough." The chief of staff of the division took a step forward to Hinazu Kuro and said in a serious tone. He did not sleep all night last night and had been studying the combat plan, and had already grasped the time limit very accurately.

"The Second Fleet is still waiting for our news. If we cannot break through the defense line of the Chinese team as soon as possible and arrive in Qingdao, we will probably delay more plans." Another staff officer said.

Kamio Mitsumon nodded slowly. He knew that time was tight and he knew that he was too hasty, but as long as everything was ready, he should launch a tougher attack. He stood up and walked to the map table, took a closer look at the horizontal defense line formed by the *** team in Laiyang, and asked: "At present, the main line of our logistics transportation is still on the old official road?"

Corps of the Logistics Regiment, Ukita Kei bowed and replied: "Yes, the material transportation of the two infantry corpses, two artillery brigades and four communication teams is all concentrated on the old official road. The Fifth, Seventh and Twelfth Engineers are responsible for garrisoning the old official roads to ensure the smooth flow of the roads and guarding work. At present, except for the snow and muddy sections of the mountainous roads, other roads are considered very smooth."

Kamio Mitsumon continued to ask: "How long does it take for a small team of ammunition and rations to be transported from Longkou Town to Laiyang Front?"

Ukita Kyoto calculated quickly, and then said, "It is about eighty miles to go to Guanli Town to take Yanqing Highway from Longkou to Guanli Town, and about one hundred and ten miles to go on the old official road. It takes about twenty-two hours to transport a small team of supplies in such an environment, and at the latest thirty-six hours."

Asahinazu Kuro said to Kamio Mitsumon: "I had calculated with Ukitajun yesterday. If you take the Yanqing Highway, the time can be shortened by more than five hours."

Kamio Hiromon said intently: "Yanqing Highway is too swaggering. I have studied several battle examples of Wu Shaoting before. His troops are very cunning and often send high-mobile troops to detour to the rear for raids. If we want to use Yanqing Highway for transportation, we must dispatch more troops to nearby guards, which is not a good deal."

Ukita Kyoshi said directly: "If this is the case, with the current efficiency of our transportation, the operations of the two front-line corps and artillery can only maintain continuous operations three hours ago. They must rest for two hours every three hours and wait for the interval of logistics transportation. Of course, this is just an ideal combat state. Front-line troops cannot use up all ammunition, so it is very likely that even three hours will not last."

Hinazu Kuro smiled confidently and said, "Three hours? As long as our heavy attacking troops can play a role, three hours are enough for us to push the front line forward for thirty miles. This is my conservative estimate."

Kamio Mitsumon thought silently for a while, and then made a decision. He said: "I ordered the front line departments to launch a general attack at nine o'clock to concentrate firepower to attack Guanli Town. I want to cut from the weakest defense of the Chinese army and squeeze out their Laiyang defense line with one sentence. Order the 57th Regiment to carry out a restrained attack on the eastern front, and ordered the division command to directly under the 59th Regiment, the Muto Heavy Artillery Brigade to move west immediately to join the general attack on Guanli Town, and ordered the 55th Regiment to serve as the main attacking force of Guanli Town."

Several communication officers quickly recorded the orders of Kano-Kō-ji, and then immediately went to pass them on.

Asahinazu Kuro suggested: "God General, I think the 55th Regiment fought too hard yesterday and the soldiers lacked effective rest. Of course, for them who occupied the position in Guanli Town, they can serve as the main attacking force in the early stage of combat, but after the 110 Regiment landed, we should let the 110 Regiment replace the 55th Regiment."

Kamio Mitsumon said thoughtfully: "The First 10th Regiment... Hirata Kotosen's Regiment, after all, they are troops of the Fifth Division. The original plan was to participate in the war as a reserve force, so that they could go to the battlefield as soon as they got off the ship, which would cause unnecessary gossip. What's more, the soldiers of the Hirata United also need to rest after getting off the ship. If it really doesn't work, the division headquarters and the Dongxiang United can be transferred to the front line."

Asahinazu Kuro immediately said: "But you, the Togo United is the headquarters garrison. If even the garrison troops are transferred to the front line, it would be inappropriate..."

Kamio Mitsumon smiled and said, "Since Hirata's corps has arrived, are you still worried that no one will guard the headquarters? The most important thing for us is to defeat the Laiyang defense line as soon as possible. Our pace has been slower!"
Chapter completed!