Songhu: Never Give Up

Sano Tadayoshi was also confused. Fortunately, a senior staff officer who rushed in helped him out. Sano signaled him to speak directly, and the senior staff officer quickly reported to Doihara Kenji:
"Your Excellency, the division commander, Lanfeng City was suddenly attacked by unknown armed forces, with a total force of over 10,000 people."

In order to stabilize the morale of the troops, Kenji Doihara said with a cold face:
"Baka, they are just a few petty thieves. How can there be tens of thousands of them? If you continue to lie about the military situation and disrupt the morale of the army, you will die!"

Kenji Doihara's words frightened the senior staff officer, who immediately bowed and admitted his mistake. Colonel Sano waved him away and said:

"Your Excellency, the commander of the division, it sounds like the person coming here is not a good person. We don't have any relevant intelligence. We must be cautious about this sudden uninvited guest."

Although Kenji Doihara said it lightly, Colonel Sano, who knew him well, knew that this matter must have aroused the high alert of the division commander. After all, this matter was beyond his control.

Kenji Doihara had seen a lot of things, after all, and said calmly:
"We still have the 2nd Brigade in the city to help defend it, so we won't be afraid even if thousands of Chinese come to attack.

The current enemy situation is unclear and it is pitch dark, so tell Ishiguro-kun to just hold the city defenses and not to attack rashly, lest he fall into the Chinese's trap of luring the tiger away from the mountain.

In addition, we must find out the specific number of the attacking enemy as soon as possible. I want to see who is the one who came to attack Lanfeng City. Do you really think that I, Kenji Doihara, am a vegetarian? "

Colonel Sano shouted and took the order and left. Although Kenji Doihara was a little shocked, he was not too worried. There was not only a main regiment in the city, but also a large number of technical troops who could take the field at the critical moment. A main regiment alone could block the attack of an entire Chinese army.

Kenji Doihara's courage to lead the 14th Division deep into the enemy's territory was not reckless, but confident. In addition to the fact that he was an expert on China, the strength of the 14th Division also gave him enough confidence.

The 14th Division was a permanent packhorse division with a normal strength of nearly 3 men. The Japanese learned the lesson of the Battle of Taierzhuang and strengthened the 14th Division to prevent it from being annihilated if it went deep into the enemy's territory alone.
The infantry was increased to 5 regiments, and the artillery was further strengthened to 5 regiments, including 2 regiments of the 4nd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade and the 8th Independent Field Heavy Artillery Regiment. Such heavy firepower configuration was terrifying. Only one heavy artillery regiment was left in Lanfeng City.

After being strengthened, the 14th Division had a total of more than 3.5 soldiers, and its firepower was strengthened several times. Its overall combat capability was not inferior to Xue Boling's First Corps, and its firepower was many times stronger.

Outside Lanfeng City, the First Detachment, with its powerful attack power, defeated an infantry battalion that Kenji Doihara had placed on guard outside the city, and killed more than 500 enemies.

Kenji Doihara was also careless this time. He assigned the other four regiments with corresponding artillery and sent them all out, leaving only one infantry regiment and one heavy artillery regiment with him. Most of these troops were deployed in the city.

The first team, under the cover of darkness, quietly approached the enemy's defense zone and launched a fierce attack from three directions;
First, the artillery battalion was used to destroy the Miyazaki Battalion's headquarters, causing its command system to fall into chaos and causing heavy casualties to the troops.

Then three battalions of infantry launched an attack from the artillery points, and soon broke through the weak defense line of the Japanese, and the two sides fought each other;
There were only a few hundred Japanese soldiers left, and they were naturally no match for the 3 elite soldiers from three battalions of the First Detachment. They were quickly defeated, and the remnants retreated back to Lanfeng City.

Zhu Chi then ordered the artillery battalion to concentrate its firepower on shelling the South City, which soon created a gap of several dozen meters and forced the Japanese in the South City to retreat into the urban area.

In order to create enough chaos, Zhu Chi sent a small number of troops to launch a feint attack on several other city gates to attract the enemy's troops.

At the 14th Division Headquarters, as the South City was breached, bad news came one after another. Kenji Doihara was no longer as calm as before. He did not expect that the Chinese offensive would be so fierce that the South City was breached in less than two hours;
Kenji Doihara felt very frustrated. All his defenses were on the periphery. He was helpless against the Chinese troops who suddenly approached him, and the heavy artillery regiment was just a decoration.

“Your Excellency, the enemy in the south city has already broken into the city, and the warriors have suffered heavy casualties;
The East City and the West City are also under attack. Lanfeng City can no longer be defended. Let's break out to the north!" Colonel Sano suggested anxiously. Although there was a heavy artillery regiment in the city, the attacking troops had already entered the city. The artillery had lost its effect. The remaining 2,000 people could not hold out until the reinforcements arrived.

Kenji Doihara was a veteran general in the Japanese army. He could naturally understand the current situation. The current division headquarters was the biggest burden.

The 2nd Regiment had to defend the city while protecting the division headquarters and the artillery regiment. It was simply not enough to cope with it and there was a risk of being wiped out at any time.

The suddenly appearing Chinese troops were like Monkey King who had entered Princess Iron Fan's belly. Even with his palm-leaf fan, Kenji Doihara couldn't do anything to him.

Kenji Doihara has always been a decisive person. Although abandoning Lanfeng City is very disadvantageous to the subsequent operations of the 14th Division, he still decisively issued an order to break out, and then added:
"Before breaking out, we must blow up the heavy artillery and supplies that cannot be taken away, and we must not leave them to the Chinese!

Order the 2nd Regiment to cover the rear, and the Division Headquarters and Heavy Artillery Regiment to break out of the North City immediately, quickly."

At the First Brigade Field Command, Zhu Chi, who had played all his cards, could only wait quietly for the end;

This time, in the attack on Lanfeng City, he acted out of character and put all his chips on the line from the beginning.

After defeating the Japanese soldiers on guard outside the city, they concentrated all the troops and firepower of the detachment to attack the South City with all their strength;

With the most resolute attack, we broke into the city in a very short time, putting enough pressure on the Japanese and forcing them to make the wrong decision.

His attack power had no sustainability at all. In order to break through the South City, he almost used up all his artillery shells. Now they were pure infantry with only some 40 rockets left.

When he saw Deputy Captain Hua Pinzhang walking in excitedly, he could not help but let out a long sigh of relief, and sat down on the ammunition box in a very ungraceful manner, waiting for Hua Pinzhang to report the victory to him.

"Senior, the main force of the Japanese broke out from the north city. The old Japanese was also a ruthless person. Before leaving, he blew up the heavy artillery and the baggage that could not be taken away, leaving us with only an empty city.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions are chasing the remaining Japanese soldiers, and the 3rd Battalion has taken control of the city defenses and is currently eliminating the scattered Japanese soldiers in the city."

Zhu Chi excitedly jumped up from the ammunition box and praised loudly:
"It's enough to control the city defenses. What I want is Lanfeng City. There are only two or three hours left until dawn. We must end the fighting in the city and clean up the battlefield.
All Japanese weapons and ammunition must be retained so that they can be used in emergencies once the German weapons and ammunition are used up.

Inform the 2nd Battalion to withdraw to Lanfeng City to assist in the defense. The 1st Battalion will be responsible for the defense outside the city and repair the fortifications as soon as possible to prevent the Japanese from counterattacking after daybreak. "

(End of this chapter)