Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

An hour and a half passed quickly, however, the attacks from three directions did not result in any substantial breakthroughs.

They did not advance much and always kept a distance, as if their attack was blocked by the Japanese.

Of course, the casualties on the Japanese side continued to increase. During this period, the Japanese in the three directions suffered two to three thousand casualties.

This was mainly to delay time. If it were in the past, two hours would be enough for them to annihilate this group of devils.

In comparison, the casualties on the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army side were also quite serious.

"Division Commander, this enemy is really strong. In such a short time, we have suffered more than 2,000 casualties.

If the 16th Division hadn't come to support us, we would have been wiped out by the enemy within five hours!" The Japanese regiment commander couldn't help but say to Matsushita Renkyu!
He was really frightened by the enemy. In the past, how could they have suffered so many casualties in such a short period of time!
"Yes, I thought I had overestimated these enemies, but I didn't expect that I still underestimated them!" Matsushita Renkyu's expression was solemn.

"Division commander, I'm a little worried. Even if the 16th Division surrounds us, the enemy may not be annihilated!" The Japanese regiment commander expressed his concerns.

The combat effectiveness of this group of enemies is so strong that even if the 16th Division were to surround them, he didn't think the 16th Division would be able to annihilate them.

"Notify everyone and prepare to use poison gas bombs for a counterattack. Perhaps we can inflict heavy casualties on the enemy side." Matsushita Renkyu gave the order. He had previously thought of waiting for the 16th Division to surround them before launching poison gas bombs at the enemy. By then, they could annihilate this group of enemies.

But in the current situation, if the 16th Division arrives, there may not be many of them left. By then, once the enemy finds out that the 16th Division is coming, they will probably launch a general attack on them without caring about casualties.
Although the enemy's attack is quite fierce now, it is obvious that the enemy wants to rely on its own advantages to consume them. Therefore, they must guard against the enemy's general attack, lest they be unable to stop the enemy and let them escape from the encirclement, then their plan will really become a joke.

"Division Commander, if we launch poison gas bombs now, the enemy won't be scared away by us, right?!" The Japanese regiment commander couldn't help but worry.

If the enemy sees the lethality of poison gas bombs, they may choose to retreat directly. If so, their plan will fail.

"Don't worry. Although poison gas bombs are powerful, it is unlikely to scare away the Northeast Army. The battle has come to this point, and they will also think of annihilating us as revenge!" Matsushita Renkyu said confidently. These people are very vindictive.

"Hey!" Upon hearing this, the Japanese regiment commander immediately gave orders and asked someone to send telegrams to the commanders in the other two directions, telling them that they could use poison gas bombs.

.........

"Captain Xu, I think the Japanese are exhausted from defending. Should we launch a general attack? Let's take down the Japanese in one fell swoop!" Fang Ligong came to Xu Qingfeng and proposed.

"Chief of Staff Fang, it's not time for a general attack yet. Let's wait a little longer." Xu Qingfeng shook his head and explained, "The Japanese are still capable of fighting. Launching a general attack will easily increase casualties. These Japanese are already trapped in a jar. Don't worry!"

"Okay then!" Upon hearing this, Fang Ligong had no choice but to give up and ran back to Chu Yunfei.

"How about it, did Captain Xu agree?!" Chu Yunfei asked.

"No." Fang Ligong shook his head. He always felt that Xu Qingfeng and the others might have other plans hidden from them.

"Then don't push us anymore. Commander Xu will tell us when it's time to launch the general offensive." Chu Yunfei said. In the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, he was the only one who knew the specific situation.

Xu Qingfeng delayed launching the general attack in order to delay time and create opportunities for Li Jin.

"Yeah." Fang Ligong nodded.

.........

At this time, on the Japanese position, a group of Japanese soldiers had already started wearing gas masks. They planned to launch an attack after the poison gas bombs were fired at the enemy!
When these Japanese soldiers put on their gas masks, they finally started firing poison gas bombs.

One poison gas bomb after another fell towards the special operations regiment's position, but the shells did not explode.

"Why did the Japanese fire a bunch of duds at us?!" a soldier wondered, but soon, the shells began to emit thick smoke.

"Fuck! Damn, this is not a dud, it's a poison gas bomb! Be careful everyone." An old soldier from the laboratory recognized it immediately upon seeing it and gave a warning immediately.

Fortunately, they had put on gas masks before the battle, otherwise, once they inhaled the poison gas, their combat effectiveness would be damaged, and they might even die in pain.

After the poison gas covered the area, the Japanese were also watching.

Soon, they heard shrill screams.

The Japanese brigade commander suddenly became excited after hearing the scream.

"Launch a counterattack immediately and annihilate the enemy!" The Japanese brigade commander immediately gave the order.

All of a sudden, the Japanese soldiers wearing gas masks rushed out of their positions and headed towards Xu Qingfeng and the others.

However, all this was within Xu Qingfeng's expectations. The scream just now was deliberately made by him.

The purpose was to make the Japanese think that they had been trapped, so they would rush out of the trenches on their own initiative.

In this way, they would have the opportunity to inflict severe damage on the enemy and defeat the 20th Division, rendering it completely unorganized and unable to form a division.

In fact, they have the ability to annihilate this division, but if they annihilate it now, the 16th Division will retreat once they can't contact it. Now is not the time to annihilate it.

In fact, these poison gas bombs were the Japanese's way of seeking death, thinking that they could use them to make them lose their combat effectiveness. However, the Japanese did not know that they had gas masks and were waiting for the Japanese to attack.

As the Japanese rushed out of their positions and headed towards them, Xu Qingfeng decisively ordered the soldiers to open fire.

Da da da………

Bang bang bang…

Boom boom boom...

Suddenly, dense gunfire sounded, and the Japanese soldiers who were charging suffered heavy casualties.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Seeing this, a Japanese officer immediately issued an order to retreat. In the end, there were not many Japanese soldiers returning to the position.

"Baga! How is this possible?! How can they still be able to fight?! Is their willpower really that strong?!" The Japanese brigade commander couldn't help but curse. He thought he could kill the enemy by surprise, but he didn't expect that the enemy's attack would be so fierce as if he was not affected at all.

"Commander, the enemies are not all wearing gas masks, are they?! Otherwise, how could they not be affected?" said the Japanese regiment commander, expressing his guess.

"Impossible! There are many enemies attacking us. Even if they have seized a batch of gas masks, it is impossible to equip everyone with them!" The Japanese brigade commander directly denied it!

The enemy certainly cannot produce so many gas masks, so they can only equip some people. It seems that the enemy has made preventive preparations. "It is also possible that the time for these gas bombs to take effect is not that fast. We are a little too anxious and should wait a little longer!" The Japanese brigade commander said another possibility.

In comparison, he believes more in the latter possibility.

"What the brigade commander said is right." After hearing this, the Japanese regiment commander also agreed with this statement.

"Damn it, let's wait half an hour before attacking the enemy. This time we will definitely be able to inflict heavy damage on them!" the Japanese brigade commander cursed.

He was a little too hasty, which caused the troops to suffer heavy casualties in such a short period of time. Next time, he can't fight like this, or something bad will happen!

.........

At the same time, Matsushita Renkyu encountered the same situation. They also sent soldiers to charge at the enemy, but many of them were killed or injured by the enemy.

This made Matsushita Lianjiu very angry. He suspected that the quality of the poison gas bomb was not up to standard and that it took too long to take effect. Otherwise, how could the enemy still have such strong combat effectiveness!
"Division Commander, we are in trouble now. With the last wave of charge, our casualties have increased by 700 to 800 people. If this continues, the 16th Division will surround us, and we may not be able to stop the enemy's attack!" The Japanese regiment commander announced even worse news!

"Baga! Don't panic, send a telegram to other commanders and tell them not to charge towards the enemy anymore." Matsushita Renkyu said hurriedly. Although he suffered a little loss, he felt that the enemy must be in a bad situation as well.

The poison gas bombs will definitely affect the enemy's combat effectiveness. There will be no problem for them to hold out until the 16th Division comes to support them.

"Hi!" The Japanese captain hurried away.

.........

At this time, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army also discovered that the enemy was firing poison gas bombs at the Northeast Army.

The officer in charge was shocked when he saw this and hurried to report the situation to the commander.

"What?! Are you saying that the Japanese fired poison gas bombs at the Northeast Army's positions?! Is this true?" The commander was shocked and felt cold sweat on his back.

"General, it's true. If you don't believe it, you can go to the front and take a look. The positions of the Northeast Army and the 358th Regiment are still shrouded in poison gas!" said the officer.

"Damn it, isn't it going to be something bad for Chu Yunfei and the others?" The commander suddenly became anxious.

"It's possible. Why don't we take the opportunity to retreat? Otherwise, it would be bad if the Japanese turn around and attack us. While the Northeast Army is attracting firepower, we can completely withdraw!" said the officer. He felt that the Northeast Army and Chu Yunfei and his men were beyond saving.

Being covered by poisonous gas, the body will definitely have problems, affecting one's combat effectiveness.

"No, retreating is too big a matter. I have to call the commander and apply for permission first." The commander picked up the phone in front of him and started calling Commander Yan.

After waiting for a while, Commander Yan's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"What happened?!"

"Commander, the Japanese just fired poison gas bombs at the positions of the Northeast Army and the 358th Regiment. I suspect their combat effectiveness has been severely damaged.
We will probably be wiped out by the enemy soon, so I request a retreat now! To prevent the enemy from turning their guns against us!" the commander said hastily.

"What?! So serious?!" Commander Yan was actually somewhat happy when he heard this. He didn't expect that the Northeast Army would be tricked by the Japanese's poison gas bomb.

If this is the case, it would not be a big problem for them to choose to retreat. After all, they have already killed quite a few Japanese devils so far in the battle, so they have made a profit.

The key point is, if he could use this to inflict a complete blow to the Northeast Army, that would be a good thing for him, otherwise the other side would want to threaten him at every turn.

"Don't rush to retreat. I'll have someone send a telegram to Chu Yunfei to ask what's going on. If it's confirmed that the combat effectiveness of the Northeast Army has been damaged, retreat immediately!" Commander Yan hung up the phone after saying that.

He had to confirm it first. What if Mu Jin and the others were not affected and they just retreated like that, then they would really offend Mu Jin.

"Commander-in-Chief, what did the commander say?!"

"The commander said......" The commander told the story.

"Then let's wait a little longer." The officer nodded helplessly.

.........

In the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army Headquarters, Commander Yan could hardly suppress the smile.

"Commander, what good thing happened?! Could it be that the 20th Division was annihilated by the Northeast Army?!" Commander Zhang asked with some confusion after hearing this.

"No, just now..." Commander Yan revealed the news that the Japanese had launched poison gas bombs.

"Is this information reliable?!" Master Zhang was stunned when he heard this.

"I'm not sure, so you should quickly send a telegram to Chu Yunfei and ask what's going on." Commander Yan said.

"Okay." Commander Zhang did not dare to delay and immediately asked someone to send a telegram to Chu Yunfei to inquire about the situation.

The telegram came back a few minutes later, and he immediately took the telegram to report to Commander Yan.

"This Northeast Army actually has so many gas masks?!" Commander Yan fell into deep thought for a moment after reading the telegram.

"Yes, I think what Chu Yunfei said is true." Master Zhang said.

"I never thought that Mu Jin and his men would be able to produce so many gas masks." Commander Yan couldn't help but sigh. With the gas masks, it would be difficult for the Japanese to cause casualties to Mu Jin's troops, and they might even cause casualties to the Japanese in turn.

After all, the Japanese didn't know this and thought Mu Jin and his men had been tricked. Once they rushed over, there would be heavy casualties.

"Commander, if that's the case, can we buy some gas masks from Mu Jin?! To prevent us from encountering the Japanese's poison gas bombs in the future." Commander Zhang couldn't help but suggest after hearing this.

Even though they may not necessarily need to use gas masks, they cannot be without them.

"Wait a minute, why did Mu Jin and the others prepare so many gas masks? Did they know from the beginning that the Japanese were carrying poison gas bombs?!" Commander Yan reacted, and now he wanted to know what Mu Jin meant.

We clearly knew that the Japanese were carrying poison gas bombs, but we didn't tell them. Isn't this harming them?

(End of this chapter)