People are shining their swords, secretly helping the Iron Triangle in Northwest Shanxi

The sky gradually became brighter. At this time, Major General Shigemori Sakuma of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade of the Japanese Army personally directed the battle.

The remaining 28 75MM cavalry field guns of the cavalry artillery wing and the remaining 42 tanks and armored vehicles of the armored force were quickly assembled.

Five hundred Japanese cavalry troops temporarily stayed in Hanoi County to serve as security guards, and more than 4000 troops from two puppet cavalry divisions were fully assembled.

Sakuma Shigemori prepared to use Japanese artillery units to carry out intensive bombardment, and then use armored units to launch an attack, thereby breaking through a new group of blocks.

As long as the armored troops opened a gap, more than 4000 puppet cavalry troops would swarm forward and quickly break through the position.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the Japanese Cavalry Artillery Regiment began its artillery bombardment.

A large number of artillery shells were fired crazily towards the positions on the south side of Huaiqing City, and deafening explosions continued to sound.

The artillery troops continued their shelling, and tanks and armored vehicles of the Japanese armored forces advanced rapidly.

After reaching a certain range, the 57MM tank gun of the Type 37 tank and the [-]MM tank gun of the Type [-] tank also fired.

Dense artillery shells covered the battlefield and bombarded it, and the air near the battlefield began to become hot for a moment.

Thick smoke filled the position, and countless shrapnel quickly spread in all directions.

There were craters everywhere in the position, and the little devil's tanks and armored vehicles accelerated their advance.

Hundreds of puppet cavalry troops followed behind these tanks and armored vehicles.

As for the main force of the puppet army, about 4000 cavalrymen were scattered at the rear and were on standby.

As long as the Japanese armored forces break through the position, they will swarm forward and completely eliminate all the soldiers here.

Li Yunlong, who was responsible for commanding the operations, had already noticed the movements of the Japanese and puppet troops and promptly determined the main attack direction of the Japanese and puppet troops.

He quickly adjusted his deployment and strengthened defense deployment south of Huaiqing City.

The main [-]st, [-]nd and [-]rd battalions of the new regiment, the artillery battalion, and the Bofors Mountain artillery battalion sent by Chen Ziyun to support were all gathered here on the south side.

Three infantry battalions and two artillery battalions built defensive positions at different locations to strengthen defense in depth.

Deputy commander Xing Zhiguo commanded the 11th Battalion and the [-]th Battalion to station in Huaiqing City for defense.

The cavalry battalion is deployed in the area north of Huaiqing City and serves as a mobile force and reserve force.

Of course, this cavalry battalion is not the new regiment cavalry battalion organized by Li Yunlong, but the cavalry battalion of the 201st Division Guard Regiment.

This cavalry battalion has four cavalry companies and one machine gun company, with a total strength of about 1000 people.

Currently, the cavalry battalion of the guard regiment is commanded by deputy battalion commander Xie Yunxia, ​​who comes directly to assist in the operation.

The cavalry battalion of the new regiment is commanded by Sun Desheng. It is currently stationed in Huaiqing City. They only have more than 300 cavalry troops.

"Hehehe, did you see that, the little devil's iron bastard is here."

"A few years ago, when I saw this thing, I had to evacuate the battlefield immediately."

"Why? I don't have any weapons to deal with it."

"Rifle and light machine gun bullets will only make a sound when they hit them, but they will not be able to cause any harm to them at all."

"Heavy machine guns and 60MM mortars, there is nothing we can do against them."

"But things are different now. We have weapons that can deal with these iron bastards."

"Now that the Iron Bastards see our troops, they must turn around and evacuate."

Li Yunlong had already arrived at the front line. Looking at the approaching Japanese armored troops, he said with a confident expression on his face.

The machine gun companies under the three infantry battalions can currently produce twelve 37MM flat-fire cannons.

These flat-firing cannons are capable of firing armor-piercing explosive shells!

There is absolutely no way for these flat-fire cannons to deal with foreign tanks.

But there is absolutely no problem in dealing with thin-skinned tanks like the Little Devils.

What's more, behind them, there are twelve Bofors mountain cannons transferred from the mountain artillery regiment. These mountain cannons are equipped with armor-piercing shells.

At a certain distance, it is definitely no problem to penetrate the Little Devil tank and armored vehicle.

Even the Type [-] infantry guns and Jinzooshan guns equipped by the artillery battalion of the New Regiment can also pose a certain threat to the Little Devil tanks.

So facing these armored troops, Li Yunlong didn't panic at all.

At about [-]:[-], under the unified command of Li Yunlong, the artillery units of various units opened fire one after another.

Artillery such as the Fengzhi flat-fire artillery, Bofors mountain artillery, Shanxi mountain artillery, and Type [-] infantry artillery began to fire armor-piercing explosive shells, armor-piercing shells and other artillery shells.

Artillery shells hit Japanese tanks and armored vehicles one after another. In an instant, more than a dozen tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed in an instant.

A Japanese lieutenant colonel who was commanding the operation had a surprised expression on his face when he saw this scene.

He had no idea that these Tuba Road could assemble such a large number of artillery.

The Japanese Lieutenant Colonel almost did not hesitate and immediately issued a retreat order.

More than 20 tanks and armored vehicles rushed to evacuate, and the hundreds of puppet cavalry following them were completely exposed.

The troops of the third battalion concentrated fire and started shooting, with dense bullets and grenades hitting the puppet troops.

Many war horses were knocked down in an instant, and countless cavalry fell to the ground one by one.

Not long after, there was a chorus of painful wails.

Seeing this scene, Sakuma Shigemori looked gloomy and immediately issued an order asking the artillery unit to continue firing.

The cavalry artillery regiment hurriedly launched fire suppression, and the puppet cavalry troops began to attack in accordance with the order.

Li Yunlong commanded the troops to hold their positions and launch tenacious defensive operations. The troops from both sides fought repeatedly in the area south of Huaiqing City.

By ten o'clock in the morning, the Little Japanese Air Force arrived on the battlefield.

Six bombers began to carry out carpet bombing on Huaiqing City, and aerial bombs fell on the ground one after another.

With the deafening explosion, the new regiment and other troops suffered casualties.

The Japanese and puppet troops took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack in an attempt to make a quick breakthrough.

But at this time, Chen Ziyun commanded the guard regiment and the main force of the mountain artillery regiment launched combat operations.

They attacked from the high ground on the north side and attacked Hanoi County with all their strength.

The mountain artillery regiment assembled twelve 105-type mountain guns and eight [-]MM Shanxi orogenic guns for bombardment.

The guard regiment fought against the artillery battalion, the machine gun battalion, and the guard battalion alternately covered the advance and attacked with all their strength.

After Colonel Kimura and Colonel Nakagawa discovered the presence of troops on the north side, they immediately organized their troops to attack.

They wanted to take advantage of the rapid maneuverability of the cavalry to disrupt the attack of the guard regiment.

However, the number of cavalry they can mobilize is too small now. With [-] cavalry remaining in Hanoi County, they certainly cannot attack all.

The two colonel captains could only command three hundred cavalry to attack. Naturally, these three hundred cavalry could not concentrate their attack, otherwise they would be attacked intensively by artillery.

Three hundred cavalry advanced in three lines, hoping to spread the firepower of the attacking troops.

However, the light and heavy machine guns of the machine gun battalion kept firing, and the soldiers of the guard battalion stopped advancing on the spot.Intensive firepower hit the Japanese cavalry troops, and the little Japanese cavalry continued to suffer casualties.

The cavalrymen were shot one after another.

At eleven o'clock, only a few dozen of the three hundred cavalrymen fled back to Hanoi County.

Colonel Kimura and Colonel Nakagawa did not dare to delay, and hurriedly started to generate electricity and reported to the brigade commander Sakuma Shigemori.

Sakuma Shigemori knew that Kawachi Prefecture had been attacked, so he was forced to stop the attack and quickly brought his troops back.

After all, there are many wounded people here in Hanoi County, as well as their combat supplies.

If this place is captured, they will lose everything.

At twelve o'clock at noon, Sakuma Shigemori led his troops back to Hanoi County.

At this time, the Japanese and puppet cavalry troops of more than 1 people had already suffered heavy casualties.

The most important thing is that the road they retreated to the east was completely blocked, and they were surrounded.

Of course, they can advance towards the north, but the north is high ground, which is not conducive to a quick breakthrough of their cavalry troops.

What's more, they still have a large number of wounded here. They can ignore the wounded of the puppet army, but the wounded of the Japanese army definitely need treatment.

Especially the cavalry. Among the various arms of the Little Devil, the cavalry is a very noble existence.

You can't walk on the high ground in the north, the road in the east is blocked, the Yellow River is in the south, and you can't walk here in the west.

After all, the two cavalry detachments were severely damaged in Wangwu Town to the west. If they went west, it would be a dead end.

"Bagaya Road, are we going to be completely trapped by them here?"

"What is going on? Why is the number of enemy troops in northern Henan increasing rapidly?"

"And their weapons and equipment have been greatly improved. Their number of heavy weapons has obviously increased a lot."

"This battle does not mean that the 201st Division suffered heavy losses. The independent detachment also suffered certain casualties."

"Why does the new regiment of the independent detachment have more than 5000 troops?"

In Hanoi County, here at the brigade headquarters of the Japanese Cavalry Fourth Brigade, Sakuma Shigema was furious.

His eyes were red, he clenched his fists with both hands, beat the table hard, and roared loudly.

The Japanese and puppet army officers gathered at the brigade headquarters were frightened. They all lowered their heads and did not dare to answer at all.

In particular, the two captains of the Osaka Alliance were hiding behind, fearing that they would be seen by Sakuma Shigemori.

After all, until now, more than 2000 Japanese cavalry have suffered heavy losses and have almost completely lost their combat effectiveness.

Colonel Kimura and Colonel Nakagawa must be directly responsible.

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, according to the previous report, Chen Ziyun and Li Yunlong are currently commanding the troops to enter the northern Henan region."

"Li Yunlong is a strong man on Tubal Road. He has performed amazingly in several previous battles."

"Chen Ziyun is even called the number one leader in the Jinsui Army. The achievements of Chu Yunfei's troops are entirely due to him."

"These two men successively annihilated three divisions of the Imperial Association Army in the northern Henan region and seized a large amount of weapons and equipment."

"And they have recruited a certain number of Imperial Alliance troops, thus increasing their own strength."

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, judging from the current situation, it is almost impossible for us to rely on our own strength to break through."

"We... we can only continue to send electricity to contact the front army headquarters and request the front army headquarters to give tactical guidance."

The Lieutenant Colonel and Chief of Staff of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade hesitated for a moment. He looked at Sakuma Shigemori in front of him and said.

Sakuma Shigemori frowned tightly when he heard this.

After taking a deep breath, Sakuma Shigemori looked helpless and directly arranged for the communications troops to continue to contact the front army headquarters.

But now, the 33rd Division and the 27th Division deployed by the Little Devils to fight in the Zhongtiao Mountain area have been withdrawn one after another.

One of these two divisions withdrew to the Jinzhong area to rest and recuperate, and the other withdrew to Hebei Province to rest and recuperate.

At the same time, the 21st Division in the Zhongtiao Mountain area has also begun to withdraw from the battlefield.

The North China Front Army Headquarters temporarily stopped fighting when there was no absolute chance of victory.

It is almost difficult for troops such as the Fourth Cavalry Brigade to get support.

After all, the front-line defenses in Jiangcheng, Jincheng, and Yangcheng to the north of Zhongtiao Mountain are entirely puppet troops.

The First and Second Divisions of the Imperial Association Army were hit to varying degrees, and it was difficult for them to mobilize troops to assist the Fourth Cavalry Brigade in breaking out.

Even if these puppet troops can send troops to attack, they will only go out to kill people and will not gain anything.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the North China Front Army Headquarters received a message from Sakuma Shigemori.

Okamura Neiji was inevitably a little displeased. After all, the Fourth Cavalry Brigade attacked completely without permission and did not say hello at all.

If they get results from this attack, then forget it. However, now they are under siege and may be annihilated at any time.

This situation made Okamura Neji very unhappy, and he also had great complaints against Sakuma Shigemori.

"What a fool. The 33rd Division attacked without authorization and caused such a large-scale battle, but we failed to win."

"They even attacked without permission, which led to such a passive situation. Sakuma Shigemori, this idiot, must bear full responsibility."

"A cavalry force of more than 1 people has suffered such losses. It is almost impossible for us to continue to organize such a number of cavalry."

"On the contrary, whether it is the 201st Division or an independent detachment, they will take the opportunity to expand."

"The Fourth Cavalry Brigade not only failed to achieve any results, but actually made the enemy stronger."

Okamura Neji stood in front of the map, with an angry look on his face, and said directly.

Tanabe Moritake and Arisu Seizo stood aside with their staff, their expressions solemn.

They can understand Okamura Neji's anger.

But they also know that the most important thing right now is how to support them and break out.

After all, in the Zhongtiao Mountain battle, various divisions suffered varying degrees of losses, and the puppet troops suffered heavy casualties.

If a Japanese cavalry brigade and two puppet cavalry divisions were annihilated again, the impact would be unimaginable.

"Your Excellency, Commander, should we arrange for the 21st Division to stop withdrawing and let them assist the [-]th Cavalry Brigade in breaking out?"

"In addition, the 41st Division in southeastern Shanxi can also mobilize troops and assign them to the First and Second Divisions of the Imperial Association Army to go south for reinforcements."

"If these cavalry units are completely annihilated on the battlefield, our losses in this battle will be too great."

Tanabe Moritake looked at Okamura Neji and made a direct suggestion.

Okamura Neji glanced at the map with a thoughtful expression on his face.

After pondering for a long time, he shook his head and rejected Tanabe Moritake's suggestion.

The troops of the 21st Division will continue to withdraw. They will take a detour and enter the northern Henan area to rest and recuperate. (End of chapter)