roccoschili Chapter 237 Fierce Offensive on the Western Front: Encirclement and Annihilation of the Japanese Arm
Chapter 237 Fierce Offensive on the Western Front: Encirclement and Annihilation of the Japanese Arm
"Keep killing!!! Kill them all!!!"
Qiu Qingquan roared with an almost ferocious expression, issuing new combat orders.
With his roar, the First Army's tank convoy started up again and sped off towards Fenshuiting Township.
On the front lines of the Shihe River, Sun Lianzhong and Zhang Zizhong's troops quickly received the news.
Quanhepu Town was successfully captured, and Qiu Qingquan's tank convoy was rushing towards the flank and rear of the Japanese army in Fenshuiting Township at full speed.
The two generals exchanged a glance, both seeing the determination to fight a decisive battle in each other's eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation, they decisively issued the order for a full-scale offensive.
The Nationalist soldiers, who had been waiting in ambush, charged out of their trenches with shouts and launched another tidal wave of attacks on the Japanese positions in Fenshuiting Township.
The battle cries shook the heavens and mingled with the distant roar of tanks, becoming a death knell for the Japanese army.
The Japanese troops in Fenshuiting Township were completely panicked at this moment.
Their retreat has been completely cut off, and a fierce tank force of unknown origin is rapidly advancing from the east.
They could be surrounded in the Fenshuiting Township area at any moment, facing a desperate situation of total annihilation.
One distress telegram after another flew like snowflakes to the headquarters of the Japanese 8th Brigade on the east bank of the Shi River.
Sei Takehira looked at the urgent telegram in his hand, his face ashen, and his gaze turned icy as he looked at the chief of staff beside him.
"What about Saito's troops? Were they all wiped out?"
The brigade chief of staff looked flustered, bowed as he replied, his voice trembling.
"That must be it. We've called several times in a row, but there's been no response."
"Their last telegram said that the outer defenses had been completely breached by the enemy, and a large number of tanks had rushed into the town."
Upon hearing these words, Sei Takehira knew that the troops in Fenshuiting Township were completely in dire straits.
He slammed his hand on the table and demanded sharply, "Do we still have any mobile troops we can deploy?"
"That's all, Brigade Commander!" The chief of staff's voice was filled with despair.
"All available troops have been deployed to the attack on Madian Town."
"We have no more soldiers left to send to support Fenshuiting Township."
Sei Takehira stared intently at the battle map on the wall, his chest heaving violently.
He knew that Fenshuiting Township could no longer be defended, and there was no point in the troops continuing to hold out there.
After a long silence, he finally gritted his teeth and spoke with difficulty:
"Order the troops in Fenshuiting Township to immediately break through towards Madian Town!"
"After breaking through, rebuild the defensive line in the Ansan area and stabilize the situation!"
He knew better than anyone that if this unit were completely annihilated, then the Japanese army would only have his lone infantry regiment left west of Madian Town.
At that time, they will face an enemy force several times their size, as well as a large number of enemy armored units.
The final outcome is self-evident.
"Hai!!!"
The chief of staff immediately bowed in response and turned to quickly convey the order to break out.
But breaking through at this time is easier said than done.
The Japanese troops in Fenshuiting Township had just withdrawn from their positions and camps and were beginning to march eastward when they ran into Qiu Qingquan's tank convoy.
One flare after another shot into the night sky, illuminating the entire wilderness as if it were daytime.
The movements of the Japanese troops were laid bare under the pale light, completely exposed to the tank convoy.
The Nationalist soldiers on the tanks saw the Japanese soldiers, and the Japanese soldiers naturally saw the steel behemoths charging towards them.
They could even clearly see that the tracks of those tanks were still mixed with flesh and rags, and the armor of the tanks was covered with dried blood.
These chariots had just fought their way out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in Quanhepu Town.
Now, they are charging towards them at full speed, fueled by overwhelming rage and killing intent.
Looking at the scene before him, the Japanese commander felt nothing but boundless despair.
But he still drew his katana from his waist in a flash and roared hysterically at the chariots in front of him.
"Damn it, Black Card!!! Banzai!!!!"
But his orders to charge seemed so ridiculous and powerless in the face of the steel torrent.
"Da da da!!! Boom boom boom!!!!
Almost simultaneously, the machine guns and tank cannons mounted on tanks and armored vehicles roared deafeningly.
Bullets and shells intertwined to form a deadly net, raining down on the charging Japanese soldiers.
Explosions, the sound of bullets piercing bodies, and piercing screams echoed across the wilderness.
Qiu Qingquan had completely lost his mind at this point. His voice was hoarse from shouting, but he continued to roar.
"Kill!!! Keep killing!!! Kill them all!!!"
While the tank convoy was slaughtering the main Japanese force, the Northwest Army and Central Army infantry following behind had also broken into the Japanese rearguard positions.
"Pfft!!!"
That was the muffled sound of bayonets piercing the abdomens of Japanese soldiers, echoing continuously across the battlefield.
Like a tsunami, the Nationalist soldiers stormed into the Japanese positions, relying on their overwhelming numerical superiority.
In a very short time, they cleared out the remaining Japanese troops on the position and then pursued them relentlessly.
At this moment, the main force of the Japanese army was completely blocked by the tank convoy and could not break through to the east even a step.
The pursuing Nationalist soldiers gave them no chance to catch their breath.
Just as the Japanese troops in front were attempting to break through the tank convoy's encirclement with a suicide charge, the infantry behind them had already attacked.
Bullets rained down like a storm, relentlessly spraying bullets towards the area where the besieged Japanese troops were located.
Not only that, the Nationalist army's artillery units also quickly followed up.
Mortars, field guns, mountain guns—all artillery capable of long-range firing—were aimed at the area where the Japanese troops were located, continuously unleashing a barrage of shells.
This reinforced Japanese regiment of more than 3,000 men was completely surrounded in a square area less than two kilometers wide.
They had no proper cover and could only watch helplessly as bullets and shells continued to take their lives.
Ahead of them, Qiu Qingquan's convoy continued to rumble forward.
The tracks rolled over the bodies of Japanese soldiers killed by machine gun fire during the charge without stopping for a moment.
Finally, the Japanese regimental commander realized that if things continued like this, the entire army would be wiped out.
With red eyes, he gave his final order: "Disperse and break out! Everyone disperse and break out! Break out to the east!!!"
After the order was given, he jumped onto an armored vehicle first, intending to use it to break out of the encirclement.
Before the armored vehicle could advance very far, a tank shell struck it squarely.