Chapter 93: Road to Death (Please Collect the Red Ticket)

In the Ximu City government office, although there were cannons roaring over the moat, Feng Sheng'a sat calmly, without a trace of panic on his face, and the same was true for Nie Guilin, who was sitting opposite him.

Both of them drank tea calmly.

"I heard that the Japanese 19th and 7th Regiments both went to Yushu Fort." Feng Sheng'a sipped his tea, put it down and said calmly.

"Wei Jichen has stirred up a hornet's nest. I heard that he cut off the Japanese head in Mayang Town not long ago and built a Jingguan." Nie Guilin had obviously inquired about this matter.

Feng Sheng'a showed a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth, and said softly: "Young people just like to show off, and now they have tasted the bitterness of showing off."

"General, if it weren't for Wei Jichen's love of showing off, how could my Ximu City be spared, so we have to thank him for his love of showing off." Nie Guilin touched the end of the teacup and said with a smile.

"In this case, Wei Jichen doesn't need us to take special care of him. Three days later, we will withdraw from Ximu City, and Wei Jichen and the Japanese will fight to the death." Feng Sheng'a said with a gloomy face.

Nie Guilin thought about it and said with some worry: "I'm just afraid that someone will gossip and talk about the general behind his back for not saving the dying and ignoring the friendly army."

Feng Sheng'a frowned, tapped a few fingers on the table, and then said: "Not saving the dying? Didn't I just send a battalion of Yi Army to support not long ago? Ignore the friendly army? When we retreated three days later, we notified all the armies, including Wei Jichen's Weizi Army, that 'the enemy is strong, in order to preserve strength for another battle, all armies will break out on their own'. In this way, he is incompetent and can't escape the encirclement of the Japanese. What does it have to do with us?"

Nie Guilin was about to speak, but a soldier reported that Ma Jinxu wanted to see him.

Feng Sheng'a was interrupted and showed a trace of impatience on his face. He raised his hand and said, "Let him in."

"Yes!"

Ma Jinxu walked in and saw the two old guys still drinking tea leisurely. You can imagine how annoyed he was. He thought that the war was in full swing and his soldiers were fighting bloody battles.

"General, the 17th Regiment is attacking fiercely. I hope you can send reinforcements." Ma Jinxu came to ask for help, so he had to speak humbly.

Feng Sheng'a touched his beard and said unhappily, "Why do you say that, Lord Ma? Not long ago, you had some soldiers to support Yushu Fort, but now you are asking me for help?"

"General, the enemy is attacking me alone, and I am really incapable of it. If the Japanese attack the city, I will be blamed even if I die a thousand times." Ma Jinxu said with a hint of meaning.

Feng Sheng thought that he still had to defend the city for two or three days. If Ma Jinxu's side was really breached, he would have to flee in a hurry. No, he had to send some reinforcements.

"In that case," Feng Sheng'a pondered for a moment, and then said: "I will support you with another battalion of troops. If there are more, I can't do anything. If the city is broken, don't blame my men for being merciless."

"Thank you, General!" Ma Jinxu clasped his fists and continued: "General, the Japanese are now attacking Yushu Fort with all their strength. Should the city send a reinforcement to attack them?"

Feng Sheng'a glanced at Ma Jinxu lightly, his face sank, and he scolded: "You are confused. Is Ximu City more important or Yushu Fort more important? As long as Ximu City is defended, it doesn't matter if Yushu Fort is lost. If this is a Japanese trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain, once I send troops, the Japanese will surround and attack the reinforcements. How can I defend the city? Can I rely on the civilians in the city who have not left?"

Feng Sheng'a's retort made Ma Jinxu speechless, and he had to turn around and leave in depression. Fortunately, he still accomplished one thing.

"Zijie, everything depends on you. I can't do anything." Ma Jinxu walked out of the door and sighed deeply.

At the headquarters of the 3rd Division, Katsura Taro looked at the battle intelligence sent from below, his face was almost cold enough to condense water, and the staff around him dared not approach.

"Baga, a small Yushu Fort, our army suffered such heavy losses, and we haven't made any progress yet." Katsura Taro slammed his hand on the table and said angrily.

After an afternoon of fighting, the Wei army repelled the Japanese attacks several times and firmly controlled the front line outside the first line of defense. Katsura Taro saw that the number of his own soldiers who had lost their combat effectiveness on the east and west fronts had reached more than 600 people, and of course he would be furious.

"Pass my order to Osako Naotoshi and Yamamura Ken, be sure to break through the first line of defense of Yushu Fort before the sun sets, and make preliminary preparations for the attack at night." Katsura Taro's closed eyes suddenly opened and ordered loudly.

Katsura Taro decided to attack at night, on the one hand because the Chinese army was not strong enough. After half a day of fighting, they must be exhausted at night, and Katsura Taro still had a reserve force at hand. On the other hand, if the attack was carried out at night, the sharpshooters in the Wei army would definitely lose their effectiveness.

In the battle just this afternoon, the lower-level officers of the 7th and 19th Regiments suffered heavy losses, which was also the reason why they could not break through the first line of defense of Yushubao.

Osako Naotoshi and Yamamura Ken, who received Katsura Taro's death order, were also ready to fight for their lives this time.

Yamamura Ken, the commander of the 19th Regiment, personally held a knife and prepared to lead the attack. It was not that he did not know that the enemy had sharpshooters who specialized in dealing with his own officers, but that he really had no other choice. The two captains on his side had died, leaving only one captain who dared not move after running halfway every time he charged.

Yamamura Ken asked the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment to aim all the muzzles at one place. This time they only bombed a point on the forward position of Yushu Fort. He did not believe that the Chinese army's fortifications would be so strong.

As Yamamura Ken gave the order, thousands of bombs were fired suddenly, falling at the same place. Although there would be some error in the landing distance, there would always be a large number of bombs falling together.

Boom, boom.

White light flashed, and pieces of land were leveled, and huge craters appeared on the Chinese positions.

Wei Jichen was hiding in the air-raid shelter. Although his ears were stuffed with cotton wool, he was almost stunned by the momentum.

Swish, swish, a large amount of soil shook out from the air-raid shelter, and there was another bang. The ground shook, like a big earthquake, creaking, and a support wood finally couldn't bear it and broke.

The entire air raid shelter was crumbling, with countless rocks and soil falling straight down.

Ahem,…

Wei Jichen buried his head in his arms to prevent head injury.

"Sir!" Wang Huaiqing, who was staying with him, shouted and suddenly threw himself on him, protecting him tightly. Then Wei Jichen only heard a crash and a pile of mud and rocks crashed down.

The Japanese artillery regiment bombarded continuously for nearly half an hour before giving up. Wei Jichen, who was shocked and dizzy, finally woke up.

He saw that he and Wang Huaiqing had been completely buried in the mud.

"Huaiqing." Wei Jichen stretched out his hand and pushed upwards, exclaiming.

"Sir, are you okay?" Wang Huaiqing asked aloud as he squeezed out from behind.

Wei Jichen felt relieved and said, "It's okay, I thought we were buried alive."

The two people got out of the dirt pile and saw everything they could see. After countless bombings throughout the afternoon, and this prolonged bombing, countless air-raid shelters that had many functions had been bombed and collapsed.

Some soldiers were emerging from the air-raid shelters with disgrace, but there was no movement from some air-raid shelters.

"Sir!" Cheng Bushi limped over with a few scratches on his face.

Wei Jichen glanced around and said, "Save people and retreat to the second line of defense."

The sergeants who were buried alive in the air-raid shelter were either stunned or lost the ability to move. Very few of them were directly killed, so Wei Jichen immediately issued an order to save them.

The uninjured sergeants acted quickly, first using a shovel, and then digging carefully with their hands. Not long after, each of the sergeants was rescued and hurriedly carried to the rear for treatment.

Wei Jichen glanced at the bombed-out place, then looked at the Japanese soldiers in front of the position who were charging like ghosts and howling like wolves. He turned around with the remaining soldiers and headed for the second defense circle.

Kill, Yamamura Ken is already ready to smash the jade into pieces. He holds the command sword high and follows the flag guard, which greatly boosts the morale of the Japanese army.

Yamamura Ken directed the soldiers towards the defense line that had just been bombed. To his surprise, there was really little resistance from the enemy positions.

Yoxi, I’ll see if you’re still alive this time.

Like locusts, the Japanese soldiers quickly rushed into the trenches and occupied them almost effortlessly. Ken Yamamura was overjoyed and jumped in quickly. Seeing the trenches that were bumpy and uneven due to bombing, he couldn't help but smile and said to the soldiers: " Continue the pursuit and take advantage of the victory to capture the Chinese second line of defense."

"Colonel, we found several passages, and there were guns and ammunition left by the Qing army in the passages. It seems that they retreated from here, and they retreated in an extremely embarrassing manner." A sergeant reported to Yamamura Ken.

"Pursue, chase from here." Yamamura Ken urged in a surprised voice, as if he was afraid that these passages would disappear all of a sudden.

It is unknown how many people will be lost in attacking from the ground, but from this passage deep into the enemy's hinterland, especially when the enemy has just suffered heavy losses, it may be possible to achieve miraculous results.

After hearing Ken Yamamura's order, more than two hundred soldiers ducked into the passage without hesitation. Just as Ken Yamamura was about to go in, he suddenly heard an earth-shattering bombing sound.

With a rumble, the passage immediately collapsed, and more than two hundred Japanese soldiers were buried alive inside.

It turned out that Wei Jichen had people bury a large amount of explosives in the passage. As soon as the observing sergeant saw the Japanese following, he ordered people to light the explosives, killing countless Japanese at once.

Yamamura Ken glanced at the deeply sunk surface with lingering fear. The lower body of a soldier was still outside, but the upper body was buried in it. Yamamura Ken had someone drag him, and only half of his body was pulled out.

If he hadn't been a step too late just now, Yu Shai might have been here. Yamamura Ken no longer dared to be careless. This Elm Castle was full of traps, and every step was a crisis.