For safety reasons, Kawaguchi Heiji did not order an attack throughout the morning.
Even though the bombers of the Aviation Corps arrived, Kawaguchi Heiji still did not order the attack.
After all, the aircraft at this time were no better than those of later generations. Due to the lack of communication equipment, instant communication between ground and air was not possible, so the ground infantry could not guide the bombers in the sky to bomb the ground, so the Japanese bombers could only drop bombs visually, which forced They can only select large and valuable targets.
The reason why Kawaguchi Heiji is so cautious is actually completely reasonable, because if he launches an attack rashly, he needs to take a lot of risks. What if the Dameishan Independent Regiment really plants a big bomb in Shangsha Bridge, or something else? What kind of trap, the Japanese army will pay an unimaginable price.
When the artillery arrives, it can fully cover the independent regiment's sniper fire. At that time, the Japanese army will not have to take any risks.
Therefore, Kawaguchi Heiji would rather wait for a long time than rush forward.
At 15:50 in the morning, six fighter-bombers taking off from Nanjing and Feicheng airports flew over Meizhen one after another, and then launched a visual bombing of Meizhen. The Japanese also wanted to carry out a large-scale bombing of Meizhen, but as a The value of Meizhen as a tactical target was too low. Six fighter-bomber sorties and a dozen aerial bombs were sent out, which was already the limit. After all, Japan's aerial bombs were not blown by strong winds.
What was thrown was not just bombs, but also money.
An ordinary aerial bomb is worth several thousand yen.
What's more, the fuel required to dispatch a bomber is even more expensive.
After dropping the bombs, the six fighter-bombers conducted several rounds of dive and strafing at several suspicious targets in the town. After finishing all this, more than half an hour had passed. Due to the limited time in the air and the exhaustion of ammunition, the six fighter-bombers The fighter-bombers flapped their wings and returned.
After 11 a.m., the artillery wing of the Kawaguchi detachment finally arrived on the battlefield.
As soon as the artillery regiment arrived, Kawaguchi Heiji immediately ordered the artillery to launch on the flat ground outside Xiasha Bridge, and carried out artillery fire coverage on the two places where Chinese snipers had previously been stationed, as well as several nearby suspicious targets. The artillery fire lasted ten minutes. The brigade sent another team and stepped onto the Shangsha Bridge with extreme caution∞↗∞↗∞↗∞↗, m.◆.co→m.
However, this time, the Japanese were no longer blocked and easily crossed Shangsha Bridge and entered Meizhen.
At 12:30 noon, when the armored command vehicle Kawaguchi Heiji was riding in slowly passed the Shangsha Bridge and parked in the square outside the Mei family ancestral hall, the 101st Infantry Regiment, which entered the town first, had already controlled the entire town, and , two of the three infantry brigades to which it belongs have begun to search and advance towards the periphery, while one brigade is staying in the town.
Kawaguchi Heiji, an old Japanese soldier, once again committed his old habit of being suspicious. For safety reasons, he did not allow the 149th Infantry Regiment and the Artillery Regiment, Engineer Regiment, Baggage Regiment and other auxiliary units to enter Meizhen to garrison. They are still stationed in the open space outside Xiasha Bridge.
The reason why Kawaguchi Heiji made such a deployment was that he was worried that after all the troops entered the town, the entrance to Shaqiao Gang would be blocked by the Dameishan Independent Regiment, and they would close the door and beat the dogs! If there was a different commander, I'm afraid there would be no such worries at all, because it would be almost impossible to lock the Kawaguchi detachment in Meizhen.
So, Kawaguchi Heiji is really cautious.
However, for the detachment headquarters, Kawaguchi Heiji chose the Ume family ancestral hall in the town.
Under certain conditions, Kawaguchi Heiji is still reluctant to camp in the wild.
When Kawaguchi Heiji walked into the Ume family ancestral hall surrounded by more than a dozen guards, Nagai Tatsuya, who entered the town first, had already led people to tidy up and clean the ancestral hall, and even connected the telephone line between the headquarters and the military camp outside the town. It has also been set up, as well as the entire headquarters' power generation and lighting systems.
Nagajin Tatsuya is an old devil. It doesn't matter whether he knows how to fight, but his handyman skills are absolutely top-notch.
Less than half an hour after Kawaguchi Heiji rested in the headquarters, Yoshino Akio, the captain of the 101st Infantry Regiment, walked in with a solemn expression and reported: "Your Excellency, Commander, the reconnaissance force reported that Mei Town has become an empty city. , we didn’t even find anyone in the town.”
"Nani?" Kawaguchi Heiji's face changed slightly when he heard this.
Yongjin Tatsuya, who was standing next to him, was also dumbfounded. He was missing
Intelligence shows that Meizhen is a large town with a population of more than 5,000. Are all these people hiding in the mountains? But this is not right. It only took half a day from when the Kawaguchi detachment appeared outside Meizhenkou at Pofu time. It is not easy to transfer so many people in half a day.
Unless this was planned in advance, it might be possible.
But how free would the Dameishan Independent Group have to be to make such a plan
At that moment, Tatsuya Nagajin asked: "Yoshino-san, are the Chinese people in this town leaving in a hurry?"
Yoshino Akio shook his head and said solemnly: "There are various signs that the Chinese people left very calmly, because they did not even leave a chicken, a dog, or a grain of grain for the imperial army!"
"Strengthen the wall and clear the country!" Nagajin Tatsuya suddenly turned back to look at Kawaguchi Heiji and said solemnly, "Your Excellency, Commander, the Chinese are trying to clear the country by strengthening the wall and trying to force the imperial army to retreat by controlling supplies."
At this point, Yongjin Tatsuya suddenly thought of another possibility and said in a deep voice: "Oh, by the way, Yoshino-san, immediately inform all the brigades you belong to that you must not take well water from the town when cooking. You must use water from outside the town." We have to be careful about the Chinese people poisoning the water in the Meihe River. Since the water is flowing, there is no need to worry."
"Hai." Yoshino Akio nodded heavily and turned around.
Watching Yoshino Akio go away, Nagashin Tatsuya turned back to Kawaguchi Heiji and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, it would be troublesome if the Chinese Army refuses to fight the Imperial Army."
Kawaguchi Heiji nodded solemnly. Indeed, if the Dameishan Independent Regiment has been hiding and refusing to fight with them, this will indeed be a troublesome thing, because the supplies they carry with the army are limited, and they can only stay in Meizhen for half a month at most. time, if the battle cannot be resolved within half a month, supplies must be transferred from Feicheng.
But Kawaguchi Heiji never thinks this is a good idea, because the transfer of supplies from Feicheng to Meizhen must pass through the high mountains under Qingniuling, and it is easy to be ambushed by the enemy, so enough guards must be equipped, so that As a result, the cost of transporting supplies will increase greatly, and it may not be safe.
Originally, the Japanese army could raise supplies on the spot to support the war.
However, now that all the people in Meizhen have fled and taken away all their food and livestock, it has stopped the Japanese army from using war to support the war. The question is, where have the people in the town gone
"Find!" Kawaguchi Heiji said in a deep voice, "Immediately send out a search team to find out the whereabouts of the people in the town, especially to find where their food and livestock are hidden. I don't believe that the Chinese can take all the food and livestock away Hide them all and leave no trace!"
(Dividing line)
It is actually not easy to strengthen the walls and clear the country.
This was the first day of clearing the country, and something went wrong.
When Wang Husheng hurriedly walked in with more than 20 guards, the nursing staff of several large households in the town were making trouble. Faced with the approaching of dozens of nursing staff, the few militiamen who were maintaining order on the scene were about to Unable to stand it any longer, one of the militiamen almost let the enemy take away his rifle.
However, when they saw Wang Husheng coming with more than 20 guards, the nursing staff did not dare to cause trouble anymore, and the few rural gentry and gentry who had been arguing fiercely just stopped.
Under the dim light, Huang Delu turned back and cast a questioning look at Huang Shiren.
As long as Huang Shiren kills him, Huang Delu will not hesitate to take out his dart and shoot Wang Husheng. When he was young, Huang Delu followed Huang Shiren around the world. He was also a well-known man. He also had to bear several lives on his hands. Otherwise, he would not have been able to help Huang Shiren build such a big business.
Huang Shiren shook his head and signaled Huang Delu not to act rashly. Huang Delu released his palm and then put the willow leaf dart back into his sleeve without leaving a trace.
Not far away, Wang Husheng didn't know that he had just had a brush with death.
"Fellow village sages, be patient for a moment." Wang Husheng pressed his hands to signal the sages and gentry present and their servants to calm down, and then continued, "Please believe me, the government has no ill intentions towards you. The people who invited you here are also responsible for your safety. You also know that the devils don't care who you are. They kill people when they see them, rob things when they see them, and... you know when they see women. of."
After being in contact with Xu Rui for a long time, Wang Husheng also learned Xu Rui’s mantra.
As soon as Wang Husheng finished speaking, a local sage stood up and said: "Sir, we just want to know what mistakes or crimes we have committed? Why do you want to imprison us in a dark dungeon? Even during the Manchu Dynasty, there was no Is that so? This is simply unreasonable."
"That is, if the government promotes rent reduction, we will reduce rent. If the government promotes interest rate reduction, we will reduce interest rate. We have always supported the government's work, but in the end we get this kind of reward?"
"County Magistrate Wang, you have to be reasonable. You a** have to be reasonable."
Seeing that several rural sages and gentry were getting more and more excited, and the situation was getting out of control again, and Wang Husheng shouted at the top of his lungs, but he did not stop, so Wang Husheng became angry, and immediately took out the brocade noodle box and fired a shot at the hole, sealing it. In the space, the gunshot sounded very loud, almost shattering everyone's eardrums.
Hearing the gunfire, several rural gentry stopped again and did not dare to say anything anymore.
"I will retry it one last time." Wang Husheng suppressed his anger and said, "We are not detaining you, but asking you to come here to take shelter temporarily. The Japs above have already entered the town, and you don't want to stay at home and let the Japs kill you. Neither do we. For your safety, I ask for your understanding and your cooperation!"