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

Chapter 141 The Japanese Army Takes the Initiative in Operations

The Japanese army dispatched the No. [-] Squadron to monitor Yangpo Village and Xihui Village. At this time, the No. [-] Squadron was attacked by the superior forces of the Jinsui Army.

Each squadron faced two infantry companies and a machine gun company, and their casualties continued to mount.

At this time, the strength of these two squadrons has dropped from the full strength of about 300 to [-], and their casualties are still increasing.

The two 90MM mortars occupying the high ground shelled one after another, attacking the exposed Japanese light machine guns and grenades.

A heavy machine gun made in Jin Dynasty launched precise shooting, and the dense bullets continuously suppressed the firepower of the little devil's position.

The grenades of each company saw the opportunity and fired grenades directly to cover the troops' charge.

The four infantry companies quickly approached the Japanese positions in squads and platoons.

When they were less than 200 meters away from the Japanese position, each squad launched a fire suppression with a light machine gun.

At the same time, groups of rifles alternately covered and quickly advanced towards the position.

The squad leader of each squad held a Jin-made submachine gun and directed the light machine gun to start shooting.

When encountering fierce Japanese firepower, the Jin-made submachine guns in the hands of the squad leaders will also shoot immediately to suppress the Japanese firepower.

The casualties of the two squadrons continued to increase, and the positions were precarious and could be broken through at any time.

Even though the two lieutenant squadron leaders continued to direct the little devils to defend, they were still unable to intercept the charging Jinsui Army troops.

The [-]-day puppet army in Suohe Town immediately assembled, but because they did not receive an order, they did not take action for the time being.

In the detachment headquarters of the Japanese Sato detachment in the rear, Nakasa Sato got the report immediately.

He quickly picked up a pencil and quickly marked it on the combat map.

After all, Lieutenant Sato was a staff member, and this was almost his instinctive reaction.

After the marking was completed, Nakasa Sato showed a playful smile on his face as he looked at the battle map in front of him.

"The Independent 48th Brigade did win several battles in a row and achieved certain results."

"But now they are obviously dazzled by the victory. They stick to the high ground and hold on tenaciously. They will definitely be able to block our attack."

"Even if they rely on the high ground, they can still cause heavy damage to our attacking troops, but now they abandon the high ground and take the initiative to attack."

"This is simply a bad move. They are so arrogant that they forget the huge gap between the Jinsui Army and us!"

"Order, the Sixth Battalion of the Independent Infantry and the Seventh Battalion of the Independent Infantry attack quickly to assist their subordinate troops in defensive operations."

"Order, the troops in Suohe Town will start defending on the spot, wait until the Jinsui army retreats and attack decisively, cutting off their way back to the high ground."

"Order, the field artillery brigade is ready for shelling, as long as the opponent's high ground launches artillery support, immediately suppress the shelling."

Nakazu Sato had a confident expression on his face, and he quickly issued a combat order.

The First Squadron and the Fifth Squadron belonged to the Sixth and Seventh Brigades of the Independent Infantry respectively.

Now Lieutenant Sato has arranged for these two brigades to rush to the rescue, so that the Japanese army can gain the advantage in strength and weapons.

As long as these two brigades advance to the front line to fight against the Jinsui army on flat ground, the Japanese army will have an absolute advantage.

Even Lieutenant Sato firmly believed that these two brigades were fully capable of eating up the attacking Jinsui Army troops.

Of course, he also knew that the artillery of the Jinsui Army had strong combat capabilities, so he did not immediately arrange for the field artillery brigade to fire.

Although the Japanese field artillery brigade also set up shelter positions, the artillery of the Jinsui Army occupied the commanding heights.

He was worried that the field artillery brigade would expose its position in advance and be suppressed, so he had to wait for the highland Jinsui Army artillery to be exposed before launching artillery suppression.

After receiving the order from Lieutenant Sato, the messenger quickly began to convey.

The main forces of the two brigades at the starting position quickly began to attack without any hesitation.

It is worth mentioning that the independent infantry brigade under the Japanese independent mixed brigade has only three infantry squadrons and one weakened machine gun squadron.

But when the First Army formed the Sato detachment, he knew that these three independent infantry brigades lacked field capabilities.

Therefore, Yoshio Shinozuka, the commander of the army, personally issued a combat order to supplement them so that they have the strength of a field brigade.

The Sato detachment currently has three independent infantry brigades, all of which are field brigades. There are four infantry squadrons, one machine gun squadron, and one artillery squadron.

In terms of heavy weapons, each brigade has twelve heavy machine guns and two infantry artillery.

The normal independent infantry brigade has no artillery, only four to six heavy machine guns.

Sato Zhongzuo arranged for two brigades to attack, and he was determined to annihilate the attacking Jinsui Army troops.

As for his self-confidence, it comes from these heavy weapons.

And in the rear, there are twelve field guns ready to support at any time, and he also controls the main force of a brigade ready to attack at any time.

The Japanese army quickly launched operations, and the infantry artillery under the two brigades had already begun shelling.

A grenade hit the Jinsui Army troops, and with the sound of the explosion, the charging Jinsui Army troops were affected to a certain extent.

At this moment, the overall deployment of the Japanese army is very good. Lieutenant Sato, who was born as a staff officer, has no loopholes in a series of arrangements.

Two brigades faced four infantry companies and two machine gun companies. The Japanese army had an absolute advantage in terms of strength and weaponry.

What's more, here in Suohe Town, they still have [-] Japanese puppet troops, ready to attack at any time, posing a fatal threat to the attacking Jinsui Army.

The sixth and seventh brigades of the Independent Infantry attacked with the main force and quickly joined forces with their subordinate troops.

Two artillery squads and four infantry guns fired one after another.

The Japanese Type [-] infantry artillery is a support artillery with good performance.

This infantry gun is very light, and it can also be pushed around by two soldiers.

When the gun mantlet is disassembled, its height is only about [-] centimeters, which has strong concealment.

The most important infantry gun is capable of both curved and flat shots, making it an all-rounder in combat.

With the continuous shelling of these four infantry guns, the positions of the first and fifth squadrons were supported.

The attacking troops dispatched by the fifth and sixth battalions of the independent infantry were greatly suppressed and could not continue to break through for the time being.

Especially after the Japanese machine gun squadron quickly built a machine gun position and started covering fire.

There are two machine gun squadrons with a full 24 heavy machine guns firing.

With such intensive firepower, the troops of the Jinsui Army were almost unable to move.

The Japanese infantry quickly advanced forward, and the two major captains followed the command.

As if for a moment, the Japanese army directly took the initiative in combat.

Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yujia, who personally commanded their troops to fight, found a large number of Japanese troops rushing to help.

The two people contacted Chen Ziyun to report at the same time, and they hoped to get support from the artillery unit.

At the same time, the main force of the Japanese army attacked, and the two battalion commanders also knew the situation of their troops.

In the case of superior strength and weapons, the Jinsui army can still fight and attack.

However, the Jinsui army was at a disadvantage in terms of strength and weapons, and the Jinsui army was unable to launch offensive operations. If they continued to attack forcibly, the troops might be defeated.

"The little devils reacted too quickly, and they seized our weakness in an instant. They immediately contacted Commander Chen and asked for artillery support."

"In addition, we only have more than 400 troops, but now the Japanese army has dispatched a brigade of more than 1000 people to fight."

"If we continue to fight, I'm afraid our troops will be severely damaged. Contact Commander Chen and ask if we need to withdraw quickly."

Wu Ziqiang had a worried expression on his face, and he quickly arranged for the messenger to contact Chen Ziyun.

"The Sixth Battalion of the Independent Infantry has a certain number of recruits. If the battle goes smoothly, it will be fine."

"But now the Japanese army has completely controlled the combat initiative. If they continue to attack, the troops may be defeated."

"Contact Commander Chen, request artillery fire, and cover the attacking troops to withdraw quickly."

Shi Yuframe frowned even more, and said nervously.

The independent 48th brigade has strong combat effectiveness, and it is the three infantry battalions under the 358th regiment.

These three infantry battalions are all elite soldiers carefully selected by Chu Yunfei. Most of the officers and soldiers are the absolute main force in several battles and have rich combat experience.

Qian Bojun was responsible for the unified management and command of the three independent infantry battalions as the infantry commander. The overall combat capability was relatively poor, and there were a certain number of recruits.

Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yujia are also old brothers who have followed Chu Yunfei for many years, but in terms of command ability, they obviously cannot compare with Qian Bojun.

Otherwise, Chu Yunfei would not have asked Qian Bojun to command a battalion of 2000 troops.

When the two battalion commanders discovered that the main force of the Japanese army was attacking, they inevitably lost their positions.

Chen Ziyun, who returned to the headquarters, was not too surprised after receiving the report.

The overall strength of the Japanese army of more than 4000 troops was not weak. If they were soft, they would not be able to take down so many towns.

This time when Chen Ziyun commanded the troops to attack, Qian Bojun probably leaked the information in advance.

When the little devil gets the information, he must send a capable officer to command.

The first and fifth squadrons were about to be annihilated, and it was normal for the Japanese officer in charge to react in this way.

"The first company of the Fifth Battalion of Independent Infantry, advance to Yangpo Village to garrison."

"The Fifth Company of the Sixth Battalion of the Independent Infantry, advance to Xihui Village to garrison."

"Contact Battalion Commander Wu Ziqiang and Battalion Commander Shi Yujia, and ask them to command three infantry companies and one machine gun company to fight against the Japanese in person."

"No matter what, they must continue to suppress the Japanese army in front of them!"

"Contact the Artillery Battalion, and the observation team will pay close attention to the situation of the Japanese and puppet troops in Suohe Township."

"As long as the Suohe Zhenri puppet army makes any move, the artillery will fully fire to suppress it, and we cannot let them attack and threaten our flank."

With a serious expression on Chen Ziyun's face, he decisively issued a combat order.

In this battle, Chen Ziyun was going to achieve results, and withdrawing the troops at this time would certainly ensure that the troops would not suffer too many casualties.

But if the troops withdraw, the attack will be meaningless, and the two sides will become a confrontation.

The little devils stationed in the Mongolian army in northern Shanxi rushed to help, and they would be even more passive in combat.

Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yu wanted to withdraw the frame, but Chen Ziyun would not agree.

What's more, even though Chen Ziyun kept cultivating his own team, he did so purely for self-protection.

As long as there is no threat, he is still willing to assist Chu Yunfei in building an elite army.

When encountering the main force of the Japanese army, they had to withdraw. Troops that didn't even have the courage to fight, even if they were given all-American weapons and equipment, they were still soft persimmons.

How others direct Chen Ziyun is irrelevant, but in his hands, such a thing will never be allowed to happen.

The messengers of the headquarters immediately began to convey orders, and it was past six o'clock in the morning on the [-]th.

After receiving the order from Chen Ziyun, Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yuframe commanded the main force of their respective battalions to launch combat operations.

At 06:30, three infantry companies of the Fifth Independent Infantry Battalion and one machine gun company with more than 600 troops faced the Sixth Japanese Independent Infantry Battalion in the area east of Yangpo Village.

The same number of units of the Sixth Battalion of the Independent Infantry faced the Seventh Battalion of the Japanese Independent Infantry in the area east of Xihui Village.

At this time, the Japanese troops had the advantage, and naturally the two battalions could not continue to attack, and they began to shoot at the Japanese troops.

After all, Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yujian still have many years of command experience, and they know how to offset the Japanese army's superiority in strength and weapons.

The companies dispersed, directly pulled out the skirmish line, and gradually moved away from Suohe Town to avoid being attacked by the Japanese and puppet troops here.

The troops of the Jinsui Army continued to disperse and defend in units of squads and platoons, and they continued to shoot at the Japanese army.

The Japanese army found that the Jinsui army had obviously increased its strength again, and the two major captains would naturally not be willing to stand still.

"Infantry Artillery Squad, Machine Gun Squadron advance, reposition and prepare for cover."

"The three infantry squadrons, the main force of the brigade, are ready for an assault. We must take advantage of the Jinsui Army's escape from the high ground in person and quickly encircle and wipe them out."

"At this time, we have the superiority in military strength and weapons. As long as we launch an attack, we will definitely be able to completely annihilate them."

"Of course, when attacking, we must avoid concentrating troops. The artillery of the Jinsui Army is still deployed on high ground and will start shelling at any time."

The two major captains immediately contacted their subordinate lieutenant and squadron leader, and they began to arrange for the troops to launch an attack.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army invested six infantry squadrons, and more than 1000 troops attacked Wu Ziqiang's camp and Shi Yujia's camp respectively.

At the same time, in the back, there are a large number of heavy machine guns and four infantry guns to provide cover for the Japanese infantry.

The fierce battle between the two sides was about to break out. Nakasa Sato, who was watching from behind, had a smug smile on his face.

He thought that this battle, he already had the chance to win.

Chen Ziyun, who was also constantly paying attention to the situation on the battlefield, was very calm.

At this time, all the attention of the Japanese army was on the area of ​​Suohe Town, but Chen Ziyun had deployed everything in advance.

The guard company and the cavalry company are all on the periphery, and they can launch combat strikes at any time.

And Chen Ziyun knew that the Eighth Route Army commanded by Li Yunlong was nearby.

With Li Yunlong's character, there is a battle going on here, and he must come to join in the fun.

Chen Ziyun hasn't fired a combat flare until now, just waiting.

He hoped that Li Yunlong's troops would attack first to attract the attention of the Japanese army, and then the guard company would attack again, giving the Japanese army a fatal blow!
(End of this chapter)