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

Chapter 208 Artillery Concentration
As night falls, the lights are on.

The battle in the Xinxian area is still going on, and the Japanese and puppet troops did not stop fighting because of the night.

The 3000st, [-]nd, and [-]rd Guard Brigades of the Puppet Mongolian Army, and the remnants of the Fourth Brigade of the Independent Mixed Regiment, with more than [-] troops, continued to attack the Xinyi Regiment in Xinkou Town.

Major General Mitake Tsuda, head of the brigade, personally commanded [-] artillery pieces, and launched shelling one after another to support the infantry in combat.

The Seventh Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army deployed in the northeast of Xinkou Town also started operations, and eight Liao-made field artillery continued to shell.

More than 700 cavalry continued to conduct tentative feint attacks, harassing the Xinyi regiment from the north and east of Xinkou Town.

The new regiment took up the challenge calmly under the command of regimental leader Li Yunlong and commissioner Zhao Gang.

Up to now, although their troops have suffered casualties and losses, the position is still firmly in their hands, and the Japanese and puppet troops have not made any progress.

It was at this time that Chen Ziyun commanded the Sixth Battalion under the 11th Reserve Regiment, and more than a thousand people from the Seventh Battalion continued to attack.

The two battalions attacked the hilly area one after another from the south, and they fought with the reinforcements of the Mongolian Army.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the 11th Reserve Regiment stopped its combat operations.

The Japanese and puppet troops who had not gained anything also temporarily began to withdraw their troops, take a rest, and discuss follow-up combat plans.

The battlefield gradually returned to silence, but units of the Jinsui Army began to secretly advance towards the 11th Reserve Regiment.

To the south of Xin County, the capital of Jin Province is too far away, in the headquarters of the First Army.

Major General Hideyoshi Kusuyama, the chief of staff, took a document and went directly to the commander of the army, Shinozuka Yoshio.

Up to now, the Japanese troops have gradually reacted from the initial state of bewilderment. They can also block the attack, and they are not so chaotic.

In just a few days, the Eighth Route Army mobilized a large number of troops to join the battle.

Here in Jin Province alone, there are dozens of regiments. If you count the local troops participating in the war, the combat strength is countless.

After the little devils take over the occupied area, they will heavily guard the towns along the railway line.

At the same time, with these important towns along the railway, there are usually roads connecting to other towns on both sides of the railway.

Therefore, the little devil's cage strategy is to use the railway as the pillar, the highway as the chain, and the blockhouse as the lock, cut off the connections between the various ministries of the Eighth Route, and gradually disintegrate the base area.

The Japanese army can quickly maneuver through railways and roads to ensure an absolute blockade of the Eighth Route Army.

Moreover, the large number of blockhouses and artillery towers they built can effectively contain the Eighth Route Army and prevent them from getting in touch.

Such a strategy is of great help to the Japanese army in controlling the occupied areas.

By 40, the development of the various ministries of the Eighth Route was greatly restricted, and the connections between the ministries were cut off. Japanese gun towers and bunkers were everywhere around the base area.

Moreover, the Japanese army was able to rely on these blockhouses and artillery towers to carry out continuous raids, weakening the influence of the Eighth Route Army behind enemy lines.

But the little devil's two actions were quickly found by the Eighth Route Army, and its headquarters directly launched a large-scale sabotage battle.

"Many parts of the Zhengtai Railway have been completely destroyed, and there is no way to quickly get in touch with each other."

"The Tongpu Railway has also been damaged to a certain extent, because Xin County is still captured by the Jinsui Army, so we cannot get through the connection between the north and the south."

"And the relevant roads connected by these two railways have also been severely damaged, and vehicles cannot pass at all."

"At the same time, the bunker towers and strongholds that we spent a lot of manpower, financial resources and energy on building were also destroyed one after another."

"Your Excellency, Commander, after this battle is over, it will be difficult for us to restore the defense level in front of the station."

"The Eight Routes showed amazing strength in this battle. Of course, the emergence of the independent 48th Brigade of the Jinsui Army has influenced the entire battle situation."

"The Independent 48th Brigade is a completely hateful brigade. If there is a chance, we must completely annihilate it."

Nanshan Hideyoshi opened his mouth to report, and when he mentioned Chu Yunfei's troops, he gritted his teeth.

Shinozuka Yoshio looked at Xinxian, how could he not know how hateful this army is.

The independent mixed fourth brigade has more than 8000 troops. If there is no independent 48th brigade to attack, they can quickly advance to Zhengtai Railway to fight.

Such a strong troop coming to the Zhengtai Railway can completely inflict heavy damage on the Eighth Route Troops.

It's a pity that they were severely injured by the 48th Independent Brigade and were unable to participate in any battles. Even Xin County, they could not hold on.

"The reinforcements sent by the Mongolian Army have not made any progress. The only thing they can do at this time is to keep them in Xin County."

"The Independent 48th Brigade has already brought us heavy losses one after another. If this force cannot be wiped out, it will definitely become a worry in our hearts."

"Of course we don't have enough troops to deal with them now, but sooner or later I must personally annihilate this hateful journey!"

Shinozuka Yoshio said indifferently, now he is very resentful towards the Independent 48th Brigade.

As for Chu Yunfei and Chen Ziyun, Shinozuka Yoshio wanted to tear them into pieces.

Shinozuka Yoshio and Kusuyama Hideyoshi know how hateful this army is, and they also know how powerful their fighting power is.

So they discussed, and successively provided power to Harada Kenzo and Tsuda Mitake.

Up to now, the requirements of the First Army Command are very simple.

They just hope that the Japanese and puppet troops in Xin County can contain the 48th Independent Brigade.

As for the annihilation of the Independent 48th Brigade, they will not propose it, because they know that the Japanese and puppet troops in Xinxian County absolutely do not have such strength.

After sending the message, Shinozuka Yoshio looked at the map.

The head of the first class, the chief, started to mark on the map.

At this time, the three security divisions in southern Shanxi mobilized three infantry regiments, and more than 1 troops had already begun to rush north along the Tongpu Railway to help.

Moreover, these troops have successively launched battles with the Eight Routes in southern Shanxi, and they have a greater advantage.

The most important point is that the reinforcements dispatched by the Front Army Command, with the first part of the 110th Division as the core, will soon enter Jin Province.

The combat plan drawn up by the First Army was gradually beginning to be launched.

They are going to deploy the reinforcement troops dispatched by the 110th Division, an independent mixed Eighth Brigade, to defend the Zhengtai Railway.

The reinforcements sent by the three security divisions merged with the first part of the 16th independent mixed brigade, and then moved eastward.

They tried in vain to encircle and annihilate the 129th Division in the area south of the Zhengtai Railway.

At this time, these troops seem to have this strength.

As long as the reinforcements from various ministries are in place, the Japanese army can gather more than 2 troops.

With such a large number of troops launching a north-south pincer attack with all their strength, there is still a lot of pressure on the 129th Division.

The First Army Command began to actively make deployment arrangements, and at this time their goal was to be placed here in the 129th Division.

Next, they will focus on fighting, and they will definitely encircle and wipe out the 129th Division.

Here in Xin County, the First Army only asked the Japanese and puppet troops to contain the Independent 48th Brigade.

Time is passing, one o'clock in the morning on August 27th.

To the south of the hilly area of ​​Xinxian County, here is the starting position of the 11th regiment.

Chen Ziyun glanced at the little devil's camp in the north, it was so dark that he couldn't see anything.

It was at this moment that he waved his hand directly.

More than 400 people from Wu Ziqiang's fifth battalion began to disperse and set off, and they attacked directly.

At around 01:30, the two field infantry brigades defending on the hilly high ground immediately launched firepower interception.

The little devils in these two brigades had already received orders from Harada Kenzo, and they knew that they were dealing with Chen Ziyun's 11th Regiment.

They naturally did not dare to be careless when dealing with such an elite force.

Even at one o'clock in the morning, they still have a large number of troops on guard.

And they set up a lot of obstacles in front of the position, and the fifth battalion launched a night attack, which they quickly discovered.

"Shoot, shoot me hard, never let them get close to the position."

"The Jinsui Army should not think that they can ignore us because they have defeated the 13th Independent Infantry Regiment."

"Let them know the true strength of our 26th Division now, and use all our strength to intercept it!"

The captain of the little devil Shaozuo kept giving orders, and he said with a contemptuous expression on his face.

The third and fourth field brigades defending the south of the hill were all drawn from the 26th Division.

They are from the 11th and 12th Wings of the Independent Infantry, and the overall combat effectiveness of these two brigades is relatively strong.

After the third field brigade came to Xin County, it was involved in the attack on Qicun Town.

The Fourth Field Battalion served as a reserve team at first, and subsequently attacked the position of the field artillery company, was attacked by the guard company, and was forced to withdraw.

The continuous fighting made them only pay 300 casualties, with an average of only more than 100 people in each brigade.

You must know that Qicun Town was continuously bombarded in the battle here, and the third field brigade followed up and directly blocked the fifth battalion from attacking from the west.

As for the fourth battalion in the field, it was facing the attack of the guard company of the elite troops.

Such casualties and losses are not too great.

The two infantry guns were destroyed, and they were also knocked out by the long-range artillery of the field artillery company.

The 26th Division is a three-unit field division organized by the little devil in 38. Its predecessor was the 11th Brigade.

This mixed 11th brigade is a field brigade, which was formed in 34 and then stationed outside the pass for a long time.

The 11th and 12th independent infantry regiments are the first two field regiments under the mixed 11th brigade.

The 13th Independent Infantry Regiment was reorganized after the expansion in 38, and its combat effectiveness was far inferior to the previous two regiments.

It is precisely because of this that Harada Kenzo has the confidence to arrange for them to come to the south to block the 11th Reserve Regiment commanded by Chen Ziyun.

As the captain of the Shao Zuo brigade issued combat orders, grenadiers fired flares quickly from commanding heights.

A light machine gun opened fire, and dense bullets hit the fifth battalion.

The more than 400 troops of the Fifth Battalion were completely scattered, and after the flares appeared, they even hid for the first time.

The Japanese firepower did not cause too many casualties to the Fifth Battalion.

But after a light machine gun with a crooked handle exposed its position, under the command of Chen Ziyun himself, the artillery unit started shooting.

The artillery battalion had six [-]-type mountain guns, and the six Bofors mountain guns fired first.

The brigade headquarters is directly under the field artillery company, and the supplementary regiment is directly under the second artillery company and the mortar company for shelling.

It was these artillery units that secretly advanced towards the 11th Reserve Regiment before.

Chen Ziyun was born as a professional artilleryman, so he naturally knew the benefits of centralized artillery operations.

However, the independent 48th brigade fought separately, and the 358th regiment only had one artillery company, supported by four Jin orogenic cannons.

At this time, if Chen Ziyun wanted the field artillery company directly under the brigade to come over, it would definitely be unreasonable, and he couldn't open his mouth.

But Chu Yunfei took this into consideration, so he issued a series of orders.

Not only did Zhou Wenbo's field artillery company come over, but Chu Yunfei also brought in the artillery from the supplementary regiment that was deploying defenses in Xinxian County.

At this time, there were a total of sixteen 75mm mountain cannons under Chen Ziyun's command, and four 77mm field cannons.

In addition, there are four 82MM mortars and five 81MM mortars (which belong to the artillery companies of the battalions of the 11th Regiment).

The 29 artillery pieces began to concentrate their artillery shelling, and the dense shells hit the Japanese army one after another to expose their firepower.

In an instant, deafening explosions sounded, and flames appeared one after another on the high grounds stationed by the Japanese army.

The shrapnel quickly spread around, and the shock wave spread rapidly.

The little devil soon suffered casualties, and a light machine gun was destroyed one after another.

The little devils near the light machine gun were also affected and suffered casualties.

After a round of shelling, the artillery immediately switched positions.

The troops of the [-]th Battalion took the opportunity to withdraw quickly, and they stopped fighting.

In the following time, Chen Ziyun repeated his old tricks.

The infantry made a feint attack to attract the little devils to expose their firepower points. Once their firepower points were exposed, the artillery immediately launched shelling.

Repeated several times, until after nine o'clock in the morning, the little devil realized something was wrong.

Next, the 11th Preparatory Regiment dispatched infantry to attack, and they began to launch artillery suppression.

Eight Liao-made field guns fired directly to prevent the infantry from advancing.

But at this time, Chu Yunfei and Fang Ligong commanded the 358 regiment and other troops, and they had already arrived in the Hutuo River area north of Xinkou Town.

At this time, they went north and crossed the Hutuo River to advance to Yuanping City to fight.

If you go south, you can pass the Tongpu Railway and immediately advance to Xinkou Town.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the cavalry company directly under the brigade headquarters, and the mountain artillery company of the 358th regiment attached to the guard company began to go south along the railway.

The second battalion, third battalion, and fourth battalion of the 358 regiment, with more than 1000 troops, stayed in place, waiting for follow-up combat orders.

Lin Yunzhi, commander of the Seventh Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army, was soon reported.

When he knew that there were troops from the Jinsui Army in the north, Lin Yunzhi quickly assembled the troops.

At this time, the puppet Mongolian army under his command still had more than a thousand people.

They have more than 700 cavalry, more than 200 artillery, and eight Liao-made Type 13 75MM field guns.

"Master, this Jinsui army has more than 200 cavalry and more than 200 infantry, and it is also equipped with four mountain cannons."

"Its strength is less than 600 people, and they seem to be going south to attack our artillery positions."

"See if we quickly approach the hilly area, or immediately start a decisive battle with them."

The three cavalry commanders of the puppet army came to Lin Yunzhi immediately after getting the news.

Lin Yunzhi was riding a war horse, with a Japanese commander's knife and a Jin-made shell gun on his waist, and a Japanese Type [-] rifle on his back.

A pensive expression appeared on his face, then he waved his hand with a gloomy face, and gave the order to attack!

(End of this chapter)