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

Chapter 298 North China Front takes over command

Goro Uchiyama is the captain of the 21nd Regiment of the 62st Division. After the formation of the 21st Division, it has been responsible for the defense of the strategically important Xucheng for a long time.

Although we occasionally encounter some troops, relatively speaking, there are no very strong troops here in Xucheng.

In Uchiyama Goro's view, other troops were not active in fighting at all, which was why the imperial troops were unable to conquer this place.

He applied several times and wanted to join the frontline field troops. He wanted to command the troops on the battlefield instead of being responsible for the defense of occupied areas.

However, his application was rejected every time, but this time the 21st Division was transferred to the northern Henan region and participated in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain.

Until now, Goro Uchiyama is still very unconvinced. He feels that his division has no chance to truly attack with all its strength.

Each time, the battle had just begun, but orders were issued from above and they had to relocate.

However, this time, Uchiyama Goro received the combat order to encircle and annihilate the Glory First Division.

Although he was in the area south of the Yellow River, he had heard of the famous Glory First Division.

After all, four major generals were killed here in Jin Province, and they also achieved a series of results.

The North China Front called them a hateful division and wanted to completely annihilate them all the time.

Uchiyama Goro felt that as long as they continued to attack in this battle, they would be able to completely annihilate the Glory First Division.

The 62nd Regiment acted as the vanguard this time, and more than 3000 Japs quickly advanced towards the Wenxi City area.

These little devils were very excited when they learned that there were traitors gathered in the Glory First Division to support them.

In their eyes, this is just fat meat brought to their mouths, and now they can swallow it in one bite.

So they accelerated their advance, eager to rush to the battlefield immediately and completely eliminate the Glory First Division.

Goro Uchiyama, the captain of the Osaka Alliance, was sharpening his sword and preparing to carry out a massacre himself.

However, as they continued to approach Wenxi City, an accident happened, and flares quickly shot into the air.

The surroundings became brighter, and the little devils realized that they might be ambushed, and they wanted to disperse quickly.

But at this time, six infantry battalions from the 11th Reserve Regiment and the 12th Reserve Regiment mobilized machine gun companies and took the lead in opening fire.

Twelve infantry cannons fired shrapnel one after another, and the shrapnel fell all around the little devil.

As the explosion sounded, countless steel balls and steel arrows quickly spread around.

The little devils' troops stopped moving one after another and quickly took cover, which caused their dense formation to be unable to disperse quickly.

While the twelve infantry guns continued to fire, six machine gun companies fired with two types of heavy machine guns.

The machine gun company under the 11th Reserve Regiment is equipped with the Japanese Type [-] heavy machine gun. This heavy machine gun is continuously developed and upgraded by the Japanese army by imitating the Hotchkiss heavy machine gun.

Although the Type 55 heavy machine gun is an air-cooled heavy machine gun, the empty gun plus the gun frame weighs about [-] kilograms.

The main aggravating part is that the gun body is covered with heat sinks so that it can continue to fight.

At the same time, in order to improve accuracy, the gun mechanism was also heavier. This heavy machine gun has a low rate of fire, but its center of gravity is very stable.

Excellent machine gun shooter, able to achieve a high hit rate.

The 11th Regiment was prepared to fight continuously. Three machine gun companies were equipped with heavy machine guns, and twelve Type [-] heavy machine guns were concentrated to start shooting.

Machine gunners took aim one after another, and they fired bursts one after another.

Two or three bullets were fired one after another, and basically all the little devils they targeted would fall into a pool of blood.

At the same time, three machine gun companies of the 12th Regiment were prepared, and twelve Type [-] heavy machine guns were assembled.

This heavy machine gun is a domestic imitation of the German Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun, with a total weight of about [-] kilograms.

Currently, this heavy machine gun is the main standard heavy machine gun in the Jinsui Army and other units.

It can be fed by 250-round or [-]-round ammunition chains, which can effectively maintain continuous firepower.

Unlike the burst firing of the Type [-] heavy machine gun, the Type [-] heavy machine gun usually fires in a sweeping manner.

Seven or eight rounds of bullets were fired, and one hit covered a large area.

A skilled machine gun shooter can easily hit two or three Japs at the same time.

Six machine gun companies under the two regiments took the lead in opening fire. Twelve infantry cannons and 24 heavy machine guns made the 62nd Regiment miserable.

Many little devils had just escaped the blows of infantry artillery, and then heavy machine gun bullets were fired at them.

The bullets fired by these heavy machine guns are basically hit, and even if they are not killed, they are seriously injured on the spot.

Especially if the kid was hit by several bullets in succession, there would definitely not be a complete body left behind.

There were more and more pieces of meat on the ground, and painful wails continued to sound.

Goro Uchiyama immediately hid himself, his eyes widened, and he looked around in disbelief.

He had no idea that the other party would gather such a large number of heavy weapons and start shooting.

"Baga Yalu, the United Mountain Artillery Squadron, Rapid Fire Artillery Squadron, quickly suppress their firepower."

"The third brigade quickly evacuated backwards, the first brigade took cover in place, and the second brigade launched a fire counterattack."

"Gather grenades, light and heavy machine guns, and quickly launch a counterattack to suppress their firepower."

Uchiyama Goro roared angrily. The 21st Division was the earliest field division of the triple regiment, and there would be no shortage of weapons and equipment.

More than 1000 Japs from the Third Brigade began to evacuate backwards, thus freeing up enough combat space for the main force of the wing.

The first brigade was hiding in place to avoid the firepower of the ambush position.

The second group immediately dispersed and set up various weapons.

The mountain artillery squadron directly under the wing has four Type [-] mountain artillery pieces, and the rapid-fire artillery squadron has four Type [-] rapid-fire artillery pieces.

The eight artillery pieces were set up immediately and quickly aimed at the exposed heavy machine gun fire points.

But before these artillery pieces could start firing, the mortar companies directly under the four regiments began to launch fire strikes.

Twelve 48MM mortars were directly under the two regiments of the 81th Independent Brigade, and twelve 11MM mortars were directly under the two regiments of the 82th Reserve Brigade.

These two types of mortars of different calibers are Japanese mortars and domestic mortars. They are both imitations of the Brand 81MM mortar.

Four mortar companies launched effective fire.

Grenades were fired one after another, and deafening explosions came one after another.

The little Japanese troops were bombed into a state of disarray, and the eight artillery units directly under the regiment had just been set up.

As the mortar grenades hit, the artillerymen quickly dragged the artillery and hurriedly moved it.

The three infantry brigades were hit to varying degrees.

For a time, the number of casualties in the 62nd Regiment was hundreds, and a large number of little devils fell in a pool of blood.

Various weapons were thrown on the ground, and the smell of blood filled the air.

Lieutenant General Tanaka Jiu, head of the 21st Division who commanded the operation, saw this scene with a gloomy expression.

The mountain artillery regiment directly under the 21st Division quickly set up artillery positions one by one.

Its subordinate 82nd Regiment and 83rd Regiment quickly accelerated their advance from both sides, preparing to destroy the ambush position and support the 62nd Regiment's operations.

But while the two infantry regiments were advancing, the artillery regiment began to immediately launch precise artillery fire under the guidance of the artillery observation post.

Six Liao-made 77MM field guns and six 75-type [-]MM field guns.

Six Type 75 75MM mountain guns and six Bofors [-]MM mountain guns.

Six Jin-made Type 13 mountain cannons and six Japanese-style Type [-] mountain cannons.

As well as six Jin-made 105MM mountain guns, according to the data provided by the Artillery Observation Station, shelling was carried out one after another.

Grenades were fired one after another at the little Japanese troops, and deafening explosions sounded.

For a moment, gunpowder smoke filled the air, and shrapnel and shock waves quickly spread in all directions.

Many little Japs from the 82nd and 83rd Wings fell to the ground in an instant.

The broken arms and limbs were accompanied by dust flying, and then fell to the ground.

The severely injured little devil wailed loudly, and blood mist sprayed out everywhere.

The artillery regiment continued its bombardment, and a large number of shells prevented the two regiments from advancing.

At the same time, Wei Heshang's reconnaissance company, Xie Yunxia's guard company, and Zhangwu's cavalry battalion attacked in three directions.

After the cavalry battalion detoured back to the side of the 21st Division, they harassed the artillery regiment.

Three cavalry companies advanced rapidly, and the machine gun company provided fire cover for them.

The battalion headquarters was directly under the cavalry reconnaissance platoon. Fifty cavalrymen were holding Jin-made submachine guns and quickly approached the artillery.

A large amount of firepower continued to shoot at the artillery. The little Japanese artillerymen were caught off guard and fell into a pool of blood one by one.

At the same time, the reconnaissance company and the guard company adopted a north-south pincer attack strategy and quickly advanced towards their division headquarters.

The two companies with sophisticated weapons and equipment were almost unstoppable, and many little devils were shot dead.Lieutenant General Tanaka Jiuichi, the division commander, had a face full of panic, and he was forced to issue orders to evacuate the battlefield.

The troops of the 21st Division quickly retreated, but Chen Ziyun commanded the firepower of various units to continue to attack.

Among the evacuated troops of the 21st Division, people kept falling to the ground.

Uchiyama Goro, captain of the 62nd Regiment, was beaten to the point where he had doubts about his life.

Seeing such intensive firepower, he was stunned and his heart was filled with shock.

In the end, the 62nd Regiment discarded more than 700 corpses before evacuating the battlefield in embarrassment.

After Chen Ziyun watched the 21st Division be repelled, he left the reconnaissance company, guard company, and cavalry battalion on guard.

The remaining troops are fully supporting the main force of the division in combat.

On the evening of May 21, the Glory [-]st Division fought fiercely with the [-]st Division, the [-]th Cavalry Brigade, and the [-]th Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army in the Wenxi City area.

The battle lasted until five o'clock in the morning on May [-]th, and the Japanese and puppet troops retreated one after another.

In this battle, the Japanese and puppet troops participating in the battle suffered heavy casualties.

The 21st Division was ambushed by heavy weapons troops commanded by Chen Ziyun. In the 62nd Regiment alone, more than 800 people were killed or missing, and more than 700 were injured.

After the 21st Division withdrew from the battlefield, it took a temporary rest and did not continue to fight.

Shigemori Sakuma's Fourth Cavalry Brigade was very vigilant, and they quickly withdrew from the battlefield when they realized something was wrong.

Even though they have more than 5000 troops, most of them are cavalry. Even artillery and heavy weapons are transported by mules, horses and pack horses.

Therefore, they escaped very quickly and did not suffer much losses themselves.

However, the Japanese and puppet troops that attacked from Wenxi City were attacked head-on by the Glory First Division.

Of the more than 36 imps in two brigades drawn from the 37th Division and the 2000th Division, only more than 1000 were beaten.

These more than 1000 little Japanese retreated to Zhongtiao Mountain in embarrassment, and even Wenxicheng no longer dared to garrison.

As for Xu Chengpu's 5000th Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army, from the 2000 troops that participated in the war, only more than [-] troops were beaten.

Their subordinate artillery battalion also captured eight Jin-made Type 17 mountain guns!
Xu Chengpu retreated to Wenxicheng in embarrassment, but at six o'clock in the morning, the Glory First Division launched an artillery bombardment on Wenxicheng.

This puppet army was so frightened that they quickly abandoned Wenxi City and quickly advanced towards Zhongtiao Mountain to find a meeting with the Japanese troops.

In this battle, the Glory First Division achieved good results, but their own casualties did not exceed 700.

With the annihilation of a certain number of Japanese and puppet troops, their ammunition and weapons were replenished.

The 48th Independent Brigade of the Glory First Division mainly uses Japanese weapons and can replenish ammunition through imps.

The 11th Reserve Brigade uses 7.92MM caliber weapons and can replenish ammunition through puppet troops.

At eight o'clock, the machine gun battalion directly under the division headquarters advanced to Wenxi City, and they began to assume the defense task of Wenxi City.

As for the various units of the Glory First Division, they were completely dispersed and hidden in order to avoid being retaliated and bombed by the Japs.

At around eight o'clock, the Little Japanese plane arrived over Wenxi City, but after not finding it, they left directly.

Akiyama Toyoji's First Flying Regiment continued to bomb the Fifth Army.

Saburo Endo's Third Flight Regiment bombed the 14th Army.

At nine o'clock in the morning on May [-]th, in Pingyang City, here is the headquarters of the First Army.

North China Front Chief of Staff Yukio Kasahara and Deputy Chief of Staff Masahiro Hirata came here one after another.

These two people came on behalf of the Front Army Command at the same time, nominally to assist in the command.

In fact, they were to replace Front Army Commander Tada Shun at the First Army Headquarters in order to achieve Tada Shun's remote control purpose.

Originally, the North China Front handed over command to the First Army Headquarters. They believed that with such a large number of troops, there would be absolutely no problem in winning.

However, the battle continues until now, and the First Army has not been able to deal with the defenders of Zhongtiao Mountain.

Even several times, I fell into a very passive situation.

This made the North China Front Army Headquarters very dissatisfied. Tada Shun will now personally direct the operation.

After Kasahara Yukio and Hirata Shogun learned about the situation on the battlefield, the two frowned.

The 21st Division was ambushed by the [-]st Glory Division and forced to withdraw from the battlefield. The [-]th Cavalry Brigade was attacked and quickly transferred.

Wenxi City, which was defended by more than 5000 Japanese and puppet troops, gave up in embarrassment overnight and retreated to Zhongtiao Mountain.

The 36th Division, the main force of the 37th Division, was independently mixed into the 16th Brigade with more than 4 troops, but it has not been able to annihilate the encircled Fifth Army troops.

They were shocked by this series of combat situations. They did not expect that the battle at Zhongtiao Mountain would reach such an extent.

Before they could calm down from their surprise, a message was delivered again.

The Ninth Army closed the door with the 27th Army, and the 35th Division and other troops were forced to move eastward and temporarily entered a defensive state.

Front Army Chief of Staff Yukio Kasahara looked gloomy and looked towards the First Army Commander Yoshio Shinozuka.

If it weren't for the gap in military ranks and positions between the two sides, Yukio Kasahara would have wanted to give Yoshio Shinozuka a slap in the face.

Such a number of troops, such a situation, are now fighting like this. This is simply a command like a stupid pig.

"Your Excellency Commander Yoshio Shinozuka, you don't need to say more, we will contact you in detail with the Commander of the Front Army."

"Now we need to make adjustments quickly to quickly seize the initiative and defeat the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison in the shortest possible time!"

"If we continue to fight according to the current situation, even if we win in the end, all the ministries will pay heavy casualties."

"First Army Headquarters..."

Yukio Kasahara was very dissatisfied and said, of course, he was on someone else's territory after all, so he did not say the humiliating words in the end.

Yoshio Shinozuka stood aside and wanted to make suggestions, but Yukio Kasahara ignored him completely.

Yukio Kasahara and Shokan Hirata took over the command completely with the staff accompanying the front army headquarters.

They were in constant communication with Front Army Commander Tada Shun and ignored any suggestions from the First Army.

At ten o'clock, in the name of the First Army Headquarters, they began to issue a series of combat orders to various ministries.

The 21st Division retreated to the front-line positions of Hengling Pass and Shunwangping. They were responsible for cutting off the connection between the 14th and [-]th Group Armies.

At the same time, the 21st Division also needs to be on guard against the Zhongtiao Mountain Attack Corps on Zijin Mountain in the north to prevent them from interfering with the Zhongtiao Mountain operation.

The 41st Division, an independent mixed ninth brigade with more than 1 troops, advanced directly eastward to make contact with the 33rd Division.

After these troops reunite, they will have more than 3 troops, and they will attack from Jincheng and Yangcheng.

The 27th Division advanced to the Shunwangping line, and they would launch an attack from here.

As for the 35th Division, the 20th Division, the 21st Division, and the 24th Division of the Royal Associated Army, they are blocking the east side.

At this time, the operational plan of Kasahara Yukio and other front army headquarters personnel was to assemble the 27th Division, the 33rd Division, and the 41st Division into an independent ninth brigade.

These more than 5 troops launched a fierce attack from the north and west, attacking the 14th Army, 15th Army, 93rd Army, and 98th Army with all their strength.

The 35th Division and the Royal Association Army blocked the east side to prevent them from evacuating eastward.

They wanted to press these three armies southward and press them to the north bank of the Yellow River in the shortest possible time.

At the same time, the Yamamoto Special Forces and other units were infiltrating, taking advantage of the favorable terrain, harassing their command organs, and cooperating with the main forces in operations.

Of course, the Ninth Army and the 27th Army here at Fengmenkou are handled by the Third Flying Regiment.

The aviation force continued to attack and bomb them to prevent them from supporting the 15th Army in combat.

In addition, the 35th Division troops in the east should also pay attention to their developments.

If these troops rush north for reinforcements, they need to be dispatched immediately to contain them.

Sakuma Shigemori's fourth cavalry brigade advanced to Li Yuanzhen.

They are here to monitor the Glory First Division in the west and the Zhongtiao Mountain Attack Corps in Purple Mountain!

Combat orders began to be issued one after another, and Lieutenant General Toshi Kinoshita, the commander of the Third Flying Group, also began to receive combat orders.

He wants to command the [-]st and [-]rd Flying Regiments, focusing on supporting the operations here in the eastern part of Zhongtiao Mountain.

At this time, the Little Japanese North China Front wanted to completely defeat the 14th Group Army in the shortest possible time.

As for their combat deployment, overall the problem is not big.

Moreover, the 27th Division and the 33rd Division participating in the war are all main combat units and have strong combat effectiveness.

Especially the 27th Division was reinforced by the artillery battalion of the Royal Association Army.

On the 33rd Division's side, there is the 41st Division, which is reinforced by the independent mixed ninth brigade.

The overall strength of the little Japanese troops attacking from the west and north is not weak!

(End of this chapter)