Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

Chapter 768 Chapter 767, The Japs Are Waiting
The straight-line distance from Shouyang County to Yangtou Cliff is about 15 kilometers, which doesn't seem far. But it's not that far, because people can't fly, so they need to take a detour.

Therefore, the Japanese Inaba Battalion took about four hours to walk, and the main force did not arrive here until after 11 o'clock.

The Inaba Battalion went south along the railway line, then southwest, and met the newly transferred puppet troops at Lujiazhuang Station before turning to Yangtouya, which was more than 40 miles. The main force was similar, they first chased the Japanese to the southeast, and after a battle, they turned back to the southwest, just a 90-degree turn, the straight-line distance was more than 40 miles, and the actual walking distance was more than 60 miles.

It can be said that although the main force did not perform particularly well in the battle to annihilate the Morita Battalion today, their marching efficiency and physical fitness were fully demonstrated. Don't forget that they also had to help the artillery battalion carry shells and even help carry some heavy parts along the way...

Well, when they came from Baiyu Village, the main force was basically lightly equipped, because all the unnecessary baggage was left at Bishi. But that was not important, what was important was that they arrived at Yangtou Cliff before 12 o'clock, adding more than a thousand fresh troops to the New Second Regiment, and also brought the magic weapon for victory on the battlefield - heavy mortars!

It must be said that in front of artillery, especially heavy artillery, as long as the enemy is within range, the number of enemies does not make much difference. As long as there are enough shells and the gun body can hold up, no matter how many come, they can be destroyed! Therefore, when they knew that there were more than 3000 Japanese puppet troops on the opposite side, the two heavy mortar companies that followed Zheng Changfeng did not feel any pressure.

Of course, at this time, the artillery company that belonged to the main regiment and was temporarily loaned to the new second regiment was also reorganized after Zheng Changfeng arrived, which meant that Zheng Changfeng had 6 more mortars under his command.

Yes, that's right, 6 82 mortars, not 9 82 mortars. This is the standard for the artillery companies of the regiments (battalions) of the Beishan Detachment today.

Well, this is not the point. The point is that these regiments (battalions) of the Beishan Detachment are actually benchmarked against the size of the Japanese infantry battalion. The artillery of the Japanese infantry battalion only has two standard Type 97 infantry guns. Although the Japanese also developed the Type 90 mm mortar, for some unknown reason, such mortars rarely appeared on the battlefield behind enemy lines.

Everyone knows that the Japanese artillery is powerful, and it is indeed very powerful, but the Japanese artillery is powerful at the division level, because the division has an artillery regiment equipped with Type 38 field guns and 105mm or 150mm heavy artillery, which is the Japanese magic weapon for victory.

Therefore, the Japs like battles involving large-scale advancement of troops, especially those that advance continuously along transportation lines, so that the advantages of artillery can be fully utilized.

However, this advantage cannot be used in the mountains! After all, the mountains are not as vast as the plains. All you can see are mountains, and even the best field artillery is useless...

At this time, Captain Inaba, who was still at Lujiazhuang Station, was also lamenting about the artillery, but what he was lamenting about was not anything else but his own artillery team that was bombed today.

"From dusk till now, we have launched 5 attacks, all of which were beaten back! But we have roughly determined the position and firepower configuration of the Eighth Route Army. If we still have the mountain artillery battalion to help, it will be much easier to break through the Eighth Route Army's defense line! Unfortunately, the Eighth Route Army has as many heavy artillery as we do. Is this still the Eighth Route Army?" Captain Inaba muttered to himself, full of confusion about the future. "Captain, why can't we split the troops into small units like the Eighth Route Army did, and then disperse and break into the Eighth Route Army's base? Major Morita and his men have already penetrated deep into the Eighth Route Army's base, so we can also disperse and enter!" At this time, the battalion's adjutant raised doubts.

"That's because you've never entered the Eighth Route Army's base to conduct a security operation!" Inaba said bluntly, "Do you think the Eighth Route Army's base is the same kind of village we encountered before? The kind of village with only a circle of walls outside the village, but the people have no weapons and can only let us slaughter them? You are wrong!"

"From the spring of 39 to now, I have been promoted from a small team leader to a big team leader from Beiyue District to Jizhong, Jinan, and even to southeastern Shanxi. I have participated in at least 20 public security battles! And every time I fight for public security, I have new insights! At the beginning, the villages in these so-called bases were basically undefended. When we went there, the people would hide in the mountains."

"At that time, although it was difficult to find the people in the base, we were always able to capture some people along the trail, and even capture a group of people at a time! And those villages would also leave a lot of supplies for us to make up for our losses, and even have some surplus!"

"But as time went on, those villages were still in those locations, but there were more tunnels in the villages, and the people could not be found even if they hid there! As for supplies, except for some heavy furniture, the people hid everything they could, even large animals!"

"Although the security battle at that time was difficult to fight, the casualties were not that great. After all, the people were hiding. The main force of the Eighth Route Army was not many and was also scattered and hiding. They would occasionally find our weaknesses and give us a fatal blow! Of course, I was lucky and did not make any mistakes, so I am here now."

"And this situation is only in the early stage! Because in the 40s, there were many so-called militias in the base areas of the Eighth Route Army! These militias used simple weapons and hid in tunnels to fight us. Landmines and grenades were their best equipment! But even such equipment caused us a lot of trouble and caused casualties!"

"In this way, we can't easily take over the Eighth Route Army's villages, because we will always suffer casualties, which is very annoying!"

"And this kind of thing became even worse last year! Those people would dig shooting holes in the village walls and even in the houses. When we entered the village or got close to the village, we would be attacked by the militia's firepower! This forced us to pay attention to every village we visited and be prepared to suffer certain casualties! Such a battle is actually very disadvantageous!"

"Now? These villages still look like villages, but you can't say that there are no hidden firepower points, mines and other traps waiting for you in the villages you see! Therefore, I chose to go along the traffic line instead of sweeping those villages, because our goal is to reinforce Yangquan after all! And I also concluded that Morita's side will definitely not be easy, so much so that the radio station is turned off!"

Well, Captain Inaba, who was talking a lot to pass the time, still underestimated the strength of the Eighth Route Army. He never thought that Morita and his men were already finished!

(End of this chapter)