Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 124 The Japs are too stable
After learning that the Japanese had arrived in Daqing Village, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered everyone to prepare for battle and lay mines on the route that the Japanese must take.

At the same time, everyone is required to hide and not expose the location of the firing point.

This time the Japanese brought more than a dozen mountain cannons, and there might be aircraft support. Chen Chengxing estimated that the Japanese would definitely continue shelling before attacking.

What we need to do now is to preserve our strength as much as possible and make plans after the Japanese shelling ends.

The real fierce battle is yet to come.

The Japanese advanced very quickly, and it didn't take long for the vanguard to approach the east entrance.

After passing the east entrance is the forward position of the New Second Regiment.

However, the Japanese suddenly stopped halfway through their journey.

"Captain, what are the Japanese doing?" Wei Dayong asked curiously.

When encountering the Japanese in the past, their vanguard would usually launch a tentative attack, but this time there was no action at all, which was extremely abnormal no matter how you looked at it.

"What? The Japanese brought so many cannons, they must be waiting for the artillery to arrive." Chen Chengxing said.

When the Japanese reach the regiment level of combat, they will rely more on the role of artillery. Chen Chengxing estimates that the Japanese's first round of offensive will definitely be artillery bombardment.

After the Japanese vanguard stopped advancing, they immediately began to dig fortifications on the spot.

Although they are the attacking party, they also need fortifications for protection, at least to be prepared for possible counterattacks.

On the high ground behind the side, the Japanese regiment commander Nobutsu Sakata was observing the fortifications of the Eighth Route Army opposite.

"The Eighth Route Army's defensive fortifications are quite organized, and it doesn't look like they were built in a hurry. The Eighth Route Army must have been prepared in advance." Sakata Nobutsu said as he put down the telescope.

A defensive fortification that has been carefully built over a long period of time will inevitably cause great trouble to the attacker.

"Captain, should we let the troops launch a tentative attack?" Chief of Staff Harada Jichiro said.

"Facing veterans of defensive warfare, early probing won't have much effect. At most, it will expose a few light machine guns." Sakata Nobutsu shook his head.

Sakata Nobutsu didn't think that the opponents would open fire at full force just because they saw a dozen people.

"Where is the mountain artillery battalion?" asked Nobutsu Sakata.

"We have arrived at Daqing Village and are setting up our position," reported Harada Jiro.

"Yoshi, after completing the preparations, bombard the open areas in front of the Eighth Route Army's position and on both sides of the passage." Sakata Nobutsu ordered.

"What?" Harada Jiro thought he had heard it wrong.

The Eighth Route Army did not deploy much defense on the open ground on both sides of the front line. Why did they bombard it? Shouldn't they bombard the Eighth Route Army's positions?

"Follow the order." Nobutsu Sakata did not explain too much.

"Hai!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
A few minutes later, the Japanese shelling officially began.

However, after seeing the place where the Japanese were firing, the Eighth Route Army on the position was also a little confused.

Is this a crooked shot?
"Captain, what are the Japanese doing?" Everyone was confused.

Chen Chengxing held up a telescope and carefully observed the enemy's artillery position.

"Call the front line." Chen Chengxing suddenly said.

"Yes!" The combat staff officer next to him immediately picked up the phone and started shaking it.

"Tell the company commander that as soon as the Japanese shelling ends, rush to bury the mines," Chen Chengxing ordered.

Chen Chengxing judged that the Japanese were using artillery to clear mines, and he was afraid that they had already prepared for a flank attack.

"Hello? First Company? This is the regiment headquarters. The commander orders that after the shelling, immediately rush to bury the mines!"

"Yes! The commander believes that the Japanese are clearing mines."

"Yep!"

After more than ten minutes, the shelling gradually stopped and the Japanese infantry began to advance.

"Third Platoon Leader, you will lead your men to lay mines on the left and right immediately. The rest of you, get ready for battle!"

"Artillery platoon! Your mission is to suppress the Japanese heavy machine guns, do you understand?" ordered the first company commander Cao Lin.

"Yes!"

After arriving at a position more than 4 meters away from the front line, the Japanese began to disperse, and heavy machine guns began to prepare fire suppression.

The infantry advanced in squads and in a skirmish line.

When the Japanese infantry squad attacks, they first need to clarify the direction of attack and the terrain and features that can be used. After determining the tactical essentials such as each group's phased hiding points, they will deploy in groups. After the machine gun group enters the first firing position, the infantry group will begin to maneuver to the first hiding point.

After reaching the first point, the infantry opened fire to kill the enemy while covering the machine gun group's maneuver. After the machine gun group was in place, it suppressed the enemy while covering the other groups' forward maneuvers, and the cycle continued.

The Japanese squad would pause at about 200 meters and deploy all its firepower to clear exposed enemy firing points and densely populated positions, while guiding targets for heavy firepower.

Generally, the Japanese infantry artillery will launch two rounds of attacks, one at the frontal firepower point of the position, and the other at the firepower point on one side of the position.

This will force the defenders to maneuver due to uneven deployment, thereby maximizing the destruction of the defenders' strength in motion and preparing for the final attack.

"Kill the chicken for me!" the Japanese squadron leader drew out his command knife and shouted.

The Japanese heavy machine guns opened fire first, providing fire cover for the infantry unit's attack.

Following the order of the Japanese squadron leader, the Japanese infantry immediately advanced continuously in a low posture.

"Shoot!" Zeng Lin immediately ordered as he saw the Japanese soldiers getting closer and closer.

"Da da da", "Da da da", "Da da da".
"Thump, thump, thump." "Thump, thump, thump."
The first to open fire were mainly light machine guns, and only elite veterans would open fire as riflemen.

Now the two sides are more than 3 meters apart. The Japanese infantry can already achieve a high hit rate, but most of the soldiers of the New Second Regiment are still unable to achieve accurate killing.

This is the weakest point of the New Second Regiment compared to the Japanese. Without a lot of bullet training, the soldiers' marksmanship is not good enough.

You know, the Japs nowadays can generally achieve a hit rate of over 200% at a distance of 80 meters, and at a distance of 50 meters, even with a short stop and rapid shooting, they can guarantee a hit rate of over 9%.

But what about the new Second Regiment? Even with the blessing of Chen Chengxing's characteristics, it would be a blessing if they could achieve a 200% hit rate at a distance of 30 meters.

And this is just a static target. If the Japanese keep advancing with tactical movements, most people will not be able to hit it except for a very small number of talented soldiers and elite veterans.

Therefore, if there were no special instructions, most soldiers would only open fire after the Japanese entered a range of 100 meters.

At this distance their hit rate can reach over 60%, although they don't know why they can shoot so accurately.

Moreover, at this distance, the density of machine gun fire will increase. If the Japanese force a charge, it will cause heavy casualties.

"Mortar! What the hell are you doing! Hurry up and suppress the Japanese heavy machine guns!" Zeng Lin could hardly lift his head due to the fire from the Japanese heavy machine guns.

There were only two heavy machine guns assigned to the first company's position, and they had not yet opened fire. The Japanese suddenly brought up four heavy machine guns, and the first company was severely suppressed.

The artillery positions of the first company were anxiously adjusting parameters at this time. Knowing that the Eighth Route Army had mortars, the Japanese heavy machine guns would not stay in the same place for long, which forced the mortars to be adjusted frequently.

"Boom~" "Boom~" "Boom~"

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" In this rapid fire, one shell hit the Japanese heavy machine gun position, destroying the entire firepower point in an instant.

Nobutsu Sakata, who was watching the battle, didn't care at all when he saw the heavy machine gun being shot down.

The Eighth Route Army had mortars, the Locust Army also had grenade launchers and infantry guns, as well as mountain artillery, giving them an absolute advantage in firepower.

At this time, the Japanese infantry artillery on the front line was firing rapidly and attacking the firepower points of the Eighth Route Army.

At the moment the infantry artillery stopped, the Japanese light and heavy machine guns immediately changed their previous short bursts of fire, no longer caring about the overheating of the barrels, and began to fire violently. They wanted to cover the infantry's charge.

After entering a distance of 100 meters, the Japanese infantry immediately launched a full-speed attack.

Zeng Lin, who was well prepared at this time, immediately ordered the long-awaited heavy machine guns to fire. At the same time, all the soldiers opened fire at full power and threw a large number of grenades.

“Da da da da.” “Da da da da.” “Da da da da.”
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
The Japanese soldiers who were charging at full speed were like straw when faced with two heavy machine guns and were cut down in an instant.

Seeing that the frontal attack was blocked, the Japanese captain Yukiro Horikita, who was in charge of the frontline command, ordered the infantry artillery to open fire and immediately sent a small team to attack from the flank.

However, for the New Second Regiment, which was familiar with the Japanese's combat methods, this little trick obviously had no effect.

In particular, mines were re-buried on both sides of the front-line position. Before the Japanese squad could launch an attack, they stepped on a mine and exposed their whereabouts. The Japanese wanted to force a charge at the position, but the next two mines woke the Japanese squad leader up.

Seeing that they could not break through the flank, the Japanese could only focus all their attention on the front.

As the Japanese infantry retreated, the shelling began again, and this time the Japanese fired all their shells at the first company's position.

In order to avoid overheating of the gun barrel, mountain artillery usually fires 1 to 2 rounds per minute during long-term shooting. However, the Japanese had a total of 16 guns and fired more than 10 shells in 200 minutes.

The entire frontier was plowed.

However, although the bunkers on the surface of the position were basically destroyed, the soldiers hiding in the 2-meter-deep trenches and anti-artillery holes did not suffer many casualties.

After all, mountain artillery is direct fire, so it is still difficult to hit the trench directly. Even if sporadic shells can hit the trench directly, it will not cause too many casualties in the winding trench.

When the Japanese battalion commander Horikita Yukiro saw that the shelling was beginning to weaken, he immediately ordered, "Taoci, give it!"

He wanted to shorten the attack distance as much as possible before the Eighth Route Army on the position could react.

But it was obvious that Horikita Yukiro was thinking too much, and Ichiren was not fighting on his own.

"Mortar fire!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

"Fire!" The phone at the artillery position had been connected long ago. After hearing Chen Chengxing's order, the combat staff immediately shouted into the phone.

"3 rapid shots! Fire!"

"Boom~" "Boom~" "Boom~".
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
The rhythm of the Japanese attack was immediately interrupted, and the company that had re-set up their guns also launched a fierce fire attack.

Seeing this, the Japanese had no choice but to retreat and readjust their offensive.

In the following period, the Japanese continued to launch attacks on the frontline positions, using various weapons in turn, but they never crossed the line.

Of course, the troops responsible for defending the front-line positions also suffered heavy casualties. The guards on the positions had been rotated several times, and the entire battalion had been rotated.

It was not until the evening that the gunfire in Erlang Mountain gradually stopped and the Japanese began to station on the spot.

The New Second Regiment also began to bury mines at night.

In the middle of the night, Zheng Hua led the 5th and 6th companies to quietly bypass the position from the side, preparing to attack the Japanese at night.

"Battalion Commander, where should we fight?" Company Commander Zhao Feng of the 5th Company asked in a low voice.

"To catch a thief, we must first catch the leader. I estimate that the Japanese command center must be located in Daqing Village. Let's launch a surprise attack here." Zheng Hua whispered.

The Erlang Mountain area is sparsely populated, and the only village that is relatively close and can see the front-line positions is Daqing Village.

If the Japanese commander does not want to sleep in the wilderness, Daqing Village is the only choice.

"Captain of the 5th Company, you lead a platoon as the vanguard, target Daqing Village, let's go!" Zheng Hua ordered.

"Yes!"

"Comrades, follow me!" Zhao Feng waved his hand and led the first row of the 5th Company forward.

A few minutes after Zhao Feng left, Zheng Hua and the rest of the troops quietly followed.

Zheng Hua's judgment was correct. Sakata Nobutsu's command center was indeed in Daqing Village, but Sakata Nobutsu's arrangements were airtight.

The visible and covert sentries have been pushed to a place 1 kilometer away from Daqing Village. In addition to the regiment's guard troops, there is half a battalion stationed next to Daqing Village, and the other half of the battalion is stationed at the artillery position.

There is no possibility of any sneak attack in these two places.

The vanguard troops led by Zhao Feng were discovered by Japanese sentries far away from the Daqing Mountain, and an exchange of fire ensued. Although several Japanese sentries were killed, their plan of a night attack was completely bankrupt.

When Zheng Hua heard the gunshots, he knew they had been exposed.

"Communicator! Order the vanguard troops to retreat immediately. We will retreat to Huaishuping." Zheng Hua ordered.

Zheng Hua wanted to see if any of the Japanese would chase them out so that they could set up an ambush.

Since the night attack failed, it was not a wasted trip at all since we were able to wipe out a wave of Japanese troops.

At this time, the captain of the third battalion in charge of alert, Masao Saito, was preparing to send troops to attack.

"First Squadron, assemble immediately and follow me to chase the enemy!"

From the sound of gunfire, Saito Masao judged that the enemy force consisted of only a few dozen people, which was exactly in line with the force specifications for the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla night attack.

If we can attack quickly now, we should be able to kill the opponent.

However, as soon as Saito Masao gave the order, he was stopped by Sakata Nobutetsu.

"The Eighth Route Army is coming in cunningly. We don't know how many enemy troops are outside. We must not pursue them rashly." Sakata Nobutsu said.

Now they were not playing hide-and-seek with a small group of guerrillas, but fighting a main regiment of the Eighth Route Army, and no one knew how many troops the other side would send.

If a squadron of troops is sent out, even if they are not eaten up, there will probably be no results.

"But." Saito Masao still wanted to give chase. He had done so during previous raids, and it usually produced certain results.

"Baga! Follow the order!" Nobutsu Sakata said angrily.

It is simply foolish to put an entire squadron in danger for the sake of a small victory. You will only be able to be a captain in your life.

"Hai!"

Huaishuping.

"Battalion commander, the Japs haven't moved out yet," the investigator reported.

When Zheng Hua heard the investigator's report, he felt it was a pity. Why didn't the Japanese obey his orders?

But the Japanese would not leave their lair, and Zheng Hua had no way to deal with it.

He could only choose to change direction and try again, but the Japanese were as steady as an old dog and did not give Zheng Hua any chance at all.

(End of this chapter)