Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 169 Support, quick support
"Oh!"

After reading the telegram sent by the 103rd Regiment, Yoshio Shinozuka slammed it on the table.

"What is Mizuhara Kosuke doing? Why is he sending messages in plain text?!"

Yoshio Shinozuka was so angry that he was about to die. After sending this message, everyone knew that the main force of the 103rd Regiment had been surrounded by the Eighth Route Army.

This would greatly undermine the prestige of the Locust Army, even if it was true as Mizuhara Kosuke said that the Eighth Route Army had 20,000 to 30,000 people participating in the war.

"Sir, we raided the Eighth Route Army headquarters this time, but did not find them. Do you think the main force of the Eighth Route Army was hiding in Dayun Mountain, and the 103rd Regiment fell into the encirclement?" said Yamaoka Michifumi on the side.

"Eighth Route Army Headquarters? Well, what you said makes sense. The main force of the Eighth Route Army has always been roaming around, so it is very likely that they will appear in Dayun Mountain."

Yoshio Shinozuka took Yamaoka Michifumi's words to heart, otherwise it would be impossible to explain the sudden appearance of tens of thousands of Eighth Route Army soldiers in Dayun Mountain.

This can't be a regiment of troops, right? And can Dayun Mountain support so many troops?
According to the intelligence department's calculations, not to mention Dayun Mountain, even if the entire Zhongyun Mountain Range were added together, the number of full-time troops that could be supported would not exceed 3.

However, knowing the situation of the Eighth Route Army in Dayun Mountain did not help the situation on the battlefield at all, but instead gave Yoshio Shinozuka more headaches.

Now all the mobile forces of the First Army have been mobilized and are currently sweeping the various mountain valleys. It is unrealistic to ask them to assemble immediately and rush to support the 103rd Regiment.

The reason is very simple. When Mizuhara Kosuke raided Hongni Bay, he brought nothing with him. Each soldier only brought three days of rations. Two days have passed now, and the 3rd Regiment will be short of food and hungry tomorrow.

Fighting requires a lot of energy. By the day after tomorrow, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the 103rd Regiment will probably be reduced by half, and then the Eighth Route Army will launch a strong attack.

If we wait for other troops to gather and provide support, we may only be able to collect the bodies of the 103rd Regiment.

"Mr. Yamaoka, how many troops can be mobilized from the county town closest to the 103rd Regiment?" asked Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Ping'an County and Anqiu County, which are closest to the western foot of Dayun Mountain, each have a reinforced squadron of troops. Together with the gendarmerie, there are about 300 troops. Luyang still has four or five hundred people, but after deducting the logistics, there is only a reinforced infantry squadron and an artillery squadron." Yamaoka Michifumi explained.

The First Army itself did not have many troops, and a large number of mobile forces were drawn to carry out mopping-up operations. It was already the limit for it to be able to leave only one battalion of troops in several counties in northwestern Shanxi.

"Mr. Yamaoka, mobilize troops from Luyang, Anqiu, and Ping'an for support. Except for the military police, mobilize all other infantry. Let the troops from the three counties rush to Zhengfeng Town overnight, and meet up with the heavy weapons troops in Tanzhuang early tomorrow morning to launch an attack and assist the 103rd Regiment in opening the exit!"

Although the First Army's mobile forces had been completely withdrawn due to the mopping-up operation, the northwest of Shanxi was still under a mopping-up operation, so it was unlikely that the Eighth Route Army would attack these counties. This was why Yoshio Shinozuka dared to withdraw all the troops.

"Hai!"

Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

Looking at the telegram intercepted by the telegraph operator, the deputy chief of staff said with a smile: "Boss, the new second regiment had just returned and had a fight with the Japanese, forcing the Japanese to send a telegram with clear codes."

"Oh? Let me see." The deputy commander-in-chief reached out and took the telegram.

"It has to have its own arsenal. Look at what the telegram says. It was attacked by a large number of artillery, with heavy casualties and more than half of the heavy machine guns destroyed."

"Chen Chengxing is a rich kid. During the few months he was in Jizhong, he must have saved a lot of money in Erlang Cave. Hahahaha"

The deputy commander was overjoyed to see that the New Second Regiment had surrounded more than a thousand elite Japanese troops as soon as they returned.

During this counter-mopping-up operation, the deputy commander-in-chief never found an opportunity to deal a heavy blow to the Japanese, but he did not expect that the 103rd Regiment would jump onto the chopping block themselves.

"This kid Chen Chengxing never misses any opportunity to make money. He got those two cavalry field guns some time ago only because Brigade Chen promised to help him get copper coins for producing bullets, and they were delivered to the artillery regiment in the blink of an eye." At this point, the Deputy Chief of General Staff could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

Who is Chen Lu? He has always been the kind of person who takes advantage of others without suffering any loss. In the end, he worked for Chen Chengxing for nothing.

"Let's not talk about that." The deputy commander waved his hand and said, "I think the Japanese will definitely rescue the 103rd Regiment. Immediately send orders to all units to harass the Japanese mopping-up troops. Want to rescue them? Dream on!"

As long as the large force involved in the mopping-up operation is unable to provide rescue, it doesn't matter where the Japanese draw troops from.

The deputy commander-in-chief was aware of the strength of the New Second Regiment. If the 103rd Regiment dared to disarm itself and abandon heavy firepower and advance with light troops, the New Second Regiment would be able to defeat them one by one.

Early the next morning, more than 500 Japanese devils and thousands of puppet troops who had rushed to Zhengfeng Town overnight did not take time to rest, and immediately moved eastward to Xiaoliu Village to join the heavy weapons unit of the 103rd Regiment.

As the Japanese moved eastward, Chen Chengxing also immediately received the news.

In the temporary command post, Chen Chengxing looked at the intelligence sent by the reconnaissance platoon and readjusted the deployment of the New Second Regiment.

"Order the Third Battalion to withdraw from the encirclement of the Japanese and support the First and Second Battalions."

"The Fourth Battalion and the guerrillas will be responsible for continuing to encircle the Japanese in Magouli and Shanmenkou. Tell the comrades not to rush into a general attack, but to maintain the blockade and strike from behind."

After completing the encirclement and compression of the Japanese last night, the troops did not rush into a night battle. According to various intelligence reports, the Japanese did not bring any supplies this time, and a soldier could only carry rations for a maximum of three days.

As long as the Japanese reinforcements cannot break through Tujialing, the longer the time drags on, the better it will be for the New Second Regiment.

After all, there are still seven or eight hundred Japanese soldiers in Magou and at the entrance of the mountain. These seven or eight hundred people are all main forces. Even if they don’t have artillery, their combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated.

After the Japanese reinforcements arrived at Tanzhuang, the captain leading the team, Hidehito Noguchi, immediately ordered the accompanying Locust Army to attack.

Huang Jinbiao, who was assigned the first wave of attack missions, almost cursed out loud on the spot.

Didn't he fight with the Japanese before? Shouldn't there be artillery fire before the attack? Were those cannons in Tanzhuang just for decoration?

Although it doesn't matter to the garrison whether the artillery fires or not, you have to follow the procedure, otherwise how will the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side view us?
"Brother, what should we do?" the adjutant Ma Yong asked anxiously.

It wasn't the first day they were traitors, and they knew what was going to happen next. "How the hell should I know?!" Huang Jinbiao said angrily, "Tell the brothers to be more careful and think about how much you can eat. If a fight breaks out, hide your heads first!"

The Japanese have already given the order, they have to go to this battlefield whether they want to or not.

Under the urging of the Japanese, Huang Jinbiao led the security team and slowly began to move from the front line position towards Tujialing.

Noguchi Hidehito looked at the guards who were beginning to move forward and ordered: "Infantry and artillery, move forward and prepare for artillery fire. Once the heavy machine guns of the Eighth Route Army open fire, we must destroy the enemy's firepower points as quickly as possible."

"Hai!"

Under the order of Hidehito Noguchi, in addition to the two infantry guns he brought, the four infantry guns left by Kosuke Mizuhara were all pushed to the front line and began to build positions in a dispersed manner 2 meters away from Tujialing.

800 meters is the optimal firing range for the Type 92 infantry gun. As long as it aims, civil engineering works can be destroyed with one shot.

At the Tujialing position, looking at the puppet soldiers who were coming up alone and reluctantly, Xu Wu immediately understood the Japanese's plan. They were planning to use the lives of the puppet soldiers to step on mines and test the firepower points.

Xu Wu was not worried at all about this. As for how to deal with it, the team leader had already given an example before, so he just copied it.

"Order the heavy machine guns on the front line to pay attention and not to fire rashly. Let the light machine guns fire instead!"

It is impossible for the puppet army to launch a charge. It is enough to let the light machine guns and rifles play with the enemy. If the puppet army lies on the ground and does not move, the light machine guns can also slowly stop firing.

When Huang Jinbiao and the guard team approached to a position of 200 meters, several light machine guns on the front-line positions of the New Second Regiment opened fire.

"Thump, thump, thump" ...

Without any orders from Huang Jinbiao, all the puppet soldiers lay down on the ground almost at the same time. At the same time, the soldiers of the security team quickly picked up their rifles and started shooting.

"Bang!" "Bang!".
The muzzles of the puppet soldiers' guns were pointing forward, up in the air, or slanted on the ground.

Their purpose is simple, just to shoot the bullet while ensuring their own safety.

As for whether the shot is accurate or not, they have no control over it, or rather, even if they aim carefully, they cannot hit the target.

Since they are all inaccurate anyway, there is no need to take risks.

For a moment, bullets from both sides flew everywhere in front of the Tujialing position. If you didn't look closely, it really looked like a big battle.

Noguchi Hidehito in the rear saw that the Eighth Route Army never opened fire with heavy machine guns, and he didn't care. He ordered: "Infantry artillery hit the Eighth Route Army's light machine gun positions! Don't be afraid of wasting artillery shells. Ping'an County and Anqiu can use trucks to resupply at any time!"

Since the Eighth Route Army is so patient, they can destroy their light machine guns and elite riflemen.

With the reduction in the number of enemy light machine guns, the Locust Army will also face less resistance when launching a formal attack.

As the Japanese infantry artillery joined the attack, the light machine guns of the first and second companies at the front line began to be destroyed.

Seeing this, Xu Wu immediately ordered the light machine guns to stop firing, and asked the veterans involved in the shooting to move as much as possible.

Ten minutes later, a puppet soldier shouted, "Brother! I have no bullets!"

"I don't have any either!"
Listening to the noises coming one after another, Huang Jinbiao cursed directly: "You guys should shoot slower! Didn't each person get 30 rounds before the war?! The light machine gun gets 100 rounds!"

Are these yellow bullets? They are all dollars. If you keep the bullets, how much money can I make? Don’t you know that I’m in the arms business? !

After hearing Huang Jinbiao's words, the puppet soldiers next to him almost cursed.

30 rounds? Didn't you count how many were issued? The Japanese issued 30 rounds. After one pass, you had 20 rounds left. After another pass, the company commander had 15 rounds left. After the platoon leader had 10 rounds left.

Besides, you can't just make money, right? If we keep 5 more for ourselves, then we will have 5 bullets left!

As for the light machine gun, those bastards are even more ruthless. There are less than 10 bullets in the magazine!
It's good enough that this amount of bullets can last for more than ten minutes. Didn't you hear that the light machine guns of the Eighth Route Army above have stopped?
Besides, the sooner we finish this thing, the sooner we can call it a day. If we continue to waste time on this, who knows how many people will die.

After Huang Jinbiao finished cursing, he had no other choice but to order a retreat.

He was also a little scared. Just now a stray bullet had grazed his right arm, leaving a cut. He was afraid that if he continued fighting, he would lose his life.

Damn, how can bullets have no eyes? Aren't you Eighth Route Army soldiers fighting the Japanese? The bullets are flying towards the Japanese, why are they flying towards me?

After retreating in embarrassment, Huang Jinbiao found Noguchi Hidehito and reported, "Taijun, I led a fierce battle with the Eighth Route Army. More than 30 people were killed or wounded, and our ammunition is all gone. Can you give us some more ammunition?"

"Huang Sang, I understand your loyalty. Go and have a rest first. The logistics troops will replenish your ammunition, 50 rounds per person! 200 rounds for the light machine gun!" Noguchi Hidehito comforted the injured Huang Jinbiao.

Hidehito Noguchi didn't know that the Anqiu City Defense Department only allocated 30 rounds of ammunition to the security team. He thought that was all they were given, so he was very generous this time and directly approved a lot.

"Oh, thank you, Madam!" Huang Jinbiao's big molars were about to show, and even the wound on his right arm didn't hurt anymore.

This is not a lady, this is simply the God of Wealth.

In northwest Shanxi, bullets are a hot commodity. Not only do local armed forces need them, but guerrillas are also in dire need of them. These bullets can be sold immediately.

Noguchi Hidehito did not say much, but just signaled Huang Jinbiao to go down and bandage his wound and take a rest, and then ordered the other Locust Army to step forward and participate in the attack again.

(No. 1, asking for monthly ticket)
(End of this chapter)