Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 182: Is there anything in the Sakata Brigade’s battle report that can be trusted?
"attack!"

Looking at the Japanese positions covered by artillery fire, Xu Wu, Zheng Hua and Sun Xun gave orders almost at the same time.

At the same time, guerrilla teams 4 and 8, which were responsible for sealing the two ends, also had a small force participating in the attack.

Looking at the Eighth Route Army that had already come up, even though Ishimura Tomoki knew that this was to test his firepower, he still had to give the order to shoot.

"Kill the chicken!" Tomoki Ishimura drew out his command knife and shouted.

"Mortar! Fire!"

"Da da da".
"Boom!" "Boom!".
The several infantry platoons responsible for the attack used a skirmish line, so the casualties were not very large. When the Japanese opened fire, the soldiers all lay down instantly.

Immediately afterwards, the 60mm mortar following the attack was set up on the ground. The gunner slightly adjusted the angle and immediately fired several shells.

Although the mortar's hit rate was not very high, it still forced the Japanese heavy machine guns to move.

After the Japanese's firepower began to weaken, the soldiers of the New Second Regiment took advantage of the situation and attacked forward. Ishimura Tomoki was forced to do nothing but order more firepower points to open fire, and at the same time let the mountain artillery fire at the covering firepower of the Eighth Route Army's rear.

Even though there were only a few hundred people from the New 2nd Regiment participating in the frontal attack, there were many troops providing fire cover around them. If the mountain artillery was not used, the heavy machine guns alone would be enough to suppress the Japanese.

Looking at the Japanese with all their firing points exposed, Chen Chengxing knew that the Japanese had reached their end.

Just as Chen Chengxing was about to order the mortar to open fire again to provide covering fire, a combat staff officer ran over to report.

"Captain, we received intelligence from our scouts that another group of Japanese soldiers have passed through Xiaoheigou and are marching towards us!"

Tomoki Ishimura had already sent a telegram for help when the New Second Regiment launched the first round of mortar attacks.

He knew very well that the Eighth Route Army had so many mortars that he didn't need to attack by force. He could be defeated by artillery fire alone. He was already trapped, and if he wanted to break out, he had to have someone to support him.

"Qin Sheng, take the 13th Company, the 14th Company and the 4th Machine Company to Baigoumen to build a blocking position and block the Japanese reinforcements." Chen Chengxing ordered.

It is unrealistic to cross from Xiaoheigou to Yanweiya. After crossing Xiaoheigou, the Japanese can only turn to the highway, then detour to Mafang, and then go back to the rear wing of the New Second Regiment.

No matter how the Japanese go around, Baigoumen is a must-pass place, unless the Japanese choose to cross the mountains. But in that case, the Japanese don't even have much ammunition for their light machine guns, so even if they can get through, they will not pose any threat at all.

After Qin Sheng left, Chen Chengxing also changed his previous plan to continue the mortar attack, and instead ordered: "Move all the infantry guns forward, each gun is responsible for a small area, and eliminate the devil's heavy machine guns for me!"

Chen Chengxing is now relying on the fact that he has more artillery to bully the Japanese. If the New Second Regiment only had two infantry guns, the Japanese heavy machine guns would have a one or two minute shooting window. But in front of eight infantry guns, the Japanese shooting window is at most 2 seconds, which is not enough time to use up a magazine.

"boom!"

Tomoki Ishimura looked at a heavy machine gun position that was destroyed by artillery shells again, and his eyes twitched constantly.

In less than 10 minutes, half of the 8 heavy machine guns of the machine gun squadron he led had been destroyed. Moreover, as the number of heavy machine guns decreased, the adjustment speed of the opponent's artillery became faster and faster. The heavy machine guns had to be moved for 5 minutes, and they would be killed instantly if they opened fire.

But the heavy machine guns had to fire. Without the suppression of the heavy machine guns, the Eighth Route Army would rush into the position in minutes.

"Order the mortars and mountain artillery to bombard the possible positions of the Eighth Route Army's infantry artillery." Ishimura Tomoki ordered helplessly.

Infantry guns are so small that it’s impossible to see them if you just find a nest in a random place, so you can only try your luck.

However, even if they could not hit the Eighth Route Army's infantry artillery, they could still block the Eighth Route Army's subsequent infantry, so that they could get some breathing space.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
Seeing the Eighth Route Army's offensive slowing down under the bombardment, Ishimura Tomoki breathed a sigh of relief, but then the telegraph operator reported: "Chief of Staff, we received a telegram from Captain Higashiyama."

"Where are they?!" Ishimura Tomoki asked anxiously. He urgently needed support.

"Uh, Captain Dongshan reported that they encountered a stubborn resistance from the Eighth Route Army at Baigou Gate and are now forcing the attack."

"Baka!" Tomoki Ishimura understood what Ryotaro Toyama meant as soon as he heard it.

A strong attack means that it is impossible to break through in a short period of time, otherwise he would not have sent this telegram.

"Send a telegram to Major Higashiyama, and he must reach Yanwei Cliff within 2 hours!" ordered Tomoki Ishimura.

"Haha!" The telegraph operator hurriedly sat down and sent the message.

Tomoki Ishimura also turned his attention to the eight routes around him. Reinforcements would not arrive in a short time, so he had to buy time or find a way to break through.

Ishimura Tomoki's gaze gradually turned to the Eighth Route Army in the west. This group of Eighth Route Army should be the one that lured him here, and their combat effectiveness was considered weak among the surrounding Eighth Route Army. It was a good opportunity for him to try and see if they could break through.

"Pass on my order. The second and third squadrons are ready to attack. Target the Eighth Route Army to the west!"

"Mortars and mountain artillery, get ready, and fire at the Eighth Route Army heading west before the assault!"

Since we are going to try it, we have to give it our all the first time. After all, the Eighth Route Army will become more vigilant as time goes by.

After a few minutes, the second and third squadrons had moved into position.

Ishimura Tomoki did not wait any longer, he drew out his command knife and shouted, "Taoci, give it to me!"

"Onboard!".
The Japs shouted and rushed out of their positions.

At the same time, the prepared artillery also began shelling the Eighth Route Army 200 meters in front of the position, and continued to spread backwards at intervals of 50 meters.

The Japanese infantry did not hesitate at all about the shells that could fall on them at any time, and rushed forward directly on the mud that was still hot to the feet.

Seeing the Japanese charging, Chen Chengxing immediately ordered: "Send a message to the mountain artillery platoon, and fight to the death! Let the 15th and 16th companies immediately support the th team!"

The Japanese took the initiative to launch an attack, which was both a danger and an opportunity for the New Second Regiment.

If the Japanese refused to move, the New Second Regiment would either have to fill the gap with lives or artillery shells. Now that the Japanese have left their lair, the New Second Regiment's chance has come.

Although mortars cannot be fired at will due to accuracy issues, the Type 2 mountain cannon does not have this problem. At a distance of less than kilometers, it can basically hit whatever it is pointed at.

Moreover, both sides' mountain artillery were covered by their positions, with only the barrel exposed outside. Neither side could do anything to the other, and they could only stare at each other helplessly. "Boom!" "Boom!"
As the mountain artillery opened fire, the Japanese soldiers who suddenly rushed out suffered severe damage. After all, they were prepared to rush out and fight with bayonets, and the distance between each other could not be too far.

Moreover, the power of the Type 82 mountain gun's shells is twice that of mm mortar shells, which makes the killing effect of the mountain gun extremely significant.

Looking at the soldiers being blown to the ground, Ishimura Tomoki was about to vomit blood. Why did the mountain artillery appear again? Is there anything in the report of the Sakata Regiment that can be trusted?
The reason why he let his troops approach the Eighth Route Army quickly was to guard against their mortars.

After all, mortar shells have a slow flying speed and low accuracy. As long as the two sides are close, the Eighth Route Army will never dare to use it easily.

As a result, the Eighth Route Army did not use mortars, but instead brought out more powerful mountain cannons. Isn't this bullying the honest people?

At the beginning, the Japanese continued to attack the positions of the 15th Guerrilla Team despite the bombardment, but with the arrival of the 16th and 1th Companies, the Japanese were forced to retreat after suffering one-third casualties.

The Japanese retreat also gave the New Second Regiment's mortars an opportunity.

It was difficult for me to hit you when we were close to each other, but now that you have retreated, how can I let you go easily?
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
The Japanese were sent all the way back to the trenches by artillery shells. As a result, there were more than 300 of them when they left, but less than 150 came back alive.

Although those who stayed behind were not necessarily dead, many were injured and unable to move, but lying outside was no different from being dead.

Once the New Second Regiment launches another attack, the problem will be solved easily. It is only a matter of time.

In the following time, both sides attacked and defended each other, and as time went on, the Japanese became more and more crazy, constantly advancing left and right, trying to break free from the encirclement of the New Second Regiment.

However, the New Second Regiment now not only has the advantage in firepower but also the advantage in manpower, so the Japanese did not gain any advantage at all. Instead, the more they struggled, the more they died.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, seeing the Japanese soldiers still fighting desperately, Chen Chengxing decided to launch a general attack.

If it really gets night, the Japanese will most likely break out at night.

Night battles are not only for the Eighth Route Army. The Japanese would also choose to fight at night when facing powerful enemies.

"Send a message to all units to launch the general attack at 5 o'clock. Tell the first battalion to send a company of infantry to directly attack the Japanese artillery position during the general attack." Chen Chengxing ordered after putting down the telescope.

"Yes!" The combat staff officer at the side picked up the phone.

According to Chen Chengxing's assessment, the Japanese now have at most 300 people, and their heavy firepower has been basically destroyed. The biggest casualties to the New Second Regiment now are the Japanese artillery.

As long as we can tie down the enemy's artillery, the remaining enemy troops will be wiped out in one wave.

"Cao Lin, the task of assaulting the Japanese artillery position is given to the first company. The machine gun company will cover you." After Xu Wu put down the phone, he looked at the company commander next to him and said.

"Make sure to complete the mission!" Cao Lin stood up.

There are less than 300 Japanese soldiers alive now. Once the general attack is launched, if you run slowly, you may not be able to find a Japanese soldier to poke. The task of the first company is more to seize the artillery.

At 5 o'clock, two flares were launched into the air and the general attack officially began.

The first attack was still the mortar position.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
Looking at the Japanese positions covered by artillery fire, the soldiers launched a charge directly at the sound of the charge.

The Japanese had just endured the artillery fire and when they looked up they saw that the Eighth Route Army had rushed to a position 100 meters away from their position.

"The enemy is coming! Counterattack! Counterattack quickly!"

"Kill the chicken for me!" Tomoki Ishimura shouted.

Only if he can survive this wave will he have a chance to break out after nightfall.

However, the Japanese's heavy machine guns had been almost all lost at this time, and only one could still fire. However, facing the Eighth Route Army attacking from all directions, this heavy machine gun had no chance of stopping them.

The New Second Regiment troops attacked from all directions and directly separated the Japanese.

The first company rushed straight to the Japanese artillery position under the cover of light and heavy machine guns. The heavy machine guns responsible for the cover did not stop firing until the soldiers of the first company were about to reach the Japanese position.

There are less than 60 Japanese soldiers on the artillery position now, and they don't even have many rifles. Facing the Eighth Route Army soldiers rushing up with bayonets, the Japanese soldiers can only shout "Get on board" twice and scream in pain from being stabbed.

At this time, the artillery positions were full of shells, so the soldiers did not dare to give the Japanese time to react. Even though they knew that the New Second Regiment was in short supply of technical arms such as artillery, they had no intention of holding back. Rather than capturing the Japanese artillery, they decided to get the artillery first.

Faced with the general attack of the New Second Regiment, the Japanese only struggled symbolically before being quickly overwhelmed.

"Captain, the battle is over, not a single enemy is left alive!"

"I understand. Let the soldiers clean up the battlefield quickly." Chen Chengxing nodded.

The system had already reminded him.

[The battle is over, battle evaluation: great victory!]

【Obtained 4244 honor points. 】

[Current Honor Points: 61629/100000.]

Even though there were only a total of 103 Japanese and puppet troops this time, the honor points obtained from a big victory were more than those obtained from killing the elite troops of the rd Regiment.

Previously, due to the retreat of the 103rd Regiment’s heavy weapons unit, Chen Chengxing only received a victory evaluation and only 3 honor points.

With the end of the Yanwei Cliff battle, Toyama Ryotaro decisively stopped the attack and retreated quickly, and retreated directly to Dingjun Ridge.

If you go one step back from Dingjun Ridge, you will be able to get out of the mountain.

However, after stopping at Dingjunling, Ryotaro Toyama had no plans to retreat further.

He is waiting.
(End of this chapter)