Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 215: I am worried about the large number of weapons and ammunition reported as damaged (asking for monthly tickets)
"Brother, what are the Japanese thinking? Asking us to support them? Are the Eighth Route Army easy to mess with?" On the way, Sun Tao, the adjutant of the 2nd Regiment of the st Division, complained.

In the whole of North China, who doesn't know how difficult the Eighth Route Army is and how useless the Locust Army is? Why would anyone ask the Locust Army to support them? They are afraid that the Ishiguro Battalion will not die.

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? If the Japanese let us go, we will go." said the regiment commander Zhong Yunhe.

"Tell the brothers to conduct more reconnaissance. Don't be afraid of being slow. Reconnaissance should be carried out step by step. Don't fall into the ambush of the Eighth Route Army!"

If he fights the Eighth Route Army head-on, Zhong Yunhe is not afraid at all. If he can't beat you, how can he outrun you?
Do you know what our Locust Army is best at? Over the years, the slow-moving Locust Army has long been wiped out!
"Don't worry, bro. I've already given instructions."

"That's good. Let's not rush. The more stable the better." Zhong Yunhe nodded.

How did he gain a foothold in the Locust Army? It was just his brothers and guns. As long as he didn't suffer any losses, his status would not be affected.

The 2nd Regiment of the Puppet Army was indeed very stable. The st Guerrilla Team had discovered them long ago, but after waiting for more than an hour, they still didn't come over.

It was not until around 2 p.m. that Zhong Yunhe and his troops finally arrived at Dawangzhuang.

It was less than 10 kilometers from Xinbao Town to Dawangzhuang, but the puppet army took more than 4 hours to walk there. The guerrilla team became impatient.

However, the puppet army's caution made the ambush of the guerrilla team ineffective.

Although the soldiers did not fire their guns but instead used a sneak attack to kill the puppet army's scouts, Zhong Yunhe, who did not see the scouts return, realized that something was wrong.

"There are Eighth Route Army troops ahead, let the brothers get ready!" Zhong Yunhe jumped off his horse in an instant.

Riding on a horse knowing that the Eighth Route Army was around was tantamount to seeking death.

Zhong Yunhe raised his telescope and looked at the hilltop in the distance, then turned around and ordered, "Company 1, go forward and conduct some reconnaissance."

According to previous orders, scouts had to report back every 1 kilometer, and the 2nd Regiment also marched one kilometer at a time.

Now that the scouts haven't come back, the Eighth Route Army is within this kilometer.

After hearing Zhong Yunhe's order, the puppet soldiers of the 1st Company were somewhat reluctant, but they had no choice but to move forward cautiously step by step.

Looking at the hundreds of puppet soldiers approaching, Yang Hong felt helpless, but he could only signal everyone to get ready.

When the puppet army approached to within 50 meters of the top of the hill, Yang Hong fired the first shot.

"boom!"

"Bang!" "Bang!".
Except for the firearms squadron, the remaining guerrilla squadrons opened fire.

Because the distance was close, half of the puppet troops were killed in just one round of shooting.

"Fuck! Run!"

The remaining puppet soldiers immediately ran away without looking back.

Naturally, the soldiers did not miss the opportunity to strike hard at the enemy and fired two more shots.

Everyone stopped shooting until the puppet army ran 100 meters away. At this time, only 1/3 of the puppet army was left.

The guerrilla fighters' marksmanship is still far inferior to that of the main battalion's soldiers.

"Send a few people to clean up the battlefield." Yang Hong ordered as he looked at the puppet soldiers running away.

After taking back all the supplies from the puppet soldiers who had been killed and counting them, Yang Hong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had made no loss.

Although each of these puppet soldiers only carried more than 20 rounds of bullets, they were able to retrieve more than 1,500 rounds of bullets because they had a light machine gun.

It was a barely sufficient replacement for the bullets that had just been fired, and the remaining forty-odd rifles and a light machine gun were all profit.

"MD, the Eighth Route Army really has an ambush!" Zhong Yunhe broke out in a cold sweat as he watched the Eighth Route Army cleaning up the battlefield.

If I hadn't been so careful, I would probably be lying on the ground now.

"Brother, what should we do now?" Sun Tao asked from the side.

"What to do? Of course, ask for help."

"Commander!"

"To!"

"Report to Xinbao Town immediately and tell them that our troops have been blocked by the Eighth Route Army and are now fighting hard. Please support us immediately!"

"Captain, how much is the report?" asked the messenger.

"Let's say there are 6 Eighth Route Army soldiers, dozens of light and heavy machine guns, and mortars!" Zhong Yunhe said after thinking for a while.

The more Eighth Route Army troops there are, the more losses he can report. After the war, he will make a fortune again.

"Yes!" The messenger was very familiar with this matter, and he mounted his horse and galloped towards Xinbao Town.

Looking at the figure of the messenger, Zhong Yunhe also felt a little worried.

There are a lot of weapons and ammunition that can be reported as damaged this time, but there is basically no force in Northwest Shanxi that can take them all. Who should we sell them to? Or should we contact the Eighth Route Army?
The messenger rode his horse at full speed all the way to Xinbao Town, and immediately reported to the remaining Japanese captain.

"Taijun! We were blocked by the Eighth Route Army in Dawangzhuang! They were all veteran Eighth Route Army soldiers, about five to six thousand strong, with dozens of heavy machine guns, countless light machine guns, and even six mountain cannons!"

"What?!" The Japanese captain's eyes popped out when he heard the messenger's report. "Someone! Send a telegram to the brigade commander immediately!" the Japanese captain said anxiously.

With five or six thousand soldiers and six mountain cannons, it would be no problem to capture Xinbao Town.

"Ha!"
Xishan Jian, who was sweeping the Yalu Mountains, was a little serious after receiving the telegram, but he was not too panicked.

Putting aside whether the Locust Association's report is true or not, even if it is true, it is not so easy for the Eighth Route Army to capture a heavily guarded stronghold.

"Mr. Yamada, forward the telegram to the 3rd Mixed Brigade and tell them that the 9th Mixed Brigade cannot mobilize a large force for support in a short period of time. Ask them to think of other ways."

"Brigade Commander, we can't just sit back and watch the Eighth Route Army in Dawangzhuang. Regardless of whether they will attack Xinbao Town, their position alone is very dangerous. As long as the Eighth Route Army wants, they can easily cut off the logistics of the 9th Mixed Brigade." Yamada Nobuhiro said.

"What you said makes sense." Xishan Jian thought for a moment and said, "Let the troops slow down the sweep first, and at the same time order the 3rd Independent Infantry Battalion to retreat to Duanjia Village."

Duanjia Village is located in the hilly area east of the Yalu Mountains, 15 kilometers away from Xinbao Town. The road is convenient. If the Eighth Route Army wants to cut off the transportation route of the 9th Mixed Brigade, the 3rd Independent Infantry Battalion can respond quickly.

"Baga. The Eighth Route Army is so cunning." Nara Yukio frowned as he looked at the telegram. This was far beyond his expectations.

Yukio Nara had always thought that he had held back the main force of the Eighth Route Army, but judging from this telegram, that was not the case.

"Brigade Commander, it seems that the Eighth Route Army that has been harassing our large forces are all local guerrillas. No wonder they never engage in direct combat with our army." said Toyama Ryotaro.

"Well, I've always felt something was wrong. Now it seems that the Eighth Route Army is trying to conceal their true intentions." Nara Yukio imagined it for a moment, then his face straightened and he issued the latest order.

"Pass on my order! The Second and Third Independent Infantry Battalions will quickly head north to support the Ishiguro Battalion. The rest of the troops will follow me and move diagonally to Aonao Mountain to block the Eighth Route Army's southward march!"

The main force of the Eighth Route Army is no longer in the Dayun Mountain area, and the 3rd Mixed Brigade is of no use here.

If we can wipe out the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Dujia Town area, we can then squeeze the remaining Eighth Route Army forces from north to south, and finally wipe out the Dayunshan base.

"Ha!"
Just when Nara Yukio led the Third Mixed Brigade to split into two groups to support the joint attack, Chen Chengxing had already commanded the First Battalion, the Third Battalion and the Third Guerrilla Team to completely trap the Ishiguro Battalion in the Lijiazhang area.

Although the Ishiguro Battalion tried several times, they failed to break through and were forced to hold on.

"Commander, according to reconnaissance, the main force of the Japanese is on the Lijiazhang Heights. However, the Japanese have stationed troops in the village, in the cemetery west of the village, and on the small earthen slopes around it. The number of people ranges from a few to more than a dozen." Xu Wu once again took on the work of a staff officer.

"If we pull it out bit by bit, I don't know how long it will take." Sun Xun said with a headache.

Although the Japanese only sent out small forces to garrison each node, the artillery on the high ground could strike any point, so it was not so easy for the New Second Regiment to wipe out all these Japanese.

Chen Chengxing looked at the scattered positions of the Japanese and said directly: "The Japanese use artillery, so we should also use artillery! Let's put bayonets on the cannons. Before attacking, build artillery positions, push the infantry artillery to the front of the positions, and eliminate the Japanese firepower points at fixed points!"

After the battle of Yuehe Town, because the mountain artillery company added two more mountain cannons, Chen Chengxing distributed the infantry artillery of the infantry artillery company to each battalion.

Therefore, in addition to 12 mortars, Chen Chengxing now also has 5 infantry guns. Although the mortars and infantry guns are not as powerful as mountain guns, the attack power of so many artillery pieces is not in vain.

After hearing Chen Chengxing's order, Xu Wu and Sun on the side felt a little reluctant. The shells of infantry artillery are different from those of mortars. Now the entire Eighth Route Army is unable to produce them by itself, which means that every shell fired is one less.

"Captain, why don't I lead the comrades to charge first?" Xu Wu suggested.

According to his understanding, other units of the Eighth Route Army would not even use mortars or grenade launchers when faced with such a situation.

"Why are you rushing? Just do as I say!" Chen Chengxing ignored Xu Wu's request.

"yes!".
The Japanese Type 92 infantry gun was particularly small. After the artillery position was built and the gun was pushed in, it could not be detected at all from a distance.

Moreover, on small positions with only a few or a dozen people, the Japanese relied more on fighting in foxholes, and there was no place to move the light machine guns even if they wanted to.

The soldiers of the New Second Regiment only launched a feint attack, and the Japanese's firepower points would be exposed. When the soldiers attacked for the second time, as soon as the Japanese machine guns opened fire, a shell would immediately fly over.

When the distance is three or four hundred meters, the infantry artillery has basically no error and can destroy the Japanese firepower point with just one shot. After losing the machine gun firepower, the remaining Japanese riflemen can't stop the attack of the New Second Regiment at all.

Therefore, even though the Japanese artillery on the high ground was constantly providing fire support, by the evening, the New Second Regiment had already eliminated all of the Japanese positions on the periphery.

Looking at the Japanese positions on the Lijiazhang Heights, Chen Chengxing ordered the mortars to start firing in turns, and at the same time asked Xu Wu and Sun Xun to prepare for a night battle.

At the same time, Ishiguro Shosuke on the top of the mountain was also observing the situation of the Eighth Route Army at the temporary command post.

Listening to the continuous bombardment of the Eighth Route Army, Ishiguro Shosuke ordered: "Tell the artillery squadron not to stop the bombardment. While you can still see, keep attacking the Eighth Route Army. Any target can be attacked, even an Eighth Route Army infantryman!"

"Captain, we have no supplies now! If we continue to consume at this rate, by the time the Eighth Route Army officially launches the attack, I'm afraid we will have no shells left!" the deputy captain on the side said hurriedly.

Whether it was infantry artillery or mountain artillery, when there was no logistics troops following, each gun only carried forty rounds of artillery shells.

"Formal attack? The decisive battle will be tonight! Will the artillery still be effective at night?" Ishiguro Shosuke said without even turning his head.

The Eighth Route Army is now constantly bombarding the Li Jiazhang position, and their intention must be to reduce the Locust Army's strength as much as possible. Therefore, Ishiguro Shosuke dared to conclude that the Eighth Route Army was 100% planning a night attack.

But at this time the Locust Army was different from the Eighth Route Army. The Locust Army's position was fixed, so the Eighth Route Army could calibrate the shooting parameters in advance.

But the Eighth Route Army was running around everywhere, and artillery had little effect on mobile forces at night.

However, according to the telegram, the main force of the 3rd Mixed Brigade will march overnight and will definitely arrive after dawn. Therefore, as long as the Ishiguro Battalion can hold on tonight, the Eighth Route Army will inevitably retreat.

By then, maybe I can take advantage of the situation and avenge myself.

After receiving the order from Ishiguro Shosuke, the artillery squadron, which was originally preparing to rest, began to adjust the muzzle of the gun again.

(End of this chapter)