Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 226 Request for Tactical Guidance
At the Liujiazhuang position, the Japanese launched several attacks in succession under the cover of mountain artillery, but they were all defeated by the first battalion.

Looking at the troops being suppressed by the Eighth Route Army in hand-to-hand combat, Toyama Ryotaro said, "Brigade Commander, given the current situation, we may not be able to reach Erlipu before dark. Should we send a telegram to the headquarters to request support?"

If the Eighth Route Army's defense line can be broken through in a short period of time, the troops can still provide support, but Toyama Ryotaro now feels a little precarious.

And if we delay any further, Taigu's reinforcements might be too late.

After hearing Toyama Ryotaro's proposal, Nara Yukio thought about it and said through gritted teeth: "Order the troops to launch a general attack. This time, use all the artillery and heavy machine guns!"

Yukio Nara wanted to try again. If an all-out attack didn't work, he was afraid that this position would not be able to be broken through in a short period of time.

At that time, we can only ask our superiors for support.

Ryotaro Toyama felt a little helpless, but it was only about twenty or thirty minutes, so he could still afford to waste it.

Inside Liujiazhuang, Xu Wu looked at the Japanese who had just retreated and then replaced their men to attack again. His face turned serious: "TND, the Japanese are probably going to launch a general attack."

This wave of attack from the Japanese should be the largest one yet. If we can stop it, the next ones should be easier.

"Call the artillery observation post and have them contact the field artillery platoon and prepare for artillery fire!"

Now that the Japs are planning a general attack, it's time for the Italian artillery to take action.

When the Japanese attacked before, the First Battalion used 60mm mortars and 82mm mortars.

However, even with the 82mm mortar, with the strength of the artillery companies of the New Second Regiment, if they want to ensure accuracy, the range can only be within 1 kilometer, or at most meters.

If you pull it to the maximum distance, it will be useless unless you use a large-scale salvo coverage.

The 82mm mortar positions are all located at the rear, and can now only accurately cover a position two to three hundred meters in front of the front line positions. The strike effect will not be so strong at any further distance.

After receiving Xu Wu's order, the artillery observation post immediately established contact with the field artillery position on Erlang Mountain and was ready to report coordinates at any time.

A few minutes later, Yukio Nara sent out three infantry companies in succession, one in front and two in the back, preparing to launch a wave attack.

"With three waves of attacks, we will definitely be able to capture the Eighth Route Army's position." Yukio Nara encouraged himself as he watched the troops starting to move.

As the Japanese began to move forward from their position 600 meters away, the heavy machine gun fire points and the mountain artillery positions in the rear took the lead in attacking the Eighth Route Army's positions.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
Xu Wu lay on the observation port of the forward command post, watching the actions of the Japanese. The soldiers of the first battalion huddled in the trenches, gripping their rifles tightly, ready to counterattack at any time.

The Japanese mountain artillery did not begin to extend towards the rear positions of the Eighth Route Army until the infantry entered 200 meters and deployed their forces.

In infantry-artillery coordination, 200 meters is the maximum distance that can cause danger.

Hearing the shells reaching the rear positions, the soldiers on the front lines stood up and fired.

At the same time, the 60mm mortar also began to adjust its firing angle, preparing to launch an artillery attack on the Japanese machine gun team.

The artillery observation post of the field artillery platoon, hiding on a hilltop, saw that the first wave of Japanese troops had approached the first battalion's position and the second wave of Japanese troops had also begun to attack forward, so they immediately reported the coordinates to the artillery.

“野炮排，坐标确定，方位4-2、范围3-6-4-3；遮蔽射击！”

听到观察哨报告的方位后，守在电话前的野炮排长拿着电话大喊道：“方位4-2、范围3-5-4-3！5发遮蔽射击！”

"put!".
"Boom!" "Boom!".
Seeing the second squadron just starting to attack, but before they could disperse their troops, they were knocked to the ground by shells falling from the sky. Nara Yukio felt worse than if his mother had died.

All of a sudden, there were two artillery barrages in front of the Eighth Route Army's position. The troops couldn't possibly start skirmishing tactical maneuvers 2 meters away, right?

The soldiers of the Locust Army are not like the Eighth Route Army who run around with guns. They carry more than ten or twenty kilograms of supplies. After they leap into the Eighth Route Army's position, how will they have the strength to launch an attack?
Just as the field artillery platoon began to fire, Xu Wu looked at the Japanese soldiers less than 30 meters away and shouted, "Blow the charge!"

"Beep, beep, beep, beep"

"kill!"

"Kill!"
The soldiers of the first battalion rushed out from their positions and fought with the Japanese.

One hundred and fifty Japanese soldiers were no match for the seven or eight hundred troops that rushed out.

At this time, the Japanese reinforcements were blocked 400 meters away by Italian artillery and mortars that had lost their accuracy, and they were unable to provide support for a while.

The Japanese soldiers, who had no support, resisted for more than ten minutes and were forced to retreat after leaving behind seventy or eighty corpses.

Seeing the Japanese retreat, Xu Wu did not order a pursuit, but simply let the 60mm mortar give a farewell.

The most important task of the 1st Battalion is to block the enemy, and being conservative is what we should do now.

Looking at the retreating troops, even though Nara Yukio was extremely reluctant, he had no choice but to prepare to ask for support.

"Mr. Toyama, send a message to the headquarters and request tactical guidance." Nara Yukio said helplessly as he put down the telescope.

"Hai!"

Hearing that Nara Yukio had finally decided to ask for tactical guidance, Toyama Ryotaro breathed a sigh of relief.

When Nara Yukio sent the telegram and continued to attack Liujiazhuang, Chen Chengxing also commanded his troops to launch several attacks on Erlipu.

However, unlike Nara Yukio, Chen Chengxing launched a general attack just after the explosion, and the rest of the attacks were small-scale attacks carried out simultaneously in multiple directions.

The purpose is to attract the firepower of the Japanese heavy machine guns and create opportunities for mortars or infantry artillery.

Before the Japanese heavy machine guns are destroyed, the casualties caused by the daytime attack will be relatively heavy.

The battle between the New Second Regiment and the Japanese continued until night. Faced with the Eighth Route Army who constantly launched night battles, the Japanese were forced to use flares.

However, once the Japanese flares were fired into the sky, the soldiers would stop attacking and would not attack again until the flares fell down, and they would deliberately make a lot of noise.

Looking at the flares rising from the sky, Luo Ping smiled and said, "Old Chen, how many flares did the devils bring? How to use them?"

"At this rate, I estimate it will take until ten o'clock at the latest, and then it will be our home court." Chen Chengxing said, looking at the three flares in the sky.

Because the Japanese were well-trained, they were able to take advantage of their shooting during the day. Their rifles could accurately strike at a range of 200 meters, and their heavy machine guns could hit at a range of 600-800 meters.

In comparison, the heavy machine guns of the New Second Regiment mostly fired at 400-600 meters, while most of the riflemen fired at 100 meters.

But once it was night, no one was more cautious than the other, and the combat distance between the two sides would be shortened to 50-100 meters. At this time, the New Second Regiment had the advantage. Apart from anything else, the grenades alone were enough to give the Japanese a hard time.

At 10:30 in the evening, Chen Chengxing saw that the Japanese had not fired flares for some time, so he called Zheng Hua, Sun Xun and Qin Sheng.

"The guerrillas have almost finished the work ahead. Your three battalions will launch a general attack from three directions."

"But be careful, the first wave must be bluffing. I think the Japanese may have flares hidden in their drawers, and they are very likely to try to trick us." Chen Chengxing said.

The previous attacks were all carried out by the guerrillas, and the main battalion of the New Second Regiment was resting. Now that the Japs have been tired for a day, it is a good time to launch a night battle.

After several people returned to the troops, the three main battalions slowly began to launch an offensive in the dark.

When they got within 200 meters, deafening shouts of killing suddenly broke out from all around Erlipu.

After hearing the shouts and screams, Haruji Morita suddenly opened his slightly closed eyes: "Fire flares! Heavy machine guns ready to fire!"

As early as during the day, Haruji Morita had determined the Eighth Route Army's plan, so he had already planned to withdraw the heavy machine guns. Now was a good opportunity to kill the Eighth Route Army.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
As several flares rose into the air, the surrounding scene came into Haruji Morita's eyes.

The range of the flares was empty, there was no trace of the Eighth Route Army.

"Damn it! We've been fooled!" Morita Haruji's face turned pale. These flares were the last in stock.

"Morita-kun, the Eighth Route Army is too cunning. Things may be difficult next." Ando Kazutaka said on the side.

He felt that every move of the Locust Army was predicted by the Eighth Route Army, which was simply terrifying.

"Ando-kun, the only option is to fight to the death!" Haruji Morita gritted his teeth.

There is no other way now except fighting to the death.

Haruji Morita had already received a telegram about reinforcements, and Taiko's reinforcements had already arrived at Sanhe Town after a rapid march.

However, because it was getting late, the reinforcements did not dare to take the risk of traveling.

As long as the troops can hold out until dawn, Taigu's reinforcements will arrive.

When the flares fell from the sky, the three main battalions officially launched a strong attack.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Although the Japanese machine gunners could not see the specific situation outside, they had to keep shooting at this time, shooting wherever they heard a sound.

"Grenade! Throw a grenade!"

"Pistol team, move forward!"
The two sides engaged in a fierce battle at a distance of only 50 meters.

In the direction of the Fourth Battalion, after the 13th Company engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese, Li Chishui immediately looked at Zhang Anding who had been following him.

"Zhang Anding, have you seen these two boxes of melon grenades? I went to the logistics department to get them for you."

"You can throw it as much as you want today. As long as our company can be the first to rush into Erlipu, I will make dumplings for you when we get back! Pure meat dumplings!"

Li Chishui knew Zhang Anding very well. As long as he had food to eat, he could exert 200% of his strength.

"Meat and egg dumplings?!" Zhang Anding's mouth was watering.

As the saying goes, "Nothing tastes better than dumplings." He hasn't eaten them for a long time and has been craving for them.

Zhang Anding glanced at the side and reached out to take off the helmet on Li Chishui's butt.

The New Second Regiment seized quite a few helmets, but because of the fear of accidental injury and the fact that they were a bit heavy, few people wore them.

Most of the captured helmets were sent to the arsenal to be melted down and recast into grenades or engineering shovels.

In the entire New Second Regiment, except for machine gunners and gunners who need to wear helmets because they have to be exposed to fire for a long time, there are only a small number of helmets for scouts and commandos.

However, these helmets are also covered with cloth covers to prevent reflection and accidental injury.

Since it was night time and people could not see clearly, the possibility of accidental injury was too high, so Chen Chengxing did not distribute helmets at all.

Li Chishui kept this helmet himself, but he was afraid of being killed by his own people, so he didn't dare to wear it all the time. He only planned to wear it when he was attacking. Now it was taken away by Zhang Anding.

After Zhang Anding took the helmet, he did not put it on his head, but put it on the ground.

After making preparations, Zhang Anding looked at the machine gun fire point where the Japanese were firing, picked up a grenade, pulled out the pin, knocked it hard on his helmet, waited for 2 seconds, and threw it out with a flick of his hand.

The Japanese machine gunner had just stopped firing, and the ammunition handler next to him was reloading the Type 99 light machine gun when suddenly a "pop" sound was heard.

Looking down, I saw a round object rolling on the ground.

"Eight"

The Japanese just reacted and hadn't said a word yet when they heard a loud bang and the grenade exploded.

"Great! So damn accurate!"

"And over there!" Li Chishui no longer cared about his helmet and began to continuously direct Zhang Anding in the direction of throwing mines.

All you could hear was the clanging sound of helmets being knocked against each other, and every time there was a clanging sound, a Japanese firepower point was hit by a grenade.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
Seeing the Japs' firepower weakening rapidly, Li Chishui drew out the command knife from his waist and shouted, "The Japs are dying! Everyone, follow me!"

"kill!".
Using Zhang Anding, who was more useful than a mortar, the 13th Company quickly broke into the village.

Other troops from the Fourth Battalion also poured in through the gaps in the Japanese defense.

In order to avoid being surrounded by the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese soldiers defending this direction had no choice but to retreat and rebuild their defense line.

(End of this chapter)