Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 252 Is This Still the Eighth Route Army?

By 8pm.

The New Second Regiment completed the encirclement of Zhongping Village and Xiaofuling Heights.

"Commander, the Japanese positions have been bombed by artillery shells, and the troops can launch an attack at any time." Zheng Hua reported.

The mortar companies had been engaging in artillery battles with the Japanese from time to time since daytime.

In addition to killing Japanese soldiers, another purpose was to destroy the barbed wire and minefields in front of the Japanese positions.

Although the Japanese were the attacking party in China, mines and barbed wire were mainly used to fix strongholds.

However, the Japanese engineering corps would also carry it during offensive and sweep operations.

After all, these things can be used when blocking village entrances and exits, traffic arteries, or protecting temporary command posts and material storage points.

A major task of artillery combat is to clear these obstacles for the attacking infantry.

"Now that we are ready, let's officially launch the attack!" Chen Chengxing raised his eyes from the map.

"This time, the troops will be divided into three groups. The third battalion will be responsible for attacking Zhongping Village, the fourth battalion will be responsible for attacking Xiaofuling, and the first and second battalions will attack the enemy's junction."

"The guerrillas serve as a reserve force and are also responsible for the outer blockade mission."

The Japanese occupied this long strip of high ground, like a twisted snake.

Attacking any point alone may result in a counterattack.

The New Second Regiment is now in a position of military superiority, and can effectively curb the enemy's counterattack by cutting off their head and tail.

If we can cut off the enemy in the middle, we can then divide and surround and annihilate them.

"Yes!" Everyone stood at attention.

As soon as the new second regiment moved, Takuhito Ishihara immediately received the news.

"Fire flares!"

"Order the artillery to fire!"

The mortar is best suited to attacking unprotected infantry.

The killing radius of shrapnel from an 81mm mortar shell is as high as 15 meters.

If the Eighth Route Army wanted to attack, they would have to bear the casualties from the artillery shells.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
One shell after another fell on the attacking forces of the New Second Regiment.

At the same time, the Japanese machine gunners on the position also began shooting using the vision provided by aerial flares.

The soldiers' offensive was immediately blocked.

In the temporary command post, Chen Chengxing saw this and immediately gave orders.

"Call the artillery company and have Wang Chengzhu operate the artillery to focus on attacking the enemy's firepower points."

The suppressive power of dozens of machine guns is no less than that of the continuously falling artillery shells.

The Japanese mortars and even grenade launchers were hiding behind, and the artillery observation team of the New Second Regiment could not see them at all.

Attacking the machine gun fire point became the only option at this time.

After receiving the order, Wang Chengzhu immediately maneuvered the cannon and began to aim.

Originally, Wang Chengzhu's artillery fire was accurate, and with the addition of Chen Chengxing's new features, the accuracy was even higher.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
Faced with the chasing shells, the Japanese heavy machine gun team suffered a lot.

The Eighth Route Army artillery on the opposite side fired quickly and accurately, but the Type 92 heavy machine gun was extremely powerful.

The Japanese were so tired that they were sticking out their tongues.

But even so, the heavy machine guns on the Japanese positions were constantly silenced.

Especially those machine gun positions that dare not move for more than a minute.

Wang Chengzhu could command three cannons by himself, and one round of salvos was enough to take down the heavy machine gun position.

The New Second Regiment launched only three attacks, and one-third of the Japanese heavy machine guns were destroyed.

The rest were all busy, either transferring or on their way to transfer.

The time actually spent on shooting is less than 20%.

Looking at the battle reports sent from various positions, Ishihara Takuhito's face was darker than the sky.

The heavy machine guns were being lost too quickly.

When he was in Liushuping before, he felt that the mortars of the New Second Regiment were no worse than those of the artillery of the 108th Regiment.

At present, although the number of firing cannons has decreased, the firing is more accurate.

If the fighting continues like this, all the heavy machine guns of the 108th Regiment will probably be destroyed before dawn.

Once they lose their heavy machine guns, the Eighth Route Army will inevitably use their heavy machine guns to suppress the 108th Regiment, followed by an infantry charge.

He is very familiar with this trick.

This is how the locust army fought the fruit army before, and it always worked.

But now that it happened to him, he couldn't stand it anymore.

Most people cannot bear the feeling of the noose gradually tightening.

"Takahashi-kun, order the troops in the direction of Xiaofuling to shrink their defenses and withdraw to the Zhongping Village area."

After thinking it over carefully, Ishihara Takuhito gave the order decisively.

Zhongping Village has houses to serve as cover, so the mortars are not that effective.

"Captain, once we shrink our defense line, the Eighth Route Army will most likely launch a sneak attack from the flank," Takahashi Ryosuke warned.

After leaving Xiaofuling, they could no longer see the Eighth Route Army at all.

"I know, but as long as we don't let our guard down, the impact won't be significant."

"The most important thing for us now is to hold on until dawn," said Takuhito Ishihara.

He has already communicated with the Taiyuan Command.

Tomorrow the planes will first come to support the 108th Wing, and then go back to reload ammunition to support the battle on the Shota Line.

"Ha! I'll send the messenger right away." Takahashi Ryosuke stood at attention.

After the Japanese took the initiative to shrink their defense line, the attack of the New Second Regiment began to have some difficulty.

"Why is the attack so slow? Where are the infantry artillery of each battalion? Are they left behind? Pull them out for me now!"

Chen Chengxing was furious when he saw several battalion commanders being so stingy. Who did they learn this from?

Chen Chengxing picked up the phone and called the front line directly.

After hearing Chen Chengxing's order, Xu Wu and others shivered in pain.

Now they can't even get 30 rounds of shells for each gun. After this battle, I'm afraid half of their stock will be gone.

"Captain, the New Second Regiment's infantry artillery is really short of shells."

"It's the same if we use mortars to fire horizontally. Although the effect is not as good, we can fire more rounds."

"Anyway, the arsenal can provide replenishment."

Chen Chengxing almost laughed out of anger when he heard Xu Wu's words.

The abacus beads were jumping onto his face.

Can the Arsenal be replenished? Are the materials in the Arsenal free?
"Stop talking nonsense, just use whatever I tell you to use!" The Type 92 infantry gun is indeed a versatile weapon for the Eighth Route Army.

But the combination of rocket launchers and light and heavy mortars is the future development direction.

And the most important thing is that Erlangdong can now produce all these weapons by itself.

Hearing Chen Chengxing's unfriendly tone, the few people didn't dare to say anything more.

"Yes! Infantry artillery will strike immediately!"
Ten minutes later, the infantry artillery approached and began firing.

The Japanese casualties increased rapidly.

The houses that were originally used as fortifications by the Japanese could be destroyed with just one shot.

The lucky ones were able to escape, but the unlucky ones were buried alive.

Takuhito Ishihara felt his head hurt as he listened to the explosions coming one after another outside.

"Where did the New Second Regiment get so many infantry artillery?!"

The number of subjects he could identify was no less than four.

This is even more arrogant than his careless locust army.

Is this still the Eighth Route Army?

Aren’t all the Eighth Route Army soldiers poor?

Takahashi Ryosuke had no answer to Ishihara Takuhito's words.

However, Takahashi Ryosuke still reminded:
"Captain, the New Second Regiment is now using infantry artillery to continuously attack our firepower points."

"If this continues, it won't be long before the regiment's machine gun firepower is completely lost."

Although I don't know how many artillery shells the Eighth Route Army has, it doesn't look like they have only ten shells in eight directions.

"Baka." Ishihara Takuhito was a little helpless.

"Can we use grenade launchers to counterattack?" asked Takuhito Ishihara.

Judging from the sound of the artillery, the Eighth Route Army’s infantry artillery was no more than 200 meters away from Zhongping Village.

This is well within the grenade launcher's striking range.

"I'm afraid it's difficult." Takahashi Ryosuke shook his head.

"The Eighth Route Army's infantry artillery determines the approximate location based on the muzzle flames of the machine gun fire points."

"But our grenade throwers couldn't see the Eighth Route Army's artillery at all."

Takahashi Ryosuke had been to the front line and knew how the Eighth Route Army relied on to determine their positions.

While the machine guns continued to fire, the Eighth Route Army's gunners had plenty of time to adjust their positions.

Although there is muzzle flame when infantry artillery fires, this flame is only for a moment.

The grenade thrower had no time to observe the distance and position.

If they really want to determine the position, the Eighth Route Army's infantry artillery may have to fire more than ten shots on the spot.

By that time, the machine guns of the 108th Regiment would have been destroyed.

Ishihara Takuhito threw his hat directly on the table with a headache.

After a long while, Ishihara Takuhito gritted his teeth and said, "Takahashi-kun, I've decided to break out!"

At this point, Takuhito Ishihara had to admit that he had failed.

The most important thing now is to lead the team to break through.

The more people and equipment that break through, the less responsibility you have to bear.

"Hai! I support the captain's decision!" Takahashi Ryosuke stood at attention.

Transferring is now the only option for the 108th Wing.

If we really have to wait until daybreak, we don’t know whether the planes can turn the situation around, and there may not be many people left in the 108th Wing.

Now that the decision had been made, Ishihara Takuhito immediately passed the order down.

In order to ensure a successful breakout, Ishihara Takuhito divided the remaining troops into three parts.

The most elite infantry were in the front, the heavy firepower weapons were in the middle, and the remaining wounded were at the back.

The wounded soldiers at the rear did not say much about Ishihara Takuhito's arrangements.

They are very clear about their fate and have long accepted it.

"Serving the country for seven lifetimes" is their wish.

After making preparations, the artillery team carried out a final rapid-fire attack, throwing as many shells as possible at the Eighth Route Army's positions.

Then they immediately dismantled the mortars and each carried one to catch up with the team.

The Japanese soldiers who were resisting the gun barrel did not stop even though they were grimacing from the burns from the gun barrel.

If you fall behind now, you might lose your life.

When the Japanese mortars suddenly began to rapidly fire at the northern positions.

Chen Chengxing immediately realized that the Japanese were about to escape.

"Send a message to all battalions immediately to support the northern positions!"

"Let the guerrilla teams three and four prepare to meet the enemy's attack!"

Chen Chengxing immediately issued an order for support.

However, the Japanese, who were well prepared, did not give the New Second Regiment any chance to provide support.

Although the guerrillas fought desperately to block the attack, the Japanese, who were also desperate to break out, used the rapid fire of light machine guns to cut a hole in the blockade.

When the support from the nearest Fourth Battalion arrived, they only captured the wounded who were left behind.

Seeing that they could no longer escape, the wounded Japanese soldiers found a small hill to defend themselves without any hesitation.

It took 200 minutes before nearly 20 wounded Japanese soldiers were killed.

By this time the Japs had already run several miles away.

Seeing that the Japanese had run away, Chen Chengxing had no intention of chasing them.

"Order the troops to stop the pursuit!"

"The main battalion and the wounded will return to Dayun Mountain, and the guerrillas will stay to continue cleaning up the battlefield!"

Unlike others, Chen Chengxing was very clear that this was only the first half of the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

There are still battles to be fought.

What the New Second Regiment needs now is rest and recuperation, rather than getting entangled with the 108th Regiment.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions also suffered heavy losses in this battle, and needed to draw large numbers of troops and weapons from the guerrillas.

Even so, necessary training is essential if you want to restore your combat effectiveness.

After a large number of soldiers and weapons were withdrawn, the first and second guerrilla teams might not be able to participate in the battle in the short term.

However, once the wounded recover and are replenished to the guerrillas, they will be able to recover quickly.

After hearing Chen Chengxing's order, the New Second Regiment simply cleaned up the battlefield and began to return south.

Because the 108th Regiment broke through, Chen Chengxing only won this battle and only got 3856 honor points.

(End of this chapter)