Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 256 Ding Wei: The Japs look down on me?
After the New Second Regiment retreated from the front line.

Chen Chengxing went for a walk.

Seeing that because of the timely retreat, most people were not seriously poisoned.

Only then did Chen Chengxing breathe a sigh of relief.

"Move those who are more seriously poisoned to the rear. Those who are less poisoned can recover gradually after some rest."

Chen Chengxing quickly arranged for a stretcher team to transport the wounded.

This time, the Japs used the same red barrels of poison gas as before at Erlang Mountain.

It works quickly, but its aftereffects are much weaker than mustard gas.

After arranging for the wounded, Chen Chengxing convened a meeting directly on the front line.

There must be a lot of poison gas bombs in Zhengshan Town now. If we want to take over Zhengshan Town, we must prevent the Japanese from using poison gas bombs again.

"The Japanese used poison gas bombs so quickly, they must be unable to withstand our offensive."

"But if we want to prevent the Japanese from using poison gas bombs again, we can only launch the attack at night."

"Only by engaging in close combat, night combat, and hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese can they be prevented from using poison gas again," said Chen Chengxing.

The visibility is poor at night. If the Japanese dared to put on gas masks and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the New Second Regiment, they would probably die without knowing how.

Moreover, the Japanese artillery had no vision at night and their poison gas bombs were not accurate.

No one had any objection to Chen Chengxing's idea.

The Japanese in Zhengshan Town used poison gas bombs in such large quantities that if we continue to fight them, it will only increase casualties.

However, although the New Second Regiment suspended its offensive, the cold shooting did not stop.

As soon as the Japanese showed their heads, they would be shot immediately.

If the Japanese machine gun fire points opened fire back, there were still 60mm mortars waiting for them.

During the entire day, the New Second Regiment did not launch a major offensive.

But the New Second Regiment did not spare any efforts in using cold guns, cold artillery, or feint attacks to draw the enemy's fire and then mortar attacks.

The cold gunfire of the New Second Regiment did not stop until it was completely dark.
Standing on the commanding heights of Zhengshan Town, Fukushima Shan looked at the darkness outside and said:

"Mizutani-kun, the Eighth Route Army is very likely to launch a night attack, so we must step up our vigilance."

"Hai! I have passed on the message and placed military dogs at various important points."

"As long as the Eighth Route Army appears, we can find it immediately." Mizutani Toru replied.

"Yoshi." Fukushima Sugi nodded.

"Mizutani-kun, where are the reinforcements from Taiyuan now?"

Not long after the New Second Regiment began its attack, they sent a telegram to the garrison in Luyang.

However, due to the lack of military strength in Luyang, reinforcements were sent from Taiyuan.

"The reinforcements sent by Taiyuan have now arrived in Luyang and should be able to reach Zhengshan Town before noon tomorrow."

In order to avoid being ambushed, the Japanese troops would never march easily at night.

Fukushima Sugi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that reinforcements would arrive by noon tomorrow.

Although the offensive of the Eighth Route Army outside was very strong, he was confident that he could hold out until dark tomorrow thanks to the layers of defense in Zhengshan Town.

Outside the city, all the Japanese searchlights had been destroyed.

In the darkness, the Fourth Battalion began to advance covertly as planned.

However, just as the 13th Company crawled through the first trench, they heard dogs barking wildly.

"Something's happening outside!"

"Fire flares!"

A flare was immediately launched into the air.

As the flares rose into the air, the Japanese saw the Eighth Route Army crossing the trenches at a glance.

"The Eighth Route Army is coming!"

"Kill the chicken for me! Kill the chicken for me!"

"Da da da" "Da da da".
Several heavy machine guns immediately began to fire suppressive shots.

"Fuck you, when we take over Zhengshan Town, I will eat your dog meat!"

Dense bullets caused gravel to fly everywhere. Li Chishui lowered his head to minimize the risk of being hit.

"Zhang Anding, Zhang Anding! Stop chewing your carrot!"

"Hurry up, blow up the Japanese barbed wire in front of us! You can eat the dog meat first then!" Li Chishui turned his head and shouted.

After nightfall, the Japs took the opportunity to rearrange the iron nets at the city gates.

If you want to attack Zhengshan Town, you must first break the barbed wire.

When Zhang Anding heard about dog meat, the radish in his mouth suddenly lost its flavor.

But after hesitating for a moment, he was still reluctant to throw away the leftover radish butt, and put it back into his pocket.

Because the Japanese heavy machine guns were constantly firing, Zhang Anding did not dare to stand up. He huddled behind a collapsed ruin and threw several grenades.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
"Okay! Throw it again, throw it again!" Li Chishui was overjoyed when he saw the barbed wire being blown apart by the grenade.

However, one gap is not enough for a successful attack.

"Boom!" "Boom!".
Within 2 minutes, Zhang Anding threw away all the dozen or so grenades he was carrying.

He also threw the grenades of several soldiers nearby.

"Let the artillery platoon open fire to suppress the Japanese machine guns!" Li Chishui shouted.

Now that we have the attack channel, as long as we can weaken the enemy's firepower, the 13th Company will be able to charge through.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
Three 3mm mortars began firing shells continuously at the Japanese outer positions.

At the same time, several infantry guns were pushed directly to the front line and began to fire continuously at the firing points on the city gate.

Although the Japanese had blown down the No. 1 artillery tower during the day, the machine guns on the city gate once again had the height advantage.

However, with the close firing of several infantry guns, the Japanese firepower points were immediately severely damaged.

After all, the city gate tower is so small, and even if you want to move it, there is not much space to move.

The muzzle only needs to turn one or two degrees to cover the entire city gate.

Seeing that the Japanese firepower was suppressed, Li Chishui immediately shouted:

"Comrades! Follow me and kill!"

"kill!".
Facing the fire suppression of the New Second Regiment, the Japanese soldiers on the top of the city could not stop the soldiers' attack even if they fired desperately. "Boom!!!"

With a loud bang, the gate of Zhengshan Town was blown open.

The fourth battalion immediately attacked the city, and the first and second battalions followed closely.

"Taijun! Taijun! It's bad, the Eighth Route Army has entered the city!"

The puppet army commander Li Cheng crawled into the command post.

The puppet troops were very courageous and used the cover to fire indiscriminately.

But if they were asked to fight the Eighth Route Army in the field or even in the streets, they would not dare to make any big moves in surrender.

"How could it be so fast?" Fukushima Sugi was a little bit unbelievable.

It has been only over an hour since the heavy machine guns started firing.

"This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers are well-equipped, skilled in tactics, and they coordinate very well with each other. Neither us nor the Locust Army can stop them." Li Cheng said a little helplessly.

Fighting with this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers made Li Cheng feel like he was back in the Battle of Xinkou, facing the Itagaki Division.

The combat effectiveness is so strong that once they are targeted, machine guns and artillery shells will come immediately, and the hit rate is very high.

Even if you want to hide, there is nowhere to hide.

In just an hour, the three heavy machine guns in the front of his regiment had all been destroyed.

After hearing the news, he was almost heartbroken.

The heavy machine guns were brought with him when he defected. There were only six in total, and half of them are gone now.

Even if it could be repaired, he couldn't find a place to do it.

After all, he was a traitor, and the Japanese arsenal would not repair the Type 24 heavy machine gun.

"Mizutani-kun, order the troops in the surrounding artillery towers to immediately withdraw back to the city and support the battle inside the city."

"The Eighth Route Army must be driven out of the city!" Fukushima Sugi said solemnly.

Street fighting is extremely disadvantageous to our side.

Fukushima Sugi does not think that these "Shanxi Anti-Communist Army" dare to fight to the death.

By then, the only battalion that would actually fight against the Eighth Route Army would probably be ours.

Although it is not known how many people are left in the Eighth Route Army, there are already four to five thousand who participated in the attack during the day alone.

"I'm going right now!"

Toru Mizutani was very clear about the current situation. If he was a minute later, the outcome of the battle might have changed.

After receiving the order, the Japanese in the outer artillery towers quickly retreated back into the city.

"Commander, the Japanese have retreated back to the city." reported the chief of staff of the New 1st Regiment.

"Retreat? Even if the New Second Regiment has entered the city, there is no need to retreat so quickly, right? How much do you look down on our New First Regiment?"

Ding Wei looked at the map of Zhengshan Town on the table and said with some dissatisfaction.

The New Second Regiment puts a lot of pressure on you, so you're transferring troops from my side?

Do I, Ding Wei, have no regard for my face?

"Let the troops clear the obstacles and occupy the turrets on both sides of the city gate. Then, move the infantry artillery upstairs and aim and fire at them!"

"yes!".
When the New 1st Regiment was attacking before, they were reluctant to use either infantry artillery or mountain artillery.

After all, every time a shell is fired, it is one less, so it should not be used lightly unless it is a critical moment.

However, Ding Wei did not expect Chen Chengxing to be so generous. It was not enough to just fire mortars, and mountain artillery also directly participated in the battle.

Now that the New Second Regiment has entered the city, if the New First Regiment is still wandering outside, won’t they be laughed at when they meet again?
As the new group began to exert its strength, Fukushima Sugi felt something was wrong.

How come after the troops were withdrawn, the battle situation did not improve but instead worsened?

Even the east side of the city was breached.

"Captain, the situation is not optimistic. If the street fighting continues, we may not be able to hold out until dawn!"

Mizutani Toru ran back covered in dust and reported.

After the troops were withdrawn, he personally led his troops to fight several battles with the Eighth Route Army.

Only then did I realize how difficult it was to deal with the Eighth Route Army.

Machine gun positions set up at intersections or high points can supposedly block the entire street.

But now, if it is exposed, a shell will fall within 10 minutes.

Although the mortar's hit rate is not that high, it can't withstand the continuous shooting of several guns.

He also discovered that the Eighth Route Army had a shoulder-fired artillery that seemed to be very light.

The Eighth Route Army would always launch attacks from all kinds of nooks and crannies.

Although it is very close and very conspicuous when launched, it cannot be seen before launch.

By the time we saw the fire, the shells had already flown over.

In other words, there are not many of these small cannons. If there were more of them, no firepower point would dare to be exposed easily.

Standing on the rooftop of the command center, Fukushima Sugi's face was extremely gloomy.

He had already seen that the battle line was shrinking towards this side.

"Mizutani-kun, order the troops to retreat, retreat to the core position, and hold on until reinforcements!" Fukushima Sugi ordered.

The defense of Zhengshan Town is very complete. In addition to the outer artillery towers, city walls, and various firepower points in the town, there are also several bunkers in the core area.

Even the command center is one of the core defensive fortifications.

With the help of these strong fortifications, even if the Eighth Route Army pushed the mountain artillery over, it would be impossible to completely wipe out the Fukushima Battalion in a short period of time.

"Captain, what should we do with the locust troops?" asked Mizutani Toru.

After the New Second Regiment entered Zhengshan Town, the puppet army was divided into several parts.

The seven or eight hundred puppet troops in the south of the city have lost contact.

"Don't worry about them. Let them attract the attention of the Eighth Route Army." Fukushima Sugi said.

Not to mention part of the Locust Association's army, even if the entire Locust Association's army was surrounded by the Eighth Route Army, he would not be able to send a single soldier to rescue.

If you want to defend the core position, what you need is the Locust Army, not the Locust Alliance Army.

"Hai!"

(End of this chapter)