Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 309 The Japanese soldiers bowed to me?

The Japanese 4th Brigade launched several attacks on the Xishan position.

However, they were unable to capture the 212th Regiment's position, or even get close to it.

"This can't go on any longer. Small groups of troops are simply not enough to break through the Eighth Route Army's positions."

Seeing the troops being suppressed in less than ten minutes, Hiratsu Yuu put down his binoculars and said seriously.

Holding out in a strategically advantageous position is utterly disgusting.

"Kasahara-kun, for the next attack, deploy two battalions directly to form a wave offensive."

"Nara-kun, the rapid-fire artillery company of the 13th Regiment has also been transferred to the front lines to assist in the attack."

"Hai!"

"Brigade Commander, we have received a report from the 212th Regiment that they have discovered that the Japanese troops are gathering in front of the position."

"Commander Sun deduces that the Japanese might launch a full-scale attack," Xu Wu reported after hanging up the phone.

"They've come at the perfect time; we've been waiting for them for a while," Chen Chengxing said.

"Tell Wang Chengzhu to have the heavy mortar battalion ready! This time, we'll show the Japanese what artillery barrage really means!"

"yes!".
Upon receiving the order, the heavy mortar battalion immediately began preparations, ready to fire at any moment.

At this time, the Japanese soldiers were unaware that the New Second Brigade had prepared a great gift for them.

Kasahara Koizumi also came to the front line, preparing to personally command the battle.

"Gentlemen, the brigade commander is watching us from the command post. We must not tarnish the reputation of the 22nd Regiment!"

Kasahara Koizumi glanced around at the group of captains and squad leaders.

Seeing the resolute expressions on everyone's faces, Kasahara Koizumi nodded in satisfaction.

He then turned around, raised his hands, and bowed to the east.

"Heavens rage on the black card board!" Kasahara Koizumi shouted, leading the charge.

"Banzai!" The other Japanese soldiers followed closely behind.

"Onboard!"
Those from the 212th Regiment on the hilltop who had binoculars were stunned by what they saw.

"Quick! Let me see, let me see."

The binoculars were passed around among the soldiers.

No one has ever seen anything like this before.

"Wait, what are those Japanese soldiers doing? Are they bowing to us?"

"Maybe they want us to spare their lives?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Don't even mention bowing; even if you kowtow to me, I'll still kill you without hesitation!"

Kasahara Koizumi was unaware that the Eighth Route Army on the Nishiyama position was pointing fingers at them.

After repeating this several times, and feeling that the locusts had infused the army with their spirit, Kasahara Koizumi gave the order to attack.

"Attack!"

"Onboard!"
Two battalions of Japanese soldiers, totaling over a thousand men, were divided into several waves and began to gradually disperse and launch their attack.

"The Japanese are coming! Prepare for battle!" Sun Xun shouted.

The artillery observation posts of the heavy mortar battalion at the front also picked up the phone and began reporting the Japanese coordinates in real time.

Although Wang Chengzhu couldn't see the Japanese soldiers at this time, he couldn't give them a thumbs up.

However, according to reports from the forward observation posts, Wang Chengzhu could continuously mark the location of the Japanese troops on the map.

A few minutes later, Wang Chengzhu raised his head.

"Each artillery company, take your designated positions!"

"Release!" Wang Chengzhu shouted.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
More than a dozen 120mm mortar shells rained down from the sky, hitting the middle of the Japanese attacking force.

The attacking Japanese soldiers were blown up and fell to their deaths.

Sun Xun was overjoyed as he watched the shells raining down one after another.

"The heavy mortar battalion has finally decided to open fire!"

"Bugler! Sound the charge!" Sun Xun shouted.

According to Chen Chengxing's instructions, once the heavy mortar battalion begins its cover fire, the front-line positions can take the opportunity to launch a counter-offensive.

After all, under the bombardment, the Japanese soldiers at the back couldn't go up, and the Japanese soldiers at the front couldn't go down.

This is essentially an independent arena.

"Beep beep beep beep!" The bugler sounded the charge with all his might.

"Comrades! Follow me and kill!"

"Kill!"
The Japanese soldiers at the forefront were the most scattered, so there were fewer than three hundred of them.

Faced with a force nearly four or five times their size, even if they could hold out for a while, it wouldn't change the downward spiral of the situation.

After suffering more than two hundred casualties, the remaining dozens of Japanese soldiers chose to gamble with their lives.

The surviving Japanese soldiers turned and charged into the shelling zone.

The heavy mortar battalions' strikes have now begun to shift backward and their density has decreased.

If they are lucky enough, they might escape; if they stay on the front lines, they will have no choice but to be stabbed to death.

"The Japanese devils are ruthless; they are not even afraid of heavy artillery fire."

The soldiers of the 212th Regiment were speechless as they watched the Japanese soldiers being flung around like ripped sacks in the shockwave of the explosion.

Sometimes, the bravery of the Japanese soldiers is truly admirable.

At this moment, Hiratsu Yuu's face looked extremely ugly.

In less than half an hour, of the more than 1,000 infantrymen, less than 400 were left to retreat.

Even with 7,000 men in the Fourth Brigade, he could not bear such casualties.

"Damn it! Why does the New Second Brigade have so many heavy artillery?!" Pinglu Yongfu gritted his teeth.

The Japanese also had large-caliber mortars, but their weight of seven or eight hundred kilograms made it difficult to haul them into the deep mountains.

Moreover, compared to the battlefields behind enemy lines, the densely forested and mountainous south of China needed these weapons even more.

"Order the 22nd Regiment to withdraw for rest and reorganization, and the 13th Regiment to take over the front-line positions," ordered Hiratsu Yuufu.

It's getting late, and Pinglu Yongfu needs to plan ahead for the Eighth Route Army's night raid.

Meanwhile, Hiratsu Yuufu also planned to attack the Eighth Route Army.

"Send out reconnaissance troops to scout the entire Xishan position." "Have the 13th Regiment send out a battalion to flank the Eighth Route Army position from the south."

Since the combined arms tactics of infantry and artillery could not take down the Eighth Route Army's positions, the only option left was to resort to the Locust Army's ultimate tactic: a flanking maneuver.

As long as the troops can penetrate into the rear of the Eighth Route Army, they can seize the Eighth Route Army's positions.

They could even directly destroy the command post of the New Second Brigade.

That would make the Fourth Brigade much easier to defeat.

After nightfall, two units began their operation simultaneously.

Zhou Weiguo led his special forces team, dressed in Japanese uniforms, and disguised themselves as a patrolling Japanese squad, making their way into the heart of Japanese territory.

Narasuke also selected elite troops to form an infantry battalion of more than 500 men.

They began to maneuver along the road towards the rear positions of the Eighth Route Army.

"Don't talk on the way, stay calm, I'll handle it," Zhou Weiguo said.

The relationship between Japanese and Chinese is inextricable.

So, although the members of the special forces team are not yet fluent in Japanese, they can still understand simple sentences.

Seeing that everyone understood, Zhou Weiguo straightened his clothes and said in Japanese, "Let's go!"

The group followed Zhou Weiguo, advancing into the heart of the Japanese territory.

"Hey! Password!"

Zhou Weiguo spotted a three-person team from a distance, which appeared to be on patrol, and called out first.

The three Japanese soldiers, not understanding the situation, instinctively replied, "May our military fortune last forever!"

Before the Japanese soldiers could even ask about the order, Zhou Weiguo immediately stepped forward and tried to get close to them.

"Judging from your voice, are you from Kanto? May I ask your name?"

"Hello! I'm from Chiba Prefecture. You can call me Sochi."

The Japanese soldier who had just spoken immediately stood at attention when he saw a lieutenant emerge from the darkness.

The Japanese army had a strict hierarchy, and the officers were not people like them who could afford to offend them.

“Oh, we’re from the same hometown. I’m from Shinjuku.” Zhou Weiguo took out cigarettes and offered them to the group.

"Are you on patrol?" Zhou Weiguo asked, lighting a match.

"Hai, the brigade commander has ordered increased vigilance to prevent a night attack by the Eighth Route Army."

Shaozhi had never seen such a polite officer before, so he quickly covered the flames with his hand and casually explained.

"Yes, I also received orders and am currently on patrol." Zhou Weiguo nodded.

"However, as long as I see your efforts, I know that even if the Eighth Route Army launches a night attack, it will not succeed."

The Japanese soldiers were all smiles as Zhou Weiguo spoke.

They were already considered good for not being scolded; when had they ever received any praise for it?

"You guys continue your patrol, I'm going to patrol other areas," Zhou Weiguo gestured.

"Hai!" The three Japanese soldiers stood at attention and respectfully saw Zhou Weiguo off.

Watching Zhou Weiguo and the special forces team disappear into the darkness, Shao Zhi sighed:
"As expected of someone from Tokyo, they've been influenced by the Emperor a lot and are much more polite than those country bumpkins from Kansai."

"Young Master, you haven't even asked the lieutenant's title yet, that's incredibly rude," said the Japanese soldier beside him.

"Oh dear, I had forgotten. I've never met such a kind officer before. I didn't even realize it at first."

"I will definitely apologize sincerely the next time I see him," Shaozhi said.

Using the obtained phrase "May your military fortune last forever," Zhou Weiguo then tricked Zhou Weiguo into giving the reply phrase "Under the cherry blossom tree."

Then, using this set of commands and speaking fluent Tokyo dialect, Zhou Weiguo led his special forces team to roam freely around the Japanese-held areas.

We've pretty much figured out the Japanese army's defenses.

Unlike the special operations team's smooth operation, the 13th Regiment's troops, who were preparing for a flanking attack, were caught in an ambush.

Chen Chengxing had long since memorized all of the Japanese tactics.

How could they possibly be unprepared for the Japanese attack?

"Commander, the Japanese are coming. There are quite a few of them, probably a whole battalion," the scout reported quietly as he ran back.

"Great, it's finally here!" Zheng Hua exclaimed excitedly.

"Order the troops to take their positions and prepare for battle!" Zheng Hua ordered, drawing his pistol.

The 211th Regiment had been lying in ambush in Tuchalin for a whole day, just waiting for the Japanese to take the bait.

Whether the Japanese wanted to bypass the front line or the second line, Tuchalin was a necessary passage for them.

At this moment, the Japanese soldiers were unaware that they had been exposed and were eagerly anticipating the credit for their successful flanking attack.

"Da da da" "Da da da".
Although the 211th Regiment did not have a full complement of heavy machine guns, it still had nearly twenty, in addition to a large number of light machine guns.

After just one round of fire attack, the Japanese troops suffered more than 30% casualties.

"Baka! We've been ambushed!"

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"

Seeing the nearly 20 tracer bullet marks, the Japanese battalion commander leading the team almost wet himself.

Although he also led a heavy machine gun squadron with 12 heavy machine guns.

However, for the purpose of marching, the guns were carried on pack animals.

Within minutes, even if the heavy machine gun squadron were killed, they wouldn't be able to set up their guns for fire support.

After the Japanese soldiers quickly lay down, the light and heavy machine guns of the 211th Regiment lost their targets and had no choice but to cease fire.

This gave the Japanese soldiers hope of breaking through the encirclement.

Visibility is poor at night, and heavy firepower cannot exert its full power.

However, night fighting was one of the Eighth Route Army's specialties, and Zheng Hua did not intend to wipe out all the Japanese soldiers with machine guns.

"Bugler! Sound the charge!" Zheng Hua shouted.

Night battles rely on close-quarters combat, and Zheng Hua is confident that he is no less capable than the Japanese in this regard.

"Beep beep beep beep"

"Kill!"
Upon hearing the familiar bugle call, the Japanese soldiers immediately knew what the Eighth Route Army was about to do.

"Prepare for melee combat!"

"Onboard!"
(End of this chapter)