Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 333 Our reinforcements have set off.
Upon arriving at the gate tower of Ping'an County, Takeda Naoshi raised his binoculars to assess the enemy situation.

"Sir, the situation is not good. Someone saw that the Eighth Route Army has cannons." Zhao Sanlei approached.

Zhao Sanlei and Takeda Naoshi are in the same boat.

Once Ping'an County is captured, neither of them will have a good ending.

"I've already seen them, but they're just some small-caliber mortars or infantry guns."

"It will not have any impact on the city walls of Ping'an County."

Naoshi Takeda had already noticed the presence of infantry artillery on the Eighth Route Army's front lines.

And this was not unexpected by Takeda Naoshi, after all, there were so many Eighth Route Army soldiers outside.

However, this is, after all, a small-caliber, short-barreled artillery piece, capable of striking field fortifications.

However, it had no effect on the city walls of Ping'an County.

"Sir! I wasn't talking about those cannons!" Zhao Sanlei said urgently.

"The troops that withdrew from the Xiaoguanzhuang stronghold said they saw from afar on the hilltop that the Eighth Route Army was pulling heavy artillery towards us!"

“Heavy artillery? I know, it must be the Eighth Route Army’s mortars,” Naoshi Takeda said.

The news that the Eighth Route Army had heavy mortars was known throughout the First Army.

This is one of the reasons why they would not easily enter the Eighth Route Army's base area.

“Zhao Sang, don’t worry. Mortars are mainly used to kill field personnel; they’re not very effective against city walls,” Takeda Naoshi explained.

"Really? Then I'm relieved." Zhao Sanlei breathed a sigh of relief.

The retreating puppet troops only saw something in the distance and had no idea what kind of cannon it was.

Therefore, the report given to Zhao Sanlei was also ambiguous.

At this moment, neither Zhao Sanlei nor Takeda Naoshi considered the possibility of the New Second Regiment's heavy artillery.

Although the Fourth Brigade had previously reported on it, not many people really cared.

At that very moment, the cannon company of the independent artillery battalion had already set up two 105mm cannons and camouflaged them.

In order to enable these two cannons to participate in the battle, Chen Chengxing moved the cannons to Huangcun when he was assembling his troops.

You can get onto the highway six kilometers north of Huangcun.

Even relying on the road, it took the two cannons most of the day to reach their designated positions.

Fortunately, the Type 14 cannon had a long range; otherwise, it would have been dark by the time the cannon was set up.

"Reporting, Captain, firing parameters are set, ready to fire at any time!"

"Okay! I understand." Wang Chengzhu picked up the phone next to him.

"Commander, the artillery position is calling; the cannons are ready."

Xu Wu reported this immediately after receiving the call.

"Order the forward positions to launch an attack!"

"Ten minutes later, the cannons opened fire, destroying the outer city wall of the eastern gate."

"First Battalion, get ready! As soon as the city wall is breached, launch a full-scale attack!" Chen Chengxing ordered.

Since the Second New Regiment had heavy artillery, they certainly couldn't risk their soldiers' lives.

Therefore, the 2nd Battalion, the Special Service Regiment, the 2nd Independent Regiment, and the 3rd Regiment will launch feint attacks from the other three directions.

The First Battalion, supported by heavy artillery, launched its main attack from the east.

Of course, on the other third side, Chen Chengxing also deployed two mountain guns on each side.

If the Japanese defenses are weak, they can switch from supporting attacks to launching the main offensive.

"yes!".
"attack!"

Except for the first battalion on the east side, gunfire erupted simultaneously from the other three sides.

Seeing the fighting power unleashed by the Eighth Route Army, Takeda Naoshi became extremely anxious.

Why are there mountain guns in addition to infantry guns?
"Zhao Sang, immediately order the troops to set up defensive fortifications at the city gate using sandbags and landmines to prevent the Eighth Route Army from breaking through the city gate directly!"

Compared to the city walls, the gates of Guanxiang in Ping'an County were merely wooden structures wrapped with iron, about thirty centimeters thick.

Mountain guns cannot destroy city walls, but they can destroy city gates.

When they attacked Nanjing, they used mountain artillery to quickly destroy the city gates, and then the infantry charged in.

"Hey!" Zhao Sanlei was also taken aback by the fighting power that the Eighth Route Army had unleashed outside.

They hurriedly and hastily led their men down to block the door.

Just as Zhao Sanlei was working up a sweat, a huge explosion came from the east gate.

Zhao Sanlei thought that the Eighth Route Army had successfully blown up the city gate with explosives.

When I turned around, I found that things were more serious than I had thought.

A huge plume of smoke rose from the city wall in front of the gate.

"boom!"

Then another explosion occurred.

"Damn! It's a heavy artillery piece!" Zhao Sanlei shouted.

He now understands that what the troops in Xiaoguanzhuang saw earlier were not mortars at all, but genuine heavy artillery.

This is really killing me.

With Ping'an County's defenses, it was simply no match for the bombardment of heavy artillery.

And things unfolded much as Zhao Sanlei had predicted.

As several more cannonballs fell, the city wall of Guanxiang collapsed with a roar, revealing a gap seven or eight meters long.

Just as Zhao Sanlei was racking his brains about what to do next, a messenger ran over.

"Commander Zhao! Lord Takeda has ordered: the Locust Army must immediately assemble, plug the breach in the city wall, and buy time for the Locust Army to set up its defenses!"

"This order is extremely urgent. The locust-fighting forces must arrive within 5 minutes!"

Upon hearing the order from the messenger, Zhao Sanlei felt as if he had lost his parents.

This is basically asking them to be used as mortars!
However, Ping'an County was still under Japanese control at the time, and Zhao Sanlei could not refuse.

"Brothers! The city wall of Dongguan has been blown up, and the Eighth Route Army could rush in at any moment. We must plug the gap! Charge!"

"The locust army will be richly rewarded afterward!"

"Charge!" Zhao Sanlei shouted, waving his pistol.

The remaining puppet troops had no choice but to obey Zhao Sanlei's orders and face the watchful eyes of the surrounding supervisors.

The puppet troops could only run eastward in a chaotic mass.

However, before they could even get into position and find cover, a barrage of mortar shells rained down.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
All the mortars of various calibers from the first battalion were firing.

The intense firepower directly thwarted the puppet troops' attempt to enter the position.

"First Battalion! Attack!" Zheng Hua shouted immediately, seeing the opportunity. "Kill!"
Faced with the continuous barrage of mortar shells, the puppet troops were already inclined to retreat.

Now that the soldiers of the first battalion had charged up and were firing wildly at them, they dared not stay in place.

"The Eighth Route Army has entered the city!"

"Run for your lives!"
The puppet troops scattered in panic, retreating at an extremely fast pace.

Before the Japanese supervisors could even react and load their bullets, the puppet troops had vanished.

Inside the Ping'an County Command Headquarters, Takeda Naoshi found Takeshita Shun.

"Colonel Takeshita, the situation is not optimistic!"

Naoshi Takeda's face was unusually grim.

"This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers is too strong. In less than an hour after launching the attack, more than half of our defending troops were killed or wounded."

"Now that the pass has fallen, most of the garrison troops have withdrawn to the county town, and only a small number of troops are still holding out in the houses."

"But I think they probably won't last much longer."

"Moreover, with the support of heavy artillery from the Eighth Route Army, Ping'an County probably won't be able to hold out for long."

Although the city walls of Ping'an County are 5 meters thick, they are not as easily destroyed as the city walls of Guanxiang.

However, the firepower displayed by the enemy was simply beyond the capabilities of the Ping'an County garrison.

Even without heavy artillery, Ping'an County wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

That is, night is about to fall, and the Eighth Route Army's artillery advantage is about to be eliminated.

In addition, there were dozens of Locust Army soldiers who risked their lives to hold back the Eighth Route Army inside the pass.

Otherwise, the Eighth Route Army would probably have stormed into the city in another two hours.

"Don't panic, Takeda-kun. I've already sent a telegram to the Taiyuan Command," Takeshita Shun said.

"We have also received a reply that reinforcements from Fu'an and Shuiquan have set off, and troops from Luyang and Wuyi counties are also assembling."

"Luyang is only 60 kilometers away from Ping'an County. With the speed of mechanized marching, we can definitely get there before dawn."

Although the Japanese troops in Shuiquan and Fu'an also had a few trucks, most of their soldiers still had to advance on foot.

Therefore, Takeshita Shun placed his hopes for rescuing Ping'an County on the reinforcements from Luyang and Wuyi Counties.

When Takeshita Shun was training with the Kwantung Army, the 4th Division had long been out of the Kwantung Army's ranks.

Therefore, he still believes that the Fourth Division is the stabilizing force in Shanxi.

However, the 4th Division, on which Takeshita Shun had placed high hopes, ran into problems.

"Commander Nomura, please come quickly! A large number of soldiers have suddenly fallen ill; it looks like a mass food poisoning!"

A hospital staff member ran to headquarters to report.

Previously, the hospital would only see five or six people a day, but now hundreds are coming in.

The entire hospital is about to shut down.

"Bagaya road!"

Nomura Satoru slammed his fist on the table, stood up, and started cursing.

He's an expert at this move.

These guys all fell ill once during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol.

I didn't expect them to pull this tactic again.

When the soldiers fell ill, Nomura Satoru didn't care much.

After all, the division commander was in charge at that time.

But things are different now; he is now the actual person in charge of Luyang.

If the troops don't depart on time, and the higher-ups investigate, the others will be fine.

He feared he would have to say goodbye to his position as regimental commander.

Once he leaves the throne, how can he use the empire's resources to make a fortune?
Are you suggesting we send him back to Osaka to sell fish?
Those rotten fish and shrimp are nowhere near as valuable as yellow croaker.

"I'll go see for myself right now!" Nomura Satoru rushed straight to the hospital.

At this time, the hospital was already crowded with Japanese soldiers who had come to see a doctor.

Some of the Japanese soldiers had even lined up outside the door.

Everyone was clutching their stomachs and groaning incessantly.

Enraged by this, Nomura Satoru rushed forward and delivered a flying kick.

"Baka yarou! Who's blind?"

Before the Japanese soldiers who had been kicked down could even get up, they were already cursing.

When the Japanese soldiers stood up and turned around, they realized it was their own regimental commander.

The cursing he was saying stopped abruptly.

After standing there stunned for a few seconds, the Japanese soldier suddenly clutched his stomach again.

"Ouch, my stomach hurts so much! It hurts so much!"

Seeing the Japanese soldiers wailing there, Nomura Satoru's face turned red with anger.

"Baka yarou! I just kicked Mingming in the back!"

"Huh? The back?" The Japanese soldier was taken aback.

"Oh dear, my back hurts so much, I think my bones are broken."

Before the Japanese soldiers could finish shouting, Nomura Satoru had already drawn his command sword with a 'clang'.

"Return to your unit immediately! Otherwise, you will be court-martialed!" Nomura Satoru shouted.

Seeing Nomura Satoru's bloodshot eyes, the Japanese soldiers stopped clutching his back and yelling, and instead turned and ran back to their barracks.

"You all get ready to leave! Even if you're going to poop, make sure it's in your pants!"

Satoru Nomura shouted from the hospital entrance.

"Once we leave the city, I will march strictly according to the infantry manual. If I encounter any obstacles, I will overcome them before continuing!"

Upon hearing Nomura Satoru's shout, many Japanese soldiers reconsidered his past conduct.

Their stomach pain immediately subsided, and they all ran back as fast as they could.

You should have said something earlier. You made them complain for so long.

You should know that there are advantages to going out, namely, you can take the opportunity to skim some money off the ammunition.

Seeing that the soldiers had all gone back, Nomura Satoru breathed a sigh of relief.

If these people are truly determined not to budge, he really has no good solutions.

The tradition of subordinates overthrowing superiors is not just a joke.

Half an hour later, the Nomura team, having completed its preparations, set off by car.

(End of this chapter)