Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 346 They'll be ours sooner or later

Kohei Tsuchiya walked into the headquarters of the Luye Castle Defense Command.

"Captain, contact has been lost at the Zhumashan position."

"According to the reconnaissance report, the Eighth Route Army flag was raised on the main blockhouse."

"The main force of the new Second Regiment is now encircling Luye."

"I understand." Takada Takashi nodded.

He had already made a judgment when that huge explosion happened.

"How are the defensive fortifications in Luye?" Takada asked.

"The temporary fortifications are almost complete, and firing positions have been set up at all key intersections," Kohei Tsuchiya explained.

However, Kohei Tsuchiya knew very well that if the Eighth Route Army attacked into the city, these strongpoints would be of little use.

At this time, the locust-fighting forces in the city were mainly composed of the Provisional 9th ​​Division, but Tsuchiya Kohei was well aware of their combat capabilities.

It's not that they don't have any, but they are better off than ordinary people.

"Let the warriors of the Empire prepare for battle," Takada Takashi said in a deep voice.

"The entire Locust Army was mobilized, and with the assistance of the Locust Allied Army, they used the city walls for defense."

"The remaining locust-fighting troops are responsible for transporting supplies and ammunition."

According to Takada Takashi's estimate, with the current strength of the Rono troops, holding out for two or three days should not be a problem.

At this point, Takada Takashi wasn't too worried.

According to the telegram from the headquarters, troops from Xinkou, Fu'an, and Yexian have been mobilized.

They will form a huge encirclement around the Eighth Route Army and then wipe out the main force of the New Second Regiment in one fell swoop.

At this time, Takada Takashi was unaware that the three reinforcements he had placed high hopes on had each encountered trouble.

The train carrying the Wugu Regiment, which was being supported from Fu'an, ran over a landmine and derailed.

Before the Japanese soldiers could react, a barrage of shells and bullets rained down from the sky.

The Japanese suffered heavy casualties in a short time.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!" Wu Guxin shouted repeatedly, shrinking back.

At this point, they had no way to use the train for defense and counter-attack.

Although the trains derailed, most of them did not overturn.

The top and sides of the freight train offer virtually no protection; even rifle bullets can easily penetrate them.

If the Japanese dare to stay in place and set up firing positions, bullets and shells will fly over in the next second.

Even infantry artillery can hit freight train carriages with a single shot.

After these Japanese soldiers retreated in a sorry state.

However, they were embarrassed to discover that the trains piled up after the derailment had become an obstacle to their attack.

The Eighth Route Army, positioned on higher ground, had no need to worry about the trains.

However, these trains were the first obstacle they had to overcome when they wanted to attack the Eighth Route Army's positions.

Putting down his binoculars, Takeya Shin scratched his head.

The train didn't block all the roads.

But those narrow passages didn't look like places where one could pass through easily at all.

The Eighth Route Army only needs a few light machine guns to complete the blockade.

If we went that way, we would all be sending ourselves to our deaths.

Just when Takeya Shin was in a dilemma.

Meanwhile, Saito's regiment of the 4th Division, which was supporting from Xinkou, had already set up its artillery.

Li Chishui had already blown up the bridge last night.

Saito's team was trapped on the south bank of the river.

"Fire!"

Saito Tokuhide put down his binoculars and confidently pointed to the positions on the opposite bank of the river, giving orders.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The combined firepower of four Type 41 75mm mountain guns and twelve Type 92 70mm infantry guns was quite impressive.

The position that Li Chishui had dug in advance, and the more than a thousand scarecrows that he had put on it.

The smoke and dust from the exploding shells completely enveloped the area.

"The Japanese firepower is freaking fierce."

Li Chishui put down his binoculars, his face filled with envy.

As far as he knew, the 4th Division also had 12 large-caliber howitzers and 36 field guns.

What would it be like if all of them were brought up?
"Commander, the Grand Commander said that these will all be ours sooner or later."

Ding Futong, standing to the side, drooled as he spoke.

When the First Regiment has such firepower, that will be truly amazing.

"It might not be that easy," Li Chishui sighed.

Although the 4th Division was greedy for money, these weapons were not rifles or machine guns, so they were unlikely to sell them.

Moreover, even if they wanted to sell it, the Second New Regiment might not be able to afford a large-caliber howitzer even if they sold everything they owned.

“Commander, you have to trust the Grand Commander, what if?” Ren Wuliu said.

“Exactly, what if it works out? We’ll be rich!” Li Renao nodded.

According to standard configuration, the Independent Regiment only has three 82mm mortars.

Their firepower was far inferior to that of a battalion in the main force regiment.

"So, according to you, it's become that I don't trust the commander?"

Li Chishui looked at the people beside him.

If the regimental commander heard this, would it bring him any good?

"No, no, we were just talking about this." The group shook their heads repeatedly.

Li Chishui glanced at them, then looked back at the Japanese bombing raid and drooled.

While the Fourth Division continued to plow the land, the New Second Regiment had already completed the final encirclement.

In addition to the Third Independent Regiment advancing northeastward to block reinforcements from Ye County.

The Second Independent Regiment also moved south with two mountain guns as a reserve force to support the First Independent Regiment at any time.

The remaining First Battalion, Second Battalion, Fourth Independent Regiment, and Fifth Independent Regiment were all committed to the battle against Lu Ye.

"Captain, the Eighth Route Army should number around ten thousand. As long as we try to get the Locust Army to push forward, we have a good chance of holding the line." Tsuchiya Kohei breathed a sigh of relief.

The unknown number of Eighth Route Army troops had made him very nervous.

It seems that things aren't as bad as they appear now.

"Don't let your guard down." Takada Takashi wasn't too optimistic.

If the current 2,800 men were all Locust Army soldiers, Takada Takada would dare to charge out of the city and launch a proactive attack.

However, the number of locust soldiers in Luye Castle is still too small, and the locust allies are not very useful.

Outside the city, inside the headquarters of the New Second Regiment.

"Commander, all units are ready and can launch an attack at any time," Xu Wu reported.

"Take over the heavy artillery positions and order Wang Chengzhu to launch an attack on the west city wall," Chen Chengxing commanded.

Previously, because the watchtowers were made of reinforced concrete, 105mm cannons were not very effective.

Although the city wall of Keluye is more than five meters thick, it is actually built with bricks and rammed earth.

"Fire a few more shells and we'll destroy it." "Yes, sir!"
Wang Chengzhu, who lives on Zima Mountain, hung up the phone.

"Direction 25, Distance 9.3!"

"One shot reload!"

"put!"

"boom!"

The shot missed its target, landing in an open area 300 meters from the city wall.

"Hehe. The Eighth Route Army's artillery isn't very good, it's so off-target." Tsuchiya Kohei laughed.

"Something's not right." Takada Takashi's expression was extremely grim.

"what happened?"

“This isn’t the effect of a mortar explosion,” Takada Takashi shook his head.

He just witnessed the shell explode.

The flash of its explosion was clearly fan-shaped, unlike the circular shape of a mortar shell explosion.

Such an explosion is caused by a shell fired from a cannon.

The explosion just now didn't look like it was from a 75mm mountain gun.

"Captain, do you mean the Eighth Route Army has heavy artillery?" Kohei Tsuchiya's expression immediately changed.

For Luye City Defense, heavy mortars and heavy artillery are two different concepts.

"Now we just hope that reinforcements can arrive as soon as possible," Takada Takashi said in a deep voice.

With Lu Ye's city defenses, it won't hold out for long.

No sooner had Takada Takashi finished speaking than a ball of flame erupted from the city wall.

"boom!"

Then another clump appeared.

"boom!"

"Damn it!" Takada Takashi's face darkened.

He didn't expect that the Eighth Route Army would actually deploy two heavy artillery pieces to participate in the attack.

Faced with the bombardment of heavy artillery, no one dared to set up defenses on the city walls, regardless of whether they were Japanese soldiers or puppet troops.

With such continuous artillery fire, even if you weren't killed by the bombs, you would be killed by the shockwaves.

As Takada listened to the explosion after explosion, it felt like a countdown to his death.

He has no countermeasures at all.

After quickly returning to headquarters, Takada Takashi immediately gave the following order:
"Send a telegram to the Taiyuan Command immediately!"

"My unit has been bombarded by heavy artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army. We request immediate tactical guidance!"

"Hai!"

The telegraph operator nearby quickly began sending messages.
"Heavy artillery?! Damn it!"

Yoshio Shinotsuka immediately stood up.

Yoshio Shinotsuka knew that the New Second Regiment had heavy artillery and could also determine where it came from.

However, despite trying various methods, it could not be destroyed.

As a result, whenever there was an important battle, the new Second Regiment would be brought out to bully others.

"Yamaoka-kun, send a telegram to Saito's regiment, instructing them to break through the Unga River position within one hour!" Yoshio Shinotsuka ordered.

If possible, Yoshio Shinotsuka would prefer to use the aircraft.

However, the North China Expeditionary Army now has very few aircraft left, and the few remaining reserve aircraft are absolutely not going to be deployed.

After all, the plane is easy to deal with, but there's no fuel.

"In addition, order the 4th Division Engineer Regiment and the Field Artillery Battalion in Taiyuan to carry two 150mm howitzers to support Luye!" Yoshio Shinotsuka added.

The Yunhe Bridge has now been destroyed, and the only way to allow howitzers to cross the river is for engineers to rebuild it.

If we choose to take a detour, we'll probably have to travel for another day the next day.

"Hai!"
Although Yoshio Shinotsuka's orders were carried out relatively well under the personal supervision of Michifumi Yamaoka.

However, Lu Ye did not survive until reinforcements arrived.

An hour later, just as the train left Taiyuan, Lu Ye's city walls were officially breached.

In that hour, the two cannons fired nearly 80 shells, creating a 15-meter-wide breach in Luye's city wall.

"Order the troops to immediately seize the breach positions! Use firepower to plug the breach!" Takada Takashi urged.

"Immediately transfer troops to reinforce the western wall from the remaining three sections of the city wall!"

If the Eighth Route Army enters the city, there will be no chance to fight.

Now, Takada Takashi only hopes that the reinforcements the commander mentioned will arrive soon.

He really couldn't take it anymore.

However, just as dozens of Japanese soldiers, along with hundreds of puppet troops, were preparing to forcibly block the breach, a series of artillery shells rained down.

"Mortar fire coverage, followed by a barrage of bullets!"

"Comrades! Charge!" Sun Xun shouted.

"Beep beep beep beep"

The bugle call sounded.

The 2nd Battalion launched a general offensive.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
The shells landed in the crowd, causing a bloody storm.

The already terrified puppet troops immediately scattered.

Even when the Japanese soldiers in the supervisory team fired their guns, it had no effect.

After all, a rifle can kill one person with one shot, while an artillery shell can destroy a large area.

The puppet troops knew very well which one was more powerful.

"Bagaya road!"

The Japanese squad leader, seeing the fleeing puppet troops and the approaching Eighth Route Army, felt utterly hopeless.

He now has less than thirty men left; how could he possibly withstand so many Eighth Route Army soldiers?

"Heaven is making trouble with the black card board!"

"Kill the chicken!" The Japanese squad leader pointed his knife diagonally.

In this situation, he had no choice but to be loyal.

"Da da da".
The moment the Japanese soldiers opened fire with their only two light machine guns, they immediately attracted the attention of the 60mm mortar team that was charging alongside them.

"Quickly! Set up the gun!" the gunner shouted.

Setting up a 60mm mortar is extremely simple; the crew completed all preparations in just one minute.

After giving the Japanese a thumbs-up, the gunner readjusted the angle.

"Cannonball!"

"boom!"

With the added advantage of these features, the accuracy of the mortars from the New Second Regiment is frighteningly high.

A shell landed, and the Japanese machine gunner who was firing continuously was instantly killed.

Even the light machine guns rolled out of the position.

(End of this chapter)