Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 88: Once I regroup, I will be able to turn defeat into victory

The tracking and pursuit troops led by Chen Chengxing finally arrived at Qianlingzhuang more than an hour after setting out from Shanggezhuang.

As soon as we arrived at Qianlingzhuang, we saw that many houses in the village were burning and the air was filled with thick smoke.

"Son of a bitch!" Luo Ping was so angry that his dialect came out.

"The regiment headquarters and logistics departments should temporarily stop advancing and send people to the nearby mountainous areas to bring back the villagers. Help them put out the fire before leaving." Luo Ping immediately ordered.

Chen Chengxing had no objection to Luo Ping's order. These were what the Eighth Route Army should do.

Chen Chengxing glanced around and picked up an empty can from the ground.

"There are more than 4 Japanese soldiers, but they didn't leave many cans behind. They can't run away with empty cans, right?" said Chen Chengxing.

"It seems that the Japs are really hungry. They can't find food or drink, so they burn down the house to vent their anger. They are really beasts!" Luo Ping said angrily.

"Old Chen, we must not let the Japanese escape today!" Luo Ping said.

"Don't worry, the New Second Regiment will definitely help the fellow villagers vent their anger," said Chen Chengxing.

The New Second Regiment's policy towards the Japanese has always been to kill them all and leave no one alive.

"Okay, then I'll lead the team to put out the fire, and I'll leave the rest to you." Luo Ping nodded.

"Okay, everyone else! Let's go!" Chen Chengxing jumped on his horse and gave the order.

The Japanese soldiers who were still pulling carts on the mountain road at this time had no idea that the New Second Regiment they were looking for was quickly surrounding them.

Just as Nobuo Yasuda urged the soldiers to speed up, a signalman ran over.

"Deputy Captain, the Captain ordered our troops to turn to the Xiguan stronghold and re-launch the attack after replenishing supplies."

After Nobuo Yasuda took the order from the signalman, he glanced at it and said casually, "I understand."

"Deputy Captain, what should we do now?" asked Kujo Rokuro on the side.

"Order the troops to speed up and go from Shangguanzhuang to Dongzhuang. The captain orders us to retreat to the Xiguan stronghold overnight." Nobuo Yasuda ordered.

According to Hirosuke Nomura's order, they had to rest for a few hours at the Xiguan stronghold and then go into the mountains again after dawn.

Moreover, according to investigation, the road from Shangguanzhuang, Dongzhuang to Xiguan stronghold was not damaged.

So although the length of this section of road is about the same as the distance from Shangguanzhuang to Liangzhuang, which is about 20 kilometers, the actual time can be shortened by at least half.

"Will this cause the soldiers to overwork themselves?" Kujo Rokuro asked hesitantly.

According to the captain's order, the troops will be able to launch another offensive tomorrow, but with such continuous movement, the troops will inevitably become exhausted.

Especially now that the main force of the Eighth Route Army has not appeared, the risk of doing so is quite high.

"When the time comes, let the troops rest for a while in the Xiguan stronghold." said Nobuo Yasuda.

Nobuo Yasuda had fought with the Eighth Route Army many times in Suicheng area. He was confident that with his two infantry companies, one artillery squad and one heavy machine gun squad, he could fight against any regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

Even if the Locust Army is an exhausted division, it is not something that a regiment of the Eighth Route Army can contend with. Apart from anything else, these two infantry guns alone can make them know what fire suppression is!

"Ha!" Seeing that the deputy captain had made up his mind, Kujo Rokuro could not say anything and could only follow orders. As for the other captain of the 2nd Squadron, Oura Yasuto, he had no objection at all.

After all, Kujo Rokuro and Yasuda Nobuo were both captains, and Oura Yasuto was only a lieutenant, so he had no chance to get a word in.

While the Japanese were struggling with the truck, Zheng Hua had already led his team to overtake it from the side, and the First Battalion and the Third Operations were less than 3 kilometers away from them.

20 minutes later, the first and third battalions, which had already arrived at their positions, launched a fierce two-pronged attack on the Japanese on the mountain road without any hesitation.

“Da da da da.” “Da da da da.” “Da da da da.”
"Thump, thump, thump." "Thump, thump, thump."
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
All of a sudden, bullets, artillery shells, and grenades rained down on the Japanese soldiers gathered in the middle of the road like a torrential rain.

"Enemy attack! Scatter! Scatter!"

"Quick! Use the cart to build a shelter!"

"Cover! Cover fire!"

The Japanese who were suddenly attacked immediately began to organize a counterattack.

"Kill the chicken!" Nobuo Yasuda shouted.

"Thump, thump, thump." "Thump, thump, thump."
“Da da da da.” “Da da da da.” “Da da da da.”
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
When the two sides fought, Nobuo Yasuda realized something was wrong. How come the Eighth Route Army had more light and heavy weapons than his own? The only advantage the Locust Army had was the grenade launcher.

In fact, the two battalions had a considerable number of grenade launchers, but they did not have many shells, so they could not fire at will.

"Captain Kujo! I order you to take a squadron to seize Shangguanzhuang Heights immediately!" Nobuo Yasuda ordered immediately.

Grenade launchers can easily threaten light machine guns, but they cannot hit heavy machine guns before completely destroying the opponent's light machine guns.

After all, light machine guns are positioned much further forward than heavy machine guns, and it is impossible for soldiers to attack heavy machine guns under the fire of light machine guns. At this time, they can only rely on infantry artillery, but the infantry artillery of the troops is still tied to pack horses.

If they can capture the advantageous position of Shangguanzhuang Heights, the locust army will be able to use the favorable terrain to regroup and be able to attack or defend.

"Ha!" Kujo Rokuro immediately led a squadron forward in the rain of bullets, preparing to seize the high ground.

However, as soon as the Japanese 5st Squadron reached the bottom of the high ground, it was hit hard again. Zheng Hua had been waiting for a long time on the reverse slope with the 6th and th companies.

When it comes to mountain attack and defense, whoever can occupy the mountain ridge will have an absolute advantage, and even the ability to throw grenades farther than the enemy.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!".
Kujo Rokuro was blown away and hid behind a rock, but he did not choose to retreat.

After all, there are only about 200 people on the hill, and we are not afraid of them with the strength of a squadron.

"Protect with machine guns and grenade launchers! Attack!" Kujo Rokuro shouted.

Just when Kujo Rokuro began to attack the hilltop position, Xu Wu and Sun Xun had already sounded the charge.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep"

"kill!"

"Kill!"

The soldiers rushed down the heights with overwhelming force, directly divided the Japanese into several sections, and then engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

"Onboard!"

"Ah ah!"

Faced with the Eighth Route Army that was several times larger than their own, the Japanese soldiers showed no fear. They turned off the safety of their rifles and started attacking with their guns pointed.

However, unlike the superiors of ordinary soldiers, Nobuo Yasuda was very clear about his situation. If he just engaged in hand-to-hand combat, it would be difficult for his troops to defeat the Eighth Route Army, and they might even be wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.

According to intelligence, the main force of the Eighth Route Army in Dayun Mountain is a regiment with 1 to 2 soldiers, but now there are only more than 3 people in front of him. Nobuo Yasuda knows that it won't be long before the rest of the Eighth Route Army will arrive.

But what about me? No matter whether it was reinforcements from Liangzhuang or Xiguan, it would take at least two or three hours for them to arrive.

Moreover, seeing that the offensive of the First Squadron was once again repelled by the Eighth Route Army on Shangguanzhuang Hill, Nobuo Yasuda knew that he could not wait any longer.

He must find a place to take advantage of his firepower, otherwise he will be at a disadvantage.

After all, when fighting in a bayonet fight, the artillerymen cannot just swing the gun barrel to fire.

"Immediately send a message to the first squadron, asking them to stop attacking and retreat. The entire army should retreat to Nanzhuang!" Nobuo Yasuda ordered.

The current fighting location is not far from Nanzhuang, and there is no good terrain there for the Eighth Route Army to occupy. As long as they launch an assault, they will definitely be able to enter.

Although the terrain of Nanzhuang is not conducive to defense, it allows them to deploy their troops without being cut into several sections like on the mountain road.

Chen Chengxing, who had already occupied the hilltop on the south side of Nanzhuang, was overjoyed when he saw the Japanese troops begin to advance towards Nanzhuang.

"Haha. The Japanese have fallen into the trap!" Chen Chengxing said excitedly.

This is the information gap. If the Japanese knew that the New Second Regiment had set up a field artillery position on Erlang Mountain, they would never let us enter Nanzhuang.

Even being cut into several sections on the mountain road was much better than being exposed to the attack of Italian artillery.

"Tell Xu Wu and Sun Xun to let go of the water and not to make the Japanese change their minds." Chen Chengxing ordered.

Although the bayonet fighting ability of the First Battalion was slightly inferior to that of the Japanese, the Third Battalion was even worse.

However, the strength of the two battalions far exceeds that of the Japanese by several times. If they really fight to the death, the Japanese may not be able to break through to Nanzhuang.

However, the New Second Regiment now has an absolute advantage, and Chen Chengxing certainly cannot let his comrades risk their lives.

"Yes!"

"Have you connected with the field platoon?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Not yet. Our telephone lines are not long enough. When we move, we must first take back the original ones and then rewire them." said the combat staff officer on the side.

"Tell the communications platoon that the call must be connected within 15 minutes, otherwise don't blame me for scolding you!" Chen Chengxing said seriously.

Chen Chengxing estimated that it would take the Japanese 20 to 30 minutes to break out, regroup, and launch an attack. Before that, the regiment headquarters had to communicate with the field artillery platoon.

Now the observer of the field artillery platoon is still on this hill. If he cannot maintain contact, the artillery will be like losing its eyes and will not be able to fire.

"Yes!" the operations staff said seriously.

Only those who know who the leader is will know that the leader will not curse easily, but once he starts, it is really not something that ordinary people can bear.

With the New Second Regiment intentionally letting them go, Nobuo Yasuda led his troops to Nanzhuang smoothly.

"First and second squadrons, set up a defense line outside the village! Infantry artillery immediately build artillery positions!"

"Hayaku! Hayaku!"

Nobuo Yasuda immediately ordered his troops to reorganize.

Although the melee just now did not last long, their unit suffered over a hundred casualties, and 2/3 of the casualties were front-line infantry.

Now Nobuo Yasuda was extremely grateful for his decisiveness. If they had delayed for another half an hour, even if they broke through to Nanzhuang, it would have been difficult for them to reorganize the attack.

(End of this chapter)