Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 268: Hit hard and hit hard!
"240mm heavy howitzer, what a damn good thing!"

Li Yunlong swallowed his saliva violently.

In his more than 10 years of military career, the largest caliber cannon Li Yunlong had ever seen was the 120mm heavy mortar given to him by Boss Lin.

240mm heavy howitzer, although its caliber is only twice that of a 120mm mortar.

But its lethality and power are definitely many times greater than that of a 120mm mortar.

If the robbery is successful, he can ask Lin Feng to send a large helicopter to drop the entire 240mm heavy howitzer.

But it's a pity.

The Japanese suddenly transferred a field artillery battalion and two 2mm heavy howitzers to the Wangjiawan front line.

Therefore, both the Jinzhong Military Region and the Taihang Military Region were caught off guard.

Because even if they wanted to rob on the way or blow up the Japanese military train transporting artillery, it was too late.

"This thing should be very powerful, right?"

"Can the troops left in Meng County hold out?"

Ding Wei took the telegram and read it, his face showing some worry and solemnity.

"Our tunnels are reinforced with reinforced concrete. They can withstand the Japanese's heavy aerial bombs weighing hundreds of kilograms. They can definitely withstand the Japanese's 240mm heavy grenades."

"If the Japanese infantry were to charge while heavy howitzers and field artillery were bombarding them, the troops would most likely not be able to withstand it."

Li Yunlong couldn't help but reveal a solemn look on his face.

Anyone who has been bombed by a 240mm heavy grenade knows that the projectile weighs 200 kilograms and is very powerful. If hit by one, the person will be instantly wiped out. Its killing range and shock wave are also extremely lethal, and its power is no less than that of an aerial bomb of the same weight level.

There was no need to worry too much about the soldiers hiding in the tunnels, but Li Yunlong was most afraid of adopting extreme tactics of infantry charging while artillery bombarded.

If the Japanese adopted this tactic, the New 1st Regiment would definitely suffer heavy losses and even lose its position.

"The Japanese will most likely send heavy howitzers and field artillery to assist in the attack on the Wangjiawan defense line. Since they can only take the road, can the Blade Commando conduct a special operation along the way to blow up these heavy howitzers and field artillery?"

Kong Jie knocked on his pipe, took a few puffs of dry tobacco, and spoke calmly and thoughtfully.

The power of a 150mm caliber howitzer is already incredible, not to mention the 240mm heavy howitzer.

This thing is not only extremely powerful, but also has a great impact on the morale of the enemy troops.

During the September 2th Incident, Beidaying was attacked by two 240mm heavy howitzers of the same type, causing many Northeast Army soldiers to lose the courage to resist.

The New 1st Regiment built a number of reinforced concrete bunkers on the Wangjiawan defense line.

These bunkers could withstand the bombardment of the Japanese 75mm mountain artillery.

But the 240mm heavy howitzer can knock down these bunkers one by one like watermelons.

"It's very difficult!" Li Yunlong's face was solemn. "The Japanese are well prepared this time. It's probably as difficult as beheading Shinozuka Yoshio."

An important factor that enabled the Blade Commando to successfully launch a surprise attack on the field artillery positions directly under the 39th Brigade was that the enemy was completely unprepared.

Even if the Japanese sent an infantry battalion to escort them, it would be difficult for the Blade Commando to complete the mission, and they might even suffer heavy losses.

Ding Wei stared at the map of Shouyang and Mengxian area and thought for a while before saying.

"The Japanese's 240mm heavy howitzers are definitely not light. The actual distance from Shouyang Station to the Wangjiawan front road is more than 30 kilometers. It will take at least one to two days for the Japanese's heavy howitzers to be deployed from Shouyang to the Wangjiawan front line."

"If the Blade Commandos really can't attack mid-route, they can resort to harassing and destroying the highway to slow down the enemy artillery units' march."

"Old Ding." Li Yunlong's eyes lit up: "You are indeed a military advisor. This is a good idea."

"After we finish defeating the Independent Mixed Brigade, we'll gather all our forces and go back to deal with the 39th Brigade."

"I just don't believe it. Can two mere heavy howitzers really cause such a huge upheaval?"

Kong Jie nodded. The harassment and road destruction by the Sharp Blade Commandos could indeed buy the main force a lot of time. "But time is still very urgent. We need to speed up the annihilation battle here and strive to complete it within three days. Then the main force will return to reinforce Meng County."

Li Yunlong narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said to Zhao Gang, "Xiao Zhao, immediately draft a telegram to the Sharp Blade Commando, ordering them to use the sparrow tactics to harass, destroy the roads, and lay mines, in order to disrupt the enemy artillery's marching speed to the greatest extent possible."

"Be sure to pay attention to safety and never do business that will lose money!"

Li Yunlong ordered the maximum limit, not at all costs, but he added one more sentence at the end.

The Sharp Blade Commando is the treasure in Li Yunlong's hands. If they suffer heavy casualties while bombing the Japanese heavy howitzers, Li Yunlong will be heartbroken.

In Li Yunlong's mind, the Blade Commando is much more valuable than the Japanese heavy howitzers.

"Yes!"

Zhao Gang quickly drafted a telegram.

After Li Yunlong signed, Zhao Gang quickly handed the telegram to the telegraph operator Xiao Zhang. Xiao Zhang took the telegram and started sending it.

"Draft another telegram for Deputy Commander Xing and forward it to him, ordering the militia to organize the civilians to move to the mountains. If necessary, the troops can abandon the Wangjiawan and Zhangjiazhai defense lines and let the Japanese invaders into the base area to conduct guerrilla warfare."

"Yes!"

Zhao Gang drafted another telegram, and after Li Yunlong signed it, Zhao Gang took it to Xiao Zhang.

After Li Yunlong finished sending the telegram, Ding Wei asked, "Old Li, what are your thoughts on the battle to annihilate the 6th Independent Mixed Brigade?"

"Aren't you the Dog-Headed Military Advisor?" Li Yunlong asked, "Tell me what you think first."

Ding Wei curled his lips. It was Li Yunlong who gave him the nickname "Dog-headed Military Advisor".

A dog-headed military advisor is a person who likes to give advice to others but is not very smart.

The ideas that I, Ding Wei, come up with are all very clever, okay?
Ding Wei said, "Although we have more capital in this battle, and have a greater advantage in both manpower and firepower, we cannot act recklessly. If we attack blindly, the Japanese puppet troops will surely flee when they can no longer resist. Then it will be difficult to achieve our strategic goal of severely damaging or even destroying the enemy."

"So my idea is to attack from both sides. Send troops around to the rear of the enemy, cut off their retreat, and completely destroy them by attacking from both sides."

Uncle Kong's eyes lit up and he asked, "Is there a small path that can get behind the enemy?"

There are two roads and two small roads from the Japanese base to attack Ding Wei's defense zone.

Like the defense zone of the New 1st Regiment, the New 3rd Regiment also built tunnels and bunkers with reinforced concrete on the four roads.

One of the roads was the main attack direction of the Japanese, and there were also some enemy assists and feint attacks on the other three roads.

Ding Wei chuckled:
"As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Old Ding has been operating here for nearly half a year. How could he not be prepared?"

"Old Li and Old Kong, look, there's an abandoned bridle path here that leads directly to the flank and rear of the Japanese main force. It's not even clearly marked on the map, and even the locals rarely know about this road."

Li Yunlong stared at the map, his expression as if he had it all under control. Kong Jie asked, "Looking at the contour lines on the map, there's a mountain between here and the highway. Can you climb over it?"

Ding Wei said, "This mountain is very steep, with many cliffs. The bridle path on the cliff collapsed and was abandoned. Some time ago, I sent engineers to secretly repair this bridle path. Even the local people didn't know about it."

After the last anti-mopping-up operation, Ding Wei had been preparing for this one, personally scouting the terrain and knowing the base area like the back of his hand.

Even without tunnels and reverse slope tactics, Ding Wei could lead his troops and civilians through secret horse trails to get behind the enemy and circle around the Japanese and puppet troops.

Li Yunlong was immediately amused. "Haha, Lao Ding, you're damn worthy of being called a military strategist. Just as I thought, we can get behind the enemy and stab the enemy's puppet troops in the ass. With this secret passage, our battle to severely damage the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade is halfway to success."

"If I'm the dog-headed military advisor." Ding Wei curled his lips, "Then you're the dog-headed commander."

"You two, stop talking nonsense." Kong Jie puffed on his pipe. "Time is short and the task is heavy. We need to quickly formulate a battle plan and emergency plan."

"Old Ding, stop hiding it." Li Yunlong looked at Ding Wei, "Hurry up and tell me the battle plan in your mind."

"The one who understands me best is Old Li!"

Ding Wei said sarcastically with a slight smile on his face.

Pointing to the map, he said, "The area where the enemy is currently stationed is mainly mountainous terrain, which is not suitable for us to fight a war of annihilation. My battle plan is to send a regiment to bypass the enemy's rear along the abandoned horse trail. Here, in the area around Baijiazhuang and Lingnan Village, we will cut off the enemy's retreat. The main forces of our two regiments will launch an offensive from the front, driving the enemy back to the open area of ​​Xiyan Basin, and then launch a war of annihilation."

Ding Wei had rehearsed this battle plan in his mind countless times and was very familiar with it.

Li Yunlong and Kong Jie looked at the map. Ding Wei was talking about Xiyan Town. From the map, it can be seen that this is a basin in the mountains. The terrain is circular, and a road extends from the basin to the north. This is the inevitable retreat route of the main force of the Japanese army.

Li Yunlong asked Ding Wei, "Are there still ordinary people in Xiyan Town?"

If the final battlefield is chosen here, once the war breaks out, this small basin will inevitably be left with no grass.

Ding Wei then said, "No, I've evacuated all 3,000-plus villagers from Xiyan Town to our base. If there were civilians here, would I have chosen this place as the battlefield?"

"it is good."

Li Yunlong nodded and looked at Kong Jie:

"Lao Kong, tonight you will lead the independent regiment along the abandoned horse trail that Lao Ding mentioned, go around to the rear of the Japanese, and cut off their retreat in the area around Baijiazhuang and Lingnan Village on the edge of the Xiyan Basin."

Kong Jie nodded and said, "Okay!"

Ding Wei pointed at the map and said, "Lao Kong, you have to pay attention here, here, and here. There are three small roads that can lead out of the Xiyan Basin. You must order the troops to hold these points to prevent the Japanese from escaping through the small roads. I will send a reconnaissance platoon leader to lead your regiment. He knows the locations of these roads."

Kong Jie knew that Ding Wei had done a lot of preparation for this battle in the early stages, so he nodded and said, "Okay!"

Li Yunlong looked at Ding Wei and said, "Old Ding, our two regiments will attack the enemy from the front!"

Ding Wei nodded with a fierce look on his face. He had been waiting for this day for a long time.

Li Yunlong's expression was stern. "Tell all officers and soldiers, this battle must be fought fiercely and vigorously. Soldiers must not be afraid of casualties or difficulties. We must resolutely destroy the main force of the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade and kill the enemy brigade commander."

(End of this chapter)