Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 283 War of attrition!

"Rumble..."

A huge explosion sounded at the new regiment's position, deafening.

A reinforced concrete bunker was hit. Even a 75mm mountain gun could not shake the bunker. After being hit by a 240mm shell, it instantly collapsed. The explosion sent up rubble and splashed cement and steel bars hundreds of meters away.

Fortunately, Xing Zhiguo had ordered the soldiers to retreat from the bunker to the tunnel, and there were no casualties.

But this huge explosion still gave great shock and impact to the soldiers in the tunnel.

It was like a sudden thunder exploding in the ears, making the ears buzz. Some soldiers' ears were even bleeding.

Although the 240mm artillery shells are not as lethal as heavy aerial bombs, they are very accurate. In addition, the Japanese artillery elites are very skilled, and they can hit whatever they point at within three shots.

Fortunately, all the tunnels were reinforced with concrete and steel bars, which could continuously withstand the Japanese's heavy aerial bombs and heavy grenade bombardment.

The New 1st Regiment’s Mengxian Front Command.

Through the telescope, Xing Zhiguo saw a huge explosion rising from the position of the New 1st Regiment, and his face couldn't help but look solemn.

yesterday afternoon.

As soon as the Japanese artillery unit arrived, they impatiently set up their field guns and heavy howitzers and fired at the positions of the New 1st Regiment.

Then the enemy sent troops to attack, but the devils were quickly repelled by the soldiers of the New 1st Regiment.

Last night, the Japs did not launch a surprise attack at night, as night combat was not the Japanese army's strong point.

But it was obvious that the Japanese were not stopping the attack, but adjusting their tactics.

In order to prevent the position from being breached, Xing Zhiguo also transferred the guard battalion defending Wangjiawan.

In addition, the cavalry battalion of the New 1st Regiment, the cavalry company of the Independent Regiment, and the cavalry company of the New 3rd Regiment also arrived.

Now the Jinzhong Eighth Route Army is at the Wangjiawan position, with three main battalions and a cavalry unit of more than 2000 people.

But Xing Zhiguo was afraid that the Japanese would order the artillery to fire while attacking.

The firepower of a field artillery battalion should not be underestimated, and the power of two 2mm heavy howitzers is even more enormous.

……

The Japanese's two heavy howitzers began to fire accurately.

During the six days of fighting, the location of the Eighth Route Army's bunker had long been exposed.

The 240mm heavy howitzer has a firing rate of one round per minute, but not every shell can hit the bunker.

It took half an hour for the Japanese heavy howitzers to destroy the bunker.

then.

The Japanese field artillery battalion opened fire, and explosions continued to rise on the position of the New 1st Regiment.

The Japanese heavy siege artillery positions and field artillery positions were together. In order to prevent sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Special Forces, Kenkichi Hirata specially sent two infantry battalions for protection. The guard posts were arranged 5 kilometers away from the artillery positions. The defense within three kilometers was strict, and the main force was ambushed within one kilometer. Once the Eighth Route Special Forces appeared, they would immediately be attacked by Japanese troops from all directions.

At the Japanese front-line brigade headquarters, Kenkichi Hirata put down the telescope in his hand and said coldly.

"Firing like this is a waste of ammunition!"

"Stop firing, let the infantry charge first, there are no soldiers on the enemy positions!"

Next to Kenkichi Hirata stood Japanese officers such as Masao Uwagawa and Ikki Yamamoto.

"Hi."

The operations staff officer suddenly lowered his head, turned around and quickly delivered the order.

After arriving at the front line yesterday, Kenkichi Hirata ignored Yamamoto Ikki completely. Yamamoto Ikki's refusal to follow orders made Hirata very embarrassed.

However, Yamamoto Ikki did not dare to lead the special forces team back to Taiyuan.

He was afraid of being ambushed by the Eighth Route Army special forces along the way.

Although Yamamoto Ikki was confident that the combat effectiveness of his special forces was no worse than that of the Eighth Route Army Special Forces.

But ambush warfare is the forte of the Eighth Route Army. Even if the special forces are ambushed, they will suffer heavy losses or even be wiped out.

"Your Excellency, the Brigade Commander, is wise," said Uwagawa Masao. "With the support of two heavy siege artillery pieces, we will surely inflict heavy damage on the Eighth Route Army."

Hirata Kenkichi said proudly, "Of course. The Eighth Route Army soldiers in this mountain valley probably haven't even seen a 150mm howitzer, let alone a 240mm siege artillery."

"That's true." Uwagawa Masao nodded. "Even the main force of the Chinese Nationalist Army, the most powerful artillery firepower is only 150mm howitzers, and they were purchased from Germany, and there are not many of them. They are not worthy of seeing 240mm siege artillery, only the 240mm artillery shells of the Locust Army."

"Ha ha……"

The devils laughed evilly.

Yamamoto Ikki didn't feel embarrassed at all. His face had a typical expressionless look from beginning to end, without any fluctuation.

……

Seeing the Japanese attack, Xing Zhiguo immediately ordered soldiers from two companies to enter the position.

The Japanese are not stupid. On the contrary, they are very smart. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to occupy such a large area of ​​Chinese land in just one year.

The Japanese tactics were the same as usual. After the artillery bombardment, the infantry charged and sent a squadron and a battalion of puppet troops to launch an attack.

The puppet troops were acting as cannon fodder in the front, while the Japanese kept a distance, urging the puppet troops to attack from behind and firing at the Eighth Route Army positions. As soon as the soldiers of the New 240st Regiment entered the position, the Japanese mm heavy artillery and field artillery battalion opened fire.

The first shell fired by the devils landed among the puppet troops near the Eighth Route Army's front line, killing a large number of them.

However, the Japanese artillery observer quickly adjusted the firing parameters, and shells fell on the Eighth Route Army positions.

The Eighth Route Army artillery also opened fire, and dense explosions exploded in the formations of the Japanese and puppet troops. Although the explosive power was far less than that of the Japanese 240mm heavy howitzers, they had the advantage of large numbers and fast firing rates, which made the attacking Japanese and puppet troops unable to withstand it for a while.

Ten minutes later, half of the Japanese puppet troops suffered casualties and retreated, and half of the two companies of the New 1st Regiment suffered casualties and retreated into the tunnel.

This wave of attrition war was equally fierce. The Eighth Route Army suffered casualties of one company, the Japanese suffered about 100 casualties, and the puppet army suffered more than casualties.

Half an hour later, the Japanese puppet army started attacking again, and the Japanese artillery opened fire from a distance.

Xing Zhiguo sent two companies to fight, and the casualties were similar to those in the enemy's first attack.

During the third enemy attack, the enemy adjusted their tactics and simply sent the puppet army to attack with full authority, while the Japanese soldiers acted as supervisors in the rear.

Once the puppet army became passive in its attack, the Japanese would either kill the puppet army's chief military officer or directly set up heavy machine guns to fire at the retreating puppet army.

……

soon.

Li Yunlong led the main force of Jinzhong to Wangjiawan, and Xing Zhiguo also breathed a sigh of relief.

At the command center, Xing Zhiguo reported to Li Yunlong the current battle situation and the Japanese tactics.

Li Yunlong narrowed his eyes and said, "The Japanese are engaging in a war of attrition with us."

"And the Japs are so cunning, they're using the lives of our puppet soldiers to exchange for the lives of our Eighth Route Army soldiers." Kong Jie said angrily, "These spineless guys really make me angry. They would rather be cannon fodder on the battlefield than pick up guns and kill the Japs."

"The situation is very bad!" Zhao Gang analyzed. "If the Japanese send another 10,000 or 20,000 puppet troops here, our Jinzhong Eighth Route Army will be completely wiped out."

"What do you think?" Kong Jie looked at Li Yunlong and suggested, "Old Li, why don't we blow up the tunnel and retreat into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare with the Japanese? We have enough troops and ammunition now, and the Japanese can't get the upper hand by fighting guerrilla warfare."

Li Yunlong asked, "When has anyone ever gained an advantage by fighting the Japanese guerrillas?"

Kong Jie asked, "So you agree to retreat?"

Li Yunlong said: "I promised the people that we would not let the Japanese invade our base unless it was absolutely necessary. We are far from being at the end of our rope."

Once the Japanese invaders enter the base, they will inevitably start a campaign of burning, killing and looting.

The base that had just been built and was showing some signs of improvement would inevitably suffer losses again.

Li Yunlong looked at the map for a while, then looked up at Xing Zhiguo and asked, "How many Japanese soldiers are there over at Zhangjiazhai?"

Xing Zhiguo knew the enemy's strength very well: "There is an infantry battalion from Taiyuan, two infantry regiments on the Wangjiawan side, and two squadrons of enemy soldiers on the Zhangjiazhai side."

"Old Li, do you want to attack Wei to save Zhao? No, you want to..."

Kong Jie asked, but immediately understood Li Yunlong's strategic intention.

Ding Wei continued to lead part of the troops to defend the positions in the northwest of Jinzhong.

The 3rd Brigade has just been completely wiped out. It is not ruled out that the Japanese army will send the 40th Brigade for a retaliatory attack. We must not be careless at all.

"That's right!"

"Fighting a war of attrition with the Japs is so boring. Let's go and poke the 39th Brigade's lair."

Li Yunlong nodded:
"In addition to puppet troops, the Japanese also need ammunition to fight a war of attrition with us, and a lot of it."

"The 39th Brigade's ammunition is stored in Yangquan City and transported to the Wangjiawan front by the logistics troops."

"On the one hand, we order the Blade Commandos to attack the Japanese supply troops while ensuring their own safety."

"But the premise is that the Japanese army does not have battalion-level troops to protect them, otherwise it will be difficult to have the opportunity to take action."

"On the other hand, I will personally lead a main force to attack from Zhangjiazhai, defeat the two Japanese squadrons, and then rush to attack Yangquan."

"The 39th Brigade has only so many troops. There's a high probability that there's only one infantry company in Yangquan right now, or two at most. If our main force of to people attacks Yangquan, the Japanese won't be able to resist at all."

"After capturing Yangquan City and seizing the 39th Brigade's ammunition depot, I wonder what that old devil, Kenkichi Hirata, can do to fight a war of attrition."

A shrewd gleam flashed in Li Yunlong's eyes.

When he was looking at the map just now, he had already made a calculation in his mind.

The Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong is fighting a war of attrition with the Japanese here, and we are suffering losses, big losses, bloody losses and huge losses, because the Japanese only need to send puppet troops to fight the Eighth Route Army, and then watch the show from behind. To put it bluntly, the casualties are all Chinese.

But as long as the 39th Brigade's base was raided, the Japanese would not be able to continue the attack.

This time, the 39th Brigade prepared one month's worth of combat supplies. Now that the battle has been going on for less than 10 days, a large amount of combat supplies are still stockpiled in Yangquan.

Kong Jie stared at the map and said, "After attacking from Zhangjiazhai, there is still a blockade line built by the Japanese with reinforced concrete."

"Nothing to be afraid of." Li Yunlong exuded courage and strategy from the inside out. "We've tested it. Our bazooka rocket launchers can easily destroy the Japanese's reinforced concrete bunkers and artillery towers."

Kong Jie's eyes suddenly lit up.

The corners of Zhao Gang's mouth curled up slightly.

(End of this chapter)