Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 284 Artillery battle!

"General, this is the telegram just sent by Major General Hirata."

In Taiyuan City, at the Japanese First Army Headquarters, the communications staff handed a telegram to Yoshio Shinozuka who was sitting in a chair.

As the saying goes, people feel refreshed when happy events happen, but feel depressed when sad events happen.

At this time, Yoshio Shinozuka looked several years older and his face looked very ugly.

His usual cold and resolute expression disappeared, replaced by a face full of fatigue, like a vicious dog that had been beaten by reality and had lost confidence.

When Yoshio Shinozuka first came to the First Army as commander, he was prepared to do something big. It was no problem for him to punch the Eighth Route Army, kick the Shanxi Army, and crush the Central Army.

However, ideals are full of hope, but reality is very bleak. Less than half a year after taking office, a mixed brigade was completely wiped out.

The gap between reality and ideal was so huge that Yoshio Shinozuka found it difficult to accept it for a while.

However, Yoshio Shinozuka was not a person who gave up on himself. After a brief period of reflection, he decided to learn from the lesson and asked the General Staff to summarize the Eighth Route Army's tactics and formulate targeted combat plans.

"read."

Shinozuka Yoshio said with a wave of his hand.

"Hi."

"This morning, our brigade launched three attacks on the Eighth Route Army positions, killing and wounding over 3 Eighth Route Army soldiers, while our brigade suffered over 300 casualties."

"We have developed a tactic to break through the Eighth Route Army's tunnels. We request that the headquarters mobilize three independent divisions of the Locust Association Army to the Wangjiawan battlefield as soon as possible. Commander of the 39th Brigade, Kenkichi Hirata."

"Your Majesty the Heavenly Locust is on board. The Great Japanese Locust Army is on board."

After listening to the report from the communications staff, Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly sat up straight, with a gleam in his eyes.

The 39th Brigade and the Eighth Route Army had a casualty ratio of 1 to 3, which is already very good.

正常情况下，日军跟中国军队的战损比为1比5到1比7，打出1比3的战损比筱冢义男反而有些高兴。

The reason is very simple, because in the battle with the Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong, the Japanese army suffered far more casualties than the Eighth Route Army.

This was the only battle in which the Japanese army suffered more casualties than the Eighth Route Army, which naturally made Yoshio Shinozuka happy.

Shinozuka Yoshio asked curiously, "How did the 39th Brigade achieve such a loss ratio?"

"The strategy was to use artillery to bombard the enemy while sending the Locust Army to charge..." The communications staff quickly reported the tactics of the 39th Brigade.

"Yoshi, this tactic is good."

Yoshio Shinozuka nodded with satisfaction.

When the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army left Taiyuan, they left behind a large number of weapons, ammunition and the Taiyuan Arsenal. The Japanese army used these weapons and ammunition to recruit more than 50,000 puppet troops. These puppet troops were composed of former Central Army, Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, security groups, bandits, bullies, and ordinary people. After training, they had a certain combat effectiveness.

The devils were not stupid either. They knew that many puppet troops were not on the same page with the Japanese army and might turn against them in the future.

These puppet soldiers are not good at fighting, so they can be used as cannon fodder. No Japanese will take the lives of the puppet soldiers seriously.

The only drawback of this tactic is that it wastes ammunition, but this is not a big problem at the moment. The Japanese army has stockpiled a month's worth of combat supplies for this battle.

Except for the 240mm howitzer shells that need to be mobilized and transported from Taiyuan, the ammunition for the remaining weapons and the food for the soldiers can be transported directly from Yangquan.

Shinozuka Yoshio: "Go call the Chief of Staff."

"Hi."

The communications officer lowered his head, turned and walked out.

A moment later, Major General Mutaguchi Ren'ya, Chief of Staff of the First Army, walked in quickly with a serious expression.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya bowed his head and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, I've been discussing this with my colleagues at the General Staff for the entire morning and have discovered that the Eighth Route Army's tunnels and reverse slope tactics are extremely difficult to counter. If you challenge me to a game of chess, I'm afraid I don't have the time. I must continue to decipher the Eighth Route Army's tactics."

The Eighth Route Army's tunnel and reverse slope tactics almost deprived the Japanese army of their superior air firepower and ground artillery.

The Eighth Route Army's infantry firepower and light artillery firepower advantages were fully utilized, causing the Japanese a lot of headaches and almost no solution.

"Mutaguchi-kun, Hirata-kun has cracked the Eighth Route Army's tactics. Take a look."

Yoshio Shinozuka handed the telegram in his hand to Mutaguchi Renya.

A staff department studying tactics is not as good as Kenkichi Hirata, what a bunch of trash.

Yoshio Shinozuka cursed in his heart, but his expression remained calm.

After reading the telegram, Mutaguchi Ren'ya's eyes lit up when Shinozuka Yoshio dictated the offensive tactics of the 39th Brigade.

More than 300 Eighth Route Army soldiers were killed in the morning, and more than 300 more were killed in the afternoon.

那么一天就能消灭八路600余人，10天消灭八路6000余人，20天消灭八路12000余人。

Until the Eighth Route Army was completely consumed. But soon, Mutaguchi Renya became worried again: "Commander, this tactic is indeed good, but if the Locust Alliance Army suffers too many casualties, I am afraid it will cause a mutiny among the Locust Alliance Army. After all, the Locust Alliance Army has no fighting spirit at all. The army will collapse if less than one-third of the casualties are..."

Shinozuka Yoshio snorted coldly: "It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a moment to deploy it. If the Locust Army dares to mutiny, then we will wipe them out along with the Eighth Route Army."

Seeing that Shinozuka Yoshio had decided to send the puppet troops as cannon fodder, Mutaguchi Renya stopped trying to persuade him. In fact, he also thought so in his heart. It was better to have the puppet troops die than the locust troops die.

After a pause, Shinozuka Yoshio's expression suddenly grew serious. "Order the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Independent Divisions of the Locust Alliance Army to immediately assemble and take the train to the Wangjiawan front. Also, telegraph Major General Hirata to strictly guard against a mutiny among the Locust Alliance Army. If any mutiny is discovered, it must be suppressed immediately and without mercy."

Mutaguchi: “Hi.”

……

Wangjiawan front, headquarters of the 39th Brigade of the Japanese Army.

"General."

The communications captain, holding a telegram in his hand, quickly walked over to Kenkichi Hirata and reported:

"The First Army Headquarters just called back and said that the headquarters will be dispatching three independent divisions of the Locust Association Army to the Wangjiawan front, along with two base loads of 3mm artillery shells."

Kenkichi Hirata was having lunch. The old devil was eating Chinese roasted sweet potatoes, and he was enjoying it very much.

Hirata Kenkichi clapped his hands, took the telegram, read it, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Yoshi, it seems that the commander-in-chief agrees with my tactics."

At the same time, he glanced at Yamamoto Ikki with pride.

Yamamoto Ikki quickly walked over to Hirata Kenkichi and said in a serious and expressionless manner, "Hirata-kun, your tactics are certainly good, but they have two shortcomings."

"Colonel Yamamoto." Hirata Kenkichi snorted, "I don't speak to officers who disobey orders."

Yamamoto Ikki knew that Hirata Kenkichi was acting on impulse, so he went to Uwagawa Masao and said, "Uwagawa-kun, you must guard against the mutiny of the Locust Association Army and Li Yunlong's sneak attack on Yangquan."

Uwagawa Masao said calmly, "Yamamoto-kun is worrying too much. With an elite brigade of the Locust Army here, which Locust Army unit would dare to mutiny? As for Li Yunlong's sneak attack on Yangquan, there's even less to worry about. Whether it's Wangjiawan or Zhangjiazhai, there are Locust Army blockade strongholds. The bunkers and artillery towers in these strongholds are all made of reinforced concrete and are very sturdy. They can withstand direct fire from 75mm mountain artillery armor-piercing shells. If Li Yunlong could break through the Locust Army's blockade, he wouldn't have been blocked by them for so long."

Seeing that the other party was unmoved, Yamamoto Ikki stopped trying to persuade him. He had already fulfilled his duty as an imperial soldier.

If he were Li Yunlong, he would definitely find a way to make the Locust Army mutiny, or send troops to launch a surprise attack on Yangquan, the base of the 39th Brigade.

To induce mutiny, one can send soldiers wearing the uniforms of the Locust Alliance Army, hide them in the Locust Alliance Army troops that have failed in their attack, and instigate a mutiny.

……

in the afternoon.

The Japanese supervision team drove the puppet troops and launched an attack on the Eighth Route Army positions.

The Eighth Route Army soldiers quickly emerged from the tunnel and opened fire on the attacking enemy.

We must not allow the enemy to rush onto the position and block the soldiers in the tunnel, because once the Japanese rush onto the position, they will use fire attacks, and the soldiers hiding in the tunnels will not be able to withstand it.

When the devils drove the puppet troops to attack, the Japanese artillery position.

Four short but strong Japanese artillerymen used tools to lift a huge 240mm shell to the muzzle. The gunner then used a stick to push the shell into the barrel. The artilleryman then placed a round cartridge into the barrel and closed the breech block.

"Tom!"

The 240mm artillery shell drew an arc in the air and landed on the Eighth Route Army position, causing a huge explosion.

Another 240mm heavy howitzer and 12 75mm field guns were also firing.

另一边，八路军的12门120毫米迫击炮、12门75毫米山炮和18门82毫米迫击炮也开火了。

The 82mm mortars were aimed at the puppet troops, while the 120mm mortars and 75mm mountain guns were aimed at the Japanese behind the puppet troops.

Because the artillery positions of both sides could not reach each other's artillery positions, and the artillery positions were carefully set up.

So both sides pointed their guns at each other's infantry and opened fire, and a "artillery battle" began, and it would depend on whose troops would be unable to withstand it first.

In terms of artillery firepower alone, the Eighth Route Army was stronger. The Japanese supervisory team was relatively forward and was soon bombarded by 12 120 mortars and 75 mountain cannons, suffering heavy casualties and being forced to retreat. As soon as the Japanese retreated, the attacking puppet army immediately lost the courage to attack and retreated in a hurry.

In this wave of enemy attacks, the Eighth Route Army suffered half a company of casualties, the Japanese Army suffered half a squadron of casualties, and the puppet Army suffered one company of casualties.

The puppet army's 5th Independent Division had suffered more than half its men in casualties and had almost completely lost its will to attack. Even on the battlefield, it was slacking off. Many puppet soldiers even lay in bomb craters on the battlefield pretending to be dead and not coming down.

After the enemy attacked again, the results were not ideal, so Kenkichi Hirata ordered to stop the attack, intending to sum up the experience and wait for the arrival of new locust army troops before continuing the attack.

Since the puppet army came from Taiyuan by train, the vanguard 2nd Independent Division will arrive at noon tomorrow.

A part of the main force of the Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong, led by Li Yunlong, had quietly marched to the Zhangjiazhai area and was ready to attack.

……

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(End of this chapter)