Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 424: Open the champagne at halftime.

At this time, a full company of soldiers had just entered the position with their weapons.

It was immediately covered by artillery fire from the 26th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment.

The Japanese and puppet troops were making a lot of noise three hundred meters away.

But even after firing flares, there was no sign of the Japanese or puppet soldiers in sight.

Except for a few machine gun teams in the concrete fortifications.

Most of the soldiers were in earthworks, foxholes and trenches.

For a time, the casualties of the full-strength company of the new regiment entering the position increased rapidly.

"Immediately order all troops at the front lines to retreat back to the tunnels."

At the forward command post of the New 1st Regiment's Jinzhong base, Xing Zhiguo, who received the news, did not panic at all and calmly issued orders.

Beside him stood several staff officers and battalion commanders, as well as Wang Xikui, the captain of the Sword Squadron, and others.

"Deputy Commander, aren't there any people left in the bunkers and bunkers?"

A combat staff officer looked at Xing Zhiguo and asked.

"Leave no one behind, retreat to the tunnels."

Xing Zhiguo looked stern and glared at the combat staff officer:
"Why are you dawdling? Hurry and deliver the order. One minute late will result in dozens of casualties."

With the artillery coverage of an artillery regiment, even if the soldiers were scattered far apart, the Japanese artillery could still fire hundreds of shells in a minute.

Now the Japanese artillery has been adjusted and set up artillery positions on the reverse slope of a distant hill. During the day, the Japanese artillery positions can be judged through the smoke from the commanding heights of the hill. At night, the muzzle flashes and smoke cannot be seen, making it difficult to suppress artillery fire at night.

"Yes."

The operations staff hurried to convey the order.

"Deputy Head."

The commander of the second infantry battalion of the Jinzhong Military Region expressed concern:
"We've withdrawn all our troops into the tunnels. What if the Japanese attack our positions?"

Except for Wang Xikui, the other staff officers and infantry battalion commanders also looked at Xing Zhiguo in confusion.

Everyone knew that the Japanese were using the New 1st Regiment's offensive tactics to attack the New 1st Regiment.

The New 1st Regiment's defensive tactics, relying on tunnels and reverse slope tactics, as well as concrete fortifications on the positive slope, were able to withstand the enemy's attack and kill a large number of the Japanese and puppet troops.

The Third Battalion Commander said, "If we withdraw all our troops into the tunnels now, wouldn't that mean we're handing our position over to the Japanese?"

Xing Zhiguo said calmly, "We are now fighting the Japanese with spear and shield. Our tactics are shield, and the Japanese tactics are spear. Both of these tactics, shield and spear, were invented by us, and both are difficult to break."

"Since we can't crack it, let's just use these two tactics."

"Deputy Regimental Commander, do you mean..." the Second Battalion Commander asked, "to release the Japanese onto the battlefield?"

"That's right, Second Battalion Commander is very quick-witted." Xing Zhiguo nodded. "Let's block the tunnel entrances with something and order the troops to prepare for the attack on the top of the mountain. Once the Japanese attack our positions, we'll use 60mm mortars, 82mm mortars, and 120mm mortars to cover the Japanese who have reached the frontline positions."

"After the bombardment is completed, the infantry will immediately rush down to destroy the enemy who has attacked the position."

Xing Zhiguo pointed to the sand table and said, "At the same time, 75mm mountain artillery and 105mm howitzers will implement artillery barrages within 100 to 300 meters of the frontline positions to prevent the Japanese infantry from reinforcing the frontline positions."

"After the battle, if the Japanese attack our frontline positions, we will open the tunnel entrance and allow the troops to enter the tunnel to defend against the artillery fire."

Everyone's eyes lit up. This move was really great!

"But this tactic consumes too much ammunition," said the operations officer. "We only have three base rounds left."

Before the battle began, the mountain artillery and howitzer battalions of the New 1st Regiment's Jinzhong Artillery Unit had five basic numbers of artillery shells, and the mortar unit had more artillery shells, reaching seven basic numbers of artillery shells.

After three days of fierce fighting, the New 1st Regiment was able to suppress the Japanese artillery regiment with artillery firepower and provide effective artillery support to the infantry, naturally consuming a considerable amount of ammunition. "The battle in northwest Shanxi is over," Xing Zhiguo smiled slightly. "The regimental commander has completely wiped out the Japanese 4th Brigade and the Imperial Guards Mixed Brigade. As agreed with Boss Lin, we can begin receiving the goods. We're running out of ammunition here, so we can request ammunition support from the regimental commander at any time."

The so-called artillery interdiction, also known as battlefield interdiction bombardment, is to carry out intensive fire attacks and coverage on a certain area, making it impossible for the enemy to approach, so as to achieve the purpose of preventing the enemy from attacking or blocking the enemy from reinforcement.

It is a combat method that provides artillery support and cooperates with one's own ground forces for defense. If it is used to cooperate with the offense, it is called "battlefield artillery extension" or "slow-advance barrage."

Therefore, regardless of whether there are enemies coming up or not, the artillery units must continue to fire at the designated target area.

"As the Art of War says, there is no constant state of war, and no constant shape of water."

Wang Xikui, who has been obsessed with studying military tactics recently, chuckled and said:

"This is a very extravagant artillery firepower tactic. Without a solid foundation, you would never dare to use it. However, our New 1st Regiment has a sponsor who reimburses us for our ammunition. Tonight, we will use this tactic to teach the Japanese a lesson."

"Stop pretending to be a college student wearing glasses like Zhu Bajie." Xing Zhiguo looked at Wang Xikui and said, "Your Sharp Sword Squadron is responsible for directing the mountain artillery battalion and the 105mm howitzer battalion to fire at the target area. A Japanese reinforcement has arrived at the front line. I'm going to hold you accountable!"

"Yes." Wang Xikui stated confidently, "Please rest assured, Deputy Commander, a Japanese reinforcement has arrived at the front line. You will chop off my head, Wang Xikui."

As the command was issued, the soldiers quickly returned to the tunnel with the wounded.

In just five or six minutes, the full-strength infantry company responsible for the attack suffered casualties reaching one-third of its total strength.

Fortunately, the order was issued in a timely manner and the soldiers acted quickly.

If it had been a few minutes later, most of the infantry company would have suffered casualties under the enemy's artillery fire.

After returning to the tunnel, the soldiers quickly blocked the tunnel entrance with sandbags, sealing it from the inside.

Then, some soldiers stayed in the tunnel, and the main force of the third battalion, more than 1400 soldiers, were deployed on the reverse slope at the top of the mountain.

The advantage of this deployment is that it can be concealed and protected from the Japanese artillery shells.

Simultaneously.

Xing Zhiguo also called the troops defending Zhangjiazhai and ordered them to use the same tactics to catch the Japanese off guard.

As Xing Zhiguo expected, after the feint attack by the Japanese and puppet troops, they launched a real attack for the third time.

He expected that the Japanese would not have many artillery shells. During the three days of fierce fighting, the Japanese consumed about 1.5 billion artillery shells.

The Japanese artillery only had 1.5 basic shells left, and could not launch seven or eight feint attacks throughout the night like the New 1st Regiment.

The Japanese's artillery shells are not enough at all.

When the Japanese artillery bombarded, the Japanese and puppet troops risked being accidentally injured by their own artillery fire and crawled to a distance of sixty or seventy meters away from the position of the New 1st Regiment.

The artillery fire just stopped.

A battalion of Japanese soldiers and a battalion of puppet troops, numbering more than a thousand people, attacked the frontline positions of the New 1st Regiment in waves with murderous intent.

At the Japanese front-line command, Yamashita Tomoyuki and Muto Akira immediately smiled when they received the news.

Yamashita Tomoyuki woke up Muto Akira and said, "Mr. Muto, your tactics worked. Just as you expected, all the Eighth Route Army troops on the front have retreated into the tunnels. The 26th Infantry Battalion of the th Division has already captured the Eighth Route Army's frontal position at Wangjiawan and is planning to attack in depth."

"Yoshi, at this rate, it's only a matter of time before the Wangjiawan position is captured by the locust army."

At this time, the 21st Division sent a telegram stating that its 7th Infantry Battalion had used the same tactics to capture the Eighth Route Army's front position at Zhangjiazhai.

After understanding the battle situation, Muto Akira breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, in this situation, I would like to have a drink."

After three days of fierce fighting and the consumption of a lot of ammunition, we are finally on the verge of victory.

"Yoshi, I have the same idea."

Yamashita Tomoyuki ordered the guards to bring sake and food, and the two of them happily drank in the command post.

(End of this chapter)