Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 449 Bushido Spirit VS Cannonballs!

At the same time, in Heyuan County, the headquarters of the Japanese 14th Division.

Major General Guan Yuzong, commander of the 27th Brigade, walked in quickly with a major-general's saber slung over his shoulder and reported to Jingguan Changlong.

"Your Excellency, the good news is that the Eighth Route Army's offensive has been repelled by our brigade, and several of its heavy and medium tanks have been destroyed."

The Japanese dug out gun positions on the city wall and used it as a field artillery emplacement, which really caught the New 1st Regiment off guard.

However, the exchange of fire between the two sides did not last long, and the tank unit of the New 1st Regiment suffered little loss, with only a few tanks destroyed. The infantry of the tank battalion suffered greater casualties.

However, several artillery groups of the Xiaoguiye artillery unit were also killed. Even if they used the city walls as artillery forts, it was difficult to stop the attack of the 75mm tank gun.

"Where's the bad news?"

Jingguan Changlong asked expressionlessly, leaning on his saber.

At this point, Jingguan Changlong was relieved.

Since we cannot retreat, we can only fight the Eighth Route Army to the death.

"The bad news is... except for the headquarters, the remaining officers and soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Regiment have been completely destroyed."

Major General Guan Yuzong lowered his head and reported.

Jingguan Changlong's cheeks twitched. Although he remained expressionless, he was obviously in great pain.

The 2nd Infantry Regiment was the second-ranked regiment among the hundreds of regiments in the Japanese Army. Every officer and soldier was an outstanding person with very strong individual qualities. Unexpectedly, they were almost wiped out after only holding out for more than an hour.

The most important thing is that the 2nd Infantry Regiment took about artillery shells from the Eighth Route Army, at least half of which were heavy artillery shells.

Although the destruction of the 2nd Infantry Regiment was within Iseki Changlong's expectations, he still felt very uncomfortable.

Ishihara Shozo said, "The 2nd Infantry Regiment's headquarters and flag are still there. We will reorganize them after the war. The officers and soldiers of this regiment will be remembered by our brothers in the Great Japanese Nation."

Jingguan Changlong suddenly asked, "Where is the 18th Cavalry Regiment? Where did it go?"

"Your Excellency," Ishihara Shozo said, "I've sent the 18th Cavalry Regiment to support the 28th Brigade. Since the Eighth Route Army dared to attack Heyuan County, they must have set up an ambush on the road from Anhua County to Heyuan County."

"Yoshi."

Jingguan Changlong nodded, very satisfied with his arrangement. After all, cavalry could not be used in street fighting.

"Ishihara-kun, tell me about the arrangements for the upcoming street fight."

"Hi."

"Division Commander, Brigade Commander, please look."

Ishihara Shozo clasped his hands, pointed at the county town's defense map, and said:

"The Eighth Route Army is equipped with hundreds of large-caliber heavy artillery. The city wall will definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery. Sooner or later, it will be captured by the Eighth Route Army. Now we can only fight with the Eighth Route Army in street battles to kill a large number of their active forces."

"Currently, our forces in Heyuan County, along with those from the division headquarters, the 59th Infantry Regiment, the 20th Field Artillery Regiment, and the 14th Quartermaster Regiment, total over 9000 men. I have deployed these forces, centered around the headquarters, throughout the thousands of houses and dozens of streets in Heyuan County, engaging the Eighth Route Army in a street-by-street, house-by-house battle."

"From now on, every street and every house will become the burial place of Eighth Route Army officers and soldiers."

"Your Excellency, this is the tactic of sowing beans to create soldiers."

The difference in firepower between the two sides was too great, and the Japanese army could only narrow the firepower gap by using street fighting.

This is also what the First Army Commander Yoshio Shinozuka hoped to see, to use street fighting to consume a large number of the Eighth Route Army's New 1st Regiment's manpower.

In previous battles, the casualty ratio between the New 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army and the First Army of the Japanese Army was about 5 to 1, and even reached an exaggerated 10 to .

In other words, the Japanese First Army had to sacrifice 5 to 10 people to kill one soldier of the New 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

However, in street fighting, the soldiers on both sides are equal, and the casualty ratio is infinitely stretched to 1:1.

War is a battle of attrition and human lives.

Although Shinozuka Yoshio was reluctant to use the 14th Division to fight against the New 14st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, only the th Division could resist one or two in the battle with the New st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

If it were a mixed brigade or a security division, they would not be a match for the new regiment.

Jingguan Changlong nodded happily: "Yoshi, what a great strategy of making soldiers out of scattered beans."

"General."

At this moment, Colonel Ichiyoshi Sakanishi, commander of the 59th Infantry Regiment, rushed in:

"My 59th Infantry Regiment, Field Artillery Regiment, and Quartermaster Regiment have all been deployed, but the soldiers below have discovered a problem."

"What is the problem?"

Ishihara Shozo asked.

Sakanishi Ichiro reported in a deep voice: "The Chinese civilians in the city have disappeared."

"Nani?"

Ishihara Shozo's first reaction was disbelief and questioning: "This is impossible. There were still many Chinese civilians in the city yesterday. How could they disappear overnight?"

Sakanishi Ichiro said, "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, this is true. If you don't believe it, you can go to the Chinese houses and take a look. All the Chinese people have disappeared."

Jingguan Changlong seemed to smell something bad and asked in a deep voice, "What on earth is going on?"

"It's still unclear." Ishihara Shozo frowned, then suddenly realized, "Your Excellency, Division Commander, I understand. The Chinese people must have secretly dug tunnels without the knowledge of the Locust Army, and all of them are hiding in the tunnels."

Guan Yuzang immediately burst into curses: "Baga, what a bunch of despicable rats!"

"Not good!" Ishihara Shozo's face suddenly changed. "If the Eighth Route Army outside the city knew that the Chinese civilians had taken refuge in the tunnels, they would definitely use heavy artillery to bombard the city."

Upon hearing this, Tate Yuso, Sakai Ichiyoshi and even Iseki Masataka all changed their expressions.

If the Chinese civilians in the city had hidden in the tunnels, the Eighth Route Army would not have had to fight street battles with the 14th Division.

The buildings in the city are almost all made of brick, stone and tile.

These buildings could not withstand the heavy artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army.

Once the Eighth Route Army used heavy artillery to fire into the city, the Japanese troops in the city would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

"Sakanishi-kun, immediately order the troops to pull these despicable old rats out of the tunnel!" Iseki Masataka realized the seriousness of the matter and even his tone became urgent.

"Hi." Sakanishi Kazuyoshi suddenly lowered his head and was about to go out to convey the order.

But at this moment, a sharp whistling sound suddenly sounded in the sky.

The pupils of Tate Yuso, Sakanishi Kazuyoshi, Iseki Masataka, and Ishihara Shozo all shrank.

As experienced warriors, they could naturally recognize the sound of a high-speed flying projectile breaking through the air.

Although they could tell from the sound of the shells flying that the shells did not fall on the division headquarters.

But this means that the Eighth Route Army already knows that the people in the city have gone into hiding.

The Eighth Route Army has already launched indiscriminate artillery fire into the city!

"Division Commander, please go to the air-raid shelter immediately."

Without saying anything, Ishihara Shozo ordered the guards to carry the pale-faced Iseki Masataka into the air-raid shelter.

Then Shozo Ishihara, Kazuyoshi Sakanishi and Yuso Tate also quickly entered the air-raid shelter.

Although an air-raid shelter was built at the location of the division headquarters and tunnels were dug in most houses in the city, the Japanese soldiers on the streets and in the houses were unaware of this. In addition, the entrances to the tunnels were generally very hidden, located under beds, water tanks, and even pots, making it difficult for Japanese soldiers to find them unless they specifically looked for them.

All the officers of the Japanese 14th Division hid in the air-raid shelter, but the Japanese in the houses and streets in the city could only use the samurai spirit to withstand the artillery shells.

(End of this chapter)