Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

At the same time, in northwest Shanxi, fierce fighting was in full swing at the Shaohukou battlefield.

Although Abe Nobuhide and Washizu Kohei called for air force reinforcements.

But it would be impossible for the Japanese planes to arrive to provide reinforcements in a short time.

Lieutenant General Washizu rejected Abe Nobuhide's request to retreat.

As a result, the Japanese soldiers of the 2nd Brigade could only suffer unilateral bombing on their positions.

Boom boom boom...

An endless stream of shells fell on the positions of the 2nd Brigade.

The 2nd Brigade's positions continued to be engulfed in smoke and fire.

At the beginning, the Japanese army's more than 75 mountain cannons were still launching artillery counterattacks, hoping to engage in an artillery battle with the Eighth Route Army.

But soon the Japanese artillery units were defeated. In terms of artillery firepower, the Japanese's more than 30 mountain cannons were no match at all.

At this moment, the soldiers of the New Third Regiment and the Independent Regiment all had happy expressions as they watched the Japanese being unilaterally bombed.

While the Eighth Route Army was bombarding, a tank company and three infantry companies of the New 1st Regiment had arrived at the attack position.

After half an hour of continuous shelling, the Japanese soldiers of the 2nd Brigade on the position were stunned.

Some Japanese soldiers were blown to pieces, some were screaming and wailing, and some Japanese soldiers who survived by chance were so blown that they couldn't tell the directions or what year it was. They were stunned by the explosion.

Even though Abe Nobuhide had anticipated this and ordered the Japanese in the 2nd Brigade to build some fortifications, these fortifications could only withstand artillery fire below 82 mm. After the Eighth Route Army used 105mm howitzers, 120mm heavy mortars and 152mm howitzers, they directly gave the Japanese in the 2nd Brigade a "killing stick".

At this time, the tank troops and infantry of the new regiment began to attack.

There was no tentative bombardment or tentative attack. The artillery fire covered the enemy from the beginning, and then the formal attack began directly.

However, under the training of Abe Nobuhide, the 2nd Brigade has stronger combat effectiveness than ordinary mixed brigades.

Some of the Japanese soldiers who survived the bombardment regained some of their fierce nature.

They quickly set up Type 38 rifles, Type 92 light machine guns and Type 92 heavy machine guns and opened fire.

But once the Japanese opened fire, all of their firepower points were exposed.

"Tum, tom, tom..."

"Da da da da da..."

The infantry of the new regiment hid behind the tanks. The tank machine guns and tank cannons fired fiercely. The machine guns were responsible for suppressing the fire and strafing the rushing Japanese soldiers, while the tank cannons were responsible for killing the Japanese soldiers' firepower points.

Almost every three shots, a Japanese fire point was blown away.

Although due to the terrain, Ding Wei could only dispatch one tank company and three infantry companies, but these troops were like an indestructible sword, piercing straight into the Japanese positions.

The Japanese had no power to resist at all. One by one they fell under the machine gun fire, and one by one their firepower points were blown up by 75mm grenades.

"Nani!?"

Abe Nobuhide came to a hill 800 meters away from the front line and raised a telescope to watch the battle situation.

Seeing this scene, Major General Abe Nobuhide's face suddenly turned gloomy.

If the situation continues like this, it is only a matter of time before the 2nd Brigade's position is breached, it suffers heavy damage and is defeated.

Thinking of this, Abe Nobuhide immediately said in a deep voice, "Immediately notify the mountain artillery unit in the rear to cover the area 100 to 300 meters in front of the frontline position with artillery fire."

Although there are not many artillery shells left, this is the only way to stop the attack of the Eighth Route Army.

If the 2nd Brigade is defeated, what's the point of keeping the artillery shells?

"Hi."

A Japanese second lieutenant quickly went to convey the order.

In the distance, the Japanese mountain artillery opened fire, targeting the Eighth Route Army's attacking force. The Japanese had pre-calibrated their firing parameters and immediately launched a barrage of artillery fire. A dense barrage of shells soared into the attacking formation of the New First Regiment's attacking force, destroying two tanks with their tops hit.

The infantry of the attacking force also suffered a surge in casualties.

In the command center, Ding Wei, who saw this scene, remained calm and quickly ordered the 152 Howitzer Battalion and the 105 Howitzer Battalion to counter-suppress the Guizishan artillery position.

The terrain of Shaohukou is relatively high, which is why Li Yunlong chose to build a group of defensive fortifications here.

As soon as the Japanese mountain artillery opened fire, the New 1st Regiment's artillery observation post on the top of Shaohukou Mountain, combined with the accurate coordinates calibrated before the war, was able to roughly know the location of the Japanese artillery position.

"Boom boom…"

In the tunnels and artillery positions, the artillery firepower of the New 1st Regiment launched a counter-suppression.

Even though the Japanese dispersed their artillery positions by artillery battalion, as the artillery units of the New 1st Regiment launched shelling, shells occasionally fell on the Japanese artillery positions, causing casualties wherever they were hit, and the Japanese artillery had to quickly move their positions.

"Brigade Commander, our artillery has been suppressed."

The Japanese second lieutenant who made the call quickly ran over to report.

"idiot!"

Abe Nobuhide cursed angrily. He could see that the artillery firepower had been greatly weakened, and the density of shells falling into the Eighth Route Army's formation had been greatly reduced.

"The call was immediately connected to the forward command post."

Looking at the chaotic front line, Abe Nobuhide was furious and had to take command himself.

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, requesting tactical guidance!"

The person who answered the phone was Major Omura, commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion, who immediately asked for tactical guidance.

The 2nd Infantry Battalion was responsible for defending the frontline positions. Under the artillery bombardment and attacks of the Eighth Route Army, more than half of the 2nd Battalion's soldiers have been killed or wounded.

Even though half of their troops were killed or wounded, they had not yet been defeated. The 2nd Infantry Battalion could be considered the elite of the Japanese army.

"waste."

Abe Norihide cursed, and then decisively began to micro-manage:
"Hide the remaining machine guns and stop firing. Place the anti-tank guns in the woods on the right to attack the flank armor of the Eighth Route Army tanks."

"Place all anti-tank guns on the commanding heights in front and aim at the observation windows of the Eighth Route Army tanks."

"Organize a suicide squad and deploy them at the front line. Use magnetic anti-tank grenades and Molotov cocktails and wait for the Eighth Route Army tanks to arrive before launching an attack."

Not long after the battle began, most of the 2nd Infantry Battalion's more than light and heavy machine guns had been lost.

If they continued to fight like this, it would only be a matter of time before the Eighth Route Army's tanks rushed to the position and the 2nd Infantry Battalion was completely wiped out.

"Hi!"

Major Omura quickly went to convey the order.

At this time, the tanks and infantry of the Eighth Route Army did not continue to charge, but exchanged fire with the Japanese on the position from a distance of more than 100 meters.

The Eighth Route Army clearly had the advantage in this kind of firefight, because the Japanese attacks could not break the defense of the Eighth Route Army tanks, while the Eighth Route Army tanks' machine guns and tank guns could cause heavy casualties to the Japanese.

At the same time, the soldiers of the New 1st Regiment, equipped with semi-automatic rifles, had firepower that was much stronger than the Japanese's bolt-action rifles.

The Japanese in the 2nd Battalion quickly made tactical adjustments.

At a position 300 meters on the flank, four Japanese Type 4 37mm anti-tank guns aimed at the flanks of the New st Regiment's tanks and opened fire.

But unfortunately, the Japanese anti-tank shells were all bounced off with a ding-ding sound.

"Captain, we have failed to penetrate the enemy's armor."

When the Japanese anti-tank squadron leader saw this scene, he reported to Major Omura on the phone in a helpless tone.

At this time, the Eighth Route Army tanks had already discovered the Japanese anti-tank artillery positions, and the tank gunners slowly turned the muzzles of the tank guns and pointed them at the woods on the flank. (End of this chapter)