Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 137 The Independent Regiment's Blocking Battle

While the fighting was raging in Ping'an County, the 4th Regiment of the Independent Brigade and the Independent Regiment of the 386th Brigade were also engaged in fierce fighting.

Luyang is closer to Ping'an County than Shuiquan.

Therefore, the Independent Regiment and the Fourth Regiment engaged the Japanese forces before Ding Wei's unit.

Two battalions of Japanese soldiers marched north along the Fen River and were the first to engage in firefights with the Independent Regiment's blocking soldiers.

"Commander, the vanguard of the Japanese army is coming up, there are more than 300 of them."

Battalion Commander Zhang Dabiao, upon spotting the vanguard of the Japanese troops, immediately spoke to Li Yunlong.

"I saw it. Tell the brothers to let the Japanese get closer before attacking," Li Yunlong said.

Li Yunlong's choice was out of necessity.

The Independent Regiment has only been in operation for a short time since the anti-mopping-up campaign, and its combat strength and weaponry have not yet been replenished.

Even with Chen Ming's support, the Independent Regiment still lacked weapons and ammunition.

If we open fire from a great distance, we will not only consume a lot of ammunition, but we also won't kill many Japanese soldiers.

The only option is to bring the Japanese soldiers closer and fight them, using limited ammunition to eliminate as many Japanese soldiers as possible.

However, this would result in heavy casualties among the soldiers, as the Japanese soldiers were very skilled marksmen with a very high accuracy rate at close range.

"If I had the equipment of the Independent Detachment, I wouldn't be so stingy. I could just bombard them with infantry guns and mortars!" Li Yunlong thought to himself.

As the Japanese troops continued to advance, they entered the Independent Regiment's ambush zone.

Li Yunlong immediately ordered his soldiers to detonate the buried explosives.

"boom!"

The explosives detonated among the Japanese soldiers, instantly killing more than thirty of them.

Because the Japanese troops were in a relatively loose marching formation, this explosion did not cause much damage to them!
"beat!"

At Li Yunlong's command, the soldiers who had been lying in ambush immediately opened fire on the Japanese soldiers.

Caught off guard, more than fifty Japanese soldiers died from the bullets of the Independent Regiment soldiers.

However, the Japanese troops in 41 were indeed quite elite, and they reacted quickly to the sudden ambush.

They found cover and launched a counterattack, exchanging fire with the soldiers of the Independent Regiment.

The Independent Regiment's heavy machine guns did not fire; their machine gun firepower consisted of only a few light machine guns.

Li Yunlong had his own plans.

The Japanese troops are not yet severely damaged and their fighting capacity is still strong. If we open fire on the heavy machine guns rashly, we will be met with enemy grenade launchers.

The Independent Regiment currently only has three heavy machine guns. If they are destroyed, the Independent Regiment will have no heavy firepower.

After exchanging fire for more than ten minutes, the Japanese soldiers noticed that the Eighth Route Army's firepower had weakened, which greatly boosted their confidence.

With the arrival of reinforcements, the Japanese amassed more than 500 soldiers and launched a fierce attack on the Independent Regiment's position.

Just as the main force of the Japanese troops was about to rush onto the Independent Regiment's position, Li Yunlong shouted loudly.

"Go ahead and hit me!"

As soon as the order was given, the three heavy machine guns that the Independent Regiment had hidden began to roar, one of which had been captured during the battle of Shuangqu Town.

At the same time, the soldiers of the Independent Regiment also threw grenades with all their might, trying to hit the Japanese soldiers on the head.

Li Yunlong was quite capable. Before the battle, he somehow managed to get twenty boxes of hand grenades from Zhang Wanhe in the logistics department.

A box contains thirty grenades, so twenty boxes would contain six hundred grenades. Adding those originally held by the Independent Regiment and those captured in Shuangqu Town, that's over fifteen hundred grenades.

With so many grenades, more than six hundred were thrown at once, directly causing chaos and defeat for the Japanese soldiers.

The hand grenades made in the border region were of poor quality; sometimes they would explode and only break in two.

But as the saying goes, something is better than nothing, and a good ointment is one that can draw out pus.

After the Independent Regiment's sudden and fierce attack, the attacking Japanese soldiers left behind two hundred corpses.

They were forced to retreat due to excessive losses.

"Alas, what a pity. So many grenades and three heavy machine guns, yet only two hundred Japanese soldiers were killed."

Li Yunlong looked at the retreating Japanese soldiers and said regretfully.

"Quickly, retrieve the weapons and ammunition the Japanese soldiers abandoned. They won't be able to launch another attack for long."

"Damn it, after this battle, all the spoils we seized in Shuangqu Town will be for nothing. We'll have to throw them all away, and we'll be penniless right away."

Li Yunlong shouted loudly. Don't be fooled by how fierce the Independent Regiment's counterattack was; it directly forced the more than 500 Japanese soldiers who were attacking to retreat.

However, the Independent Regiment also suffered heavy losses in its weapons and ammunition.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Li Yunlong is like a greedy pig, only taking in and never giving out.

But as long as it's fighting the Japanese, he never hesitates. No matter how strong the Japanese are, Li Yunlong won't even blink.

The Independent Regiment's blocking battle was fought resolutely and with great difficulty.

Although they had eliminated more than 300 Japanese soldiers, the Independent Regiment was running low on weapons and ammunition, and could only risk picking up some from the corpses of the Japanese soldiers in front of the position.

The independent regiment, which was already understaffed with just over a thousand men, now has only eight hundred left.

It can be said that for every Japanese soldier killed, a soldier from the Independent Regiment fell.

Li Yunlong was determined not to let the Japanese reinforcements break through their defenses.

After a brief rest, the retreating Japanese troops resumed their offensive.

The situation in Ping'an County was very critical, and their unit had been given a death order.

We will spare no effort to reinforce Ping'an County!

However, even without weapons and equipment, the soldiers of the Independent Regiment held their ground tenaciously.

The Japanese attacked several times, but apart from leaving more corpses, they made no progress in the fighting.

Seemingly realizing that the Independent Regiment was a tough nut to crack, the Japanese troops, after a battalion of troops arrived,...

They abandoned the Independent Regiment's position and launched an attack on the 4th Regiment's position instead.

Compared to the Independent Regiment's position, the 4th Regiment's position was more easily defended and difficult to attack.

The Japanese originally planned to break through from the Independent Regiment, which was easier to attack.

After bumping my head, I had no choice but to change direction.

After the Japanese diverted a portion of their troops to contain the Independent Regiment and prevent them from flanking the 4th Regiment's position while the Independent Regiment was attacking it, they shifted their main attack direction to the 4th Regiment's position.

"Damn it, the Japanese devils are coming this way!" Commander Zhang shouted.

After the Independent Regiment's fierce resistance, he no longer felt angry about Li Yunlong's previous shameless behavior.

Unlike their military region, other military regions did not suffer heavy losses in the counter-sweeping operations.

Li Yunlong's previous shamelessness was unavoidable.

All units are short of weapons and ammunition, and another tough battle is about to begin.

Any commander would seize the time to maximize the combat effectiveness of their troops in order to minimize losses and eliminate more Japanese soldiers in the tough battles to come.

Originally, Commander Zhang planned to report Li Yunlong's situation to his superiors after the battle.

He no longer had that thought in his mind; he just wanted to hold off the Japanese invaders first.

The Japanese launched an attack on the 4th Regiment's position.

The soldiers of the Fourth Regiment were equally fearless, and their weapons and equipment were better than those of the Independent Regiment, while the terrain was easier to defend and harder to attack.

The Japanese attacked several times, but still made no progress.

In mountain warfare, the Japanese infantry artillery, due to its limited field of fire, could not exert its due combat effectiveness and was not as effective as mortars.

As the Japanese continued their attack, both sides suffered casualties.

But the Japanese had more troops and better weapons, a total of two battalions.

The only force blocking Shuangqu Town was an understrength Independent Regiment and the Fourth Regiment of a Class B regiment.

The total strength was only 2,100 men.

After five hours of fighting, Li Yunlong and Regiment Commander Zhang discussed the matter and decided to retreat to the second line of defense to continue the resistance.

After five hours of attack by the Japanese, the defensive fortifications built by the two regiments had been almost completely destroyed, half of the heavy machine gun positions had been lost, and their positions had all been exposed.

If we continue fighting, it will become even more difficult.

As the troops retreated, the Japanese soldiers, having left behind more than 500 corpses, finally reached the blocking positions of two regiments.

"Commander, we've discovered the Japanese logistics unit."

During the retreat, Zhang Dabiao suddenly reported to Li Yunlong.

P.S.: I've been quite busy these past few days. Once I'm done, I'll go straight for 10,000 a day. I'd be a dog if I lied!
(End of this chapter)