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

Chapter 289 Mobile Defense Tactics: Ten Thousand Men Against One Hundred Thousand!

Huai Ren front-line position.

The Independent Detachment's old rival, the Japanese 110th Division, dispatched a battalion.

With eight tanks hastily put together, they launched a probing attack on the Huai Ren area.

This division suffered heavy losses in the previous battle with the Independent Detachment and has only now recovered.

Just as they were reorganized, Gangcun sent them out to launch a probing attack on the positions in the Huai Ren area.

The unit responsible for the Huaren defense line was Wang Dafei's unit from the Fourth Military Sub-district, and he held the highest position in the Huairen defense line.

Other units that cooperated with the Fourth Military Sub-district were only battalion commanders or even local guerrilla battalions.

Upon receiving Chen Ming's order, Wang Dafei immediately and without hesitation gave the command:

"Order all artillery to attack with overwhelming force, and bury this Japanese battalion in this land."

In order to demonstrate the momentum of the main force, Wang Dafei was prepared to immediately unleash all his firepower.

Of course, this artillery fire did not include the artillery detachment, but only the artillery of the Fourth Military Sub-district, Ding Wei's newly formed Sixth Battalion, and two independent guerrilla battalions.

There were also eight 120mm mortars directly deployed by Chen Ming.

The 120mm mortar had been exposed beforehand; the Japanese knew that the Eighth Route Army had this type of artillery.

However, the number is not large; only about a dozen have been discovered.

The Japanese speculated that these mortars were obtained by the Eighth Route Army from the American or Soviet forces.

The reason was that the Japanese had received intelligence that their plane, which had been captured by the Eighth Route Army, had been obtained by the US military through secret channels.

In return, the U.S. military provided a batch of material assistance.

These mortars may be part of the aid supplies sent from that side.

Another factor was the Soviet army. After the Independent Detachment occupied most of the Chahar region in Suiyuan, it was indeed possible that they obtained some weapons through the Outer Mongolian border.

After all, the Soviet army would certainly be happy to see the Eighth Route Army active in the Chahar region, thus diverting the Japanese army's attention.

However, the Japanese speculated that the number of weapons acquired by the Eighth Route Army was probably very limited.

Because after the Eighth Route Army occupied most of the Chahar area in Suiyuan, a period of cleanup was still needed.

By the time the cleanup is finished, winter will be almost here.

In winter, given the distance between the two locations, transporting large quantities of weapons is extremely difficult, even somewhat impractical.

Although the Soviet army might secretly provide some weapons to the Eighth Route Army, they wouldn't do it if it required a lot of effort and cost.

Unless it's profitable.

Therefore, according to the Japanese, the Eighth Route Army only had these dozen or so 120mm heavy mortars and no other heavy artillery.

As for the four 150mm howitzers, the Japanese had already run out of ammunition according to their calculations.

With the industrial capabilities of the Eighth Route Army, there was no way to manufacture such high-tech shells.

Of course, the Japanese also predicted that the Eighth Route Army had another weapon in its hands, namely rocket launchers.

This has happened many times on the battlefield, and the Japanese have suffered great losses because of it.

However, according to the Japanese calculations, the number of these rocket launchers must be very limited, given the industrial equipment captured by the Eighth Route Army and the equipment they possessed themselves.

It hadn't been long since the Eighth Route Army last used this type of rocket launcher, only a little over a month.

Even if the Eighth Route Army produced some more, the quantity would never be too large.

This force that attacked the Huai'ren area was used by the Japanese to test the Eighth Route Army.

The Japanese first bombarded the Eighth Route Army's defensive positions with artillery.

Under the cover of the tanks, the infantry launched an attack on the Eighth Route Army's defensive positions.

Faced with the Japanese attack, the defending troops in the Huai Ren direction immediately launched an artillery barrage.

The 120mm mortar fired shells weighing 32 kilograms at the Japanese attacking formation.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"."

Eight 120mm heavy mortars, along with other mortars of various calibers, fired a barrage of shells.

Inside the artillery position, the soil on the ground was shaken and churned by the recoil of the shells.

"Bang bang bang!"

"."

A large number of shells landed in the Japanese attacking ranks, and the explosions kicked up countless clouds of dust and ash.

Faced with a 120mm heavy mortar, all of the Japanese soldiers' defensive measures seemed to have vanished, rendered utterly useless.

Whether it was armored vehicles protecting infantry or Japanese tanks.

Faced with the shrapnel and shockwave from the 32-pound shell explosion, they all became moving targets.

Even an 82mm mortar could have successfully killed Abe Norihide inside an armored vehicle back then.

What about the 120mm heavy mortar, which has a larger caliber and greater power?

The Japanese attacking troops were immediately stunned by the fierce artillery fire.

Of the eight tanks and four armored vehicles, seven were lost on the spot.

Two of the vehicles were directly hit and destroyed, while the others had their power systems disabled by the shockwave from the explosion.

The Japanese infantry also suffered heavy losses, especially those who were hiding behind tanks for cover and were directly caught in the crossfire.

If you can survive the devastating impact of a 120mm heavy mortar, you're truly a chosen one.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Seeing the attacking troops in such a terrible state, the Japanese commander immediately shouted for the attacking troops to retreat.

The Japanese soldiers, upon receiving the order to retreat, were overjoyed and rushed back in droves, wishing they had more legs.

After leaving behind nearly three hundred corpses, the Japanese soldiers eventually managed to withdraw and did not launch another attack.

The quality of the new recruits newly added to the Japanese 110th Division was no longer what it used to be.

Having suffered such heavy losses, morale has been severely damaged.

If we continue to send troops to continue the offensive in the short term, we will not achieve much except to increase casualties and increase soldiers' war-weariness.

Their division was not equipped with large-caliber artillery. The only heavy artillery piece equipped with a diameter of more than 100 mm was assigned to the 14th Division by Okamura during this operation.

After all, the main objective was to rescue the 3rd Tank Division in Baotou, and using heavy artillery there would have a greater impact.

On Huai Ren's side, it was just the Japanese army's way of testing the Eighth Route Army's situation and tying down the Eighth Route Army's forces.

At the same time, it blocked the Eighth Route Army in the Huai'ren area, preventing them from flanking the Japanese troops and attacking Jining from the rear.

The Japanese didn't necessarily need to achieve results on this front.

Of course, achieving results would be ideal. If they could break through the defenses of the Huai Ren region, they could penetrate deep into the base area and cause massive damage.

Even if we fail to achieve any results, it will only cost us the lives of some soldiers.

Neither Okamura nor the commander of the Japanese 110th Division cared about the Japanese soldiers who had been killed.

Their role is simply to die for the locusts at any time and place, isn't it?

Huai Ren position.

"Damn it, how can those Japanese be so cowardly? They're gone after just one attack, and we haven't even touched them yet." Inside the defensive fortifications, a soldier spat as he watched the retreating Japanese soldiers.

"Can the Japanese devils compare to us?"

"The fortifications we're building have used up all the materials from the Japanese strongholds and pillboxes within a radius of one or two hundred kilometers."

"It took almost a year to repair. Even if the Japanese bombed it twice more, it wouldn't break."

"And the Japanese tanks, facing our artillery, had nowhere to hide, so how could they dare to continue their attack?"

An old soldier said with a smile.

"The squad leader is right. It feels so good to be hiding in the bunker when it's the Japanese's turn to be bombed."

The soldier who had just spoken scratched his head and said with a smile.

"Of course. Back when you were still a local unit, you weren't happy to be asked to move materials."

"Now you know how it works, right?"

Squad Leader Hao spoke up.

At the forefront of the Huai Ren defense line, permanent fortifications were built, which could withstand Japanese artillery with a caliber of less than 100 mm.

The artillery barrage before the Japanese attack did not cause much damage to the soldiers hiding in the fortifications.

Except for a few unlucky soldiers who were grazed by shrapnel.

Two soldiers who had been reorganized from local armed forces were caught off guard by the shockwave from the Japanese artillery shells, but no one was killed.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the Japanese bombardment did not last long.

Even if it can withstand the bombardment of artillery with a caliber of less than 100 mm, if it is repeatedly hit and causes local collapse, it will still cause more than 20% casualties.

Just like when Chen Ming attacked Datong, he dropped more than 50 tons of artillery shells on a position in a short period of time.

This dealt a devastating blow to the Japanese troops outside Datong City, and even those hiding in fortified positions could not escape their fate.

After one round of attacks, they roughly figured out the defensive strength of the Huai Ren area and had no intention of continuing the attack.

"Reporting to the commander, according to the front-line troops, the Eighth Route Army in the Huai'ren area has launched a large-scale artillery bombardment, along with large-caliber mortars, the same type that have appeared before."

The Japanese soldiers reported the intelligence to Okamura.

After reading the contents, Okamura stroked his chin and pondered.

Judging from the intensity of firepower in the Huai'ren area, it does indeed resemble the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

According to intelligence reports from the Japanese, Shuoxian, which is located behind Huai'ren, was the location of the command post of Chen Ming's Eighth Route Army.

At the same time, Shuoxian is also a hub city connecting the surrounding Eighth Route Army bases, and its importance is self-evident.

It is quite possible that the Eighth Route Army has placed its main force here.

Take Okamura himself as an example. If his headquarters in Beiping were at risk of being attacked and lost, he would not easily send out his main force.

Otherwise, if the front lines haven't achieved any significant results yet and our home is raided, the losses would be too great.

However, Gangcun would not make such a conclusion as to whether the troops in the Huairen area must be the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

He needs further confirmation.

"The 110th Division was ordered to detach a portion of its forces to bypass the Sanggan River from the right flank and launch an attack on Ying County, intending to cut off the retreat route of the Eighth Route Army garrison in Huai Ren."

"But be careful not to go too deep. Pay attention to reconnaissance along the way to prevent being surrounded by the Eighth Route Army."

Okamura issued orders to the 110th Division.

"Hi Yi!"

He wanted to use a probing, flanking attack tactic to probe the strength of the Eighth Route Army on the right flank of the Huai Ren defense line.

Huai Ren is located in the Datong Basin. Besides Huai Ren city, there are other routes to attack Shuoxian, which is also in the Datong Basin.

The Datong Basin, located in the Huai'ren section, is approximately 57 kilometers wide from east to west.

With such a wide battlefront, it would be impossible to defend it with a small force.

According to the standards of the National Revolutionary Army, the front of a 30,000-strong army is usually 15 to 30 kilometers.

One calculation shows that such a long and impenetrable defensive line would inevitably tie down most of the Eighth Route Army's main force.

During the detour, the strength of the Eighth Route Army's resistance can basically determine the number of Eighth Route Army troops in the area.

This is the safest approach.

After Okamura issued the troop deployment order, the commander of the Japanese 110th Division immediately divided the troops into three battalions to carry out the order.

Chen Ming had anticipated the Japanese army's plan to divide its forces.

Although his current troop strength in the Huai Ren area is far below the normal standard troop strength requirement.

It wasn't even a fifth, but he wasn't worried.

Chen Ming's command post has been moved to an underground bunker 12 kilometers east of Huai Ren area.

With the three-dimensional combat map in his mind, he could cover an area within a radius of twenty kilometers centered on him, and no movement could escape his eyes.

At the same time, after Wang Dafei's unit was reorganized, Chen Ming also obtained the unit's secondary map, which is a map with a radius of ten kilometers.

The combined diameter of the two maps reaches an astonishing 60 kilometers, enough to cover the basin in Huai Ren region, which is 57 kilometers wide from east to west.

With the addition of some scouts sent out, Chen Ming would know immediately about any movements the Japanese made.

He could deploy troops to conduct targeted defenses based on the enemy's equipment.

This allowed the Japanese to discover that no matter where they attacked from along the 57-kilometer front, the Eighth Route Army's defensive firepower was incredibly strong.

This further deepened the Japanese's misjudgment, leading them to believe that the majority of the Independent Detachment's main force should have been gathered in the Huai'ren area.

This is a tactical mindset of mobile defense, which utilizes mobile warfare and psychological warfare to concentrate forces in areas of contact with the Japanese, thereby concealing the weakness of insufficient overall troop strength.

The success of this tactic relies on three pillars: accurate intelligence, troop mobility, and familiarity with the terrain.

To enhance the troops' mobility, they needed to outrun the Japanese.

Before the battle, Chen Ming borrowed all the horses from the cavalry unit under the division commander's command.

Even the hundreds of bicycles that had been seized from the local armed forces were requisitioned by Chen Ming for his own use.

Horses, combined with bicycles, are much faster than infantry in flat terrain.

As for the soldiers who were not assigned vehicles, they had no choice but to become motorized infantry.

Mobility is guaranteed, and with Chen Ming's help, plus a large number of reconnaissance soldiers, accuracy can also be guaranteed.

Needless to say, their familiarity with the terrain is unparalleled. Having established this base for so long, no one knows this land better than our soldiers.

After all, this is the land where they were born and raised.

With all three elements of mobile defense tactics in place, Chen Ming can use his troops at several times the standard.

One thousand people can do the work of five thousand or even ten thousand people.

Chen Ming has fought many battles over the years, and he's not just good at annihilation battles where the troop strength is far inferior.

Mobile warfare is also one of Chen Ming's strengths.

However, by waging a large-scale annihilation battle, it is possible to maximize the destruction of the enemy's manpower and eliminate the enemy in organized units.

It's better to break one finger than to injure all ten; Chen Ming prefers to wage wars of annihilation.

(End of this chapter)