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

Chapter 73: Barrage Progresses Slowly, Infantry and Artillery Coordination

The group of regimental commanders were deeply shocked by Chen Ming's words.

Chen Ming's regiment actually has an artillery battalion. You know, the brigade commander's artillery battalion was only recently formed. Why does the Independent Second Regiment have one too?

Also, why does his battalion have eight hundred men?

The one who felt the most bitter was Li Yunlong of the Independent Regiment.

His current independent regiment has only a little over 700 men, with over 500 rifles and a total of 15 light and heavy machine guns.

They only had one mortar, which they had managed to coerce out of the brigade commander, and they didn't even have twenty shells.

Seeing the weapons and equipment of the Independent Second Regiment, he was so envious that his mouth watered.

"How come your battalion has over eight hundred men?"

The brigade commander was also somewhat surprised, after all, he had seen a lot of the world, and he quickly got to the heart of the matter.

"Reporting to the brigade commander, last time we organized about 5,000 people, including the militia and soldiers from the Second Independent Regiment. I recruited some of them into the regiment, so now the Second Independent Regiment has more than 3,000 soldiers."

Chen Ming answered truthfully.

"You little rascal." The brigade commander understood after hearing Chen Ming's words.

It seems Chen Ming never forgets to develop his troops. The People's Militia only cooperated with the Independent Second Regiment, but Chen Ming detained nearly a thousand of them.

The current Independent Second Regiment is now an elite force of over three thousand men, well-trained, fully equipped, and capable of winning battles.

Chen Ming's standing in the brigade commander's eyes rose significantly, surpassing that of the two regimental commanders under his command.

The other regimental commanders were also filled with envy; this was already a reinforced regiment.

"Alright, that's enough. Now, take your troops and wipe out that damn Yamazaki Battalion," the brigade commander ordered.

"Yes!"

"But brigade commander, could I borrow your mortar? I want to concentrate our superior firepower to wipe out the Yamazaki Battalion in one fell swoop," Chen Ming said again.

"You have that many artillery pieces?" the brigade commander asked in confusion.

It should be noted that the brigade's artillery is insufficient and still under training, and has not been able to fully utilize the combat power of the many artillery pieces that Chen Ming handed over.

“Yes, there are brigade commanders, yes.” Chen Ming immediately replied.

The current artillery battalion of the Independent 2nd Regiment, thanks to the numerous badges awarded to them by Chen Ming, especially the one from the last battle of Cangyunling, also received a Level 4 Learning Badge.

It can increase learning speed by 80%.

With other bonuses, the Independent Second Regiment's speed in training technical troops is undeniably fast.

The training cycle for technical branches such as artillery, communications, reconnaissance, engineers, and medics has been greatly shortened.

In particular, the artillery battalions, which have rich combat experience and have fired more than 1,500 shells, have a number of artillerymen that exceeds the number of operable cannons.

Now, many artillerymen in the artillery battalion have to take turns going out to gain more combat experience.

"Fine, I'll give up. You can use them all. If you can't get them off, my whip isn't something to be trifled with."

The brigade commander gritted his teeth and temporarily placed his artillery battalion under Chen Ming's command.

The brigade commander's artillery battalion was much more luxurious than Chen Ming's, with a full 20 mortars (some of which were distributed to the regiments below) and three infantry guns.

Adding the artillery battalion of the 2nd Independent Regiment, that makes 32 mortars.

Chen Ming didn't want the infantry gun. Unlike mortars that fire indirect fire, the infantry gun was capable of attacking Japanese bunkers and strongholds.

Often, two or three shells were enough to take down a Japanese stronghold or bunker.

Chen Ming didn't want to use it against the Yamazaki Battalion; it wasn't worth it.

After acquiring the brigade commander's artillery battalion, Chen Ming began to deploy his troops, set up artillery positions, and organize the attacking force.

The other regimental commanders also gathered around Chen Ming, ready to learn from him; even Li Yunlong did so.

Such luxurious weaponry couldn't have fallen from the sky; it must have been stolen from the Japanese.

The sheer number of weapons and equipment speaks volumes.

Chen Ming is very knowledgeable about warfare and is also good at fighting annihilation battles. Only annihilation battles can yield so many spoils.

Learning from someone who can develop troops and fight battles is a fine tradition within the Eighth Route Army, and it's not shameful.

Li Yunlong, however, wanted to see what Chen Ming was capable of and why he was able to steal the brigade commander's favor!

After the soldiers of the First Battalion were in position, Chen Ming ordered the artillery positions to fire.

He told Zhang Yousheng about every important firing point on the Japanese position, instructing him to carry out precision strikes against these points.

The brigade commander and the other regimental commanders had no suspicions; the previous attack by the 772nd Regiment had already revealed the Japanese firing positions.

They now only have some doubts about whether Chen Ming's artillery battalion can really hit the target precisely.

"Pass on my order: the artillery company shall open fire immediately. After a round of artillery fire, begin the barrage advance. The First Battalion shall immediately charge forward and take down that damned Yamazaki Battalion."

Chen Ming waved his hand and issued the battle order.

"Chen Ming, are you sure this fighting style is okay?" the brigade commander asked worriedly.

He wasn't worried about the barrage of bullets consuming a lot of ammunition; the Independent Second Regiment had just surrendered a large number of shells, and he had plenty of shells on hand.

His concern was that the combination of barrage attacks and infantry coordinated assaults, a tactic of combined arms warfare, required an extremely high level of coordination.

The slightest mistake could result in artillery shells hitting the charging infantry on the head.

"Don't worry, Brigade Commander. Since I dare to give this order, I'm confident. I trust the soldiers of my Independent 2nd Regiment," Chen Ming said confidently. It's just infantry-artillery coordination; if the Japanese can do it, his Independent 2nd Regiment can do it too.

This wasn't the first time the 2nd Independent Regiment had used this kind of tactical coordination.

"Okay, I'll trust you this time."

The brigade commander chose to trust his comrades.

After Chen Ming gave the order, the artillery positions immediately opened fire, and the shells were accurately fired at the Japanese's key firing points.

Although some artillerymen were not fully trained to hit their targets precisely, a bombardment of five shells in one round wiped out all of the Japanese strongpoints.

"Baka! Why do the Eighth Route Army have such strong firepower and such elite artillery?"

Yamazaki, his mouth full of dirt, roared in exasperation after seeing all of his unit's heavy firepower and machine guns destroyed in a single artillery barrage.

He knew his Yamazaki Battalion was finished.

Without the firepower of mortars, light and heavy machine guns, and grenade launchers, he simply couldn't stop the charge of more than 10,000 troops.

"Immediately send a report to headquarters: the enemy's firepower is formidable and has destroyed all of our unit's key firepower. The Yamazaki Battalion has lost its ability to hold out. We have decided to fight the enemy to the last moment and sacrifice ourselves to serve His Majesty the Emperor."

Yamazaki resolutely gave the order to the communications officer.

"Sir, our radio station was destroyed in the bombing just now."

"idiot!"

On the artillery position, after firing a round of shells, Zhang Yousheng ordered the firing data to be adjusted and the second phase of the barrage to begin, covering the infantry charge.

When the second round of artillery fire began, the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Independent Regiment in the position also launched an attack.

The shells exploded in front, and the soldiers of the First Battalion followed behind the artillery fire, advancing according to the flag signals as the fire continued.

This scene was a great treat for the brigade commander and the other regimental commanders.

"Absolutely amazing! Absolutely amazing!" the brigade commander exclaimed.

"Wonderful, really wonderful!"

Ding Wei was amazed by the high level of cooperation from Chen Ming's Independent Second Regiment soldiers.

As the artillery fire spread, the Japanese soldiers on the Lijiapo position were pinned down by the bombardment and forced to hide in the ear holes to avoid the artillery fire.

They never expected that the Eighth Route Army would have such strong firepower and possess infantry-artillery coordination capabilities at the level of a Class A division regiment or higher.

When the artillery fire extended fifty meters into the Japanese front-line positions, the soldiers at the forefront had already entered the Japanese lines.

The Japanese soldiers inside were waiting for the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire to stop before coming out immediately.

Unexpectedly, they were met with bullets and grenades from the soldiers of the First Battalion.

A large number of Japanese soldiers hid in the ear holes, looking at the Eighth Route Army soldiers who appeared on the position with blank expressions.

Before they could even react, they were either killed by several bullets or blown up by grenades thrown into their ear holes.

Even if there were any fearless Japanese soldiers who planned to shoot at the soldiers of the First Battalion under artillery fire, they were quickly killed by the sharpshooters in the unit.

The Independent Second Regiment now has more than 3,000 men, but the Sharpshooter Company is still only a single company, which shows how elite the soldiers are.

It can be said that only the best of the best can be selected, and only one out of thirty soldiers can be chosen.

If any Japanese soldier dared to show his face, he would be killed instantly.

Of course, those that don't show their heads are also incredibly fast.

In just one charge, the Lijiapo position was completely captured by the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Independent Regiment.

They completely wiped out the remaining 500-plus Japanese soldiers, suffering fewer than 80 casualties themselves, more than 20 of whom were injured by flying shrapnel.

This was a necessary price to pay in order to prevent the Japanese from having time to react and retaliate.

Otherwise, once the Japanese realize what's happening, the number of casualties will rise from more than twenty to dozens or even hundreds.

When the soldiers of the First Battalion planted their flag high on the Lijiapo position, the brigade commander and several regimental commanders, who were observing the battlefield through binoculars, all clapped and cheered.

beautiful!

That was a brilliantly fought battle!

Such precise barrage of bullets, coupled with seamless infantry-artillery coordination, makes it less like a battle and more like a spectacular performance.

The main actors are the soldiers of the Second Independent Regiment!
"Good lad, you really made me proud this time."

The brigade commander patted Chen Ming on the shoulder with delight, his affection growing with each pat.

Cheng the Blind Man of the 772nd Regiment was now convinced and stopped complaining that the brigade commander was biased and that the Independent 2nd Regiment had gotten the short end of the stick.

No wonder he's a brigade commander; his decisions are brilliant and his vision is superb!

Based on the combat strength of the Independent 2nd Regiment, even without him first reducing the Yamazaki Battalion to more than half casualties, they could easily wipe out the Yamazaki Battalion.

Conversely, if the Independent 2nd Regiment had been sent from the beginning, his 772nd Regiment would not have suffered so many casualties.

He also cared about the lives of his soldiers; as they fell one by one, his heart bled.

Sending soldiers to charge under enemy fire was a last resort.

War means sacrifice. If they don't sacrifice, are we going to let the common people sacrifice?

To defeat an industrialized nation with an agricultural economy, one must fight with flesh and blood.

(End of this chapter)