Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Very interesting situation.

Now the 8th Column used the Japanese army's infantry artillery to bombard the Xuanhua city wall.

Of course, in addition to infantry guns, many mortars were also in the trenches, shelling the city walls.

"boom"

After three shots, the east gate of Xuanhua City was blasted open by infantry artillery.

The left corner of Xuanhua's east gate wall quickly collapsed under the bombardment of Type 92 infantry guns and mortars. The walls of a small county town were nowhere near as thick as those of a larger city. Facing such close-range bombardment from Type 92 infantry guns and mortars, they were completely defenseless.

Soon the wall on the right wing of the Xuanhua East Gate was also blown down.

In fact, it was less than ten minutes since the shelling began.

But the troops used infantry guns and mortars at close range with astonishing effectiveness.

At this point, the infantry artillery and mortars had completed their mission. Next came the flat-fire and rapid-fire artillery, as well as the heavy machine guns. The 16th Regiment deployed three battalions on the left, center, and right sides of the East Gate, with one battalion in reserve.

They attacked the city from three directions: left, center and right of the east gate.

Each battalion dispatched a company, with the troops organized into squads as attack groups. The PLA's famous "three-three system" tactics weren't a sudden invention. They were developed over the troops' long wartime history.

During the Eighth Route Army period, the main force used this tactic when fighting.

However, the problem during the Eighth Route Army period was that this offensive tactic was not standardized and summarized in easy-to-understand terms to promote it among grassroots commanders. Later, Marshal Lin promoted it in the Northeast and it became an important infantry tactic of our army.

Now the main force of the 8th Column has begun to take shape.

"Baga, what's going on? How can the Eighth Route Army have such powerful firepower?

After hearing about the Eighth Route Army's attack, Wei Teng Shengci quickly arrived at the city wall.

However, when he arrived at the city wall, before he could observe the situation on the Eighth Route Army side, the city gate was blasted open by the Eighth Route Army, and the city walls on both sides collapsed after being bombarded. Some Japanese and puppet troops were caught off guard and went directly to see the emperor.

Wei Tengshengci was completely dumbfounded.

He didn't know how this could happen. Even if the Japanese artillery wanted to use their cannons to knock down the city wall, it wouldn't be possible so quickly. How could the artillery of the Eighth Route Army possibly compare to that of the Imperial Japanese Army?

How they used artillery.

"Colonel, the Eighth Route Army has placed infantry artillery on the front lines. This is what happened when they were bombarded at such close range."

"Just down there?"

"Yes."

Wei Tengsheng looked down but couldn't find any infantry guns. The Type 92 infantry guns and mortars were too short and small, and even with a little camouflage placed in the trenches, they were completely invisible.

But at this time, Wei Teng Shengci no longer had time to think about this.

Because the Eighth Column was attacking the city from three sides, the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops was divided into three groups. In addition, Wei Teng Shengci was worried that the Eighth Route Army would attack the city from the west gate, so he also left troops here.

Mitō Moriji also followed the example of Amakasu Shigetaro and armed more than 300 Japanese expatriates in Xuanhua. He sent all of them to Ximen.

Even so, the Japanese and puppet troops stationed at the East Gate numbered only 400. During the infantry artillery bombardment, the city wall collapsed, killing more than 20 people on the spot. More importantly, the Eighth Route Army's artillery had already torn a hole in the city wall.

Chapter 403: Xuanhua Campaign 3

"Boom boom"

"idiot.

Wei Tengshengci saw that the temporary defensive position built by the Japanese army behind the city gate to prevent the 16th Regiment from entering the city gate was easily destroyed by the Eighth Route Army's flat-fire artillery. This defensive position had not been set up for long, and he did not expect it to be so useless.

After the infantry guns were hidden, the flat-fire guns, rapid-fire guns, grenade launchers, and heavy machine guns were all deployed.

The biggest advantage of a flat-fire cannon is its hit rate.

Now that the flat-fire artillery is so far ahead, only four or five hundred meters away from the Japanese city wall, the hit rate is even higher.

Because the Japanese defensive position was a makeshift one, it was completely unable to withstand the bombardment of the flat-fire artillery. Three shells from the flat-fire artillery destroyed an entire Japanese squad.

Wei Teng Shengci was very anxious.

Although I don’t know the situation on the other two sides, the East Gate is really in danger.

Wei Teng Shengci deployed four heavy machine guns at the east gate, all of which he had taken from the armory. The machine gun squadron of the Fifth Independent Battalion had been completely annihilated by the Eighth Column during the Xuanhua Campaign. This left the Fifth Independent Battalion with only two heavy machine guns, so Wei Teng Shengci directly obtained six heavy machine guns from the Xuanhua armory. However, these heavy machine guns were ineffective. As soon as they opened fire, they were destroyed by the flat-fire and rapid-fire artillery that had been searching for the Japanese heavy machine gun positions.

The Eighth Route Army on the other side now brought out both rapid-fire and flat-fire cannons. Any Japanese troops who showed their presence would be heavily targeted by the Eighth Route Army's flat-fire and rapid-fire cannons. Alongside the rapid-fire and flat-fire cannons, there were also Zheng-style cannons.

As for the heavy machine guns, they are used to cover the attacking infantry units.

"Boom—when Wei Tengshengci organized his troops to counterattack, a large section of the city wall on the right collapsed.

This was blown down by the Eighth Route Army assault team using explosive packs. This created a seven or eight meter gap in the right wing of the East Gate. The Japanese and puppet troops above suffered heavy casualties. Combined with the gate blast and the breach in the left wing, the East Gate had a gap of over twenty meters. During a siege, a gap this large in a wall essentially rendered it useless.

"boom"

Before Wei Tengshengci could figure out a solution, a hole nearly ten meters long was blown out on the left wing of the city gate, just like the right wing.

It was also blown down by the commandos using explosive packs.

This was a formidable blow. The gap at the East Gate had widened to nearly 16 meters. It could be said that the entire East Gate was completely open to the th Regiment. Within a few moments, casualties among the Japanese and puppet troops mounted rapidly, leaving only a few men remaining near Wei Teng Shengci.

Wei Teng Shengci knew that the city wall could not be defended.

In fact, in the face of current artillery, these walls are actually a burden. If Xuanhua did not have a wall, the Japanese army could build a deep defensive position at this location, which would be more effective than a wall.

It’s just that the Japanese army has been bullying the Eighth Route Army behind enemy lines due to their lack of heavy weapons, so they rely on the city walls to build a defense line.

However, once the city wall was breached by artillery fire, the Japanese defense was rendered useless. This was because the Japanese relied on the city wall and had no complete defense. If one point was breached, the entire defense would be breached.

Seeing that the city wall was torn open by the Eighth Route Army, Wei Teng Shengci immediately led the Japanese and puppet troops to retreat.

In reality, it was the Japanese troops themselves, and the puppet troops were completely terrified. Honestly, the puppet troops within Xuanhua City had long wanted to surrender. They had joined the army to enjoy a comfortable life under the Japanese, not to endure constant fear and abuse. For over a year, the Eighth Route Army had been too powerful. These puppet troops, following the Japanese, had been huddled in Xuanhua, timid and servile, not daring to leave the city. They used to flaunt their power in the countryside, robbing goods and women. Now, if they ventured outside the city, they would be wiped out by local Eighth Route Army troops and militia. The main Eighth Route Army had no interest in bullying them. Now, the main Eighth Route Army had even begun attacking Xuanhua. With such overwhelming firepower and the ease with which they breached the city gates, how could they maintain their morale? As a result, only about forty Japanese troops had retreated with Wei Teng Shengci, while those within the city walls had suffered over 130 casualties.

Because Wei Tengshengci completely misjudged the Eighth Route Army's tactics.

Or perhaps the Japanese army misjudged the Eighth Route Army because they lacked heavy weapons and were mainly engaged in guerrilla warfare. Therefore, they believed that as long as the city wall existed, the Eighth Route Army would be unable to take it.

But this time it's really completely different.

Wei Tengshengci still didn't understand how the Eighth Route Army used its artillery. In all his years of military service, he had never heard of artillery being used in this way. How could they have so quickly demolished the city walls and blasted open the gates?

As a result, the Japanese troops did not exert their strength at all, and they suffered 130 casualties on the city wall. If these people built a defensive position, it would be difficult for the Eighth Column to destroy so many enemies so easily.

The East Gate was breached, and the Japanese and puppet troops at the South and North Gates soon received the news.

They also decided to retreat immediately.

Because defending the city walls meant that once one wall had been breached, there was no need to defend the other walls. If they did not retreat quickly, they would easily be surrounded by the Eighth Route Army. In this way, Xuanhua's entire defense was breached.

At this time, the 16th Regiment showed the style of the column's number one main regiment and attacked at a very fast speed.

After entering Xuanhua, the troops quickly dispersed into battalion units. One battalion pursued the Japanese troops retreating from the East Gate, while the other two battalions attacked the South Gate and North Gate directly, cooperating with the 25th and 26th Regiments to capture the South Gate and North Gate.

The 16th Regiment moved so quickly that the Japanese troops at the South Gate and North Gate were intercepted by the 16th Regiment before they could completely withdraw.

The 25th and 26th Regiments were also the main force of the column, having fought in many major and fierce battles. The troops quickly deployed, blasting open the city gates with explosive packs and pouring into the city. By this time, the 16th, 25th, and 26th Regiments had all entered Xuanhua City.

The remaining Japanese troops could only retreat to the west gate.

"Called in."

"It took just over an hour for the troops to break in."

"Amazing, really amazing."

The leaders of the various military regions who were watching the battle were all shocked.

They had originally thought that this siege would last at least a day and a night, or even longer. After all, there were over a thousand Japanese and puppet troops inside the city. However, they hadn't expected that the East Gate would be captured after only an hour or so of the general attack.

Is the 8th Column too powerful, or is the Japanese army too weak?

Commander Nie was already filled with excitement as he watched the battlefield unfold. He hadn't expected the Eighth Column to be able to capture the East Gate so easily. The 16th Regiment had already entered the city. The 16th Regiment was the Eighth Column's main force, a massive 3000-man regiment.

speedy.

More than 3,000 troops entered the city in less than 20 minutes. Such well-trained troops were rare in the Eighth Route Army.

Commander Nie is truly proud.

Such a formidable unit actually originated from the Jin-Cha-Ji region, and it truly represents the bloodline of the First Corps. Jin-Cha-Ji, personally recognized as a model base by Chairman Mao, boasts the largest territory, the largest population, and the largest military presence among all Eighth Route Army units. However, when operating alongside the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu region, specifically the 129th Division, in southern Taiwan, the 129th Division's combat effectiveness significantly surpassed that of the Jin-Cha-Ji region.

When fighting some tough battles, the 129th Division performed significantly better than the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops.

Of course this is understandable.

Because the 129th Division developed together, it had more Red Army core troops and many veteran Red Army and veteran cadres. In comparison, when the Jin-Cha-Ji Division was established, it had less than 129 Red Army troops, including personnel from logistics units. Precisely because of the small number of Red Army core troops, the Jin-Cha-Ji Division attached great importance to the existence of Red Army companies in order to build some powerful units. This gap made the Jin-Cha-Ji Division generally less combat-effective than the th Division.

During the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the 129th Division attacked Zhengtai Road, which was truly brave.

But today, seeing how the Eighth Column captured Xuanhua, Commander Nie can proudly say that the combat effectiveness of our Jin-Cha-Ji troops is also among the best in the Eighth Route Army. Our Jin-Cha-Ji troops are not only large in number, but also strong in combat effectiveness.

"Write down the details of this battle, including the use of infantry artillery, rapid-fire artillery, flat-fire artillery, and heavy machine guns.

"Yes."

This is not just the business of the Eighth Column alone.

The tactics employed by the Eighth Column during this siege can be applied to other military sub-districts in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region, and even to the entire Eighth Route Army. While they may not be identical, the Eighth Column's siege tactics can be used as a reference. While Commander Nie was discussing this battle with Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun, Commander Yang Quanwu of the First Division and Commander Huang Yong of the Third Division discussed the "bayonet on cannon" tactic.

Because there will be raids in Divisions 1 and 3.

They were mainly discussing whether this tactic was feasible. Okamura Neiji had already deployed his forces and begun preparations for a large-scale sweep. The First and Third Divisions would next face large Japanese and puppet troop strongholds. If the First and Third Divisions wanted to support the Jizhong Military Region's counter-sweep operation, they would have to capture these Japanese and puppet troop strongholds.

Those large strongholds are actually the same as cities.

Since the "bayonet on cannon" tactic used by the Eighth Column can be used in siege warfare, can it be used to attack large Japanese and puppet army strongholds? If it can be used in large Japanese and puppet army strongholds, how should it be used?

Yang Quanwu and Huang Yong were both experienced generals and they quickly came up with several tactics.

"Report. The remaining Japanese troops have retreated from the west gate. Our troops have begun pursuing them."

There was a rumbling sound of cannons in Xuanhua City.

The 18th Regiment, which was responsible for cutting off the traffic between Zhangjiakou and Xuanhua, could only look at Xuanhua with envy and watch its brother troops attack the city.

Guo Lin sighed deeply.

Although Wang Qiuyun and Wei Hongjun comforted Guo Lin, he still felt a pity. Six months prior, during the Xuanhuai Campaign, the 18th Regiment had led the charge and made significant contributions. The 18th Regiment's contributions were greatest during that campaign. The first military commander of the 18th Regiment, the Special Service Battalion, and the current 18th Regiment, was Wu Qinghe, a Northwest Army veteran. Many of the unit's military officers also came from Wu Qinghe's unit.

Their characteristic in fighting is bravery.

Fearless on the battlefield. Influenced by them, the 18th Regiment's combat style was fast and fierce. Although Guo Lin was a cadre transferred from the Third Division, he was also deeply influenced by this style.

During the Xuanhuai Campaign, Guo Lin was the first to charge into the Japanese positions with a broadsword, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese. Guo Lin is also one of the most powerful generals in the 8th Column.