"Comrades, all charge at me..." Shen Quan didn't know when he had replaced the box cannon in his hand with a submachine gun, held it in front of his chest, and charged forward while holding fire.
The defense line established hastily by Lieutenant Colonel Kagawa was too fragile.
More than two hundred artillery shells hit them, and more than half of the remaining Japanese soldiers in the Xiangchuan Battalion were injured and turned into a mess.
Heavy machine guns were mounted on Niutoushan to provide fire cover, and bullets rained down from high above.
The Japanese and puppet troops did not even have the most basic bunkers, so they could only lie on the ground and wait for death.
Chen Quan took the opportunity to launch an attack with the First Battalion. When the heavy machine guns stopped firing and the surviving Japanese and puppet troops were finally able to raise their heads to counterattack, the First Battalion equipped with submachine guns and rifles joined the battle.
The density of firepower was no worse than the heavy machine guns that had just covered them.
In the face of powerful offensive firepower, no matter how brave the Japanese army is, no matter how strong their fighting power is, they will only be passively beaten.
"Kill... bang bang bang..."
Shen Quan shouted and rushed into the Japanese temporary defense line. Two young Japanese soldiers rushed towards him and wanted to bayonet with him. The Japanese had multiple bloody holes all over their bodies.
Chen Quan stared for the next attack target, and when he was about to shoot again, his eyes suddenly became empty.
There were only a few puppet soldiers left in panic and fleeing for their lives.
"Inform the commander immediately... The Japanese Kagawa Brigade has been killed by us... Ask him to break out immediately!" Shen Quan ordered as he put away his submachine gun.
"The first battalion will replenish ammunition on the spot and will gather and set off in five minutes...
The remaining 600-man battalion was like a sharp arrow, marching straight along the road to the second blockade of the Japanese and puppet troops, marching very fast.
The first company is in front, the second company, the recruit company, the fire company is closely behind, and the third company is behind... Shen Quan walked in the middle of the team with the guard platoon, urging the troops to speed up their march as he ran...
After running for two hours, the team was not attacked.
The benefits of the previous armed cross-country training were suddenly revealed.
After two hours of rapid marching with heavy loads, although everyone was very tired, they were far from out of breath, and no soldier fell behind. Their vigilance and combat effectiveness were still high.
"Dong dong dong... boom boom boom... da da da…"
At this moment, intensive firefights suddenly erupted from the flanks and front of the team. Shen Quan looked up and saw twelve fireballs rising along the highway...
Dozens of tongues of fire appeared around the team, shooting wildly at the rushing battalion.
"The enemy is attacking... retreat quickly. We have got into the Japs' pocket formation. We are covered by machine guns. All troops retreat. Hurry up!" Shen Quan reacted very quickly. He squatted on the ground, raised his submachine gun and pointed at the nearest fire point. Shoot, fire and give orders.
"Rumble..."
The artillery shells fired by the Japanese continued to hit the road, and each fireball rising into the air could knock over several soldiers.
The bullets rained down even harder.
The soldiers were completely exposed on the road, with no cover and no shelter, so they could only be beaten passively...
A string of heavy machine gun bullets swept over, and the soldiers were swept to the ground one by one like ripe wheat...
Shen Quan was heartbroken. He saw a machine gunner not far away who had been shot. The machine gun was lying crookedly beside him and no one was using it. He immediately rushed over...
"Da da da……"
The crooked handle that fell on the ground rejoined the battle. Under his crazy counterattack, the crooked handle operated by a Japanese soldier on the opposite side instantly misfired. However, Shen Quan's behavior also attracted more crazy revenge from the Japanese soldiers.
At least one heavy machine gun and two light machine guns stared at him and fired. The rain of bullets made the dust around him fly. He had to stop shooting and lay on the ground holding his head.
In the end, a bullet grazed his shoulder and entered the soil behind him, leaving a bloody mark.
The Japanese thought Shen Quan had been killed by them and quickly transferred their firepower to other targets...
Shen Quan took the opportunity to do a side roll, holding the crooked handle and moving to four or five meters away.
Set up the crooked bar again, aim at a Japanese enemy's firepower point, and then draw fire...
He fired all the remaining bullets in the magazine in one breath, dropped the crooked handle and rolled to the side, avoiding the enemy's retaliatory fire counterattack...
After more and more light and heavy machine guns began to counterattack, the situation of the first battalion being passively beaten finally improved a lot, and they quickly exited the pocket formation...
According to the original deployment of the Japanese army, the pocket array should be as long as the two current ones, and light and heavy machine guns are also scattered on both sides of the road!
Even if you can't kill a battalion in a short time, it's definitely no problem to severely damage a battalion.
But this combat plan was changed by the captain Kurokawa before the battle.
That was two hours ago.
Major General Miyazawa called, and the Independent Regiment killed the Kagawa Brigade with lightning speed, broke through the first blockade, and asked them to stop the independent regiment's breakout force at all costs.
The Kagawa Brigade was easily killed by the Independent Regiment even if they were in a group. If they dispersed their troops and carried out an ambush, although they could kill more Eighth Route Army troops in the first round of firepower raids, the weak blockade would also be easier to break through.
To be cautious, Major Kurokawa decided to reduce the pocket formation to half its original length, and all the saved troops and firepower were allocated to the end of the pocket formation to establish blocking positions to prevent independent regiments from breaking through the pocket formation.
It also required the troops ambushing on both sides of the road to withdraw to blocking positions after the ambush was completed to block the independent regiment.
Although this style of play ensures the safety of the defense line, due to the lack of troops and firepower on both wings of the pocket formation, the impact of the first round of firepower raids is also greatly reduced...
Despite this, the First Battalion still lost more than 300 lives in the pocket formation, and more than half of its light and heavy weapons were lost.
When Kong Jie hurried to the battlefield, Shen Quan was counting the battle losses. He lowered his head and reported with pain: "Captain, please punish me..."
"It's all because I was too careless and ran into the enemy's pocket formation, causing more than half of the casualties in the battalion!"
"How many little devils are there in front of you! How is the equipment? How is it arranged specifically?" Kong Jie did not answer, but asked with a stern face.
"At least one infantry brigade is equipped with more than a dozen mortars and more than a dozen heavy machine guns...I don't know if it is equipped with infantry cannons and mountain field artillery..." Shen Quan immediately told what he saw.
"Half of the troops and heavy weapons were arranged in the blocking position at the back of the pocket formation, and half of the troops were arranged to ambush us on both sides of the road..."
"The company crashed into the Japanese blocking position and was attacked by six mortars and six heavy machine guns at the same time. It suffered the greatest losses. The company commander and instructor were all sacrificed, leaving only a deputy company commander and a deputy instructor with sixteen people. The soldiers withdraw..."
"Chief of Staff!" Kong Jie turned to order Li Wensheng!
"Immediately transfer three companies of recruits from the new barracks to reorganize one battalion, and then transfer ten veterans from the regiment headquarters to replenish one battalion and one company!"
"From now on, the first battalion will march with the regiment headquarters, training while on the road!"
"As for Chen Quan's punishment, we will study it after the counter-mopping up is over!"
"I don't care what method you use, you must restore more than 70% of the combat effectiveness of the first battalion within two days!"
Shen Quan was overjoyed. He originally thought that the leader would be furious, but when he saw himself, he cursed...
As a result, the regiment leader not only did not scold himself, but also recruited new recruits for himself, and quickly promised: "Don't worry, regiment commander, there are still many veterans in the first battalion guard platoon, and I plan to decentralize them all to the three main companies!"
"We will definitely restore 70% of the combat effectiveness of the first battalion within two days, so we can avenge our shame!"
"Stop talking nonsense and go directly to the recruit camp to pick up people!" Kong Jie waved his hand to signal Shen Quan to leave, then raised his binoculars to look at the battlefield.
"Snapped……"
A flare was fired into the sky by artillery, and the battlefield where the first battalion had just fought was clearly displayed in front of him.
The two to three hundred meter long road was filled with corpses of a battalion of soldiers, and weapons and ammunition were scattered everywhere.
There is a trench about 70 to 80 meters on both sides of the road. The Japanese hiding in it are quickly retreating to the main position...
More than 400 meters ahead, a blocking position cuts off the highway. The position consists of three trenches in the front, middle and back. The trenches are connected by traffic trenches, about 30 meters apart...
The heavy machine guns are basically arranged in the second and third trenches. Although the first trench has only one squadron of troops, it has nearly twenty crooked guns arranged for easy transfer...
"The troops are lighter in front and heavier in the rear, and the firepower is heavier in the front and lighter in the rear... The Japanese commander on the opposite side is a master of blocking warfare!" Kong Jie's face became heavier as he looked at it, and he analyzed with a frown.
"Captain, no matter how good the kid on the other side is at blocking, we must break through the defense line as soon as possible!" Li Wensheng continued.
"Since we broke through the first Japanese blockade, the two groups of Japanese and puppet troops attacking Xigou and Xianfengling have divided their forces and come towards us!"
"If we don't break out quickly, the independent group will probably be blocked here by them."
Kong Jie nodded and began to give orders: "Several mortar platoons set up all the mortars..."
"First bombard, then use heavy machine gun cover. The second battalion will attack hard. If you can rush over, it's best. If you can't rush over, you still have to figure out the enemy's real blocking force and firepower. Go faster!"
Kong Jie took a quick look at his watch and continued his order: "We only have one hour. If we can't break through the Japanese blocking position on time, the next operation will be dangerous. All units must seize the time!"
Just over two hours after the brigade commander moved the brigade headquarters, he ordered the troops to stop, turn on the radio, and ask whether the headquarters had moved on time. By the way, he contacted the subordinate troops equipped with the radio station and asked them about the latest battle situation, so that he could be well aware of it.
"Report to the chief, there is a situation in the Independent Regiment!" The telegraph operator put down his earphones and reported to Chief of Staff Zhou on the side.
The brigade commander came over after hearing the news and asked anxiously: "What happened to the independent regiment..."
"Have they not already broken through the Japanese blockade? The troops are marching in a hurry. Even if the Japanese send temporary reinforcements, it is impossible to catch up with them?"
"They were tricked by the Japanese!" After reading the telegram, Chief of Staff Zhou handed the telegram to the brigade commander and walked quickly to the map to introduce it.
"The Japanese arranged an ambush for an infantry brigade here. The first battalion of the Independent Regiment crashed into the Japanese pocket formation during a rapid march, and more than half of them were lost!"
"Kong Jie is trying to think of a way to defeat this brigade, break through the opponent's blocking position, and continue to penetrate towards Jinzhong!"
The brigade commander's face instantly became solemn, and he stared at the map and analyzed: "An infantry brigade is blocking the road... When did the Japanese arrange such an ambush? How come we didn't receive any news!"
"It's bad. If the independent regiment cannot quickly defeat this obstacle, the reinforcements deployed by the Japanese army from the left and right sweep forces will definitely block Kong Jie completely here!"
"Then not only will they not be able to continue completing the insertion mission, they may also be surrounded by the Japanese!"
