The main force of the Japanese cavalry was all blocked in Chang Cheng's gap, and the two sides fought to the death around Chang Cheng's gap. Due to terrain restrictions, the three guerrilla brigades could not move forward and had to take turns to attack. The enemy's strength and firepower did not have an advantage in the Changcheng gap, so the two sides fought evenly. Although the Japanese suffered heavy casualties, they still repelled the guerrilla attack.
At this time, news continued to come from the rear, saying that the main force of the Japanese army was approaching Changcheng. If they could not open the gap and cross Changcheng, the main force of the coalition forces would be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese and puppet troops.
Wei Dayong became anxious and decided to personally lead the special operations squadron to attack. As a result, before he could go into battle, Su Jianqiang became anxious and personally led a brigade to attack the Japanese army.
This time Su Jianqiang was fully prepared. He placed all the machine guns of the entire brigade at the front, and he personally held a machine gun, shooting at the same time as he rushed towards Chang Cheng's gap.
The firepower of the guerrillas was so fierce that the Japanese soldiers guarding the gap suffered heavy casualties. However, the surviving Japanese soldiers were still resisting desperately, and the guerrillas rushing in front were also shot and fell.
Su Jianqiang was hit by a bullet in his left shoulder and left arm. Blood kept pouring out, but he still rushed forward desperately. It was not until he was shot again in the thigh that he fell unwillingly. on the ground.
The team members had already tried their best. They passed Su Jianqiang and continued to rush forward. Soon after, a group of guerrillas finally broke into the breach.
Seeing this situation, the Japanese and puppet troops behind also rushed forward, and the two sides fought together in a fierce hand-to-hand combat.
The Japanese troops did not have bayonets on their lances, but they were all equipped with sabers. The team members had bayonets mounted on their rifles, giving them a certain advantage in length. However, the Japanese soldiers practiced swordsmanship every day and were very skilled, and the two sides fought evenly.
For a moment, there was the sound of the clash of swords and guns, the shouts of both the enemy and ourselves, and the screams of agony.
Xu Dalong, who had been responsible for breaking up the rear, also rushed over with the rearguard at this time. Seeing the fierce fighting near the gap in front of Chang Cheng, he also picked up a rifle with a bayonet and prepared to lead the team to charge forward.
At this moment, a special operations team member galloped up to Xu Dalong. He reined in the horse, and the horse stood up and neighed.
The special forces team members did not bother to dismount and shouted hurriedly: "Captain, the Japanese chariot troops are coming up."
Xu Dalong looked in the direction of his finger and saw many tanks and armored vehicles appearing from the northeast, heading this way.
He suddenly became anxious and shouted loudly: "The second detachment and the third brigade follow my command and immediately occupy the slope in front, prepare cluster grenades, and prepare to blow up the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles."
The officers and soldiers of the Third Brigade are all veterans from the Central Hebei Military Region. They have fought in the plains for a long time and have experience in dealing with tanks and armored vehicles. After hearing Xu Dalong's order, they immediately rushed to the slope in front, preparing to use the relatively complex terrain here to deal with enemy tanks and armored vehicles.
Xu Dalong ran to the artillery brigade and directed the artillerymen to turn their guns and prepare to bombard the enemy's armored forces.
Wei Dayong knew that the situation was urgent and he must immediately break through the enemy's defense line on Chang Cheng. He immediately led the second detachment of the reserve team, the second brigade, and the agency-directed team to rush into Chang Cheng's gap.
Xu Dalong observed the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles. When they entered the range of the Type 92 infantry cannon, he gave the artillerymen instructions to shoot. He himself also controlled a Type 92 infantry gun and started the bombardment. Artillery shells kept exploding among the tanks and armored vehicles of the Japanese and puppet troops.
The Japanese tanks are all thin-skinned tanks, and the thickest part of the armor is the front of the turret, which is only 28 centimeters. Other parts are much thinner and can be destroyed as long as they are directly hit by the shells of the Type 92 infantry cannon. The Japanese armored vehicles only have a thin layer of iron. Even if the shells cannot hit them directly, they can still cause damage as long as they explode within one meter.
As the shells continued to explode, tanks and armored vehicles were forced to stop from time to time. Some were directly destroyed, and some were unable to move forward due to malfunctions.
Xu Dalong personally controlled a Type 92 infantry cannon and fired every shot. A Japanese tank and armored vehicle was destroyed with every shell.
Japanese tanks and armored vehicles are also equipped with small-caliber artillery, which has a relatively short range and cannot hit the guerrilla artillery positions. Relying on their armor and rapid maneuverability, they braved artillery fire and quickly approached the guerrilla positions.
When they entered a range of 500 meters, the guerrilla mortars also began to fire shells. The gunners didn't need to aim, they just kept firing the shells as fast as possible.
Mortar shells are not as powerful as Type 92 infantry gun shells, but if they can directly hit enemy tanks and armored vehicles, they can also cause damage to them or even directly destroy them.
The Japanese tanks and armored vehicles came to the foot of the hillside ahead. By this time, 20 tanks and armored vehicles had been destroyed. At this time, the artillery on the tanks and armored vehicles also entered the firing range, and launched a counterattack towards the guerrilla artillery positions.
Artillery shells kept falling into the guerrilla artillery positions. The artillerymen had no armor cover. As long as the artillery shells exploded near them, they could cause great damage. Not long after, most of the guerrilla artillery was destroyed by the enemy, and the density of firepower quickly dropped. Japanese tanks and armored vehicles took the opportunity to quickly move forward.
Thanks to the complex terrain on the hillside ahead, the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles had to slow down, which gave the guerrilla artillery a chance to continue firing.
The officers and soldiers of the second detachment and the third brigade were lying on the ground. Many soldiers were holding bundled grenades in their hands, waiting quietly for the enemy tanks and armored vehicles to rush up the hillside.
"Rumble", with the roar of the engines, the tanks and armored vehicles of the Japanese and puppet troops rushed up the hillside. While they were unable to use their machine gun firepower due to the complex terrain and bumpy terrain when climbing the slope, the guerrillas in front He held cluster grenades and rushed towards the Japanese tanks and armored vehicles.
The enemy machine gunners in tanks and armored vehicles fired wildly, and many guerrillas were shot and fell before they could reach them. But some guerrillas still managed to rush to the tanks and armored vehicles. They pulled off the grenade tabs and threw the cluster grenades on the bodies of the tanks and armored vehicles.
"Boom, boom, boom", soon a tank and two armored vehicles were blown up.
When a guerrilla was rushing towards an enemy tank, his legs were broken by a machine gun bullet. He was unable to move on the ground and was in a semi-conscious state. Seeing a tank rolling towards him, he used his last strength to fire the grenade and blew up the enemy tank.
There were still dozens of tanks and armored vehicles of the Japanese and puppet troops. They covered each other with cross fire, causing heavy casualties to the guerrillas, and soon they rushed up the hillside. The terrain on the hillside was more complicated, and their driving speed also slowed down greatly.
The officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion continued to throw grenades, and with the help of the smoke caused by the grenade explosion, they covered the demolition crews and pounced on the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles, constantly blowing them up.
At this point the mortar was no longer effective as the distance was already very close. The guerrillas' Type 92 infantry artillery can easily target the tanks and armored vehicles of the Japanese and puppet troops and continuously destroy them.
As more and more tanks and armored vehicles climbed up the hillside and gradually formed formations to give full play to their firepower advantage, the guerrillas suffered more and more casualties, unable to stop the progress of the tanks and armored vehicles.
Although the guerrillas lying on the ground were all veterans, facing the torrent of steel, some of them could not resist the fear in their hearts and began to flee one after another. Those determined veterans inevitably began to waver.
Seeing that the third brigade was about to collapse, a squad of special operations team members, carrying one or three rocket launchers and an 82mm recoilless rifle, rushed back from the normal direction for reinforcements.
Rocket launchers and 82mm recoilless rifles were the nemesis of Japanese tanks and armored vehicles. After they entered the battlefield, they destroyed seven or eight Japanese and puppet tanks and armored vehicles.
As the special forces rushed back from the regular direction for reinforcements, tanks and armored vehicles continued to be lost. The Japanese commander saw densely packed guerrillas lying on the ground in front of them holding cluster grenades. He finally couldn't bear it anymore. The order to retreat was given.
In this fierce battle, the Japanese army lost six tanks and 29 armored vehicles.
The guerrillas also suffered heavy casualties. Four Type 92 infantry guns were lost, 15 mortars were destroyed, and more than 50 gunners were injured or killed. The officers and soldiers of the third brigade suffered more casualties, more than 350 people.
The Japanese tanks and armored vehicles retreated more than 200 meters and were readjusting their formation, preparing to attack again.
At this time, the brutal hand-to-hand combat continued near Changcheng Gap. Although the officers and soldiers of the guerrillas had a numerical advantage, due to the narrow gap in Changcheng and thousands of Japanese troops blocking it, the guerrillas were unable to break through quickly for a while, and the two sides were in a stalemate.
The situation is becoming more and more critical. The Japanese army is approaching Changcheng, and the vanguard has been engaged in a fierce battle with the rearguard of the Songshan guerrillas. If you cannot break through the Changcheng within a short period of time, you will be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy.
While Xu Dalong continued to bombard enemy tanks and armored vehicles with the Type 92 infantry gun, he sent a messenger to notify Monk Wei, asking him to break through the enemy's regular defense line at all costs.
At this time, Monk Wei was already fighting with the enemy with a bayonet. He was born in Shaolin and had good martial arts. The Japanese cavalry was no match for him.
The enemy was constantly knocked to the ground by his bayonets. Seeing how ferocious he was, the Japanese and puppet army officers and soldiers gathered more people to deal with him. Although he charged forward bravely, he was still unable to move forward.
At this time, the correspondent sent by Xu Dalong came over to convey Xu Dalong's order. Monk Wei took a step back and let other soldiers fight with the Japanese army. He had to calm down and observe the situation on the battlefield to find a breakthrough.
Monk Wei looked forward and saw groups of Japs fighting desperately with the guerrillas. Behind them were densely packed Japs. If they continued fighting like this, it would be impossible to break through the enemy's defense line in a short time.
He pondered for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He turned around and gave orders to the guerrillas behind him.
The guerrillas took out grenades and threw them behind the fighting Japanese.
The Japs gathered together, ready to take over from those in front in hand-to-hand combat. Their formation was very dense, and they suffered heavy casualties from groups of grenades that flew over suddenly.
The commandos took advantage of the situation and rushed forward bravely, finally occupying the Changcheng gap.
Some guerrillas attacked on both sides along Changcheng, destroying the Japanese and puppet troops on Changcheng. Most of the guerrillas crossed Changcheng and continued to rush forward.
The Japanese army was also very smart. At first, they were confused by the sudden explosion of grenades, but they quickly reacted. The Japanese in front continued to block the guerrillas from charging, and the Japanese behind also took out grenades. Pitched to the guerrillas.
Grenades and grenades exploded constantly, causing heavy losses to both the enemy and ourselves.
At this time, the guerrillas were also desperate, and they attacked forward desperately. After all, the guerrillas had a large number of people. After they crossed the normal range, they could give full play to their numerical advantage, and they could also take advantage of their firepower.
The Japanese army did not have an advantage in numbers or firepower. Once the guerrillas took up their positions, they were unable to withstand the guerrilla attacks and were beaten back steadily.
As more guerrillas rushed through Changcheng, they set up machine guns and fired fiercely at the Japanese army. The Japanese army finally couldn't resist and fled to both sides.
The guerrillas finally broke out a bloody path. They chased the fleeing Japanese troops bravely, drove the Japanese troops far away, and formed a safe passage in the middle to cover the rapid passage of the guerrillas' follow-up troops.
Xu Dalong was still in charge of breaking up the rear. When he saw that the guerrillas' logistical equipment had exceeded the normal range, he sent a messenger to notify the guerrillas responsible for the blocking mission to evacuate quickly.
Seeing this situation, the Japanese tank troops rushed towards Chang Cheng again.
Xu Dalong also had no intention of fighting. Seeing that the guerrillas responsible for covering the mission had also retreated, he quickly evacuated.
The Japanese tank troops rushed to the foot of Chang Cheng. There was a steep ridge in front of them. They could not move forward and could only watch the guerrillas withdraw.
At this time, there were remnants of the Japanese cavalry troops near Changcheng. Seeing that the guerrillas had withdrawn, they launched a pursuit. (End of chapter)
