Night, around four o'clock.
The time is mid-April, and the season is late spring. According to the conventional seasonal rotation, the first ray of light in the early morning in northwest Shanxi is probably between 5:30 and 6:00.
Yamaguchi Shube, the commander of the Japanese brigade who has a strong sense of time, remembered that it was 5:37 when the sky was bright yesterday, and it was around 5:50 when the sky became completely bright.
Thinking of this, Yamaguchi raised his wrist again and looked at the time indicated by the hands on his watch. He looked at the still dark sky in the distant horizon, waiting for the dawn with some anxiety and some expectation.
"In less than two hours, maybe less than an hour and a half, the sky will gradually lighten up."
Yamaguchi spoke slowly, with some emotion in his words.
A night of fear, mixed with great humiliation, ended completely when the sky lightened up.
Chief of Staff Hideo Nakajima said on the side, "Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, we have contacted the headquarters of various reinforcement brigades that have sent reinforcements to the periphery. So far, the reinforcements from the imperial troops from the periphery have reached the strength of eight brigades."
"After the sky gets brighter, reinforcements from all walks of life can launch a strong attack in the direction of Niukou Village, changing the current decline of our army."
"Perhaps after the various reinforcements launch an attack, we can cooperate internally and externally to destroy the independent regiment in one fell swoop."
When Nakajima said these words, his emotions were faintly mixed with excitement.
For Yamaguchi, if he had not suffered constant setbacks at the hands of the independent group since the great sweep, he would have chosen to agree to Nakajima's suggestion without hesitation.
But at this moment, there was obvious hesitation on his face.
In the end, perhaps because he was ashamed of his inexplicable retreat, Yamaguchi gritted his teeth and shouted in a low voice: "Okay, pass on the order, and prepare all units for counterattack. Once the reinforcements advance, we find an opportunity and immediately launch an attack from the back of the Eighth Route Army. "
"Hi!" Nakajima responded loudly. This was the general he remembered as decisive, iron-blooded and wise.
The words have not yet finished...
Boom——
Artillery shells exploded on the fortifications of the Japanese Fourth Mixed Brigade, directly breaking the dead silence of the mountains and forests at night. They also broke the peace in the hearts of the Japanese soldiers, as well as the determination that Yamaguchi had finally accumulated in his heart.
"Enemy attack enemy attack!"
Around the temporary headquarters where Yamaguchi was located, officers and soldiers were already shouting.
Yamaguchi, whose face changed slightly, asked what happened. Soon a signal soldier returned to report: "Sir, the Eighth Route Army troops were found at the foot of the mountain and were bombarding our position with artillery."
This was indeed artillery, and the sound of artillery shells was familiar to Yamaguchi. It was the sound of the 75mm mountain cannon belonging to the original artillery unit of his 4th Mixed Brigade.
But now in less than two hours, the sky will be completely bright.
What does this independent regiment mean by suddenly launching an attack and bombarding them with mountain artillery?
Is it possible that he wanted to destroy his fourth mixed brigade in one fell swoop just like he did with the Ishii Regiment, taking advantage of the daylight and before reinforcements arrived?
The lessons from the past are right in front of him, and there is no room for Yamaguchi not to think too much about them.
Yamaguchi raised his head and looked at Chief of Staff Nakajima, and he saw the same intense worry in Nakajima's eyes.
At this moment, his Fourth Mixed Brigade was still surrounded by the Eighth Route Army, and the soldiers of the independent regiments stationed at the surrounding nodes had not yet evacuated. Relying on the defense of the nodes was also an excellent means of blocking the Japanese army this time.
Yamaguchi did not dare to have other thoughts, and immediately ordered: "Instruct all ministries to hold on to the fortifications, rely on the anti-artillery fortifications to avoid the enemy's artillery fire raids, and be prepared to be prepared for a strong attack by the Eighth Route Army troops at any time."
"Hi!"
The temporary headquarters where Yamaguchi is located is built inside the Maoerdong artillery defense fortification with a large internal space.
"Right now, the enemy is strong and we are weak. No matter what the purpose of the independent regiment's current attack is, we can only block it with troops, cover it with water and soil, hold on to the position, and wait until daybreak for reinforcements."
Yamaguchi gave his own judgment, and Chief of Staff Nakajima nodded in agreement.
The two came to the right side of the Maoerdong artillery defense fortification, opened the wooden protective door, and were about to take a look at the condition of the fortification with their own eyes when a hurried voice came next to their ears:
"Mustard gas, mustard gas, the enemy used poison gas bombs!"
Horrified screams came from all directions. They had used poison gas bombs in violation of international conventions. The little devils, who knew the horror of poison gas bombs, were so frightened by the mustard gas that their faces changed. They ran around frantically, looking for something to hide from. Method.
At this moment, even the calm Yamaguchi couldn't sit still, and his face changed drastically and he was momentarily at a loss.
The key is that in the battle with the Eighth Route Army, there was never any precedent of the Eighth Route Army using poison gas bombs.
Naturally, the troops will not prepare gas masks in advance.
Sometimes they would wear some gas masks. That was because the Japanese troops prepared gas bombs to prevent accidental injuries during use.
This time the Japanese Fourth Mixed Brigade did not carry gas bombs, so the number of gas masks in the team was very small.
This mustard gas is different from ordinary poisonous gases. The scary thing is that it is pervasive and even penetrates deep into the skin through all pores on the body surface, destroying body cells, causing skin or mucous membranes to blister and erode, leading to systemic poisoning and death.
Known as the King of Poison, he has a terrifying reputation.
No wonder the little devils are so frightened now.
The gas masks were delivered quickly. As brigade commanders and chiefs of staff, Yamaguchi and Nakajima naturally have this privilege.
The distribution of other limited quantities of gas masks is also distributed from officers downwards according to military rank until the distribution of gas masks is completed.
In the still dark night, no one could clearly see what the mustard gas was like. They could only see the thicker smoke spreading in all directions.
The Japanese soldiers were so frightened that they couldn't find any gas masks. The experienced ones quickly screamed: "Cut strips of cloth from your body, wet them with urine, and cover your mouth and nose, quick!"
Many Japanese officers have a relatively deep understanding of gas bombs such as mustard gas during their studies in military academies.
Although this poisonous gas king is powerful, it is slow to take effect. Even if you are exposed to mustard gas without protection, as long as you make sure not to inhale too much mustard gas from your mouth and nose, it will take at least three times for the mustard gas to penetrate into the skin through the pores of the body. It takes ten minutes to take effect and usually has an incubation period of two to three hours.
The body will not show any reaction during the incubation period.
You can gain more survival time by preventing mustard gas from being inhaled through the mouth and nose.
So some Japanese officers proposed to cut off strips of cloth, wet them with urine, and cover their mouths and noses.
Note that urine is used here, not water, because mustard gas is insoluble in water.
Urine is different, because the vast majority of Japanese soldiers do not eat much high-protein food containing fixed acid, so their urine should be alkaline.
It is precisely this alkaline urine that can play an alkaline hydrolysis role in poisonous gas, which can relieve the inhalation of mustard gas into the mouth and nose to a great extent.
When the little devils came back to their senses, they no longer had the usual military image. One by one, in embarrassment, they took bayonets to cut strips of cloth from their clothes, and then quickly took off their pants and squeezed out urine. Some of them couldn't squeeze out urine, and they were even more helpless. I begged my companions to help sprinkle some.
Then, regardless of the long-term defense of the fortifications and the particularly unpleasant smell of urine caused by the lack of drinking water, he tightly covered his mouth and nose with a cloth soaked in urine.
Suddenly, the fortification where the Japanese Army's Fourth Mixed Brigade was located was filled with excitement.
But the gas bombs from the Japs' mouths came too suddenly, and many little Japs still had no time to react. After being exposed to the smell, perhaps out of preconceived fear, they strangled their necks one by one, as if they might be inhaled at any time. Die by poison gas.
Japanese Chief of Staff Nakajima had already put on a gas mask in a hurry, and then urged Yamaguchi on the side: "Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, the poison gas is coming soon, please hurry up!"
There is already a faint poisonous gas floating first.
Yamaguchi sniffed and sniffed some.
"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander..." Nakajima was so anxious that he took off the anti-virus area again and was about to persuade.
Yamaguchi said: "Nakajima-kun, something doesn't seem right. Smell the smell of this gas carefully. Although there is some smell of garlic, it is more of the pungent smell of chili powder and there is no mustard smell. This should not be mustard gas. "
"Isn't it mustard gas?" Nakajima was also confused. He tried to inhale some gas into his mouth and nose, and he realized something was wrong.
"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, why do you suspect this?"
Yamaguchi said: "The Eighth Route Army should not have poisonous gas bombs like mustard gas. In addition, the wind direction in front of us is blowing down the mountain. If the Eighth Route Army uses poisonous gas bombs, wouldn't it also harm itself?"
"That's when I became suspicious and tried to smell the gas again. Now it seems that these nasty Tubalu have mixed chili powder and garlic in the shells."
Yamaguchi looked around as he spoke, but saw that the officers and soldiers on the fortifications were all in a panic. Some even fought for wet cloth strips stained with urine, and then put them into their mouths. Cover your nose.
The chaotic fortifications were mixed with coughs.
Many Japanese soldiers were even rolling on the ground, as if they were about to die.
Great shame and anger arose spontaneously, and Yamaguchi broke out:
"Baga, how can this look like an imperial warrior? Idiot, this is not mustard gas, it's just a cover-up trick of the Eighth Route Army, just some chili powder."
By this time, the sound of artillery had already stopped. Yamaguchi rushed out of the temporary headquarters in anger and aimed at the officers and soldiers on the nearby fortifications. He opened his bows from left to right and slapped them with several slaps.
Really pissed off.
The Japs didn't believe it at first. An angry Yamaguchi exposed his mouth and nose to the gas in front of the Japs and inhaled it several times. Apart from being choked by the chili powder and coughing violently for a while, there was no reaction. .
The truth was quickly conveyed.
The gas at the moment was not poisonous gas, but artillery shells made by the Eighth Route Army mixed with chili pepper and garlic.
The Japanese soldiers who were in the so-called poisonous gas were twitching on the ground in pain, and the Japanese soldiers who were scrambling for the urine-soaked cloth strips in panic were dumbfounded.
All imaginary pain receded like a tidal wave.
The Japs tried sniffling again, but there was really no other reaction to the gas in their mouths except the pungent smell of chili powder.
The little devils suddenly realized that they had been fooled!
The wet cloth soaked in urine that was still being fought for suddenly lost its fragrance and became a disgusting object that was spurned and was quickly thrown away by the Japanese soldiers.
But the taste lingers in my mouth and nose.
The Japs wiped them randomly with their sleeves one by one, and then felt full of humiliation.
…
Behind the slope at the foot of the mountain.
Wang Leihu, the commander of the first battalion, looked at the direction of the Japanese position. After seeing no movement for a long time, he asked the howitzer on the side, "Howitzer, what do you think the little Japanese is doing right now?"
The howitzer said happily: "First battalion commander, do you need to say this? As soon as our chili garlic shells were fired, the Japanese probably thought they were poison gas bombs, and maybe they were covering their mouths with a wet cloth soaked in urine!"
Not long after, the scouts sent by the first battalion commander returned and reported to the first battalion commander while holding back their laughter:
"Batalion Commander, you're really amusing me. As soon as our artillery shells hit, the little devil was so frightened that he seemed to be peeing everywhere and covering his mouth. Good guy, the smell of urine was wafting far away, and I felt sick just smelling it. No."
Upon hearing this, the cadres were startled, and then burst into laughter.
After laughing for a while, Wang Leihu changed the topic and said:
"According to the commander's order, the Japanese reinforcements are on the outside. It will be dawn soon. If the Japanese fourth mixed brigade does not take the initiative to leave the fortifications, we cannot risk a firepower attack."
"Next, the main focus will be on blocking the advance of Japanese reinforcements at all levels. As for the fourth mixed brigade, in the words of the regiment leader, it is a frightened bird now. It is enough for us to leave some troops as a containment."
Fourth Battalion Commander Lei Dasheng said: "It is not difficult to contain the Japanese Fourth Mixed Brigade. In the past two days, we have laid a lot of mines around the Japanese positions."
"This old devil Yamaguchi has been completely beaten by us and has lost his temper. I don't believe he dares to lead his team to leave the position voluntarily."
…
Time continues to move forward.
As the fourth battalion commander speculated, after experiencing the coaxing of pepper noodles and garlic-flavored shells.
Although Yamaguchi felt extremely humiliated, he still persisted and continued to be his coward.
The excuse is:
"Kong Jie's move is just to humiliate us, force me to lose my mind and launch a counterattack, so as to destroy our fourth mixed brigade in one fell swoop."
Chief of Staff Nakajima on the side agreed deeply, "Your Excellency, the brigade commander, is absolutely right."
"So, even if the reinforcements arrive at dawn, our troops must think twice before counterattacking. With Kong Jie's cunning, even after dawn, he will definitely set up traps around our army's position. If he takes the initiative, maybe he will Will fall into it.”
Nakajima nodded convinced.
As for the plan that the two people had just agreed upon earlier, to take the initiative and use the middle-of-the-road tactics to join forces with reinforcements to destroy the independent regiment, the two of them did not mention a word in their tacit understanding...
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