…
Four days.
Kong Jie knew that it was less than three days before the battle of southern Shanxi.
Kong Jie was a little worried when he thought that after Han Feng, the deputy company commander of the third battalion, led a company to southern Shanxi, no news came back.
Of course, worry is mixed with a bit of expectation.
The Battle of Southern Shanxi breaks out next. Although it is extremely dangerous, there will also be a lot of opportunities amidst this danger.
Han Feng is not short of cleverness, and he is even more brave in fighting. Sometimes he is bold in using troops, which is quite similar to Kong Jie.
In addition, the company that Han Feng brought can be called a mountain company. It was a company that Kong Jie trained and built in advance to cope with the mountain combat environment in the Zhongtiao Mountain area. .
Coupled with the specially enhanced firepower configuration, Kong Jie is also looking forward to what Han Feng can do in the Zhongtiao Mountain area after the battle of Zhongtiao Mountain is completely over.
As for the Taihang base area.
Not long ago, Nikkei launched a spring sweep, probably to prepare in advance for the upcoming battle in southern Shanxi. It would first mop up the Eighth Route Army in the backyard, and then turn its troops to attack southern Shanxi directly.
At present, the focus of the Japanese army is in the direction of southern Shanxi. There is no time to concentrate on dealing with the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang base area. This is the opportunity for the independent regiment to develop or even counterattack.
As for the blockade of the Taihang base area by the remaining Japanese troops, Kong Jie looked down upon him at all.
When the main force of your First Army was there, you had nothing to do with my independent regiment. Now that your main force has rushed to southern Shanxi to fight, you still expect my independent regiment to stick to its duties?
You little devil is most afraid of a fire in the backyard, so I'll light a few big fires for you.
It can be regarded as indirectly supporting the Central Army in the southern Shanxi direction.
…
"Captain, in the past two days, the Japs have switched from offense to defense. There are no patrols outside the stronghold. The side bombs we deployed at night are not even useful."
When they returned to report the situation, some battalion commanders and company commanders were a little depressed. The road bomb tactics were going on so well here, and the little devil suddenly became a turtle.
Kong Jie said with a smile: "What you think is quite beautiful. The Japanese are not stupid. After suffering a loss, they still turn to the gun. Do you really think that the little Japanese is a big fool?"
"In this way, our counterattack plan remains unchanged, we just need to change our position."
"Move the position?" The cadres were a little confused. "Captain, the Japanese have basically turned to defense in the large and small strongholds around our independent regiment. They hide in the gun towers of the strongholds and cannot come out. We can defeat them if we move the position. Are you chasing the little devil?"
Kong Jie said: "Let me ask you, in order to deal with our independent regiment, the Japanese have strengthened the garrison at the stronghold, strengthened the firepower allocation, and even built some ingenious reinforced concrete structure bunkers, just to deal with the attacking artillery of our independent regiment. , and there are raids everywhere.”
"But these measures require a lot of troops, manpower, and material resources. The little devil can use this method to deal with our independent regiment, but can he take care of all the troops around us?"
First Battalion Commander Wang Leihu shook his head: "I don't care about that. I heard that the Japanese from other directions implemented the Baojia company system in major villages and dug deep ditches and built gun towers and strongholds. The situation of our brothers' troops is not very optimistic.
Commander, what do you mean, we send some troops to support the neighboring fraternal troops in their operations? "
Before Kong Jie could speak, the second battalion commander Shen Quan on the side had come to his senses and said with a smile: "Captain, I understand what you mean. At present, the enemy's strongest defense is around our independent regiment, so we don't have to We have to spend time here with the Japs. There are many troops around, and the defense in the Japs stronghold is still the same as before. The masonry structure of the turrets, with our artillery, can blow them up with two shots."
"If we suddenly move the direction of our attack towards the base areas of other troops, the little Japanese will definitely be caught off guard."
The cadres came to their senses one after another and realized what Kong Jie meant by shifting positions.
Kong Jie said with a smile: "That's the truth. The general situation of our Eighth Route Army now is that the enemy is strong and we are weak, but on local points, such as our independent regiment, we are not afraid of little Japs."
"What is the most troublesome thing for the Japanese to deal with our independent group? It is our unpredictable mobility."
"The gun towers in the Japs stronghold are dead, but our troops are alive. The Japs sent out patrols earlier, and we have targets to hit, so we won't say anything."
"Right now, the little devil is acting like a coward. There is no need for us to stay here with him. We can move in another direction and beat him up."
"Captain, this is a good idea!"
"Just do it!"
The cadres whose enthusiasm was so high immediately began to discuss the plan to move to the base areas of other troops to fight.
Soon, everyone targeted the newly formed 5th, 6th, and 7th Regiments, which had outdated equipment, lacked artillery for critical attacks, and were blocked by the Japanese masonry turrets and unable to go out.
Kong Jie said: "We will move our positions to fight the Japs, but in the direction of our independent regiment, we still need to keep an eye on the Japs at all times to prevent Japs from infiltrating and sneaking attacks. In addition, if the Japs' patrols dare to leave their strongholds, they will still use side bombs." Say hello to me.”
"In addition, I have to make it clear to you. Whether it is Lao Feng's fifth regiment, or the new sixth and seventh regiments, these regiment leaders are not good-tempered. We can go over to help, but we can't turn our backs. What? What do you mean? Those who supported us in the past have become the main force in fighting the Japanese. Is that true?"
"Our main purpose is to support some artillery fire. We don't need to support too much in terms of troops. One company of elites is enough."
"There's just one thing. We can go to other regiments to help fight the Japanese, and I have to get enough of the benefits. We can't do business at a loss. Our artillery shells are not blown by strong winds."
As he said this, the cadres couldn't help but laugh and nodded in agreement one by one.
After Kong Jie's order was issued, each battalion immediately dispatched a company of elites, brought some mortars or infantry guns, plus some explosives, and rushed to the bases of several surrounding regiments through some trails in the mountainous areas.
In the vast mountainous area, the Japanese army wanted to block the Eighth Route Army with some strongholds and gun towers and trap them in a local base area. How could it be so easy?
In this way, the friendly support belonging to the independent regiment quickly arrived around the Taihang base area. Some of the newly developed troops had backward equipment, insufficient offensive artillery, or even none at all.
…
On the afternoon of the 5th.
The elite of a company led by Howitzer, the commander of the Second Artillery Company of the Independent Regiment, with the assistance of carriages, bicycles, wheelbarrows, war horses and other transportation vehicles, the soldiers split the artillery into several parts for easy transportation, and carried a certain amount of It took nearly two days with a large amount of artillery shells to finally arrive at the base of the new sixth regiment.
The new sixth regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army was established half a year ago. The regiment leader Yang Kaiping is a veteran who has experienced the strategic shift-the Long March period.
In terms of qualifications, he may not be as good as Li Yunlong and others, but he won't be too far behind.
In the six months since the formation of the New Sixth Regiment, under the leadership of Yang Kaiping, it has also fought many tough battles with the Japs.
During the recent spring sweeps, due to insufficient equipment and scarce ammunition in the regiment, Captain Yang had no choice but to break up the entire regiment and divide it into multiple guerrilla units. He led the Japanese and puppet troops who were sweeping up to fight in the mountains. Guerrilla warfare.
After the Japanese army retreated after the failed raid in Gu'ao, Captain Yang reunited with the Sixth Regiment. Thanks to Commander Yang's correct command, the Sixth Regiment suffered few casualties.
However, under the large-scale Japanese raids, the Sixth Regiment divided its troops to carry out guerrilla operations. It was more than enough to protect itself, but it was slightly less aggressive.
In battles, they often only play a role in harassing and blocking the Japanese and puppet troops. It is very difficult to annihilate the Japanese and puppet troops, even if they eat a small group of Japanese and puppet troops.
At this point, let alone fighting to support fighting, the ammunition is getting less and less, the equipment is getting worse and worse, and the firepower configuration of the regiment is quite bad.
If the headquarters arsenal had not acquired the equipment that the Independent Regiment had snatched from the North China Security Army, and had the ability to make guns and cannons, and had supported the Sixth Regiment many times, Captain Yang estimated that the soldiers of the Sixth Regiment would have been killed. Fighting the devils with swords and spears.
As for the Iron Triangle, which is dozens of kilometers away from the root of the Sixth Regiment.
Not to mention the independent regiment that directly defeated tens of thousands of Japanese troops during the counter-mopping up.
Not long ago, I heard that the New Second Regiment, which was also formed recently, pulled out multiple infantry cannons and demolished more than a dozen small and medium-sized strongholds around the New Second Regiment's base area in one fell swoop.
The cadres and soldiers of the Sixth Regiment who heard about this just felt like they were listening to a myth.
Infantry artillery? Many doors?
The Sixth Regiment probably doesn't have as many heavy machine guns as the New Second Regiment's infantry artillery.
This is also a newly formed group, so why is there such a big gap in equipment?
"Li Yunlong has never done anything wrong for himself, and he is even better at organizing groups to get by. This was the case when we were crossing the grassland. Other groups had long since run out of food, but the group he led still had two meals a day. The Long March was over. By that time, the soldiers of other regiments had already become starved and thin, and some of the soldiers of their regiment had actually gained a lot of weight."
Recalling the past, Captain Yang felt a little sad.
In these days, the Japanese army implemented the Baojia system in major villages, requisitioned a large number of civilians, built a large number of strongholds and gun towers around the base area, and advanced further, sending patrols to patrol and blockade the base area every day.
The Sixth Regiment, which was already having a hard time, was getting even more difficult.
Just say that five days ago, Commander Yang focused on a relatively remote medium-sized stronghold of the Japanese army, and mobilized a battalion of troops to capture the stronghold in one fell swoop.
As a result, because there were no attack artillery, there were only masonry turrets, and the Japanese mounted a large number of machine guns, which suppressed Captain Yang and his party so much that they could not lift their heads, and the team had no choice but to retreat.
In order to deal with the brick and stone blockhouses built by the Japanese, the comrades of the Sixth Regiment racked their brains and suffered a lot.
Due to the lack of equipment, scarcity of ammunition, and no offensive artillery at all, there was no way to attack by force. Commander Yang ordered to find a way to outwit them.
Sometimes they make sneak attacks at night to infiltrate the stronghold; sometimes they try their best to disguise themselves as traitors and sneak into the stronghold before launching a raid; other times they work directly on the ground at night, trying to dig tunnels and dig under the foundation of the stronghold in one go. .
But these methods are the most hopeless methods.
To be honest, if we were able to successfully take down the turret, it was all a matter of luck.
The sad Captain Yang lamented: "As long as I have attack artillery, let alone an infantry cannon, I won't let the little devils bully me like this."
Then a company commander in the regiment said, "Captain, I heard that not long ago some local troops from the New Second Regiment were strolling outside the Japanese gun towers with their infantry guns!"
Captain Yang: "..."
Now he is not only sad, but also feels a little embarrassed. The new second regiment was not formed long before his new sixth regiment.
But without comparison, there would be no gap. Now the new second regiment had already left his sixth regiment far behind.
The equipment in the hands of local troops and even militiamen around the three Iron Triangle regiments might be better than that of his new sixth regiment.
It's really annoying to compare people to each other!
When the howitzer led the team to the base of the sixth regiment.
Captain Yang is leading a battalion of troops to try to capture a stronghold where the Japanese army has strangled the Sixth Regiment's base area.
He was worrying about how to break through the turtle shell of the Japanese gun tower.
The communications corpsman came to report with joy on his face: "Captain, the comrades of the Independent Regiment are here to support us!"
"Lao Kong's independent group?" Captain Yang was a little surprised and asked, "How many people are here?"
"There is almost a company of troops, but they only come with artillery. There are two infantry cannons, the regiment commander!"
The communications soldier's words were filled with excitement. This was the first time he had seen the Japs' Type 92 infantry artillery at close range. It was not that big, but the power of the Japs' artillery fire on the battlefield was astonishing.
Captain Yang was immediately overjoyed and said: "Well done. It seems that the comrades of the Independent Regiment know that our regiment lacks artillery for attacking fortresses, so they specially sent us a sharp weapon to crack the Japanese turtle shell."
The battalion commander next to him asked: "Commander, why did the independent regiment suddenly think of supporting us?"
Captain Yang sighed: "You don't know this, it must be Lao Kong's intention."
"Captain Kong?"
Captain Yang nodded and said with a smile: "Well, Lao Kong is kind and honest with others. This is recognized by the old comrades. He was also a veteran back then. When we first joined the army, that guy Li Yunlong liked to bully the new recruits the most. He gave various orders to people, and sometimes even asked us to wash his footcloths for him.
Ding Wei had the right idea. When the platoon leader was away, everyone was willing to listen to him after just a few words.
But Lao Kong was steady and kind, and never took advantage of others, let alone put them at a disadvantage. Among the veterans, he was the best to us recruits. Whenever we encountered difficulties, he would always be the first to help us. "
The first battalion commander smiled and said: "Now that we are in trouble, we sent troops here. Commander Kong is really interesting."
"yes!"
"Captain, what should we do next?"
"Stop saying anything. We can't live up to Lao Kong's kindness. The artillery has been sent over. The Japanese masonry turrets are just made of paper. Just beat the hell out of them."
"yes!"
…
7017k
