In the northern suburbs of Datong, between the first and second lines of defense.
The Japanese were not completely targets. After a series of Hotchkiss heavy machine guns killed the comrades in the front row, the remaining people immediately chose to lie down on the spot.
At this moment, the crater left by the artillery regiment on the battlefield has become their life-saving straw.
"Your Majesty, Major, please come up with an idea!"
"The shameless Eighth Route Army has laid a minefield in front. The enemy must want to kill us here. How should our brigade attack next?"
Hearing this, all the Japanese infantrymen nestled in the bomb craters turned their attention to their captain, expecting the other party to come up with a scientific way to break the situation.
Faced with the sudden pressure, the Japanese captain wiped the scraps of flesh from his face, glared at the squadron leader beside him and said angrily.
"idiot!"
"With our current conditions! What good ideas can I come up with!"
The combination of fire and barriers is a defensive tactic that emerged during World War I.
Although Japan did not experience the baptism of the European battlefield in World War I, their army military academy textbooks fully included the cracking methods of various countries.
Theoretically, every junior officer of the Japanese army should not be at a loss when facing minefields and barbed wire fences.
They can learn from Germany II's tactics, use elite infantry to temporarily form a special attack team similar to the Storm Commando, and quickly approach the defense line of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region with limited artillery support.
The next step is to cut the barbed wire against the barrage and complete the demining work.
As long as the military quality of the special team is high enough, the Japs may even have a chance to rush into the trenches ahead and have a hearty close-quarters fight with the Eighth Route Army soldiers.
If you don't like the playing style of Germany 2, you can also learn the tactics of Germany 3 now.
When facing a minefield, the Aryan Superman will call for close ground support aircraft and corps- and division-level artillery, and then use minesweepers and armored troops to quickly open up an attack channel.
After all, the combination of fire and barriers can only block infantry or light armored units, and can only delay some time when facing a wealthy army.
After thinking for a moment, the Japanese captain faced everyone's expectant eyes and ordered:
"Raise troops for a thousand days, use them for a moment! Call the precious Fourth Division over. It is an honor for them, the servant army, to be able to open the way for the samurai of Japan's brother country!"
"Anyone who helps the Locust Army get through the difficulties smoothly will be promoted to one level."
"If anyone dares to disobey orders and attempt to leave the battlefield without permission, then he will be killed on the spot!"
Between using cleverness to break through the barrier and using force to break the law, the Japanese captain chose to use the servant army's thunder.
Almost every member of the Stormtroopers is a veteran who has received the Iron Cross Medal. Everyone can be called a humanoid Gundam on the battlefield. You can imagine how powerful they are in combat.
Although the 110th Division is known as the strongest Type B division, the strength of the Type B division is still limited after all. Even if it has the foundation of Type A and standing, it is impossible not to gather a group of elites who have fought in hundreds of battles.
Don't even think about getting through the obstacles by cleverness.
As for using force to break the law, that is even more impossible.
As a well-known poor force in the three major axes, the Japanese Army's Type B Division simply does not have the conditions to clear the way with firepower. It is still possible to replace it with the Sendai Screaming Division.
What's more, the artillery wing of the 110th Division had just suffered a devastating blow from the Eighth Route Army Air Force, and its current strength was even worse.
Large-scale mining + barbed wire may not seem to be technically difficult, but it is a sure blow to the enemy who cannot break through quickly.
Fifteen minutes later, the 4th Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army was half-forced to assemble in the attack position.
Compared with the attack on Datong on the first day, the precious troops had already suffered heavy losses, with only 600 men left in one division. Almost all of these traitors were injured, and they all looked listless.
He looked around at the few remaining regiment and battalion commanders, and then said in an encouraging tone:
"Brothers, the opportunity for revenge and meritorious deeds has come!"
"As long as we can advance one thousand meters, the Locust Army will not let us participate in the subsequent battle. After the Battle of Datong, everyone will be promoted to one level!"
After hearing the "generous" rewards, the frightened traitors became bold again.
If it was only one thousand meters, there might be a chance to complete the mission issued by the masters. Moreover, there must be many weapons left over from the Eighth Route Army in the city, and they will be able to make a fortune by then.
These days, recruiting troops is easy as long as you have weapons.
It's a pity that their master concealed the existence of the minefield. The simple-minded traitor doesn't even think about why an infantry captain can promise rewards.
"Come on! If you kill an Eighth Route Army soldier, you will be rewarded with ten pieces of ocean! If you are an officer, the reward will be doubled!"
In order to motivate his subordinates, Gui Guiting even used his own small treasury. He led the puppet soldiers to the front line, waving the tortoise box in his hand, and yelling for his brothers to go first.
······
The second line of defense is the machine gun position of the Shanxi-Hebei column.
"Squad leader, it's been almost twenty minutes, why haven't the little Japs made any move? Could it be that they gave up the attack?"
"In order to prepare the current position, we spent more than an hour just moving ammunition. If the enemy is scared, then I don't know where to cry."
"How about we call in artillery and blast the position just now for a few rounds?"
The heavy machine gun is one of the classic components that combines fire and barrier.
In order to cope with the Japanese attack, a column in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region set up multiple machine gun positions on the front line.
Each position is manned by a reinforced machine gun squad, equipped with four Hotchkiss heavy machine guns and 46,000 rounds of ammunition.
The reason why there are four guns is that the air-cooled heavy machine gun has a slightly weaker continuous shooting capability and may have insufficient firepower when facing the Japanese onboard charges.
Two units firing when defending and two units on reserve can perfectly solve the problem.
After hearing what his soldier said, Squad Leader Wang shook his head helplessly. With the personality of the Japs, they would definitely not have the idea of giving up the attack.
Now, it's the calm before the storm.
"Don't worry, the enemy should be thinking of countermeasures now. When they start charging, you will be busy."
"Remember what I said, use short bursts of fire before the Japanese break through the minefield. Wait until they are five hundred meters away from the position, then switch to strafing mode."
As soon as he finished speaking, the observing soldier noticed something strange on the battlefield.
Hundreds of sneaky enemies are advancing from the limit of their field of vision. Judging from his attire, he must be a traitor from the Puppet Mongolian Army.
"Bang!"
After only moving fifty meters, a landmine completed its mission and exploded in the crowd of two Japanese soldiers.
Looking at the panicked enemy, Squad Leader Wang had a sneer on his face. He held the heavy machine gun in front of him with both hands and ordered:
"Inform the squad deputy and ask them not to open fire in a hurry."
"The enemy who managed to crawl out must not be scared back."
Da da da
The short burst of fire started, and deadly bullets flew towards the enemy in an indomitable direction. Where several heavy machine guns focused their fire, dozens of Japanese soldiers fell down one after another, their whole bodies almost beaten into pieces.
Under their feet, the relatively dense bullets raised pieces of soil.
The puppet Mongolian army, which was already frightened by the mine explosion, was instantly beaten to the point of losing all morale.
The Japanese soldiers fled in panic, hurriedly looking for bunkers to avoid the barrage, and the unformed skirmisher line was completely in chaos.
"Teacher! We have encountered a problem!"
"Why don't we withdraw first and think about it in the long term? Anyway, the attack won't last long."
Encountering a short-burst heavy machine gun on the battlefield basically means encountering a ruthless person. This simple truth is naturally understood by the Fourth Division, which has been following the Japanese raids for a long time.
After hearing the advisor's suggestion, Guigui nodded without thinking.
At this juncture, he had already figured out the Japanese's purpose. It's okay to let them go through mines, but at least they have to be given some tools to clear mines and cut barbed wire.
"withdraw!"
"Go back and get the tools, and then look for an angle of attack!"
As soon as these words came out, the traitors who had long been unwilling to fight immediately swarmed backwards, not caring about the heavy machine gun positions watching from behind.
But just as they were about to return to the attack position, two rows of bullets fired from crooked handles stopped the Japs.
When Gui Guiting raised his head, he saw the cold eyes of the Japanese captain. There was no sound here, and he understood what the other party meant in an instant.
Those who retreat will die.
Fortunately, the Japanese did not want to kill them all. After all, they still needed the fourth division to come to the mine.
A moment later, nearly a hundred Japanese infantrymen jumped out of the trenches. These people held engineer shovels and blasting tubes in their hands and followed the precious troops forward.
At the same time, machine guns were also set up one after another, and they began to search for the location of the Eighth Route Army machine guns, and tried to suppress the fire.
"What a black card! Onboard!"
Following the squadron leader's order, the Japanese took advantage of the puppet Mongolian army and began to charge.
They maintained a formation of 15 to 20 people to start clearing mines, otherwise they would become live targets for heavy machine guns due to the large number of people or the concentration of targets.
The explosion of landmines kept ringing on the battlefield, and every time the people in front died, the next group would take over.
At the beginning, the Japanese soldiers would also use the tools in their hands to clear mines and cut barbed wire fences.
After discovering that following the steps would only make them a target, they would directly pick up the remains of their companions or puppet soldiers, carry them in front of them to demine, or lay them directly on the barbed wire fence.
If there are extra corpses, they should be piled on the attack channel to serve as a charging cover for the following infantry.
Faced with the enemy who was gradually going crazy and starting a jade-breaking attack, the heavy machine gun positions also became red-eyed. At first, Lao Wang could keep firing in short bursts, but after five minutes he turned to mechanically pulling the trigger.
The effective range of the Hotchkiss heavy machine gun is 2,400 meters, which is the length of the minefield.
Thousands of puppet soldiers and Japanese soldiers fell to the ground one after another like stubble, and the whole process was as orderly as the flow of work in a slaughterhouse.
For a time, the sound of big bolts shooting and the sound of pig killing after the sudden burst of machine guns resounded on the battlefield, and the north of Datong City had become a large open-air pig killing farm.
If this battlefield can continue for a few more days, it is estimated that more than a dozen machine gun immortals will appear in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region. By then, when John Basilone comes to North China, he will have to knock two of them before leaving.
"Ammunition! Bring a few more boxes of bullet-proof boards!"
"Inform the squad deputy and ask them to move to the alternate position, which is more suitable for crossfire!"
Considering the intensity of this battle, Hotchkiss on the heavy machine gun position did not use the upgraded canvas belt to feed ammunition, but chose a traditional bullet retaining plate.
In just a few breaths, Squad Leader Wang finished shooting the current bullets and casually commanded the soldiers in the squad while waiting for the bullets to be changed.
Suddenly, a Type 97 mortar shell landed near their position.
Although the shells and shrapnel did not harm the soldiers, the shock wave caused by the explosion overturned the heavy machine gun.
In this situation, Squad Leader Wang subconsciously used his hand to hold his weapon. The hot barrel instantly burned through the work gloves and burned his left hand.
"Monitor!"
Faced with the concern of his comrades, the murderous old squad leader gritted his teeth and remained silent. He first moved the heavy machine gun to the backup position with everyone else, and then held the handle and continued to pull the trigger!
"beat!"
"Keep fighting! Don't stop shooting!"
"We cannot allow the enemy to clear mines in comfort. This minefield of more than two kilometers is the cemetery of the Japs! Go and notify the artillery platoon and ask them to help with two rounds. There are a lot of Japs in our direction."
The fierce battle lasted until nine o'clock in the evening.
During the twelve hours of fighting, the most powerful machine gun position even killed 300 enemies.
In order to prevent night attacks, soldiers from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region hung iron sheets on the barbed wire fence. As long as there is light beating in any direction, it will be right to sweep it with a shuttle.
Because the Japanese infantry drill stipulates that flares must be fired before charging in night battles.
The bright light combined with the ointment flags and white cloth strips on their foreheads made the hit rate of each machine gun position even higher.
······
Datong County, battle command post.
"Boss, the casualty statistics of each column have been sent over. The specific figures are similar to our pre-war estimates, only about half a percent more."
"This battle is really interesting. The weaker ones are attacking with less artillery shells, while the stronger ones are defending with more artillery shells. Looking at all the years I have been working as a staff officer, this is the first time I have encountered such a strange thing."
At this time, the tigers in the forest had left Datong, and only army reorganization experts and many staff officers were left in the combat conference room.
Looking at the rows of numbers in his hand, he rubbed his eyebrows a little sadly, and then ordered to the waiting correspondent:
"Notify each column and ask the artillery to make some big noise tonight to give the Japanese the illusion that we are going to counterattack. Take advantage of this moment and ask everyone to withdraw and prepare for street fighting."
"Issaku Nishihara, Otozaburo Otono, and Mamoru Iinuma have gone crazy. I don't want to waste time with them outside the city!" (End of Chapter)
