Songmaoling, the blocking position of the guerrilla brigade
Entering the last highland suitable for defense in the Zezhou Plain, the independent mixed fifth brigade finally encountered a strong blockage from the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, which actually made Major General Ishii breathe a sigh of relief.
It is impossible to attack a city without blocking or attacking troops. If they are never encountered, it can only mean that there is a bigger conspiracy hidden behind it.
"Xichuan Jun, Chu Xiong is a famous Eighth Route Army general, it is impossible for him to make such a low-level mistake as attacking a city without blocking reinforcements;
Along the way, I have been thinking about where Chuxiong's blocking force will be waiting for us. I guessed several positions, but I couldn't guess them correctly. This is the last one!
After passing Songmaoling, there is the vast Zezhou Plain in front of them. All the way to Zezhou City, there is no danger to defend. Chu Xiong's troops chose this place very carefully. "
Major General Ishii, who was in a better mood, deliberately gave up after saying this. Nishikawa also pretended not to know and asked:
"General, teach me!"
Naturally, Ishii knew that Nishikawa was deliberately making fun of himself. This is a quality that a good chief of staff should have. Nishikawa was very satisfied with his performance and continued to show off:
“Topographically speaking, where we are now is a huge depression, like a shallow bathtub. Although it is very stable, the height difference from Songmaoling is at least 50 meters;
The slope is about 15 degrees, and the attack distance is more than 500 meters, which means that the imperial army needs to attack from the rear, and the Eighth Route Army has a geographical advantage.
The imperial army had marched all the way from Anping City for more than 60 kilometers. The troops were very tired and they were about to win. The sudden appearance of a blocking force had a certain impact on the morale of the imperial army;
Coupled with the fact that the Eighth Route Army was waiting for work, they also had an advantage in time and space.
People and people have their own advantages in this area, so Chu Xiong believes that if the time and place are right and they take advantage of them, then they will definitely win. "
Speaking of this, it was time to sell things off again. Nishikawa directly took Ishii’s words this time and said:
"Chinese people have been fond of playing tricks for thousands of years. If we relied on the right time, place and people to fight, the imperial army would not have relied on hundreds of thousands of troops to sweep through most of China!
This is an era where strength is king. In the face of absolute strength, the so-called right time, right place and right people will be crushed to pieces by the powerful and invincible imperial army! "
Ishii is very satisfied with Nishikawa's performance. The imperial army should have this kind of domineering power to move forward and defeat all enemies.
The Fifth Brigade has no retreat. Not to mention that the front is just a small slope, even an iron wall has to be overcome, so morale is very important.
"Nishikawa-kun, judging from the military flag displayed by the other party, it is the Qinglongshan Guerrilla Brigade of the Independent Regiment. Do you know much about this unit?"
This is the time to test his professional qualities as chief of staff. Just flattering won't work. Nishikawa quickly reported what he knew to Ishii:
"Your Excellency General, Chuxiong's independent regiment has six infantry battalions and a Qinglong Mountain guerrilla brigade. This guerrilla brigade was adapted from the original Qinglong Mountain bandits. The total number of people is more than a thousand. They are all ragtag groups. They can really The number of regular troops we fought will not exceed 500.”
When Ishii heard this, he felt confident. It seemed that Chu Xiong had used his main force to attack the city. He thought that with more than a thousand bandits, he could stop a field brigade of the imperial army. He didn't treat Ishii as a piece of cake. !
"Xichuan Jun, notify the Fifth Brigade to launch an attack on the Eighth Route Army and defeat this rabble in one fell swoop. The other troops will rest on the spot and the First Brigade will be on guard to prevent sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army."
"Your Excellency General, you are wise. The Fifth Battalion has always been used as a reserve force. It is the only one that maintains full combat strength. Now is the most critical moment. Yoneda-kun should have been waiting to make contributions to the empire!"
"Yoshi, I also have unlimited expectations for Yoneda-kun, let's get started!"
Ishii was also annoyed by Xiao Zhuoyi's telegram. He urgently needed to take Songmaoling in one go and relieve the siege of Zezhou as soon as possible.
In the battle with Chuxiong under Anping City, Ishii was very frustrated. Not only did he lose 8 heavy artillery, but the casualties in each brigade exceeded 1,500. Including the lightly wounded, there were only more than 5,200 people left for combat;
The absolute loss has exceeded 1,000 people, which means that an entire brigade has been wiped out.
The goal of annihilating Chuxiong was not achieved. After a lot of back and forth, another brigade was lost. The standard was to lose the wife and the troops. Even if the siege of Zezhou was solved, it would still be a defeat.
"Boom boom boom..."
"Boom boom boom..."
The attack of the fifth brigade began. In order to provide fire support to the Yonetian brigade that was conducting the main attack, the Japanese gathered all the remaining dozen mortars from each brigade, plus the last two infantry cannons, to form an artillery group. The guerrilla brigade's position launched a fierce shelling.
In the guerrilla brigade headquarters, Yan Haoyu was observing the Japanese bombardment with a telescope. Next to him were Gao Dezhu, the second company commander who was used as a reserve team, and Li Chenxi, the third company commander of a certain regiment, and others.
"Battle Commander Yan, you can't always use us as a reserve force. We are all brothers. You can't always come to us to watch you fight the Japanese!"
Li Chenxi couldn't hold it in any longer, and it made his hands itchy to watch others fight.
In this battle, in addition to Chu Xiong's independent regiment, the Eighth Route Army actually used a total of seven regiments including the 28th Regiment, the New Second Regiment, and the 772nd Regiment. This was the last time Chu Xiong sent equipment to the brigade headquarters and closed the door with the brigade commander. After muttering for a long time, the result was agreed upon. The goal was to form an independent fifth brigade!
When Yan Haoyu saw that Li Chenxi was holding back, he tried to persuade him:
"Captain Li, don't be anxious. There are plenty of battles for you to fight. There are more than 5,000 Japanese main force on the opposite side. We only have more than 1,600 people including the second-line troops. The strength ratio is three to one. Be prepared for a big sacrifice!
The mission given to us by the chief of staff is to hold off until dusk. There are at least five hours left. I must keep enough reserves in case of emergency. "
Li Chenxi still wanted to say something, but Yan Haoyu said loudly:
"Look, the Japanese bombardment has stopped. Damn it, the Japanese are going to fight with all their strength as soon as they come up!"
Li Chenxi could only keep his mouth shut and accompany Yan Haoyu and others to watch others fight.
On the forward position, Hu Shuangquan's 1st company was once again at the forefront, followed by the 3rd company.
Hu Shuangquan's company has long been transformed. There is no trace of the bandit armed forces anymore. They lie motionless in their respective battle positions and do not need Hu Shuangquan's various reminders. Everyone knows what they should do.
The Japanese Fifth Battalion was fierce, forming three echelons and pressing darkly towards the 1st Company position. At first glance, it looked like a new force that had never suffered any losses.
Soon their forwards rushed to 200 meters away from the first company position. This distance was already within the range of the machine gun, so all the Japanese skirmishers bent down. These were real old Japanese soldiers;
Crazy to the point of being crazy, but the tactical quality will not be compromised at all. This is destined to be a battle of steel swords against steel swords!
Yan Haoyu put down the telescope and said to Gao Dezhu:
"You see, this is definitely the most elite unit of the Fifth Brigade. If you want to give us a showdown, there is no way!
We changed our tactics, notified the artillery battery with semaphores, and fired at the second and third echelons of the Japanese. Each Wei Yixiao artillery shot three shells. After the attack, we retreated and fired! "
A minute later, the artillery company received the order to fire. The twelve Wei Yixiao cannons of the artillery company had been buried long ago;
Originally, the Yinjiizi artillery group was retained, but now the tactics have been changed. The artillery company commander shouted loudly:
"fire!"
