Eastern Front, Langtou Mountain, 78th Army Defense Area
The sand table in front of the enemy headquarters of the 78th Army was filled with dense blue, white and red flags;
The combat staff kept pulling out the blue flags one after another and replacing them with the Japanese white flags, which meant that another Central Army unit was defeated.
"Brigadier Commander, the enemy's progress is too fast. In less than a day, the enemy has marched straight in. These bastards of the Central Army are simply defeated at the first touch;
The Japs interspersed very resolutely, almost textbook style, the two sides were not on the same level at all. "
Zhong Guoliang said with great emotion that the defeat of the Kuomintang army was completely beyond his understanding and left him overwhelmed.
Chu Xiong nodded and said:
“The Japs are copying Mustache’s blitzkrieg. Although they do not have enough armored troops as an assault force, this does not affect the efficiency of their breakthrough;
Their tactical intention was very obvious. Their Northern Route Army cut in from the junction of the 14th Army and the 5th Army and penetrated all the way into Yuanqu County on the north bank of the river, dividing the two armies into two.
Then they moved forward from east to west, cutting the Fourteenth Army and the Fifth Army into two halves respectively. In this way, the entire Zhongtiao Mountain Defense Area would be cut into four large pieces by the Japanese that were not affiliated with each other.
Now the Japanese are just cutting, and it is not yet time to close the net. In the first stage, they will cut, and in the second stage, they will send out heavy troops to repeatedly encircle and suppress the net, driving the defeated troops of the Central Army towards the river. At that time, they will have no choice but to jump into the river. The tactics are impeccable. , with extremely vicious intentions! "
After hearing this, Wang Junjie asked anxiously:
"Brigadier Commander, if our 78th Army keeps resisting the Japanese on the eastern front and prevents them from completing the east-west advance, will their strategic intentions not be achieved?"
Chu Xiong shook his head and said:
"Old Wang, the core of the Japanese tactics is not to advance from east to west, but to cut from north to south. The battlefield on the eastern front is not decisive;
Even if we can always resist the Japanese's East Route Army, as long as the Japanese's West Route Army is interspersed in place, our 78th Army will face the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.
When the time comes, the enemy's east and west armies of nearly 60,000 people will attack us from both front and rear, and we will be in trouble;
Instead of doing this, we should get out of the way and let the Japs' East Route Army pass through, while our main force retreats towards the mountainous areas on both flanks. As long as we maintain smooth command, the Japs will not be able to take advantage of us even if we mess up the battle. "
"Brigadier Commander, from last night to now, the offensive of the Japanese 35th Division has been very fierce. Li Chenxi's 803 has been fighting hard for a day. The Japanese have only advanced less than 500 meters. When will we get out of the way?"
Zhao Sihu already understood Chu Xiong's tactical intentions, and it was only a matter of time before the 803rd Regiment pretended to be defeated.
Chu Xiong thought for a while and said:
"Don't worry, let Li Chenxi hold on for another two hours, then withdraw from the battle when it gets dark, and let the Japanese separate the two groups pretending to be the main force;
The main force continued to hide in the high mountains and tunnels of Langtou Mountain, waiting for the best opportunity to counterattack. "
On the left flank of Langtoushan, the 219th Regiment of the 35th Division once again launched an attack.
"Boom boom boom..."
"Boom boom boom..."
The division's heavy artillery group launched an indiscriminate bombing mode against the 803rd Regiment's position, hoping to flatten the position.
The position of the 803rd Regiment is built on Highland 918, which is the left-wing portal of Langtou Mountain. The canyon below Highland 918 is the only way for the Japanese to complete the east-west advance. On the other side is the defense area of the 804th Regiment, which is claimed to be the 1st Brigade of the 78th Army. , Second Brigade.
The Grand Canyon runs east-west, with a depth of more than 30 kilometers, and a width of 2 to 5 kilometers from north to south. Highland 918 and Highland 775, stationed by the 804th Regiment, are located on the north and south sides of the Grand Canyon respectively, like two protruding wolf teeth stuck tightly. The Grand Canyon died, and the Grand Canyon was named Langya Valley.
The 35th Division focused its main attack on Highland 918, which was guarded by the 803rd Regiment. Because it occupied Highland 918, it would be much easier to attack Highland 775.
The 35th Division is an old friend of the Independent Brigade. It was almost completely wiped out in the First Battle of Yuci, with less than 3,000 men standing out. Even the division commander met with Amaterasu, and the soldiers were replaced.
However, the Japanese did not admit that the losses were so huge. They transferred three main brigades from various units as the backbone, and added more than 10,000 supplementary troops brought from the mainland. The 35th Division regained its strength in less than half a year. As for how much its combat effectiveness had been restored. If it succeeds, it must rely on actual combat testing.
The Japanese heavy artillery is very lethal. In order to reduce the damage caused by the Japanese artillery group, Li Chenxi compressed the front of the position to be very narrow, but the depth was very long;
Four light defense lines were built, each of which was more than 300 meters apart.
Each line of defense is composed of three main trenches opened in a Z shape. Each trench is connected by a communication trench. The Tibetan Army Cave is directly dug into a tunnel fortification deep into the mountain;
Not to mention the Japanese's 75mm mountain cannon, even if the Japanese's heavy aircraft bombs were dropped on it, it would only flatten some loose soil and stones on the surface, which would have little effect on the defenders hiding in the tunnels.
The East Route Army is assigned two puppet armies. These puppet armies are different from the previous puppet armies that had little fighting will. They are the troops of the puppet Manchukuo State;
Well-equipped and with a strong will to fight, in another time and space they captured more than 30,000 Central Army prisoners, and the Japs themselves captured 20,000, which shows that their combat effectiveness is not much weaker than that of the Japs.
As soon as the Japanese artillery preparations ended, Zhang Lanfeng's puppet troops, eager to show off, launched a hasty charge towards the position of the 1st Battalion of the 803rd Regiment.
"Brothers, show your hands to the Taijuns. I, the Manchu warrior, am not inferior to the Taijuns!"
Zhang Sigou shouted loudly that he was Zhang Lanfeng's cousin and the leader of the regiment, and he was very arrogant.
A whistle sounded on the position of the 1st Battalion of the 803rd Regiment. This was the alert personnel on the position. They used the whistle to notify their comrades in the anti-gun cave that the enemy was coming.
In less than a minute, hundreds of people appeared on the originally empty position, and they returned to their respective fighting positions according to the previous arrangements.
Machine guns, mortars, grenade launchers, Mulan cannons, and Wei Yixiao cannons stood ready, waiting for Ergouzi to rush up.
Zhang Lanfeng's puppet troops usually bullied the Anti-Japanese Alliance who were short of guns and ammunition in Baishan and Heishui. They were very angry and did not take the 78th Army seriously at all.
In their opinion, in China, Taijun is first and they are second.
They lined up in the same skirmish formation as the Japanese and quickly rushed forward, already within the range of the first battalion's light and heavy firepower.
The battalion commander decisively gave the order to open fire.
"Dong dong dong..."
The 12 Wei Yixiao artillery guns of the artillery battery took the lead in roaring and smashed 12 explosive packets into the group of puppet troops.
"Boom boom boom..."
A series of explosions sounded, and the nightmare of the puppet army came!
The huge explosion tore the puppet army into pieces, and each explosive package brought down a large piece.
