The purpose of the Japanese was to rescue the besieged first group, and rescuing troops was like putting out fire, so they did not pursue the defeated group in the mountains on both wings;
The Japanese's dozen Type 95 tanks took the lead, charging along the highway at high speed, and soon left the accompanying infantry behind.
The Second Regiment, responsible for blocking the second line of defense, saw the Japanese Iron Bastard coming alone and entered the roadside bomb area, and decisively detonated the roadside bomb;
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Several huge explosions sounded, blowing up the first two tanks and temporarily blocking the Japanese tank group on the road.
Taking advantage of his illness to kill him, when he saw the Japanese tanks stopped, the dozen or so Mulan artillery batteries that had been ambushing two or three hundred meters away on both sides of the road were like a group of hunting pigs who had spotted their prey. They gathered around and fired one 107mm heavy rocket at the Japanese tank group from a distance of about 150 meters;
Without the accompanying infantry group and temporarily losing speed, the tank group was a living target in front of the Mulan cannon. In less than a minute, they were all beaten to death. The tank group, which the Japanese had high hopes for, was wiped out.
"Kill the chicken for..."
A few minutes later, when the Japanese from the Matsui Regiment caught up, they only saw the remains of tanks lying on the ground;
The frustrated Matsui Regiment Japs continued their pursuit over the wreckage of the tank. However, the Second Regiment, which was blocked by the enemy, was beaten with a sap. After losing dozens of men, they finally became wiser and retreated two to three hundred meters, waiting for reinforcements to catch up. Attack together again.
More than an hour later, the main Japanese reinforcements, the 55th Regiment and the Mountain Artillery Regiment, arrived. When the division chief of staff, Soshiro Imaoka, saw that the chariot was easily destroyed by the Chinese, he cursed angrily:
"Bagayalu, the Chinese are cunning and cunning!
Order the Mountain Artillery Regiment to quickly establish artillery positions and let them endure the wrath of the imperial army! "
The establishment of artillery positions was not a short-term matter. Colonel Imaoka could only order the infantry of the 55th and 56th Regiments to camp on the spot along both sides of the road, and send troops to guard the two wings to prevent Chinese sneak attacks;
Colonel Imaoka's tactical literacy is still very high. He must do a good job of defense before attacking.
After the arrangements were made, Colonel Imaoka summoned several commanders to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy. He first asked Colonel Matsui to learn about the enemy's situation:
"Matsui-kun, please brief everyone on the battle situation!"
Colonel Matsui paused and then said:
"Gentlemen, the Chinese who blocked the imperial army were wearing earth-gray military uniforms. They should be the Eighth Route Army. They have a very strong will to fight and are well-trained. There are two main types of weapons and equipment;
One is the Empire's standard weapon, the other is the John Bull's standard weapon, and there is an individual artillery that can destroy tanks at a distance of more than 100 meters, similar to the individual anti-tank guns equipped by the Empire.
They set up a total of two blocking lines. The first line had been defeated by the imperial army, and the enemy in front of them was the second line, which consisted of about two or three thousand people;
Due to time constraints, they only had time to build simple fortifications along both sides of the road to prevent the imperial army from rescuing the besieged first brigade..."
With the introduction of Colonel Matsui, Colonel Imaoka and others had a basic understanding of the battlefield situation. Colonel Imaoka quickly had a combat plan. Reinforcement was like putting out a fire, and they did not allow them to think too much:
"Gentlemen, the Eighteenth Division has never been afraid of challenges from powerful enemies. John Bull, who is always defeated in one blow, cannot show the strength of our Ju Division. Today we will let the Eighth Route Army experience the martial arts of the Ju Division!
Fifteen minutes later, the Mountain Artillery Regiment launched a fierce shelling on the enemy in front of them on time, assisting the 55th Regiment to defeat the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop. The 56th Regiment served as a reserve force;
Let the cannon speak for who is the elite! "
The Japanese are obsessed with artillery and are confident that they bully the Chinese people who have no artillery. One of their divisions has more artillery than an army of the Central Army, not to mention other miscellaneous brands.
Ten minutes later, the Japs began to attack. Dozens of light and heavy artillery pieces from the Mountain Artillery Regiment fired hard at the position of the Second Regiment, with shells raining down like raindrops.
Sections of trenches were razed to the ground, and the power of the Japanese artillery was overwhelming.
Fortunately, the Second Regiment only left one company in the forward position, and all troops were deployed in echelons for flexible defense, so the casualties were not very large;
The independent division would not be stupid enough to put all its troops to bomb them. When the Japanese established artillery positions, the main force of the second regiment had already withdrawn, extending the depth of the defense line to more than three kilometers to lure the enemy deeper.
As soon as the Japanese artillery fire extended, a large group of infantry rushed up almost stepping on the artillery point;
There were whistles all over the position, and groups of gray figures quickly rushed out of the artillery holes, lying on the trenches and firing at the Japanese.
More than a dozen machine guns spit out tongues of fire, mowing down rows of Japanese soldiers. After suffering a loss, the charging Japanese soldiers began to lie on the ground and shoot at the Eighth Route Army, and sent small troops to detour from both sides.
The defensive front of a company was too narrow and could not prevent the Japanese from making a detour. When the company commander saw that the Japanese were making a detour, he decisively issued an order to retreat;
"Yo Xi, the cowardly Eighth Route Army has retreated, continue the pursuit!"
Colonel Imaoka put down the telescope and ordered.
The Second Regiment fought and retreated at the same time. They basically persisted for a few minutes and then retreated. The Japanese chased the Second Regiment and charged and fought fiercely. The battle line became longer and longer, and they finally chased them into an open area;
The troops who had been encircling and annihilating the first group of the 56th Regiment of the Japs saw the main force of the Japs arriving. They knew they were in trouble, gave up the encirclement and annihilation of the Japs, and collapsed on the two flanks of the mountains.
At this time, there were only more than 300 people in the Japanese First Division, and the captain also died in the battle. Two of the three squadron leaders died, leaving only Captain Fujii as the squadron leader;
The Japanese finally rescued their besieged troops, but there were still three regiments blocking the front. They could not break through with their own strength. They could only wait for the main force of the 55th Regiment to arrive before attacking.
"Imaoka-kun, the 55th Regiment has defeated the blocking Eighth Route Army and rescued the besieged Imperial Army. The Imperial Army has won."
A communications staff officer came over to report, and Colonel Imaoka nodded with satisfaction after listening;
After winning a great battle, the division commander will definitely praise him greatly after returning. Practice has proved that he is capable of independently commanding a force of tens of thousands of people.
"Yoshi, order the 55th Regiment to make slight adjustments and continue to attack in the direction of Mandalay. We will arrive at Mandalay City before dark!
The 56th Regiment and the Field Artillery Regiment followed up and captured Mandalay in one fell swoop. "
The old devil Imaoka is very ambitious and wants to be a general!
People tend to be extremely happy and sad when they are most proud, so this is a perfect example for Mr. Imaoka...
At the position of the Independent Division Artillery Regiment two kilometers away, the latest 8-barreled 130mm Weishen cannons have been prepared. The regiment leader Liu Zhe carefully inspected each cannon and adjusted it to fire at Zhu Yuan. It’s time for the general attack!
The first target they hit was the 56th Regiment and the Mountain Artillery Regiment where Colonel Imama was located. They were in a stationary state and exposed in the wild. They were the favorite targets of the rocket artillery regiment.
"Damn it, it must be covered with artillery fire, it's too arrogant!"
Liu Zhe said harshly. He took out his pocket watch and took another look. There was still one minute left!
"We have the artillery regiment, one minute countdown to prepare!"
"30 seconds!"
"15 seconds!"
…
"5!"
"4!"
"3!"
——
"fire!"
"Tweet, Tweet, Tweet, Tweet..."
Strings of "fireworks" shot out of the cannon and headed straight for the Japanese
Within one minute, the 16 Weishen artillery pieces of the artillery regiment fired 128 130mm heavy rockets at the positions of the 56th Regiment and the Field Artillery Regiment. The scene was very spectacular, like——
"Bagaya Road, who is setting off the fireworks?"
——
"Enemy attack?"
The old devil Imaoka's face turned pale with fright...
