As the gunfire on the battlefield gradually became sparse, all aspects of the situation were also reported to Yang Yuanshan.
The first is the artillery side.
Almost all the artillery of the two artillery companies was lost, leaving only two 41-type 75 mountain guns, two 37-type rapid-fire guns, and one 92-type infantry gun.
However, due to the artillery's good concealment in advance, only seventy or eighty people were killed or seriously injured, which was considered a blessing among misfortunes.
You must know that their position is a key bombing target of the Japanese planes. On average, at least seven or eight aerial bombs have hit every hilltop.
As for the machine gun platoon, it was even worse.
They were bombed by twenty or thirty aerial bombs. Not only were all four machine guns destroyed, but the gunners and ammunition handlers were also almost completely injured and killed. Not even a single soldier could stand up again.
Zhang Xiaohe led the health team to rush to their position, but only found seven or eight gunners and ammunition handlers who were seriously injured and unconscious.
However, platoon leader Liu Changshou was lucky. Although half of his cheek was cut off by a piece of shrapnel and his internal organs were damaged by the shock wave of the aerial bomb explosion, he was still breathing and was carried off on a stretcher.
But whether it can survive is still unknown.
At this time, Han Yang also ran quickly to report:
"Battal Commander, our four companies have killed more than 100 Japs, 70 or 80 mine policemen, and more than 200 coal mine workers of Japs. We have completely occupied the coal mine!"
"Okay! How are your casualties?"
Yang Yuanshan asked with concern.
It's natural for a lion to fight a rabbit to win this coal mine, but if the casualties are too great, then he will regret it.
“Originally, the casualties suffered during the coal mine attack were very small, but then the Japs’ bombers came and our losses were considerable.
Lao He and I just made a brief inventory. There were hundreds of people killed in the four companies, and nearly two hundred people were injured. "
"Good guy, almost an entire company is gone!
I must find an opportunity to blow up the kid's airport! "
A battle that he originally thought he could win easily has now resulted in so many casualties. Yang Yuanshan is filled with anger and guilt!
One general was incompetent and the three armies were exhausted. Now he felt that he was the incompetent general.
Looking at his expression, Han Yang understood his mood and quickly explained to him:
"Battal Commander, we have gained a lot. There are four to five thousand miners in the coal mine. Now that we have rescued them, many miners want to join our Eighth Route Army!"
We definitely don't have to worry about soldiers. "
"Okay! Send people to do the work and try to get them to come with us.
Let's go back and select the right people to join our camp. "
"yes!"
Han Yang nodded and prepared to leave.
Yang Yuanshan suddenly remembered something and said quickly:
"By the way, remember to arrange for the miners to dismantle all the machines in the Xiaoguizi Coal Mine, and ask the miners to help carry them to the mountains and find a hidden place to bury them.
Although we can't use it now, it will definitely be useful in the future.
The coal in Shuiquan Coal Mine belongs to our Jin people. If the little devil wants to dig it away, he is just dreaming! "
"yes!
But battalion commander, if you ask me to lead people to do this, I'm afraid it will be delayed to clean up the battlefield. "
“Don’t clean up the battlefield, just let people carry away the bodies of our fallen soldiers.
This time I have made an agreement with Commander Ding that all the seizures on the battlefield will be given to them, and we will take away all the livestock in the coal mine.
If this coal mine is to transport coal and other things, it will definitely require mules, carts, etc. Get rid of these! "
"yes!"
…
After making some arrangements, Han Yang immediately took the people to work.
At this time, Ding Wei, whose face was covered with gunpowder smoke, rushed over with his people.
"Yang Yuanshan, how are the casualties in your battalion?"
“The casualties are not light.
My artillery company basically lost all its artillery. There were originally more than 20 guns, but only 5 were left.
The anti-aircraft gun platoon was almost completely wiped out.
The infantrymen who attacked the coal mine also suffered two to three hundred casualties.
Commander Ding, what about you? "
“Our casualties were slightly lighter, and we lost nearly two hundred people.
There are too many planes for the kid. I have never seen so many planes! "
Ding Wei was a little frightened.
In the past, when they attacked the Japs, they were bombed by at most three or five bombers. They had never seen such a scene where 24 planes were dispatched at once.
It’s too scary!
"Yeah, this water spring really can't be easily decided, it's really a hornet's nest.
Maybe the garrison troops from Shimen, Niangziguan and other places are already moving here.
Commander Ding, let’s quickly clean up the battlefield and retreat!
Maybe after dawn, the Japanese bombers will come again. "
"good!
As you said, there is indeed a lot of food in Shuiquan Coal Mine. My people just reported that it is tens of thousands of kilograms.
As for cotton-padded clothes, if I took off all the cotton-padded coats from the little devil’s corpse, I could make up a few hundred pieces, which would solve my urgent need.
But do you really want none of those little devils’ equipment?
I see that many of your soldiers have emptied their bullet bags. "
"We have agreed on the spoils in advance, so there is no need to change it.
In addition, my people reported that they rescued four to five thousand miners. I guess these people are good soldiers. Would Commander Ding want to select some as well? "
Yang Yuanshan didn't care about the loot at all. When he was going to lead the soldiers back to the base, he passed by Yangshugou and picked up the equipment he had put there before. When the time came, he would have whatever he wanted.
And it’s still brand new!
I can't bear to look down on these rags captured on the battlefield!
Seeing that Yang Yuanshan really didn't care about weapons and equipment, Ding Wei could only curse in his heart that this spy camp was a fat rich man.
Hearing him talk about miners, he immediately nodded and said:
"Okay, I'll send Lao Zhong to recruit a few hundred people. It will just make up for the losses in this battle."
…
After arranging all the matters, Yang Yuanshan ordered Ding Yongkuan and Gao Yuanzhi to bring a few gunners with the best gunnery skills to use the remaining two 75 mountain cannons to aim at Shuiquan City, the little devil, to conduct live ammunition artillery training and bombard him. Damn it.
The Type 41 75mm mountain gun has a maximum range of 7 kilometers, which is enough to hit Shuiquan City from Mao Mao Mountain.
The purpose of his order was not only because he didn't want to take the shells back, but also to scare the little devils.
Tell them that their artillery has not been blown up by bombers, and tell them that they had better not come out to cause trouble and affect the soldiers cleaning the battlefield.
When Ding Yongkuan and Gao Yuanzhi heard this order, although they didn't quite understand why they were wasting artillery shells, they still resolutely carried out the order.
However, they did not follow Yang Yuanshan's wishes and choose the gunners with the best gunnery skills. Instead, they personally took several gunners with the worst gunnery skills and taught them step by step how to operate the gunnery.
Try to train these gunners who are not good at artillery.
Soon, the "bang bang" sound of mountain cannons was heard.
The soldiers of the special agent battalion and the new regiment were naturally surprised, thinking that the Japs had come out to attack again.
Han Yang and Ding Wei both sent people to inquire. After learning the truth, they couldn't help being speechless.
Especially Ding Wei, he thought to himself: You idiot, you don't take artillery shells seriously. These are mountain artillery shells. The headquarters artillery regiment is short of good things!
…
On Shuiquan City, the 225th Wing Chief of Staff Nakao Soichi originally saw so many bombers bombing the artillery positions on Tubal Road, and thought that the artillery on Tubal Road would be completely wiped out.
Unexpectedly, out of 24 bombers, only 11 escaped in the end, which made him so angry that he cursed the aviation force as useless.
However, he thought that as long as the Tubal artillery was blown up, Shuiquan City would be safe.
So after he heard the sound of gunfire from Shuiquan Coal Mine becoming less and less frequent, although he knew that Tubal Road had a high probability of taking over Shuiquan Coal Mine, he didn't panic too much. As long as Shuiquan City was not lost, that would be fine.
But now, when the "whoosh" sound of flying artillery shells reached his ears, he suddenly became angry and cursed:
"Baga! Those trash guys in the aviation force didn't even wipe out the artillery on Tubal Road!
I want to report to General Okamura! "
However, no matter how much he cursed, he could not prevent several kilograms of high-explosive grenades from falling into Shuiquan City and the city walls.
Continuous shells exploded and left a mess everywhere.
The little Japanese officers could only shout at the top of their lungs:
"Avoid the cannon! Hurry up!"
The sound was extremely shrill.
This artillery training lasted for nearly half an hour and used up all the mountain artillery shells carried by the secret service battalion.
The gunners in the two artillery companies of the Secret Service Battalion who were not good at artillery had been trained well enough, and their artillery skills naturally improved a lot.
And their training also resulted in over a hundred casualties among the Japs in Shuiquan City, which can be considered a small gain.
…
In the north of Shuiquan City, Zhang Dabiao and his first battalion of soldiers were still frantically digging trenches and anti-gun holes to prevent the Japs bombers from coming again and the enemies from Shuiquan City rushing out.
At this time, they heard the sound of cannons and saw the miserable appearance of the little Japs in Shuiquan City being blasted to pieces.
Zhang Dabiao immediately grinned and said with a smile:
"Good guy, the cannons of this secret service battalion can hit really far! Kill these sons of bitches!"
Deputy Battalion Commander Luo Dafei frowned and asked:
"Battal Commander, with such an explosion, you won't be able to kill a few little Japs, right?
Just two cannons, and at such a distance.
Isn't this a waste of shells? "
"Hey, you don't understand.
That kid Yang Yuanshan is full of cannonballs!
And if he blows up like this, the little devil probably won't be able to go out of the city to cause trouble for us. "
While the two were talking, a correspondent from the secret service battalion riding a bicycle came to report:
"Battle Commander Zhang, our battalion commander asked me to inform you that you can retreat in one hour!"
"Okay! Has Yang Yuanshan finished the work?"
Zhang Dabiao was very excited. In fact, he had guessed it a few minutes ago when he saw that Yang Yuanshan could bombard Shuiquan City, but now that he had the exact news, he felt more at ease.
The little devil's posture with dozens of bombers just now really made him a little uneasy. This posture was just like Zhang Dabiao who snatched Shinozuka Kazuo's mother-in-law!
Now that he had received the news that he could retreat, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yes, we have already cleared the residue in the coal mine, and the problem should be completely solved soon."
"Okay, go report to your battalion commander and say that our first battalion will retreat in an hour!"
"yes!"
…
An hour later, seeing the sky getting darker, Zhang Dabiao immediately ordered all the soldiers in the battalion to retreat step by step. It took half an hour to finally evacuate Taolingou.
On Shuiquan City, the little Japanese who had been shelled for half an hour naturally discovered the movements of the first battalion. The captain, Lieutenant Colonel Sanada Jungen, immediately asked Nakao Satoshi for instructions:
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, Tubal Road has withdrawn. I suggest that we chase after them, bite their rear, and defend the glory of our Locust Army!"
At this point, does Nakao Soichi still know that this group of Eighth Route Army is just to provide cover for the Eighth Route Army attacking the coal mine?
He also wanted to agree with Sanada Shunyuan's opinion and send troops to pursue them one after another.
But he had read a lot of art of war recently, and was very worried that this was Tubalu's routine of "making the real use the imaginary, and the imaginary the real". In addition, seeing that it was about to get dark, he still shook his head and refused:
"No!
Sanada-kun, the mission given to our 225th Regiment by the Division Commander is to defend Shuiquan City, not to eliminate Tubal Road.
There are still two mountain cannons on Tubal Road over the coal mine, which pose a great threat to us. Although they have stopped shelling now, they may not be brewing some kind of conspiracy!
Let’s not get into trouble! "
Seeing that this guy was so conservative, Sanada Shunyuan was naturally very unhappy, and wanted to assure the other party that they stopped shelling because there were no more shells.
But he also knew that he had no evidence to convince the Chief of Staff, so he could only nod helplessly:
"Hi! Your Majesty, Chief of Staff, is wise!"
But in his heart, he couldn't help but slander the good-for-nothing captain of the regiment who indulged in alcohol and sex, ignored military affairs, and left all the military and political affairs of the 225th regiment to this coward, Soichi Nakao, which ruined the great cause of the Locust Army!
(End of chapter)
