Chapter 562: You have to speak with your conscience!萐
Northwest Shanxi.
Independent regimental defense area.
Although the Dajinggou tunnel position had been lost, the capture of Dajinggou cost the Japanese more than 1,600 men.
Except for the very beginning, using tunnel tactics to kill a large group of Japanese soldiers.
The Japs captured the Dajingou tunnel position and lost more than 600 people. In addition to the Japs who were killed and wounded on other attacking routes, the Japs attacking from the north suffered more than 2,000 casualties.
However, there is only one chance for Da Jinggou to kill a Japanese group at once.
In the future, we can only confront the Japanese head-on.萐
In the past, the Eighth Route Army rarely fought positional battles and critical battles with the Japanese, mainly because of poor equipment and insufficient ammunition.
If the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese had the same equipment and logistical supplies, it would be completely worthwhile for the Eighth Route Army to engage in positional warfare with the Japanese.
However, the equipment of the main force of the Eighth Route Army is much better than that of the Japanese, so fighting a positional battle with the Japanese will have a great advantage.
Daling Mountain is one of the main roads into the independent regiment base area from the direction of Datong.
It was originally a horse trail, but was expanded into a road by the people organized by the Independence Regiment.
This is also the focus of the independent regiment's defense. After the Japanese captured Dajinggou, they quickly attacked here.
Responsible for defending the Dajinggou position is the main force of the Second Battalion of the Independent Regiment, and the battalion commander is Shen Quan.萐
The Japanese attacked Dajinggou at all costs. After killing a large number of Japanese, the second battalion commander Shen Quan ordered the soldiers to retreat to the second line of defense and continue to fight positional battles with the Japanese.
Today's independent regiment battalions also have a four-four system. Each battalion has more than 1,000 troops and is equipped with all beautiful weapons and equipment.
In addition, there are more than 4,000 militiamen, equipped with weapons that have been eliminated by the main force, and their combat effectiveness is not bad.
Garand M1 semi-automatic rifle, M3 submachine gun, bazooka, M2 heavy machine gun, M1917 heavy machine gun, as well as Czech light machine gun and other equipment.
Within the headquarters.
Through the field of view of the telescope, Shen Quan watched the mountain artillery regiment of the Japanese 23rd Division blowing the Second Battalion's position into a sea of flames, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.
The Japanese's mountain artillery can only destroy civil fortifications, not tunnels and bunkers.萐
When the Japanese fired artillery, the soldiers got into the tunnels and bunkers. When the Japanese finished the bombardment, they came out of the tunnels and bunkers and entered the ambush position.
Using this tactic, one company can block the attack of a Japanese coalition.
The Japanese bombardment ended quickly, and the Japanese knew that this method of attack was a waste of shells.
After the shelling ended, the Japanese's third attack of the day began. About a squadron of Japanese soldiers and a company of puppet troops rushed towards the position.
Defending the position was the Fifth Company of the Second Battalion. More than 180 people from the Fifth Company quickly entered the position after the Japanese bombardment ended.
In the first three attacks by the Japanese and puppet troops, the Second Battalion suffered a total of more than 50 casualties, but it eliminated hundreds of Japanese and puppet troops.
"Fire!" As soon as the Japanese and puppet troops entered a position 100 meters away from the forward position, the fifth company commander issued the order to fire.萐
"Da da da…"
Gunfire like exploding beans rang out, and the puppet troops at the front who were treated as artillery fire suddenly fell to pieces.
The Eighth Route Army engaged in positional warfare and brought the Japanese and puppet troops closer to fight because the Eighth Route Army lacked ammunition and strived to kill an enemy with one bullet. Even if the ammunition was exhausted, they could still obtain weapons and ammunition from the Japanese corpses to continue fighting.
But now the independent regiment has very strong firepower and sufficient ammunition. Moreover, the weapons and ammunition of the independent regiment are not interoperable with the Japanese. They can fire at a distance of 100 meters.
After the vanguards of the puppet troops and Japanese soldiers were shot and killed, they all crawled into bomb craters or bunkers and fired at the Eighth Route Army soldiers in their positions.
However, the Japanese and puppet troops were always suppressed.
"Boom boom boom..."
The Japanese mountain artillery regiment began rapid fire.
Groups of artillery shells fell on the independent regiment's position, and the soldiers hurriedly retreated into the tunnel despite the artillery fire.
Upon seeing this, the Japanese and puppet soldiers stood up one after another and rushed towards the independent regiment's position with their rifles in hand. The machine gunners used their machine guns to cover.
At this moment, the bunkers scattered everywhere opened fire, long tongues of fire spewed out from the shooting holes, and dense rain of bullets poured towards the Japanese and puppet troops.
At the same time, more than 10 82mm mortars and more than 20 60mm mortars in the distance began shooting rapidly at the Japanese and puppet troops.
The continuous barrage of mortar shells and machine gun shells formed a barrage interception zone in the forward position. The Japanese and puppet troops suffered more than half of their casualties and retreated hastily.
...萐
In the field of vision of the telescope, looking at the defeated Japanese and puppet troops, the commander of the 23rd Division, Lieutenant General Nishihara Kanji, looked ugly.
He knew that the Eighth Route Army was difficult to deal with, but he did not expect that the Eighth Route Army would be so difficult to deal with.
You know, the 23rd Division is one of the elite divisions of the Kwantung Army. Although its combat effectiveness is not as strong as the 10th Division, the 23rd Division, which has just undergone a special performance by Guandong, is also a mechanized division.
Of course, due to terrain reasons, the mechanized division is of little use in northwestern Shanxi.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I don't think the Eighth Route Army can hold out much longer."
The chief of staff of the 23rd Division, Matsuda Misaozuo, saw Kanji Nishihara's face and stepped forward and said.
"Oh?" Kanji Nishihara asked with an expression on his face, "Why did Matsuda-kun say that? I think the Eighth Route Army has very strong firepower."
"The reason is very simple." Matsuda Zuo smiled slightly, "The Eighth Route Army's fortifications are well constructed and the firepower is reasonably equipped. The Locust Army can only use the tactics of adding fuel to attack."
Adding fuel tactics is a taboo for military strategists, but Kanji Nishihara has no other way.
The tactic that Okamura Neiji ordered for earth excavation was also used, but failed.
When the Japanese army was attacking, the independent regiment had the firepower of an artillery regiment, which bombed the Japanese army attacking along the trenches and caused heavy casualties.
Nishihara Kanji and Matsuda Daizuo never expected that the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army actually had the firepower of an artillery regiment.
Under the attack of two second-line elite divisions of the Locust Army, it is simply incredible that a main regiment of the Eighth Route Army could persist for so long.
Before the war started, Kanji Nishihara, Daizuo Matsuda and even Neji Okamura never expected this result.萐
Now the Japanese finally knew that in addition to the New First Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, the combat effectiveness of the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment should not be underestimated.
Originally, Okamura Neiji wanted to pick the weak persimmons and used the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment of the Eighth Route Army as a breakthrough. After defeating the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment, four divisions surrounded the New First Regiment from the north and south wings.
But unexpectedly, none of the three regiments of the Eighth Route Army in North Shanxi were easy to mess with.
Matsuda Daizuo continued: "I have carefully observed that although the Eighth Route Army Independent Regiment has strong firepower and a large number of machine guns and submachine guns, their ammunition consumption is very large. I don't think it will take long before the Eighth Route Independent Regiment's ammunition will be exhausted." After all, the soldiers of the Independent Regiment who have no ammunition will only hold fire sticks in their hands, and then the locust army will easily defeat the Independent Regiment."
Kanji Nishihara thought of all the tactics, but they were of no use.
Even the tactic of charging with infantry and bombarding with artillery had little effect.
Because once the artillery regiment fires, the Eighth Route Army infantry will get into the tunnel and fire mortars from bunkers and reverse slopes instead.萐
The Eighth Route Army's position was plowed several times by artillery shells, but the attacking troops did not even touch the Eighth Route Army's forward position.
"Yo Xi!" Kanji Nishihara relaxed, nodded and then ordered in a cold tone, "Order the 71st Infantry Regiment to take over from the 64th Infantry Regiment and continue the attack!"
"Hi!"
Matsuda Zuo lowered his head, turned and left.
The infantry of the 23rd Division consists of the 64th Infantry Regiment, the 71st Infantry Regiment and the 72nd Infantry Regiment, as well as the 23rd Search Regiment, the 13th Field Artillery Regiment, the 13th Engineer Regiment and the 13th Baggage Regiment.
Immediately afterwards, the 71st Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Division took over from the 64th Infantry Regiment and continued the attack.
The 64th Infantry Regiment has suffered more than half of its casualties. The Japanese brigade that was completely wiped out in Dajinggou was the 1st Brigade of the 64th Infantry Regiment.萐
Although the 71st Wing's offensive was fierce, they could only use refueling tactics.
After repelling two more Japanese attacks.
The firepower company commander ran into the headquarters of the Second Battalion of the Independent Regiment, saluted Chen Quan and reported: "Report to the battalion commander, we don't have many artillery shells."
Like the New Regiment, the Independent Regiment does not have a dedicated mortar battalion. Instead, each infantry battalion has a firepower company equipped with heavy firepower such as 20mm machine guns, 82mm mortars and 60mm mortars.
"How many more shells are there?" Shen Quan asked.
"Less than half the base is left!" the fire company commander responded.
"How come there are only half of the 5 base shells left? Why don't you know how to use them sparingly?" Shen Quan frowned and cursed.萐
After the Japanese changed the tactics of artillery bombardment and infantry charge, mortar fire support became particularly important.
The base amount of ammunition for each mortar is 100 mortar shells.
The new regiment has 42 82mm mortars and 32 60mm mortars. The ammunition reserve of mortar shells is about 30,000 rounds.
Some of these 82mm mortars were earned during the attack on the Japanese 36th Division. At that time, Kong Jie and Ding Wei replaced most of the machine guns they earned with 82mm mortars.
Later, the headquarters decided to use the 1,000 tons of weapons and ammunition that had severely damaged the 36th Regiment's business to re-equip the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment.
The weapons and ammunition include 82mm mortars and 60mm mortars.
In addition to not being robbed, the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment can equip a mortar brigade based on the number of mortars.萐
However, the 82mm mortar and 60mm mortar also have a fast rate of fire.
If it fires at full speed, the five ammunition bases can be used up in less than an hour, but the artillery will basically not fire at full speed unless the barrel is no longer needed.
With such firepower, the combat effectiveness of the Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment is naturally very high.
"Battal Commander, you have to speak with your conscience!" The fire company commander said with a sad face, "I am following your order to fire. If you let us fire, our fire company will fire. If you let us stop, our fire company will stop. Now it is Are you blaming me?"
"Hey!" Shen Quan's eyes widened, "You kid, are you still in the mood?"
After a pause, Shen Quan patted the fire company commander's shoulder again and said, "Don't worry, kid. The commander has called for an airdrop of supplies. Your fire company will not be able to use up all the artillery shells by then."
"Airdrop supplies?" The firepower company commander was doubtful.萐
"Of course, can I still lie to you?" Shen Quan said with certainty. The second battalion still has more rifle bullets, but the machine gun bullets are the same as mortar shells. There are not many anymore. If the airdrop supplies don't come to the second battalion again, It's time to stop.
During the Battle of Taiyuan, he knew that Commander Li had called for airdrop supplies of dozens of cannons.
Just then, a buzzing sound sounded in the sky.
Chen Quan hurriedly raised his telescope and saw more than 10 large transport planes appearing in the sky, flying towards here through the clouds.
Chen Quan was overjoyed: "Set the signal flare quickly and prepare to receive airdrop supplies!"
