Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Chapter 152 Are we going to attack the county town?

I have to admit that the enemy's firepower is indeed very fierce.

Under the attack of 23 aircraft and ten mountain guns of the Army Aviation, the 385th Brigade on the Shi Nao Mountain position was beaten to the point where they were unable to fight back. The battle once again came to the familiar style of fighting in the early days.

The shells flew toward the mountain one after another, and the sound of explosions continued. The 75mm caliber mountain artillery is very powerful, and the outer positions look like they have been gnawed by dogs.

Looking at the top of the mountain where gunfire was flying, the chief of staff of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade, Kodera Katsato, had a strange expression.

This is not because he feels sorry for the artillery shells. As the headquarters of the brigade, Yangquan has sufficient reserves of various ammunition. Just a few hundred rounds, not even a waste.

He just felt that this style of play was very unreasonable. A mountain artillery brigade did not even conduct a test firing, but just covered it with artillery fire. Under normal circumstances, a small group of troops should be sent to attack first to test the enemy's firepower.

Even if you want to buy time, you have to follow the tactics manual, otherwise if the infantry goes up directly, it will be for nothing.

Thinking of this, Kodera Katsari decided to persuade his brigade leader. Several infantry squadrons are still in the preparation stage. If we can hold on to Katayama Shotarō, we can avoid losses.

"Your Excellency, Major General, I know you are in a hurry, but don't be anxious yet. After we capture Shi Nao Mountain, the rescue work on Zhengtai Road cannot be carried out without infantry."

“With our current fighting style, it’s easy to defeat all the warriors of my brother’s country.”

 Obviously his persuasion was of no use, and even Katayama Shoutaro had some good intentions and regarded it as a donkey's liver and lungs. The old devil waved his hand nonchalantly, as if the foot man was just a consumable, and then said with murderous intent:

“We don’t have that much time to waste here. If Lieutenant General Shinozuka knew the current situation, he might send us to the reserves.”

"And we have a total of two thousand people here, as well as a mountain artillery brigade. I have the advantage! In an hour, I will see the body of the commander on the opposite side, otherwise I will take you for granted."

“It would be great if the Army Aviation could bring some incendiary bombs. I really don’t know what these guys are thinking.”

Although the last sentence was about complaining about the pilots who came to support, Katayama Shoutaro's tone was full of the flavor of Versailles, and he even had a confident smile on his face.

In his opinion, with these two thousand people cooperating with Lu Hang, even if all the officers and soldiers of the 129th Division came to defend themselves, he could penetrate the opponent's position.

It's a pity that I can't see the specific situation on Shi Nao Mountain during this small day, otherwise there is a high chance that I will be so angry that I will suffer from brain congestion.

Due to Brigadier Chen's foresight, the overall situation of the 385th Brigade was much better than expected, and the number of casualties was less than fifty.

The soldiers relied on the fortifications built overnight in the early morning of the 19th. These waves of artillery shells and bombs washed the ground and did not cause serious casualties to the comrades of the two regiments.

Moreover, if someone really regards the 129th Division as a simple Preserved Fruit C Division, everyone from the division commander down to the soldiers will laugh at that person for not understanding what the characteristics of the Republic of China are.

 In an artillery-proof fortification similar to a cat's ear hole, Commander Zheng of the 769th Regiment shook the dirt on his helmet. He curled his lips helplessly and then said to himself:

 “These little devils are so **** rich, the cannonballs are like those blown by the wind.”

"How can anyone fight like this? Isn't this blowing up the air? None of the six sons of the old Zhang family would be so prodigal."

Although he envied the enemy's firepower, Captain Zheng soon thought of the logistics magician Deputy Minister Huang, and then his envy turned into a longing for the future.

 When the enemy's artillery fire ended, he immediately climbed out of the fortifications. After scanning the messy position around him, he shouted to the surrounding soldiers:

“Everyone is ready to fight! The enemy will come up as soon as the shelling stops! Hurry, hurry! Health workers! Rescue the wounded quickly! Give priority to the seriously injured.”

Although some people often complain about the Japanese’s style of play, they think it’s brainless to charge the infantry after the artillery bombardment.

But when faced with the Eighth Route Army or even the preserved fruit troops that lack heavy weapons, this type of infantry-artillery coordinated combat is the simplest and most effective.

 Under normal circumstances, the Japanese infantry will lurk in the safe position closest to the enemy.

 The artillerymen use barrel guns or mortars to open a suitable assault channel for the infantry.

 Waiting for the moment when the bombardment ends, the infantry will launch a charge before the enemy can react, and use light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers to suppress the opposing firepower points on the way.

 But the old devil, Katayama Shotarō, seems to have forgotten one thing, that is, this style of play requires close tactical coordination and requires soldiers to unite and trust each other.

If it were the wave of soldiers from 40 years ago, even the subordinate units of the C Division could be considered proficient in mountain warfare. After all, the training was rigorous at that time and he had a lot of combat experience.

 After entering the stalemate stage, the quality of the Japs' individual soldiers gradually declines.

Many soldiers do not know how to use the terrain when attacking from the rear. Even the medical soldiers do not know how to choose a mountain hideout to receive, bandage and treat the wounded.

But what’s more, these soldiers were patchworked together, and there were also some random expats and puppet troops.

Moreover, there is another point that he did not consider, that is, what to do if these shells do not have the expected effect.

 After hearing the order from their regiment commander, the soldiers of the 769th Regiment immediately performed their duties. They got out of the artillery holes and ran along the communication trenches to their own positions.

Although many of the trenches and fortifications dug yesterday were blown up, there is no choice at this time.

Through the gunpowder smoke, the comrades in the forward position could clearly see that groups of Japanese soldiers maintained a skirmish line, forming a wave formation and pressing toward the west side of Lion Brain Mountain.

That is the highest point on the ground. Xiaori intends to occupy it and strengthen the defense to make the center bloom. When this goal is achieved, the main force can attack from both sides to launch a general attack.

 The idea is very rich, but the reality is very skinny.

  The 769th Regiment and the 14th Regiment were the main forces. With their perfect firepower and the advantage of attacking from high to low, they directly gave the Japanese a head-on blow.

Since these patchwork Japanese soldiers did not have a unified command, even a brave and death-defying charge could not reach the Eighth Route Army's positions.

The precision shooters in the army specifically focused on the enemy's junior officers. Their command knives flashed like targets in the moonlight.

This resulted in the Japs often losing their yellow bars as soon as their organization improved.

 With the cooperation of various firearms and grenade mortars, the remaining 300 meters were like a natural moat. I attacked for nearly ten minutes in these small days, but there was no significant effect.

But there is one pity, that is, all the mines laid by the 385th Brigade were blown up by mountain artillery. Otherwise, with the current war situation, more than a hundred beasts would have to be killed.

 After Shotaro Katayama saw the gunfire on the Shibrao Mountain position through the telescope, he almost fainted from anger.

As a major general who graduated from a serious military academy, he could naturally see that the enemy was not affected by the shelling at all.

This old guy now regrets not listening to his chief of staff, but he just pretends to be calm for the sake of face. However, benefiting from the unsmoothness of his own attack, Katayama Shoutaro finally realized one thing. What he faced was not some daring guerrillas, but the enemy's main force, which had been planned for a long time.

Although the chief of staff withdrew the attacking soldiers without communicating with him, the old devil was not angry, nor did he use the army's ancestral force to fight.

  After all, the opponent is also trying to preserve their strength, and this judgment is correct.

 At this moment, the shortcomings of this concentration of superior firepower and troops are reflected. The entire army has not been able to capture the enemy, which has a great impact on morale.

Katayama Shoutaro knew very well that if he didn't do something, he might be dragged to death by the enemy. Fortunately, after calming down, the old devil's IQ came back online.

He first gathered the surviving officers who participated in the attack into a temporary command post, allowing these people to communicate with the artillery brigade to avoid further air explosions.

At this moment, a staff officer ran in from outside. He held a piece of paper in his hand with the casualties just counted.

“Reporting to the brigade commander, we lost three hundred people in the attack just now! Among them were one lieutenant and five second lieutenants!”

After the report, the staff officer closed his eyes slightly and prepared for a big fight. But after waiting for more than ten seconds to no avail, he opened his eyes and saw the red eyes of his major general.

This casualty report made Katayama Shoutaro realize the seriousness of the situation and that the group of dragons could not be leaderless. These assembled soldiers must have unified command, so he said to the person in front of him:

“You go back to the headquarters now and call Major Nikaido over. I’ll worry about you two for the next attack.”

 Although these two people have been in the staff position for a long time, their command on the battlefield may not be as good as before.

But after all, they are all officers who have been captains, and their military ranks are convincing. There is no problem in leading hundreds of people each.

Five minutes before the start of the second wave of attacks, Katayama Shoutaro thought he was ready for everything. The old devil showed a ferocious smile, as if the previous two defeats had nothing to do with him.

“Nikaido-kun and Nagasaki-kun, I don’t want to see any accidents happen in this attack. As soon as the artillery fire stops, your bayonets must be inserted into the enemy’s body!”

“I will provide you with all available support. Remember to wear your gas mask.”

Seeing their brigade commander's gloomy death order, the two majors quickly pulled out their command swords and said in unison:

“Hi! I will personally take command!”

 Five minutes later, the artillery bombardment came to the Shi Nao Mountain position again, but this time the Japanese conducted a test fire first.

Thirty seconds later, the ten Type 94 mountain cannons fired at the position just communicated at a rate of 15 rounds per minute. This shelling lasted for four minutes.

Hundreds of artillery shells fell on the position of Shi Nao Mountain, and the explosions roared continuously. And this time it wasn't just the outer positions, the artillery fire continued to extend forward, and the mountain peaks seemed to be screaming.

 Shōtaro Katayama understands the principle of rapid success and then failure. In order to prevent any trouble, but also to capture Shi Nao Mountain.

The old devil specifically ordered the artillery brigade to use Type 92 red bombs containing diphenylcyanoarsine, and also used Type 90 smoke bombs to assist the infantry in advancing.

The Japanese's command of the attack was obviously improved this time. They took advantage of the smoke to move forward step by step.

First, more than a dozen Type 92 heavy machine guns were mounted on the side, and combined with grenade launchers, they suppressed the western position defended by the 769th Regiment.

If the cooperation in these little days can be better, maybe this Shi Nao Mountain will really open up a hole for them.

Facing another enemy attack, all Eighth Route Army soldiers put on gas masks. Since the 385th Brigade has the heaviest burden on its shoulders, the Logistics Department gave them priority in supplying them with support equipment.

 Subsequently, under the command of each company platoon commander, the firepower point used a large number of light machine guns to counterattack.

 Hand grenades are not only the core of the Japs’ tactics, but also our army’s gunners are not bad at using them.

 Faced with this level of firepower, the two majors still ordered all soldiers to charge. They firmly believe that the enemy on the mountain is in poisonous gas and cannot hold on for long.

 The information gap has caused Xiaozhi to suffer a lot.

 When they finally got close to a position of about a hundred meters, through the field of view provided by the flares, they discovered that not only all members of the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side were wearing steel helmets, but they also had gas masks that looked more exquisitely made than them.

This position is already within the range of grenades. The 769th Regiment used defensive grenades imitating MK2 this time.

With the help of gravity, these murderous weapons flew into the enemy's attacking queue. Although the enemies are somewhat scattered, the prefabricated fragments of the egg grenade will teach them how to behave.

The failure of another attack completely broke Shotaro Katayama's defense. He drew out his command sword and struck it **** the table in front of him.

At the same time, Brigadier Chen called the two regiment commanders to the command post.

“Think of a way to see if we can fire a cannon at Katayama Shotarō’s headquarters. Our Type 92 infantry artillery is not left alone. If the location is right, maybe the Civilian Type 20 will work.”

　　——————

Since Lujiazhuang is a full fifty-five kilometers away from Yangquan, in order to support the 385th Brigade in time, Li Yunlong ordered the troops to march quickly the moment they set off.

 Thanks to the relatively good daily training of the New Second Regiment and the physical fitness of the soldiers, the food has been greatly improved.

 Otherwise, ordinary people may not be able to persist in this kind of long-distance assault that requires both speed and marching time.

 Four hours later, more than half of the journey has passed.

Li Yunlong chose a mountain forest and let the troops hide here to rest for half an hour and replenish their exhausted physical strength and water. Taking advantage of this time, he sent Monk Wei to call Zhao Gang and the three battalion commanders.

  Sometimes we have to admit that there are differences between people. Although Huzi's physical fitness is not bad, it is almost useless compared with Monk Wei.

This guy is simply a pervert. He marched on a broken road in the mountains for four hours and still acted like a normal person.

After everyone arrived, Captain Li drew a sketch of Yangquan on the ground based on his memory.

"I called you here to discuss something. If there is a chance, I would like to take our group to attack Yangquan County."

Ask for everything!

 (End of this chapter)