Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Chapter 154 Wang Chengzhu, the Prince of Empty

 Shoot the people first, shoot the horses first to capture the thieves, and capture the king first. This has been a strategy since ancient times. As long as there is war in the world, this law will always apply.

 So many military textbooks say one thing, that is, the command post must be built in the rear to prevent it from being hit by the enemy's long-range means.

 After all, if the military chief is killed, half of the battle will be lost.

 But in actual combat, commanding from the front can be said to be an unspoken rule.

  Putting aside the commander's personal personality and habits, this can make the command more timely. It also facilitates the brain of an army to grasp first-hand information and correctly analyze the entire battlefield situation.

The Japanese attacking Shibrao Mountain now are the last force that Shotarō Katayama can use at the moment.

In order to observe and command these soldiers, his command post was almost at the foot of the mountain, even further forward than the artillery positions at the rear.

The sudden bombardment by the 385th Brigade shocked the old man into a cold sweat. He didn't expect that the other party's commander could endure it so well. He actually had a back-up plan after the battle.

 The complete destruction of the mountain artillery brigade not only made Katayama Shoutaro feel heartbroken and frustrated, but also more of a fear.

This Japanese major general didn't even bother to ask whether the attack on the side of Shi Nao Mountain was going well. At this moment, he was only thinking about his own safety.

At the repeated urging of Chief of Staff Katsuto Kodera, Katayama Province Taro immediately ordered the entire command post to be transferred back to Yangquan County.

At the same time, the isolated group of Japanese soldiers had almost been killed and injured.

After all, in a position that is neither up nor down on the mountainside, facing the righteous group fight of more than 2,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers, even if they were all replaced by Yamamoto Kazuki, there would be no trouble.

 After a real fight with real swords and guns, Li Yunlong became refreshed.

 Since the New Second Regiment arrived at Shi Nao Mountain, the flank position was already in crisis. Therefore, Zhao Gang did not stop his partner, which gave Captain Li the opportunity to lead the commando to charge.

 After killing a few Japs with my own hands, the anger that had been held in for several months was finally released. However, as a veteran commander with rich combat experience, Li Yunlong knew that at this time, he should try his best to make a quick decision.

He first took out his portable phone and informed the friendly troops above of the New Second Regiment's arrangements for launching an all-out charge.

Then he grabbed an FM-24/29 from Huzi's hand and followed the pace of the commando and rushed towards the enemy.

Looking at Li Yunlong's unhesitating back, Zhao Gang said anxiously to the trumpeter: "Blow the trumpet! Everyone, follow me and kill those little devils!"

With the loud sound of the charge horn, the soldiers quickly attacked the enemy in front of them, leaving the remaining defeated soldiers with no strength left to resist.

 After the battle, the comrades immediately began to clean up the battlefield efficiently.

Since Zhao Gang came to the New Second Regiment, Li Yunlong no longer had to worry about many detailed arrangements. At this time, he was carrying a big blade and searching for Japanese soldiers who had not yet died on the entire battlefield.

 Suddenly, Lao Li vaguely saw a convoy getting ready to set off. It seems to be heading out of Shi Nao Mountain to Yangquan.

To make sure he was not dazzled, he wiped the blood on his face with his sleeve, and then picked up the telescope hanging around his neck to observe carefully.

This is really an unexpected bonus. There is actually a rare jeep in the Japanese convoy.

If it were Li Yunlong a few months ago, he might not really know the model and basic information of the car.

 But since he learned to drive, he has been full of interest in such fashionable things, and even has a special interest.

 Commander Li Da will study various enemy vehicles in his free time, and then make horizontal comparisons with the Citroen U23 in Huanghe.

 This allowed him to recognize that the car was a Type 95 four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle. It is mainly used by officers in the Japanese army and has both patrol and reconnaissance functions.

"Pillar! Hurry and push the Type 92 infantry cannon over to me."

 In the previous attack, Wang Chengzhu and his artillery crew used this gun to knock out several difficult enemy fire points.

 After the battle, a group of them had just dismantled the infantry cannon. After all, it was too laborious to lift half a ton of equipment up the mountain.

Hearing the call from his regiment leader, Zhuzi immediately realized that he was alive again, so he picked up the gun shield and ran.

Although the Japanese are all dead, there is a high probability that this 4 mm thick steel plate will not be used.

 But since the artillery attack on Sakata, in order to prevent the danger of being strafed by the enemy again, he has now evolved into a sinister old Yinbi.

“Report to the regimental commander! Artillery company commander Wang Chengzhu is waiting for instructions!”

 After several months of study, Zhu Zhu has become proficient in using various types of artillery currently available in the Eighth Route Army. After returning to Li Yunlong's staff, he became the artillery company commander of the new second regiment.

"Look, there is a Japanese convoy over there. In the jeep at the front, there should be a senior official, and at the end of the day, he must be a senior officer."

“The old rule is, if you burn half a pound of sweet potatoes, think of a way to **** them!”

Hearing the familiar reward, Wang Chengzhu, who had not drank for a few days, took out a map from his pocket without saying a word. It is not appropriate to use the eye-jumping method at this distance. A more scientific method is needed to aim.

 In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Guozhou sent a batch of military maps to the Eighth Route Army. However, due to its low accuracy and age, it has long been unable to meet the needs of combat.

 In order to cope with future wars, it is also to shoot the cannons in hand more accurately.

Wang Chengzhu personally took people to the important towns where the Japanese were stationed and drew several maps dedicated to artillery. Although he is just an ordinary grassroots officer, he firmly believes that sooner or later the army will be able to recover the lost ground.

Since there was no professional theodolite, they could only do field measurements during the day and calculations and drawings at night. It took a full month to get this one from Yangquan alone.

 While his company commander was calculating the ballistics and data, the remaining five members of the gun crew had already skillfully assembled the Type 92 infantry gun.

 Opportunities always come to those who are prepared.

 After quick calculations, Wang Chengzhu began to turn the hand wheel of the high and low machine, while the other soldier turned the hand wheel of the direction machine.

Li Yunlong showed a very surprised expression when he saw that he was about to start firing so soon. When he was about to tell the opponent to aim, the pillar had already opened the loading port and pushed the shell in from behind.

This skilled movement will be pleasing to the eye even to a layman. The action of pulling the match rope is even more graceful.

 What Commander Li didn't expect was that Zhuzi actually fired two shots in a row. This kind of wasteful behavior made him feel heartbroken.

 “Bang!”

 “Bang!”

 The sound of the shells being fired was deafening, scaring the surrounding comrades who were still cleaning the battlefield into thinking that the enemy was about to attack again.

  Veterans are the treasures of every army. In addition to their rich combat experience, they can also rely on intuition to avoid approaching dangers at certain times. When two artillery shells hit Katayama Shoutaro's convoy one after another, the old devil felt as if something was staring at him.

He was sitting in the jeep expressionlessly, still thinking about how to attack next.

 But a strong sixth sense told him that danger was coming. Even vaguely, the sound of high-speed movement of artillery shells tearing through the air could be heard.

 Just because of hesitation for a few seconds, Katayama Shoutaro lost his last chance to survive.

A 70mm caliber grenade landed steadily three meters away from the left front wheel of the jeep. The force of the explosion detonated the fuel tank.

The small jeep, which was still driving normally on the road, was thrown to the right side of the road by the air wave. This burning coffin became Katayama Shoutaro's final destination.

  The second shell hit the side of a truck, and the scene where blood and flesh were scattered was like a paradise on earth.

As the saying goes, those who are close to vermillion are red and those who are close to ink are black. After staying with Captain Li for so long, Wang Chengzhu learned more or less how to show off and brag.

Although he did not expect that both shells could hit the enemy, the round-faced man still pretended that he had everything under control.

He smacked his lips with some dissatisfaction, as if he felt a little empty and unfulfilled. It seemed that the Type 92 infantry gun with a range of only three kilometers could no longer satisfy him.

“Captain, I’m in a hurry to fire because the Japs are about to get out of range. I’ve completed the mission, so don’t waste half a pound of sweet potatoes on fire.”

“Whenever you have time, go to the Logistics Department and see if Deputy Minister Huang has any interesting stuff. We are increasingly looking down on this Type 92 infantry artillery piece.”

 After saying this, Zhu Zhu ran away quickly. He felt that he was pretending a little too much, and he might get scolded if he didn't run away.

Li Yunlong was left alone to watch the Japanese convoy, messy in the wind.

　　————————

 When the victory was determined, Political Commissar Xie returned to the command post of the 385th Brigade.

Although he had received news that the troops were about to launch a charge, Brigadier Chen finally calmed down after meeting his old partner.

 “How is the situation at the front? Are the soldiers suffering heavy casualties? Which unit is coming for reinforcements?”

　　Commissioner Xie looked at the other person with a strange look when he asked three hurried questions. He answered the first two questions first, but did not directly tell the number of the supporting troops.

“We have won again. Calculating the time, comrades should have started to clean up the battlefield. The casualties are barely acceptable, and the number of dead does not exceed one hundred and fifty.”

Even though he knew that the other party was deliberately trying to hide his identity, twenty-five-year-old Brigadier Chen still fell into the trap.

Political Commissar Xie successfully achieved his goal. He picked up the water glass and took a sip, and then said calmly:

“The troops coming to support are the New Second Regiment of the 386th Brigade. I just took a look at the map. It’s more than fifty kilometers away. Think carefully about how to thank them.”

  Brigadier Chen can be said to be very familiar with Li Yunlong.

 First of all, the 385th and 386th brigades belong to the 129th Division. Although the two do not communicate much, they can meet every time the division headquarters meets.

Secondly, at the beginning of this year, Li Yunlong defeated the Bantian Alliance head-on and killed a colonel, and even brought back a coalition flag.

 Although he was sent to the Logistics Department afterwards, the incident spread throughout Jin Province.

 Finally, it was because the two brigade commanders had a good relationship, and both Chen and Er were officers from the Red Fourth Army. Moreover, they have always treated each other as brothers in private, and their relationship is extremely good.

Whenever they have free time, the two of them will get together to eat and chat about home affairs. They often hear about the great achievements of their eldest brother, their favorite general.

“Later, Er Chen became brother-in-law.”

After learning that Li Yunlong had brought the New Second Regiment to Shi Nao Mountain, Brigadier Chen immediately thought of his previous bold tactic and captured Yangquan County.

The reason why Li Yunlong proposed the plan to attack Yangquan on the way here was to contain some of the troops of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade and reduce the pressure on the friendly forces on Shinao Mountain.

 It was only because of the emergency that the idea was abandoned.

And Brigadier Chen wanted to attack Yangquan purely to expand the results of the battle. Yangquan is a strategic military location, and its importance to the Japanese ranks among the highest in the entire Jin Province.

 The reason why it was not possible before was because it was very difficult to attack the city.

With mortars and Type 92 infantry guns alone, even if they can be defeated, it will probably cost a lot. Doing so defeats the original intention.

 But now the two levels have been reversed. The enemy has become weaker and our side has become stronger. There is room for manipulation of the previous ideas.

  After all, after adding a new strong general, the strength of the 385th Brigade has exceeded its peak. If you can make full use of the cards in your hand, you can definitely achieve unexpected results.

 According to the current statistics of the two regiments, plus the Japs who just made a sneak attack, at least 2,000 enemies have been killed.

This means that there is a high probability that the garrison in Yangquan County will only have one squadron left, and at most they will be supplemented by some useless puppet troops and military police.

He thought carefully for a few minutes and said to the political commissar who was following him:

“Katama Shoutaro has been completely defeated, and the garrison in Yangquan cannot stop us. Moreover, the Shota Railway has been destroyed to pieces by us, and there will definitely be no Japanese support in a short time.”

“Now is a rare good opportunity! I want to restart the previous combat plan and launch an attack on the county town!”

After hearing this, Political Commissar Xie nodded and showed an unsurprising expression, as if the two had the same idea.

　　——————————

Just when Shotaro Katayama was killed by a pillar shot, thirty-six fighter jets set off from the Japanese airport outside Taiyuan City.

Just now, Shinozuka Yoshio received news from Shimen that Major General Mizuhara Yoshigege of the Eighth Independent Mixed Brigade was actually killed by the Eighth Route Army. For a while, the east side of Niangzi Pass almost completely became the enemy's territory.

In order to avoid making the same mistake again, and also to open up a passage from Yangquan to Yuci, this old devil spent a lot of money! A flying team is already all the land aviation power that Yoshio Shinozuka can use.

They are led by Major Asakawa Masajo. The mission of these Japanese pilots is still to support the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade in Yangquan and bomb Shinao Mountain to cooperate with ground troops to capture the Eighth Route Army.

It's just that this time Yoshio Shinozuka gave him a death order and he was not allowed to fish or paddle.

The fleet of aircraft lined up in a neat battle formation, and the engines roared as they passed over the villages, fields and mountains. Soon they saw the Shotai Railway.

 (End of this chapter)