Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Chapter 157 Baldhead: You know how to micromanage on the battlefield?

  In the combat conference room of the First Army, Yoshio Shinozuka, a scholar in the army, wildly waved the samurai sword given by Tian Locust.

Even though the quality of Jiang Guan's knife was pretty good, after one of his chops, an imperceptible crack still appeared on the blade.

None of the staff dared to take a breath, and everyone was bowing their heads and pretending to be dead. They could only glance at their general's excellent swordsmanship from the corner of their eyes from time to time, silently waiting for everything to end.

 After chopping for a full two minutes, the fifty-six-year-old Yoshio Shinozuka was finally defeated by his own physical strength. The old devil put the katana back into its sheath while gasping for air.

Although he barely vented his anger, he was still very angry when he thought of Shoutaro Katayama.

“What a useless waste. He would die sooner rather than later, but at this time. How could the mainland have such a talented person like him?”

Unlike Mizuhara Yoshishige, although it was a pity that a major general from his younger brother's country died, the impact on the First Army was not particularly great. After all, the Eighth Independent Mixed Brigade was directly under the jurisdiction of the North China Front Army.

 Even if one brigade commander is missing, someone will definitely take his place in the future.

What's more, Ji Province does not need him to be responsible. The first army can only provide assistance when necessary.

But the death of Shotaro Katayama was different. Yoshio Shinozuka had only four independent mixed brigades under his command. The loss of a major general at such a critical moment made matters worse.

 But it is useless to complain anymore. The most urgent task now is to come up with a solution.

 Everyone here is a senior member of the First Army. Some may not be good at actual combat, but their strategic vision is definitely fine.

 Everyone knows very well that it is no longer a question of whether they can capture Shi Nao Mountain. If effective measures are not taken, Yangquan may not be occupied by the Eighth Route Army.

Yoshio Shinozuka looked at the trembling staff officers helplessly. He took two deep breaths and faced Kusuyama Hideyoshi aside, and asked a key question.

“Mr. Nanshan, which unit of the Eighth Route Army is the enemy on Shi Nao Mountain? How many people are there?”

Although he was caught off guard by the Eighth Route Army, the intelligence department in his small days was not all waste waiting to die. Kusuyama Hideyoshi pulled out a piece of paper from a pile of documents and began to report.

“It is the 358th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. The intelligence has been verified. As for the number of people, it is not clear yet. We need to contact the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade.”

It seems that because of a guilty conscience, Kusuyama Hideyoshi's head was almost buried in the soil. However, this answer was indeed outrageous and almost gave Yoshio Shinozuka a cerebral hemorrhage.

The two sides have been fighting for almost twelve hours, but they only got the enemy's number, and they don't even know the opponent's specific strength.

 The main reason is that there are not many usable cards in hand right now, and Yoshio Shinozuka doesn’t even know how many reinforcements he should send.

If this kind of thing happened in the past, this old devil would definitely have those trash in intelligence brought to military court.

 Fortunately, there was a person at the scene who had participated in the battle, and Asakawa Masaki was very discerning. He seized this opportunity to express himself and said under the complicated eyes of everyone:

“Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, there should be the main force of the 385th Brigade on Lion Mountain. Although we cannot observe carefully due to the field of vision, I am sure that there are no less than six thousand of them.”

“And when the flying team launched its third attack, an enemy reinforcement unit joined the 385th Brigade.”

 After hearing this detailed information, Yoshio Shinozuka took a deep breath to calm down the anger in his heart. He didn't expect that this little major would actually bring him a lot of surprises.

 But what followed was a deep sense of powerlessness. There were too many enemies, and under the current situation it was impossible to gather enough support troops in a short time.

This old devil never expected that the Eighth Route Army could develop so fast.

 But now is not the time to show off, Yoshio Shinozuka took off his black round glasses. This action seemed to release some seal, and his whole body exuded an astonishing murderous aura.

“Send a report to the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade and let Chief of Staff Kodera Katsuri be responsible for the defense of Yangquan County! Even if everyone is dead, you must use their bodies to defend Yangquan.”

“No matter what method he uses, even if he drives civilians to the battlefield, he must hold on until reinforcements arrive!”

 After mentioning reinforcements, Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly thought of his new favorite general. Compared with Kazuki Yamamoto, Masaki Asakawa is obviously a pragmatic person and does not think about beheading plans every day.

This old immortal thing forced out a smile and ordered to the major:

"Your 29th Independent Flying Group sets off immediately! The next few days will be hard for you! Do your best to stop the Eighth Route Army and prevent them from attacking the city!"

"You must remember! Save your strength! If there is no cooperation from ground troops, come back after throwing the bomb!"

“After this battle is over, I will personally report to His Excellency Tada Shun and find a good position for you.”

"Hi!"

　　Everyone present nodded in unison and returned to their posts regardless of whether they had tasks at hand or not.

Hideyoshi Kusuyama is responsible for contacting the troops stationed in Mongolia. Apart from his own commander, he is the only one who has this qualification. After all, the opponent is the last hope of the First Army, and must be carefully guarded.

Masaki Asakawa quickly returned to the airport. The Major of Army Aviation had a strong premonition that the day when he would be promoted and make a fortune was coming!

Although the current military rank promotion system is also open to ordinary soldiers, the vast majority of military ranks are still occupied by military school graduates. This is actually something that everyone is well aware of.

It is not easy for a semi-monk like him to be promoted to major. Now his immediate boss has made it clear to him directly that if he doesn’t work hard at this time, how long will it take to wait?

 But reality soon gave him a hard time.

After returning to the airport, Masaki Asakawa found that both the ground handling team and the pilots were standing neatly in the staging area in a daze.

This scene made him very angry. In the original plan, the entire flying team should be on the plane and ready to go at any time.

So the little devil came to the team members angrily and asked:

“What are you **** doing! Are we going to go on strike when we gather here? Didn’t I say that we would launch the fourth round of attack immediately?”

Facing the three consecutive questions from Soul, the leader of the ground crew stood up helplessly. He pointed to the empty oil storage area and said:

“Major, we have no aviation fuel. The three previous attacks have exhausted all reserves.”

“Originally, the next batch of supplies was supposed to be delivered early this morning, but I don’t know why there is no news yet.”

 After hearing this, Asakawa Masako felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on his whole body. After being stunned for a while, the little devil immediately mounted the three-bouncer and turned around and ran towards the headquarters.

　　————————

Yangquan, headquarters of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade.

At this time, Chief of Staff Katsari Kodera was sitting dejectedly in the command room. There were large areas of blood on his body that had not dried up. There seemed to be a few pieces of meat hanging in certain places. There was also a wound on his left cheek that was wrapped in a bandage. .

Since he was not riding in the same car as Shotaro Katayama, the Japanese was lucky enough to save his own life.

However, the impact point of the second shell was not far from the jeep he was riding in. The air waves and shock waves affected the vehicle, and the wounds on his face were also left at that time. After losing his brigade leader, Kodera Katsuri became extremely uncomfortable. The current complicated situation is simply not something that a colonel can withstand.

Although Shotaro Katayama is a bit headstrong and even as stubborn as Halsey at times, he is generally a responsible soldier.

Since the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade lost him, its morale has almost reached rock bottom.

With the few remaining soldiers in the county, even if the military police and puppet troops were added, he didn't know what he could rely on to stop the Eighth Route Army's attack.

 Katsuri Kodera also read the telegram just sent from Taiyuan, and he could only say that he was self-restrained by not cursing others. Other than making him the commander, the rest is no different than taking off his pants and farting.

This Japanese soldier knew that he could only save himself now, so he used what he had learned throughout his life.

 The first arrangement is to use city walls and sufficient ammunition to deal with the enemy. They don't want to cause any casualties, they just want to delay the enemy's attack.

If the Eighth Route Army has no way to break through the city walls and gates, then use this advantage to hold on until reinforcements arrive.

 There is only one thing in Kodera Katsuri's mind: delay! Just drag it hard! I know I'm waiting to die, but I just want to hold off!

Of course, he was also prepared for the worst case scenario, which was to use the county town to fight in the streets. After all, no one knew whether the enemy had any hidden cards.

However, considering the mass base of the Eighth Route Army, it is estimated that this method will not last long.

Sudden! While Xiaodera Shengli was still thinking hard, a stammering traitor hurried in from outside the house.

"Mrs. Madam! The Eighth Route Army is coming! Not only are there machine guns! There are also mortars! Go and have a look!"

　　——————

The 385th Brigade and the New Second Regiment were very decisive. An hour after experiencing the third wave of air strikes, they immediately launched an attack on Yangquan County.

The reason why we are so anxious is mainly because we don't want to give the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade a chance to breathe, and also because we want to capture the county seat before the enemy planes come back.

 After all, the section from Shinao Mountain to Yangquan is a large plain of four kilometers. If an enemy plane happens to attack during the siege, there will be no place for the soldiers to hide.

 As for tactics, there is no need at all.

 Except that each regiment needs to dedicate a company to Brigadier Chen, there are no feint attacks in this mission and it is all the main attack.

After counting the three regiments just now, there are still at most 500 enemies in Yangquan, and this still counts the puppet troops. More than 6,000 people laid siege to a county town, which was already a crushing blow in terms of both quality and quantity.

If he hadn't considered that the Japanese might attack the people in the city in a certain death situation, Brigadier Chen wouldn't even bother to use the tactic of surrounding three buildings.

 When the agreed time comes, the general attack begins.

 The New Second Regiment, the 769th Regiment and the 14th Regiment rushed towards the three city gates respectively.

Brigadier Chen led more than 600 people to ambush at the east gate of Yangquan. There was a mountain road leading to Shimen, which was the "route of survival" left by the 385th Brigade to the Japanese.

 The first to launch the attack was the artillery.

Wang Chengzhu, Prince of Kong, led his artillery team and fired a grenade directly at the city wall with the Type 92 infantry cannon. However, the effect of this artillery attack can only be said to be somewhat average.

 As a barrel gun, the Type 92 has a pretty good effect on destroying general civil fortifications and masonry fortifications.

  But because the muzzle velocity of the shell is only 198 meters/second, the penetration is insufficient. For a city wall with an average thickness of 6 meters, it is completely scratching the itch.

Considering that Japanese planes may appear at any time, once the artillery positions are targeted, the gains outweigh the losses, so Commander Li changed his strategy.

It's a pity that Lao Li didn't know that all the Japanese Army Air Forces were lying down due to lack of fuel.

Since Yangquan was an important town for the Japanese, a large number of fortifications such as bunkers and gun towers were built here. Some trenches were even dug on the basis of the moat in the early days.

The Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade is now seriously short of troops, and the fortifications they built outside the city have all been used as a wedding dress for the new Second Regiment. The soldiers braved sparse firepower and advanced here at almost no cost.

Captain Li did not stay at the command post honestly at this time. He had been fighting with Zhao Gang for a long time before he got the opportunity to follow the command of the troops.

However, in order to prevent someone from taking the lead in the charge, the worried political commissar gave the two guards a death order. Once someone fails to abide by the agreement, just knock him out and bring him back.

At the back of a gun tower, Li Yunlong leaned on the bunker and observed the city wall of Yangquan with a telescope. According to data provided by the headquarters, the wall is 12 meters high, 5-6 meters wide at the top, and 6-7 meters wide at the bottom.

 The thickness is greater than the height, and it can basically be regarded as stable as a mountain.

And the materials used are also very solid. It is made of loess pounded in layers. The bottom layer is pounded with a mixture of soil, lime and glutinous rice juice. Even the inner and outer walls and top of the entire city wall were covered with blue bricks by the ancients.

The intact and neat crenels on the top show the tactical characteristics of the cold weapon era.

If you want to break through the city wall, you must use explosives to blast multiple times at one point.

 Although the current situation seems very difficult, it was within Li Yunlong's expectation. He even made several plans on the way to Shi Nao Mountain. At this time, there was a tactic that was very suitable for the moment.

After the three battalion commanders arrived, the four of them conducted a detailed reconnaissance of the fire points on the city wall. They carefully recorded each shooting port and drew a detailed location map.

 Then it’s time for Captain Li to show off.

“There are a total of twelve shooting holes on the city wall in front of us. We must carry out fire blockade and cover the demolition team as they approach the city wall.”

“After you go back, gather all the machine gunners in your respective battalions, and each firing port must be manned by at least five machine guns. Remember to match it with our precision shooters, there are enough bullet barrels!”

“If a bullet is fired from a shooting port on a city wall, it will be the responsibility of the shooter after the suppression. If the infantry does not charge in time after the suppression, it will be considered as an escape.”

 After explaining the tactics, Li Yunlong stood up domineeringly. He looked to the southwest, as if there was a bald head confronting him.

Bald head, please keep an eye on me.

The same is true for battlefield micro-management. Your machine gun cannot move five meters to the left.

I'm coming! Please read it!

 (End of this chapter)