Rise From Eight Hundred

The changes in the 108th Division actually started a week ago, but the 4th Battalion, under the command of Shangguan Yun, had entered the only mountain road in Dakouzi Cave 10 days earlier, which was the only way to pass.

Bluestone rock!

Bluestone Rock, said to be a mountain, is actually a huge stone, but it has turned into an uneven mountain through the erosion of tens of millions of years of wind and rain.

However, Qingshiyan, a hill that stretches for nearly a kilometer, has very little vegetation and thin soil. It is extremely difficult to dig trenches and build ordinary field fortifications on it.

Tang Dao actually made a very detailed plan for the entire Dakouzidong defense system, but it was a comprehensive defense system composed of at least 6 infantry companies. It was difficult to complete it with only the 4th Battalion's current 3 infantry companies.

Therefore, after Shangguan Yun asked Tang Dao for instructions, he resolutely decided to use the main force to defend Qingshiyan, 15 kilometers away from the station. Along the way, more than 100 people from the Arsenal Guard Platoon were stationed at key points to prevent the Japanese army from sending elite teams to climb over the mountains and enter the town. Doing damage within.

Moreover, based on the lessons learned from the last time the Japanese army sent an elite special agent team like Fujiwara Senio to sneak into the mountains of southeastern Shanxi to attack, Tang Dao immediately issued the highest alert to the station after learning that the 108th Division had made any changes.

This means that the militiamen in Dakouzidong Town who usually participate in military training and receive a monthly salary of 2 yuan will receive guns and ammunition to form an armed patrol!

A team of 20 people, with two disabled veterans working in various factories in the station as captains and deputy captains, conducts 24-hour armed patrols in an area 3 kilometers outside Dakouzidong Town.

Such a team has a total of 900 people, 45 teams, divided into 3 shifts, each shift has 15 teams of 300 people, one shift patrols, one shift repairs, and another shift patrols the perimeter of the station, and the militiamen are allowed to bring their own hunting dogs.

Although it cannot be said that flies and mosquitoes cannot enter, at least it can give early warning when outsiders jump into the mountainous area.

During the mission, each militiaman will receive a subsidy of 10 yuan, and those who bring hunting dogs will receive an additional 5 yuan!

The remuneration offered by the Si Xing Tuan is very generous, but with great benefits comes great responsibility. Regardless of men or women, once they receive a military assembly order and fail to do so within 4 hours, the punishment is extremely severe.

The Four Lines Group will not only take back all their income during the training period, but will also put them on the Four Lines Group's blacklist. All industries in which the Four Lines Group participates will not be able to hire outsiders, and their names and home addresses will be notified to the whole town.

In an era like this, if someone is done like this, it is no longer a matter of social death, and they will basically be removed from all villages in Dakouzidong Town.

And if there are those who spread rumors to confuse people's minds, they can be arrested and the main force of the regiment can be returned to the division and then convicted based on the severity of their crimes. You must know that Tang Tuanzuo is not only the leader of the Four Elements Regiment now, but also a stingy old man who has stamped his seal. Where is the appointed magistrate of Licheng County!

You can't use military law against the people, you can always use law! The head of a county doesn't want to throw you into jail, he can even behead you.

Therefore, when Tang Tuanzuo and Tang County Magistrate issued the highest martial law order, few people dared to violate it. More than 880 of the 900 militiamen who usually participated in training and received pay came, and a dozen more were not there. Then It's normal. There are always people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, right?

At this time, Tantai Yunshu, who was already the highest-ranking military officer stationed in the Si Xing Regiment, gave an order, and the arsenal security platoon led the militiamen who were familiar with the local terrain to capture these scum hiding in the mountains.

Even though Lao Tantai is usually a gentle man of letters, he is the head of a prominent family in the south of the Yangtze River. There are hundreds of people in the family. If he can manage such a large family, how can he have a good fault?

He knew very well that in troubled times, heavy rules should be used. If the bloody facts were not used to suppress the militiamen with guns now, and they would start chaos later when the battle situation went bad, it would be extremely troublesome.

He immediately ordered these deserters to be beaten with 50 lashes in front of the militiamen. A whip dipped in water, not to mention 50 lashes, or 30 lashes could leave no good piece of meat on the entire back. A dozen cowards became complete cowards. The chicken that killed the chicken and frightened the monkey was fainted on the execution ground due to severe pain. If it did not receive proper treatment, it would be dead or disabled!

Logically speaking, this is a lynching by Lao Tantai, but the future father-in-law of County Magistrate Tang said: "I am the father-in-law of Magistrate Tang, and I can beat him. Who can't beat the evil people in Licheng County like me?" "

There is nothing wrong with this. Regardless of ancient or modern times, the county magistrate's father is a ruthless character in a county!

Moreover, Lao Tantai's extremely cruel orders did have an effect. The completely intimidated 900 militiamen, led by disabled veterans, defended the entire area around Dakouzidong Town like a Tietong.

Maybe these militiamen, who are still ordinary people at heart, can't fight the main force of the Japanese army, but when they encounter a small-scale Japanese army, under the leadership of experienced veterans and with a complete strength advantage, they can still defeat them.

This is enough. As long as there is no fire in the backyard, you can fight with peace of mind in the front.

Shangguan Yun has made up his mind to guard the Qingshiyan position. If it can block the incoming Japanese army, that would be the best. If it really can't be stopped, they can also use the 15 kilometers of space difference between Qingshiyan and the station to provide machinery for the station's arsenal. Evacuate equipment personnel to gain time.

Of course, because of the special terrain of Qingshiyan, Shangguan Yun would not put his personnel on the exposed rocks and let the Japanese artillery bombard him. Strong, underground, concealed light and dark firepower points and bomb drops, mainly bunkers, and arc-shaped defenses supported by intermittent trenches and communication trenches were built, forming a dense and multi-layered firepower network.

In order to prevent the Japanese army from breaking through the division and encirclement one by one, the infantry on each position were required to carry enough dry food and clean water for 7 to 10 days and make full preparations.

In addition to the solid defense, Shangguan Yun also made his own counterattack. Blind defense can only be passively beaten. Counterattack is a must and necessary means in defensive warfare.

Long before the arrival of the Japanese army, an engineering squad assigned to the 4th Battalion buried anti-infantry mines on the roads and areas where the Japanese army might attack, and even buried anti-tank mines in the open ground far away from the Qingshiyan position.

The anti-tank mines were also looted by Tang Dao from the Krupp company's munitions warehouse, but Tang Dao disliked that thing because it was too heavy, and the main force of the 4th Regiment had 20mm machine guns and 12.7mm heavy machine guns. The thin-skinned small tanks of the Japanese army were not to be feared at all, so they did not carry any.

Shangguan Yun was born in the regular army of the 88th Division, but he liked this kind of anti-tank mine very much. He tried his best and buried dozens of anti-tank mines in the field hundreds of meters away from his position.

The German Empire, which had long foreseen that the mechanical torrent of tanks would dominate the battlefield in the future, had been frantically developing anti-tank mines a few years ago. In this black technology, it was already the world's top.

The anti-tank mines obtained by the Four-line Regiment have a warhead with 12 pounds of explosives and a pressure threshold of 200 pounds, which means that the anti-tank mines have enough power to distinguish whether it is an infantryman or a vehicle stepping over their heads. 12 pounds of explosives can not only blow off the tracks of a heavy tank, but also turn a light tank into a toast.

It is precisely the existence of this batch of anti-tank mines that completely turned the aggressive 108th Division into pure infantry.

Before the war, the poor 108th Division had to work very hard to transport 8 Type 94 armored vehicles into the mountains, but 6 of them were destroyed. The only 2 remaining vehicles dared not move forward. None of the crew members of the 6 destroyed Type 94 armored vehicles survived the explosion of 12 pounds of explosives.

Of course, anti-tank alone did not cause much damage to the Japanese army. After all, the Japanese army had never had the tactical concept of using tanks to win the battlefield. No matter what kind of tank, it was just an auxiliary for the infantry.

It was this backward tactical concept that led to the future Battle of Nomonhan, where tens of thousands of Japanese troops were completely pressed to the ground by the steel torrent of the fighting nation. The gap between the world's first-class army and the world's second-class army is no longer just a problem of equipment.

But this backward tactical concept was very practical on the Chinese battlefield, because the Japanese opponents did not have many armored vehicles or artillery at all. All kinds of weapons and equipment were enough to crush them. What advanced tactical concept was needed?

Therefore, after learning that his armored forces had suffered heavy losses, the Japanese Army's 104th Brigade Major General Kumeda Shiro, who led the unit, still resolutely launched an attack.

The intelligence department of the front army had already telegraphed the division headquarters clearly that the main force of the enemy's four-line regiment was already in eastern Shanxi, and there were no more than a thousand people left in its garrison. He was now leading two newly replenished infantry regiments, two artillery battalions, and two baggage squadrons, with a total force of more than 8,000 people. Why shouldn't he take the initiative to launch an attack?

After tactical reconnaissance and artillery preparation, more than 2,000 Japanese infantry launched an attack from two directions of Qingshiyan, and a thousand-man infantry battalion abandoned infantry artillery. The entire army was lightly equipped, carrying only guns and ammunition and two days' worth of dry food and water to avoid Qingshiyan, and entered the mountain from a distance of about 3,000 meters from Qingshiyan, attempting to cross the mountain to attack Qingshiyan's rear wing.

This is also the tactical adjustment made by Kumieda Shiro after a day of hard thinking based on the general terrain around Qingshiyan observed by the reconnaissance balloon flying tens of meters high.

Otherwise, the battle of Qingshiyan would not have been delayed until the afternoon of September 10th.

In fact, the 108th Division has been beaten by the Four-line Regiment and the 683rd Brigade in the past six months, and it is weak! Even facing a hill that stretches for more than a thousand meters and a Chinese army position with no more than a thousand defenders, and their own troops have an absolute advantage, they have considered it again and again and dare not easily start a war.

If it were half a year ago, the 108th Division would definitely be braver than their colleagues in the Type A permanent division.

This pre-war tactical reconnaissance was also paid for with blood.

The 104th Infantry Brigade was extremely well prepared for the attack on Dakouzidong. They carried three reconnaissance balloons. The visual range of the reconnaissance balloons, which rose to a height of tens of meters, was as high as several thousand meters. However, in order to see more clearly, Kumeda Shiro ordered the reconnaissance balloons to be launched about 1,500 meters in front of the Qingshiyan position.

In theory, this distance is quite safe. The heavy machine guns seem to be able to shoot so far, but the huge balloons are very small in the shooter's field of vision at such a long distance.

As a result, the cautious Kumeda Shiro still underestimated the strength of the 4th Battalion.

The 4th Battalion, which has almost all been equipped with German-equipped division weapons, has both 20mm machine guns and 12.7mm heavy machine guns, and is also equipped with special observers and observation instruments. Their target is the Japanese gray planes moving at high speed at an altitude of 1,500 meters. This kind of live target rising to the sky is no pressure for them.

The rapidly falling reconnaissance balloon, which was pierced by a 12.7mm heavy machine gun bullet and leaked air, directly smashed two senior Japanese staff officers into pieces.

After learning his lesson, Shiro Kumeda had to order the reconnaissance balloon to be placed 2,500 meters behind the entire battlefield. At such a long distance, even with a telescope, he could only see roughly.

However, this was enough for Shiro Kumeda.

Through the observation of the terrain and the map drawn by the staff officer, Shiro Kumeda thought he was smart and played a tactical plan of sheep attack and containment on the main battlefield and flank attack.

The Chinese have the advantage of terrain, but they have a huge advantage in manpower. They can easily deploy troops, while the Chinese can only defend according to the terrain. The Japanese army has the absolute initiative on the current battlefield. From the current battlefield situation, this is not a problem.

However, Shiro Kumeda's understanding of the Four-Line Regiment is still a few months ago. He only knows that the Four-Line Regiment has a certain amount of heavy firepower such as mountain artillery and mortars, which will cause damage to the Imperial Army, but these heavy firepower will definitely be carried by its main force.

This idea is also fine. The main battle is not equipped with heavy firepower. Will the heavy firepower be left in the camp to eat dust?

Although the heavy firepower of the current Sihang Regiment is not as good as that of the Sihang Regiment half a year ago, if you say that you can fight a group of infantrymen who don't even have infantry artillery and carry rifles and light and heavy machine guns over mountains and ridges, you can really "beat them so hard that your mother won't recognize them".

Of course, it is not realistic to use the howitzers and 82 mortars currently deployed in Qingshiyan to fight against an infantry battalion of light infantry. After all, the main position is facing two infantry regiments and the Japanese army with two artillery battalions. These limited artillery fire must support the main position.

But I have to praise Teacher Xiao He here. After learning that the Japanese 108th Division was gathering heavy troops to attack the garrison while the main force of the regiment was away, Teacher Xiao He, who was the director of the arsenal at the time, made a prompt decision and ordered the arsenal to put aside all other matters and focus on the production and processing of semi-automatic rifles and MP28 submachine gun improved magazines that have not yet been promoted.

This was a request that Tang Tuanzuo had put forward a long time ago, hoping to continue to strengthen the light firepower of the front-line troops, increase the magazine capacity of the Czech semi-automatic rifle to 20 rounds, and increase the magazine capacity of the MP28 submachine gun to 32 rounds.

This was not something that Tang Dao thought of on his own, but it appeared on the battlefield three years later. With a larger capacity magazine, the instantaneous firepower of the MP28 submachine gun will double.

However, this kind of magazine is not as simple as increasing the volume. It needs to be continuously tested and improved to prevent the bullet from jamming when entering the magazine.

Teacher Xiao He is indeed a genius. Under Tang Dao's suggestion, he made samples and entered the trial stage as early as one and a half months ago. He also produced hundreds of magazines and planned to enter small-scale promotion. As a result, the war started before he had time.

Now it seems that the Japanese army is attacking heavily, and the fourth battalion has few troops. If the firepower is not strengthened, there may be no chance in the future.

However, these two types of magazines have not been tested by war after all. The test field and the battlefield are two different things. If there is a malfunction on the battlefield, it will be a disaster.

Even Shangguan Yun, who is most eager for firepower output, dare not make a decision easily. It is Teacher Xiao He who has confidence in his product and decisively made a decision to transport tens of thousands of large-capacity magazines to the front line two days before the battle.

That also means that the semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns equipped by the 4th Battalion at this time are much more powerful than the main force of the Four-Line Regiment fighting in Niangzi Pass.

According to the configuration of 2 submachine guns and 3 semi-automatic rifles per infantry squad, the concentrated fire output of an infantry squad of the 4th Battalion in the fire suppression phase is at least 200 more bullets than an infantry squad of the three major infantry battalions that are still fighting with the 21st Division.

That is almost equivalent to having one more light machine gun.

Under such firepower intensity, thousands of lightly armed Japanese soldiers who have finally climbed over the cliffs will really be beaten to tears.

In the future Battle of Songgufeng, Chinese soldiers also marched more than 100 miles with light equipment and blocked the tanks and artillery of the American cowboys. The premise was that they occupied the advantageous terrain in advance. Moreover, the light firepower of the Chinese soldiers at that time was also not weak. The tenacious spirit of eating stones to fill their stomachs when they were hungry was the best soldiers on this planet. However, even so, the casualties were so heavy that the Chinese commander, who was always tough, had tears in his eyes after seeing the casualty figures.

Of course, this is just a later story. In the current Battle of Qingshiyan, the two infantry regiments of the Japanese army must be blocked first.

On the afternoon of September 10 alone, the Japanese army launched three rounds of artillery attacks and six infantry attacks, with more than 8,000 troops deployed. The intensity of the attack was not weaker than the main battlefield of Niangziguan.

Over there, there were one and two battalions defending, while Qingshiyan had only eight infantry platoons and one artillery company.

The last two infantry platoons were firmly held by Shangguan Yun. Even when red flares were fired from the positions to request military support, he remained unmoved.

During the nine months of being trapped in the concession, the confusion and despair not only tempered the spirit of this former army captain, but also gave him a rare opportunity to learn from Commander Xie.

The cruel battlefield practice and the dedicated guidance of excellent instructors made Shangguan Yun much more terrifying than his pale-faced scholar appearance. Tang Dao chose him as the commander of the 4th Battalion not because he was an old commander, but because of Xie Jinyuan's strong recommendation.

If the former army captain was a sharp sword, then the current Shangguan Yun is a heavy sword that seems to be plain and unpretentious with its sharpness restrained.

A heavy sword without a sharp edge!

But it can break through heavy armor!

Once the sword is struck, the enemy will be killed!