Rise From Eight Hundred

The breakthrough position chosen by the 46th Independent Brigade of the 17th Division only had one Japanese infantry squadron and one puppet infantry battalion.

If the Japanese defense line, which originally had a strength of nearly 800 people, worked together, it would not be easy to break the entire defense line in less than 20 minutes, even if the 46th Independent Brigade had more than 4,300 people.

As a result, the Japanese army was unlucky because of this puppet infantry battalion with more than 500 troops. The reason why the 46th Independent Brigade chose this place instead of other places was because of a puppet infantry company commander's tip-off.

Moreover, it was this puppet infantry company commander who took the initiative to find the 46th Independent Brigade a day ago and clearly marked the Japanese defense line map he knew to the 46th Independent Brigade headquarters.

And why did this puppet infantry company commander do this? It was the sin of the Japanese themselves.

The Japanese massacred countless villages and families in the vast rural areas of North China. As a result, one of the villages was the home of the infantry company commander who had surrendered in Yuancheng and was forced to serve the Japanese army. His parents, brothers and sisters were all killed. Even if this guy had knelt down and was humbly begging for life, he could not accept this news.

However, this man was more thoughtful. On the surface, he pretended to know nothing, but in fact he had been thinking about how to trick the Japanese hard. He would not be satisfied unless he tricked hundreds or thousands of Japanese to death.

In the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Japanese side basically mobilized regular troops, and there were only two puppet troops. They did not have to go to the front line. They were basically responsible for maintaining the safety of the lower transportation lines and helping the front-line Japanese troops.

But in the eyes of this puppet company commander who buried his hatred deeply in his heart, the opportunity finally came.

Before Brigade Commander Kong returned, the 46th Brigade, which accidentally obtained this information, did not take it too seriously. After all, it was difficult to defend, so how could there be any idea of ​​actively attacking.

But when Brigade Commander Kong decided to burn his boats and break through the Japanese defense line, this information was crucial.

After a simple reconnaissance, it was found that the intelligence was basically true, and the entire 46th Brigade gathered its forces and rushed to the area where the Japanese defense was most vulnerable.

The combat effectiveness of the puppet army infantry battalion was not good to begin with. One of the infantry companies collapsed after resisting for less than 5 minutes. Wouldn’t the other two be "fleeting in the wind"?

To put it bluntly, the remaining 15 minutes were all borne by the tragic Japanese infantry squadron alone.

200VS4300, and the opponent had at least 12 mortars and 12 heavy machine guns, while the Japanese had only 6 light machine guns and 6 grenade launchers. With such a huge disparity in strength, the Japanese infantry squadron was able to resist for 15 minutes, which was considered very tenacious.

A Japanese infantry squadron was completely wiped out, a puppet army infantry battalion was disintegrated, and thousands of Chinese broke out of the encirclement. This was actually not enough for Masao Nakamura to publicly scold the colonel-level infantry regiment commander under his command.

After all, that was also a top five figure in an infantry brigade, and he, as the top leader, had to give people some face.

But Nakamura Masao himself had lost all his face, but he still gave people the face of the tyrant.

As luck would have it, an artillery battalion of the 5th Artillery Regiment of the 5th Division under the command of Nakamura Masao completed the position transfer at dusk, and was just less than 6 miles behind this line of defense.

Receiving the urgent situation in the front, the artillery battalion not only did not run away, but also immediately provided artillery support.

Now, through the trajectory of the artillery shells, Brigade Commander Kong, who had already broken through the Japanese defense line, judged that the Japanese artillery position was not far away.

What is the purpose of the 46th Independent Brigade breaking through the Japanese defense line? Isn't it just to do their best to cause damage to attract the attention of the main force of the Japanese army to reduce the pressure on their own defense line!

The appearance of the Japanese artillery position is completely a pillow for the 46th Independent Brigade, which is still a little confused about breaking through the defense line. What are you still hesitating about? Just beat him up.

Then, at about 2 a.m., more than 4,000 Chinese soldiers ran for more than 2,000 meters, swarming towards the cornfield like locusts.

The artillery battalion was pinned to death before they could react.

By the time the main Japanese forces nearby responded and came to support them, the 46th Independent Brigade, which had already wiped out the Japanese artillery battalion, had already left with the captured equipment.

Speed ​​is the essence of war, and this was demonstrated to the fullest by Brigade Commander Kong.

In terms of manpower alone, the 21st Infantry Brigade of Masao Nakamura actually suffered far less losses than Seiichi Yamada, but the equipment losses were much greater.

This artillery battalion is a reinforced one. 12 Type 41 mountain guns are standard, and 4 105mm howitzers are specially equipped by Itagaki Shiro for his Central Group Attack Group. In addition, there are 4 25mm twin-mounted machine guns, which were originally used for air defense. However, there were no Chinese fighter planes on the battlefield in North China at that time, so the 4 25mm machine guns were basically used for ground defense.

If these 4 machine guns were set up in front of the Japanese artillery battalion's position, it would not only be able to block the desperate attack of the 46th Independent Brigade, but at least it would cause hundreds of casualties to the 46th Independent Brigade.

But the Japanese artillery battalion had just moved its position, and the trenches were only temporary, and no heavy firepower fortifications were built, so the 45mm machine guns were not taken out. When thousands of people from the 46th Independent Brigade rushed over, it was too late to use them for battle.

Of course, the four 105mm howitzers weighing 2 tons could not be taken away. A pile of shells were piled up and exploded into pieces. The 12 mountain guns could be carried by pack horses. The two regiment commanders, who were distressed about the weapons and equipment, insisted on taking away the spoils. Brigade Commander Kong had no choice but to grit his teeth and use hundreds of pack horses seized from the Japanese artillery battalion to take away the 12 mountain guns and 300 rounds of shells.

As for the four 25mm twin-mounted machine guns, the two infantry regiments were even more like treasures. Each infantry regiment had two guns, and even set up a machine gun platoon for each of them. More than 40 people drove 10 pack horses and two carts to serve the two machine guns.

After the war, it was proved that the 12 mountain guns and 4 machine guns that the 46th Independent Brigade took away at the cost of slowing down the march were indeed one of the most wise decisions in this brilliant counterattack.

The Zhongtiaoshan Central Group Attack Group of Masao Nakamura originally had 36 Type 41 mountain guns and 4 Type 105 howitzers, but after one night, 24 Type 75 mountain guns and 4 Type 105 howitzers were gone.

The 12 mountain guns owned by the only remaining artillery battalion were not even as many as the artillery equipped by the 38th Chinese Army Infantry Corps.

The 38th Army now has more than 36 Type 82 mortars, 12 Type 75 mountain guns, and 6 Type 150 heavy mortars, not to mention the slightly weaker 96th Army and the Sizhoushan Tangdao Division that has received reinforcements.

If it is purely about ground firepower, Masao Nakamura's Central Attack Group is at an absolute disadvantage for the first time.

If the 4th Army Headquarters can seize this opportunity to order a full-line counterattack, Masao Nakamura's face may be green.

Unfortunately, Itagaki Shiro, who received Nakamura Masao's request for help at around 5 a.m., reacted very quickly and immediately ordered a mixed brigade of the North China Front Army that was besieging the Fifth Army to move closer to Nakamura Masao's troops. In addition, an infantry regiment of the Kunisaki Detachment, which was severely damaged and was in the south of Ruicheng City, accompanied the last 8 105mm howitzers of the 5th Division to support Nakamura Masao.

By 9 a.m., Nakamura Masao, who received 8 105mm howitzers and a mixed brigade with more than 5,000 troops, not only regained the heavy firepower advantage, but at least leveled the firepower gap.

Yamada Seiichi also received two infantry battalions of 2,000 people. Tang Dao, which had completely recovered the high ground, received the reconnaissance report from Li Jiujin who had fled to the mountains, and did not make the next attack.

He promised the new soldiers who were exhausted both mentally and physically that last night was the last large-scale battle.

If the Japanese don't come, both sides will be safe. If they feel that they have some support and want to make trouble again, then Tang Tuanzuo will not mind giving them a big stick.

Now Sizhou Mountain is not only the remaining 2,000 troops of the new recruits and the baggage company, but also the three elite infantry companies of the Four-line Regiment and 12 mountain cannons that can still be used on the periphery.

However, at this time, although the Chinese side, with the 4th Army as the main force, cannot guarantee a full counterattack against the Japanese army in front of them, it can basically guarantee that the entire defense line is worry-free.

The Japanese attack group faced by the Fifth Army over there has also reduced a lot of pressure because a mixed brigade has been withdrawn.

The Chinese side, which has been passively beaten, can take a breath, but for the Japanese side, they dare not take it lightly.

More than a week of fighting has made the Japanese army feel that although the Chinese army they are facing this time is still lacking in firepower, they have no way to retreat with the river behind them, but they have burst out with an unimaginable fighting will.

If they withdraw troops to pursue the Chinese army that rushed out of the defense line, and the lack of troops allowed the Chinese to take the opportunity to counterattack, they might be faced with a great defeat.

Therefore, on the morning of the 14th, although they knew that thousands of Chinese people were rushing to Ruicheng, the more than 170,000 Japanese troops stationed in front of the 150-li defense line of Zhongtiao Mountain did not move at all.

Itagaki Shiro placed his hopes on the 4th Division's Western Assault Detachment, which he ordered to be transferred to the direction of Yuncheng dozens of miles away.

In the eyes of this Japanese Army Lieutenant General, although the "Uninjured Imperial Army" was a bit lame, it still had nearly 10,000 people. If they couldn't beat the thousands of Chinese troops who didn't know how to live or die, at least they wouldn't lose.

This may not only be what Itagaki Shiro thought, but also Shan Shanyuan, who was far away in Pingbei City.

Although he was very dissatisfied with the headquarters' appointment of Itagaki Shiro as the supreme commander of the front line, Shanshan Yuan did not want to make any mistakes in this battle. After all, his North China Front Army dispatched nearly 130,000 people, which was the main force of the Zhongtiaoshan Campaign. If he was defeated, Itagaki Shiro would certainly bear the responsibility, and he, the nominal supreme commander, would probably lose face.

However, what was beyond the imagination of these two Japanese commanders was that if the two major generals of the army, Masao Nakamura and Seiichi Yamada, were scratched in the early morning of the 14th because of the Chinese night attack and counterattack, then the major general commander of the 4th Division, the detachment commander of the Western Assault Detachment, the 4th Division, was beaten up.

The combat effectiveness of the 4th Division was still very good. At least when he learned that thousands of Chinese were rushing towards Ruicheng County, the 4th Division, the 4th Division, immediately made corresponding arrangements.

1. An infantry battalion under his command defended Ruicheng based on the already broken city walls. If the Chinese dared to attack, the thousands of Chinese people who could not leave Ruicheng would be buried with them.

Second, two infantry battalions with 4 Type 94 tanks, 6 mountain guns, 4 Type 90 mortars, and 4 infantry guns rushed to Ruicheng, using the city to attract the main force of the Chinese, and 2,000 imperial infantry formed a semi-encirclement and annihilated it.

Third, the other three infantry battalions of the Western Turkic Detachment formed a defense system with Yuncheng city wall as the core to prevent the enemy lurking in Wangwu Mountain from attacking.

This military order with both defense and attack and a safe distribution of troops was recorded in the battle report of the 4th Division and reported to Itagaki Shiro for approval!

Ruicheng and Yuncheng are both logistics transfer bases for nearly 200,000 Japanese troops this time, especially Yuncheng with a railway station. Not to mention ammunition, the various types of food stored are as high as 1.2 million kilograms, but that is only enough for the 180,000 troops on the front line to eat for 10 days.

Without the reserve food in Yuncheng, the 180,000 Japanese troops on the front line could only last for three days. If they reduced the food intake of individual soldiers like the Chinese, they could last for eight or nine days. However, people can starve, but horses that undertake huge transportation tasks need enough fodder and fine grains, especially in this winter when there is a lack of grass.

Moreover, as a logistics base, Yuncheng also has field hospitals stationed by various divisions. There are more than 1,000 medical staff alone, and more than 9,000 wounded soldiers have been received. This is after nearly 1,000 critically injured soldiers were transported back to Yuancheng by train.

In the original words of Itagaki Shiro: Ruicheng can be lost, but Yuncheng must not be lost.

Even if Okuma Konosuke didn't want to push the good guys in Osaka onto the battlefield, he couldn't afford to retreat at all at this time.

But the Tang sword, dozens of miles away, taught him a good lesson: staying away from the front line is not necessarily a good thing, and being hit from behind will hurt more.

Leng Feng, who received Tang Dao's order, marched 15 miles towards Yuncheng, but did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, he sent out scouts to scout the Japanese army's movements in the direction of Yuncheng.

This reconnaissance was not a big deal, but he found that Yuncheng had sent a small 3,000 people with an armored convoy and artillery team along the highway towards Ruicheng.

This was meat that was delivered to his mouth! Leng Feng immediately realized that this was a rare opportunity, which was even more useful than immediately attacking Yuncheng, which had a city wall defense.

"If you save the land but lose the people, both the people and the land will be lost! If you save the people but lose the land, both the people and the land will be saved!" This was the sentence that Tang Dao kept saying the most during the strategic and tactical class.

Under the influence of Tang Dao, the battalion and company commanders of the Four-Line Regiment had no interest in counterattacking to recover the lost cities. Effectively killing the Japanese's living forces was what they should do most at this time.

So, Leng Feng and Shangguan Yun, who were less than 8 miles away from Yuncheng, immediately turned around and ambushed on a small hillside less than 10 miles away from Ruicheng County.

It is not quite accurate to say that it was an ambush, because when Leng Feng and Shangguan Yun arrived at the mountainous area, the reinforcements of the Western Assault Detachment were only 8 miles away from them. Leng Feng and others would not have more than 30 minutes left for the vanguard of the Japanese army to arrive.

At that time, the battle in the direction of Ruicheng had already begun.

The more than 4,000 officers and soldiers of the 46th Independent Brigade were determined to act as a distraction to attract the main force of the Japanese army. Isn't that the mentality of doing whatever it takes to scare the Japanese?

For the safety of more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians in Zhongtiao Mountain, even if the king of heaven came, Ruicheng had to be fought.

At the beginning, the firepower was fully opened. Four 25mm machine guns fired in an area less than 700 meters away from the city wall, and the broken city wall less than 3 people high was hit by dust.

But this was not the most frightening thing for the Japanese. What frightened the Japanese the most was that the Chinese might be afraid that the mountain artillery would accidentally bomb the houses and people in the city, so they actually put the muzzle of the mountain artillery flat and used it as a direct-aiming artillery.

The earthen walls of a small county town like Ruicheng could not withstand such bombardment. After dozens of cannons, several gaps were blown into the walls.

This frightened the infantry captain who was ordered to defend, and he kept sending telegrams to Okuma Yukinosuke for help.

Okuma Yukinosuke could only urge the two infantry battalions he sent out to speed up, but he didn't know that this was sending more than 2,600 Japanese soldiers into the tiger's mouth.

The first wave of attacks encountered by the Japanese army, which was exhausted from jogging all the way, did not come from the mountains.

The vanguard troops they sent out still completed their tasks very well. The hillsides nearly 200 meters away from both sides of the road were tested by them with live ammunition.

The third battalion of the Fourth Line Regiment and the remaining three infantry companies of the Fourth Battalion were actually 350 meters away from the simple road. In addition to various machine guns that could threaten the Japanese army, rifles and submachine guns posed little threat to the Japanese infantry.

But unfortunately, each infantry battalion of the Fourth Line Regiment carried anti-tank mines and anti-infantry mines.

After knowing that the Japanese army was leading with the Type 94 tank, the engineering platoon that was advancing with the team used the short 20-minute time difference to bury a trigger bomb filled with new explosives in the grass on the roadside.

The Japanese infantrymen running on the side of the Type 94 tank with short legs stepped on the roadside bomb. The huge shock wave blew more than a dozen Japanese soldiers into pieces, and also overturned the Type 94 tank weighing only more than one ton, completely blocking the narrow road.

The three Type 94 tanks that tried to get off the road and bypass the wild were unfortunately hit by the anti-tank mine filled with five kilograms of explosives and were blown into three burning torches.

The four most powerful armored vehicles of the Japanese army became a pile of scrap metal without even firing a shot.

Then, the Japanese soldiers, who were a little confused and crawling on the ground by various mines and bombs, saw that nearly a thousand people rushed to this side with their backs bent on the hillsides on both sides.

The Chinese, who are scheming, are going to enter the rifle range!

"Heavy machine gun squadron, kill the chickens!" A Japanese major leading the team waved his command knife and ordered with his heart broken. "Infantry squadrons, quickly seize the commanding heights!"

The Japanese heavy machine guns began to roar, but it was obvious that the heavy machine guns and various artillery of the Four-Line Regiment, which were 500 meters or even farther away on the hillside, were not vegetarians.

The rain of shells and bullets covered the Japanese heavy machine gun positions without any cover in less than 10 seconds.

As for the infantry of both sides, one side was running down and the other side was climbing up, and the speed of both sides was also imaginable.

The soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment took the lead in arriving in an area less than 250 meters away from the road, and immediately started shooting at the Japanese infantry, which was less than 120 meters away.

Both sides had almost no formed field fortifications, and they relied on a small number of stones and trees to shoot at each other!

In a sense, this was a duel of courage.

At least in the first five minutes of the battle, the 4th Division had courage far beyond their nickname of "Invulnerable Imperial Army".

In the brutal shooting, people died every second!

At least half of the soldiers of the 3rd and 4th Battalions were veterans who had experienced several bloody battles. In terms of psychological quality and shooting skills, they were actually better than the 4th Division.

In this shooting, which was more or less geographically advantageous, the Japanese army's losses were at least twice that of the 4th Division.

But this group of vendors from Osaka actually held on for a full five minutes, until the hand-cranked alarm for retreat in the rear sounded shrilly, and then they took turns to cover and retreat.

More than 300 Japanese bodies were left on the 1,500-meter-wide hillside.

And in the bushes, no less than 100 soldiers of the 4th Division fell. Even though Shangguan Yun was strong enough, his eyes twitched fiercely when he saw this scene.

The difficulty of this battle was just like what Tang Tuanzuo called back to them: the combat effectiveness of the 4th Division must not be underestimated.

But fortunately, they not only had the advantage of terrain, but also had more people than the enemy. This was the first time since the formation of the Four-Line Regiment that the majority bullied the minority.

The luck of the Four-Line Regiment was naturally the misfortune of the 4th Division!

Not only did they like to play the pig and eat the tiger, but they encountered a real tiger!

More importantly, after playing the pig for a long time, they even thought they were pigs.