Rise From Eight Hundred

Compared to Major Kuroda's confident deployment of troops on the front line, Colonel Jiro Kikukawa was quite uneasy in the regiment headquarters in Guangping County.

Since the message from Yuki Matsukita's unit before sunset, "Our unit is determined to build a field position to attract part of the enemy's firepower, and then counterattack after the main force outside defeats the enemy", there has been no news.

Kuroda's headquarters and the regiment headquarters sent no less than ten telegrams, but they all fell into the sea. This made Jiro Kikukawa, the commander of the regiment, extremely worried. There were nearly 500 imperial officers and soldiers, and the First Infantry Battalion was the main force in his regiment. Yuki Matsukita was a rising star he was optimistic about, and the only candidate to take over the first infantry battalion commander in the future.

Although the Japanese Army Colonel did not believe that the Chinese had the strength to swallow his 500 elite soldiers in one gulp, there was always a haze lingering in his heart.

"Call the brigade and division headquarters, there is a problem with the 'Ember Destruction Operation'. I strongly suspect that a large number of regular troops from the southeastern part of Shanxi have entered the southern Hebei area. I request that the reconnaissance aircraft conduct reconnaissance of the battlefield area after dawn, and I do not rule out requesting air support from the Army Aviation Corps!" The cautious Jiro Kikukawa finally made a decision after being extremely anxious in the regiment headquarters for half a night.

It was undoubtedly extremely embarrassing for the Type A division to request air support from the Army Aviation Corps for just a mopping-up operation in the occupied rural areas, but Jiro Kikukawa still did it.

So, at about eight o'clock in the morning, the reconnaissance aircraft flying from Baoding circled over Panzhai again and again, and brought back a thundering news to Jiro Kikukawa.

'In the area where Yuki's unit in Songbei stayed, there were corpses in khaki uniforms everywhere. Just by visual observation from an altitude of 600 meters, there were more than 300! '

"Baga, order Major Kuroda to intensify the attack. I want that place to become a white land, and I don't want to see any living Chinese creatures!" The mad Jiro Kikkawa smashed everything on his desk to pieces, and issued military orders to his subordinates in front of him with murderous intent.

"Order the 3rd Infantry Battalion, the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Company in the city to bring the heavy machine gun squad and the 2nd baggage company to prepare a campaign of ammunition and go to support Major Kuroda!"

This is the last garrison in Guangping County. Except for the guard company that stayed behind in the regiment headquarters, the 63rd Infantry Regiment has basically gone out in full force.

This naturally means that there are only 200 Japanese troops stationed in Guangping County. For the always cautious Jiro Kikkawa, this is definitely an extremely rare situation. From this, it can also be seen how angry this Japanese Army Colonel was that the bait he threw was directly swallowed by the Chinese.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with Jiro Kikkawa doing this tactically. He mobilized his full strength, and the Chinese soldiers in Guangping County did the same.

It was like two masters had already entered the stage of life-and-death fight, and they still had some energy left. What? Waiting for the other party to kill them, could they leave a last word with the energy they had left?

Major Saburo Kuroda, who received the military order from the rear brigade, naturally had to work hard and command his 8 infantry squadrons to launch a fierce attack on the Chinese positions led by the 2nd Company of the 4th Regiment in turn.

This was almost an encounter battle. The 2nd Company of Weidonglai and the Guangping Division built fortifications in almost one night.

Fortunately, the mountains in Guangping County were formed by the alluvial deposits of the Zhang River in ancient times. They were all earth mountains, and the geology was much softer than that of the Taihang Mountains. The officers and soldiers of the 4th Regiment and the 80th Group brought enough digging tools.

There was no time to dig many anti-artillery holes, but the trenches were deep enough, at least 5 meters!

In addition, the 63rd Infantry Regiment was not originally for regular combat. It only carried infantry guns and 90 mortars equipped at the infantry battalion level. The most powerful artillery was a mountain artillery squadron with 4 75mm mountain guns directly under the regiment headquarters!

Therefore, facing 4 infantry guns, 6 mortars and 4 mountain guns, the Chinese soldiers on the mountain did not suffer much loss.

At this time, the 2nd Company received the assistance of 3 80mm howitzers and mortars, plus the 60 mortars equipped by each infantry squad. Although the range was not as good as the Japanese artillery, the density of artillery fire was still stronger than that of the Japanese within a range of 1,000 meters.

At least, the Japanese heavy machine gun squadron could only be dispersed in the 700-meter area of ​​the front line, otherwise it would be easy to be retaliated by the Chinese small-caliber mortars.

This also indirectly eased the pressure on the front line. After losing the advantage in firepower, the Japanese infantry could not attack the position for a while relying solely on the soldiers' strong skills and tactics and battlefield experience.

Needless to say, the 2nd Company from Weidong, with more than 200 soldiers in the infantry squad, firmly locked the defense line of 6 hills with a width of 1,000 meters and a depth of 500 meters. The Japanese army used nearly 4 squadrons to attack in turns, but did not make any progress.

On the other side, the Guangping Division of the 80th Army assembled all its regular troops of more than 1,100 people and more than 500 militiamen. Although their weapons and equipment were not as good as those of the 4th Regiment, they had more manpower.

And because of the rich experience accumulated in digging tunnels in the past two months, they dug out an amazing trench wall in just one night.

That was the civil engineering operation ability that even Tang Tuanzu, who later inspected Panzhai, was amazed. The four high grounds were dug out with first-line, second-line and even third-line trenches, and there were traffic trenches for soldiers to pass in the middle, which were as dense as a spider web.

This kind of terrifying learning ability and battlefield adaptability, even the 4th Regiment can only lag behind.

Using the original words of Deputy Brigade Commander Chen: "If there are not enough guns and bullets, and if the trenches cannot be dug more and faster, then my head, Chen Zaidao, would have been hung on the top of Handan City and turned into bacon!"

To put it bluntly, it was all forced work!

It was precisely because of this miracle that was dug overnight that the Guangping County Division blocked the attack of four Japanese infantry squadrons at all costs with only 800 rifles, 20 light machine guns, 2 Type 82 mortars and 30 artillery shells.

For a full three hours, more than 2,000 Japanese troops under Kuroda Saburo suffered nearly 400 casualties and consumed nearly 600 artillery shells of various types, but did not make any progress.

But no one expected that the most tragic battlefield of the Battle of Panzhai Village was not on the front battlefield where both sides invested more than 2,000 people, but on Zijing Mountain, about 2,000 meters away from the front battlefield.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

As early as 7 a.m., Zheng Yunqiu led his security camp, which was mainly composed of local hooligans and surrendered soldiers, to the foot of Zijing Mountain.

A scout squad was shot from the mountainside while advancing along the Zijing Mountain trail. Four people were shot dead on the spot. They used their lives to scout out the blocking position of Chinese soldiers here.

There is no other way to go to outflank the Chinese position over there. You can only conquer this mountain!

"Brothers, everyone follows me, Zheng, just to seek wealth and honor. I don't want to say anything high-sounding here. We don't fight for anyone, just for wealth and honor."

Zheng Yunqiu, who was doing pre-war mobilization, was straightforward. He ignored the Japanese lieutenant and his two infantry squads standing not far away. After shouting passionately, he waved his hand and asked his personal soldiers to bring two large wooden boxes.

He picked up a big knife, chopped off the copper lock on one of the boxes, and kicked the lid open!

In the sunlight, the white silver dollars sparkled with a heart-stirring silver light.

"Here is the wealth that Zheng has accumulated over the past year. It is neither too much nor too little. 100,000 silver dollars and 20 large yellow croakers. Today, Zheng will take them all out as rewards!

Kill a 'Tu Ba' and get a reward of 10 silver dollars! In addition, for the injured brothers, I will give 50. If they die here, I will promise in front of all the brothers that I will give each of them 100 resettlement fees. If I don't fulfill my promise later, I, Zheng Yunqiu, will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death!"

It must be said that Zheng Yunqiu can get to this position now, not only by forgetting his ancestors and being shameless, but also by being cruel!

After receiving the military order issued by Kuroda Saburo last night, he sent his trusted subordinates to rush home overnight to bring back the money that he had looted from the people of Guangping over the past year.

Maybe not as much as he said, but it is definitely most of his family's wealth. You can tell from his distressed look that this is also drinking his blood and eating his flesh.

But Zheng Yunqiu knows that if you don't sacrifice the child, you can't catch the wolf. If he can perform well in front of Kuroda Saburo or even Kikukawa Jiro this time, and eventually become the head of the security corps, he can get back several times more money in the future.

It is normal for a group of hooligans to bully men and women. I have seen a lot of small money, but I have never seen dozens or hundreds of silver dollars like this. I was instantly stimulated by the silver money box.

"The first company will follow me to hold the line, and the second and third companies will attack from the left and right sides. I will beat the drums to cheer for the brothers at the foot of the mountain. I wish you a victory!" Zheng Yunqiu looked at the high morale and was still very satisfied with his decision.

He trotted to the Japanese lieutenant with a few steps of flattery on his face: "Lieutenant Yamamoto, what do you think of my tactical deployment? If there is nothing else, I will order an attack."

"Zheng Jun, yours is very good!" The serious Japanese army lieutenant smiled and patted Zheng Yundong on the shoulder. "But, there is no need for a company to hold the line, the imperial officers and soldiers will help you complete it."

With a wave of his hand, 50 Japanese soldiers crawled down in an area about 500 meters away from the mountainside, and the black muzzles of dozens of rifles and two light machine guns were pointed at the front.

"Tell your subordinates that there is no order to retreat. Those who retreat will die!" The Japanese army lieutenant's face was full of coldness. "The empire will have an infantry squad to attack with you. Zheng Jun, you can take your guard team to command the battle in the rear!"

Three infantry companies and 600 people were deployed at once? Do you understand tactics? Zheng Yunqiu wanted to spit on the face of the Japanese deputy squadron leader in front of him.

Zheng Yunqiu, the battalion commander of the security army for more than a year, has not been in office for nothing. He has consulted his subordinates who have served as company and platoon leaders in the regular army on tactical deployment. He knows that before launching a general attack, there must be a feint attack to know where the opponent's heavy and light firepower points are. After attacking, it can also reduce casualties.

Facing the cold face of the Japanese Army Lieutenant, Zheng Yunqiu's face suddenly turned pale, because he suddenly understood.

This person does not understand tactics, but understands too much. He just treats his security army infantry battalion as cannon fodder, which can not only test the firepower points, but also consume its ammunition. The real attack point is not under his 600, but on the Japanese infantry squad that followed at the end.

"Mr. Zheng, you must understand that your future is not in the small Guangping County," the Japanese Army Lieutenant looked at this famous local snake in Guangping County and said meaningfully.

"Yes, I know." Zheng Yunqiu gritted his teeth, nodded and left.

So, before each of the 600 security troops went to the battlefield, they each received a 10-dollar silver dress. Under the leadership of three company commanders, they attacked Bauhinia Mountain from three directions!

Viewed from a distance, the densely packed security forces in khaki military uniforms who broke into the gorgeous sea of ​​redbud flowers looked like a group of yellow ants busy moving. It was extremely eye-catching to see.

"Hey! Are the Japs relying on the large number of people? Then they thought wrong. What I'm not afraid of the most is the human sea tactic." Tudou, who was lying in the redbud bushes, was not surprised but overjoyed.

"These are not Japanese soldiers, they are Japanese soldiers!" Kawako, who was not far from Tudou, was obviously not so relaxed.

"But we can't underestimate these devils. These scoundrels don't even care about their faces, and they don't care about their lives. They are just a bunch of desperadoes!"

Chuanzi has been in southern Hebei for half a year, and naturally he has dealt with the security forces. These bastards who have forgotten their ancestors may know that they have little reputation. What they did in the land of southern Hebei is even more cruel than the real devils. Several times, they faced off against the division's infantry companies. Their weapons and equipment were all captured by the Japanese from the 29th Army, the Shanxi-Sui Army and other units. They were only slightly stronger than the division's regular army, making them very difficult to deal with.

In order to ensure combat effectiveness, Lao Abacus dispersed three of the four infantry squads of the Fourth Army Regiment and mixed them with several infantry squads of the 80th Group Army, forming three combat clusters on the left, middle and right on Bauhinia Mountain, which is considered three Mixed infantry platoon.

Each infantry platoon has 4 submachine guns, 5 semi-automatic rifles, 30 rifles, 2 Type 96 machine guns, 1 MG42 machine gun and 1 60mm rifle.

And he himself has a four-line regiment infantry squad and three mobile sharpshooters as the final reserve team of the 'Panzhai Guard Company'. Only when the position cannot be defended will the reserve team Provide support.

Officers at all levels of the Si Xing Regiment have been deeply influenced by Tang Tuan Zuo. Perhaps few of them can have as strong personal combat power as Tang Dao, but their tactical style of never revealing their trump cards easily has been learned from them.

From the very beginning, Zheng Yunqiu stopped playing and invested three of his infantry companies at once, although he was forced to do so.

However, 600 puppet troops plus an infantry squad of regular Japanese troops were invested at one time, and then 12 heavy machine guns and 6 Type 82 mortars were deployed in sequence. The formation was really terrifying.

Of course, the two Japs were good Japs, but they were not stupid either. After entering the Chinese position at the foot of the mountain, which was clearly visible from the mountainside, they all bent down and waited for their own firepower to cover them first.

Twelve heavy machine guns and six mortars opened fire, causing the soil and various shrubs on the hillside to fly everywhere. From a distance, it looked like a beautiful painting with ink smeared on it, completely destroying the beauty. .

China did not make any response.

ten minutes later!

"Yo Xi! Zheng Jun, you can send out the attack signal. There may not be as many Chinese here as you and I think. Their main forces should be resisting our main force on the frontal battlefield." The Japanese Army Lieutenant held a telescope After looking at it for a while, I finally made a decision.

"Okay!" Zheng Yunqiu had no idea that he was the supreme commander in this position. He nodded in agreement and motioned to the signal corpsmen following him to send out signal flares.

A red flare was fired into the sky.

More than 600 puppet troops, led by officers at all levels, began to move forward!

200 meters. . . . . . 150 meters. . . . . . . 100 metres. . . . . . .

As the distance got closer and closer, the puppet soldiers, who were stimulated by the adrenaline surge of the ocean, felt a little guilty.

But at this moment, the arrow is already on the string and has to be fired, even if you feel guilty, it is even better if you don't feel guilty.

It's on the mountain facing Zheng Yunqiu.

"Brothers, charge with me, kill Tubal and get the bounty!" A burly man waved the shell gun in his hand and took the lead in charging.

He was a bandit who served as a second lieutenant platoon leader in the puppet army. Zheng Yunqiu saw that he was fierce and made him the leader of the sharp knife platoon of his company. Whenever he went to the countryside to plunder, this guy was at the forefront. He also led a team to conquer the defense line of the Guangping County Armed Brigade and massacred more than 20 regular soldiers and more than 50 militiamen.

As a second lieutenant of the puppet army, this guy was second only to Zheng Yunqiu on the assassination list of the Guangping Division's anti-trafficking team, which shows how much the Guangping County Eightyth Army hated him.

It's a pity that Zheng Yunqiu and his security army cadres are very aware of how much they attract hatred. They usually live in the military camp. Even if they go out, they are protected by at least a dozen people. no way.

This time, before sending troops, Zheng Yunqiu promised this person that as long as he won the battle, he would be the regiment commander, and this person would be his guard company commander. How could this person not willingly sacrifice his life?

When the puppet soldiers took the lead, they all stood up straight and leveled their guns. They started to charge forward while shouting and firing.

It’s just that the puppet soldiers haven’t run five meters yet

Just hear a roar of "Hit!"

"Puff-puff-puff" sounded like a chainsaw, mixed with a crisp 'dah-dah-dah' sound.

Several tongues of fire suddenly broke out in the bushes that were indistinguishable to the naked eye.

It was a fire network composed of one MG42 and four Japanese Type 96 light machine guns.

Just like a chainsaw cutting grass, the Japanese soldiers who were sprinting with all their strength had no reaction and were struck hard by a fiery whip that was clearly visible to the naked eye.

The consequences were naturally tragic. Seven or eight puppet soldiers, who were only 2 meters apart, fell to the ground, and their painful wails resounded throughout the battlefield.

Perhaps it was because the machine gunner was facing such a densely packed target for the first time, and he was a little excited. He held the trigger for five seconds without letting go, and all the twenty or so bullets hit the sturdy puppet lieutenant who was rushing in the front. The terrifying kinetic energy accumulated by the 92mm bullets actually broke the guy in half. His liver, kidneys and intestines slipped out of the huge wound, and a large pool of red, white and green flowed on the ground.

And the sturdy puppet lieutenant was not dead yet. He screamed loudly and tried to stuff his organs that had fallen out of his body into his half body.

There was also a second devil who was caught off guard and was hit in the head by several bullets at the same time. With a muffled "bang", the red and white brain tissue instantly came to a scattering of flowers.

Have you ever seen a person with only half a face, and he rushed forward at least seven or eight meters without realizing it?

The officers and soldiers of the Panzhai Guard Company, who were lying on their individual firing positions and had not had time to pull the trigger, saw such a terrible scene.

It was like a scene from purgatory.

Chuanzi's squad 8 had only 7 people in total, but 6 soldiers vomited on the spot. Chuanzi also suppressed the boredom in his chest and abdomen, otherwise he was afraid that he would vomit all over the place.

This may be the first time that the MG42 appeared on a battlefield with a clear view, and it showed the world why it was called the "Widow Maker" in this way.

The "Widow Maker" is most afraid of running out of bullets, and the least afraid of dense group charge.