Rise From Eight Hundred

A hill about 2,800 meters away from the 772nd Regiment’s position!

"Does this madman Wang have any organizational discipline? He actually bypassed the brigade headquarters and directly commanded the artillery battalion. Brigadier, at the post-war summary meeting, we can't easily let this guy admit his mistake without any pain. Forget it." Brigadier Cheng just sat down and looked at the map at the temporary headquarters when he received a complaint from the brigade chief of staff.

"The little devil dispatched more than 20 tanks to directly attack my position? Haha, you are really bullying me. The 683 brigade has never fought a large-scale position battle with them. Okay! Then let's clash with them and see whose fist is stronger!" Brigadier Cheng Da took the message handed over by the chief of staff, and his focus was obviously different from that of his own chief of staff.

"Brigade Commander, the artillery battalion is still waiting for orders from the brigade headquarters!" The chief of staff couldn't help but become a little anxious when he saw that Brigadier Cheng was still commenting unhurriedly.

It is one thing to verbally criticize Wang Xiaoqiang, but the 772nd Regiment is recognized as the most capable of the four main regiments of the 683rd Brigade. The Japanese tanks are coming, and there is no room for any delay.

"Look, you, Old Li, are so talkative. While you are talking about severely punishing Madman Wang for ignoring organizational discipline, you are also worried that the artillery battalion will be slow to provide him with support." Brigadier Cheng laughed.

"Don't worry, you don't know what kind of person Madman Wang is. He is a leader who cannot afford to suffer. Not to mention directly commanding the artillery battalion. I'm afraid he also sent a telegram to the Four Elements Regiment and asked Tang Dao to give it to him. Fire support.

Once the 20 or so big guys that the Four Elements Group hides in the mountains are taken out, the little devils will have a good drink. "

"Yes, Madman Wang and Commander Tang have a very good relationship in private. How about saying hello to the artillery camp and saving some energy for us?" Chief of Staff Li couldn't relax at this time. Young man, he couldn't help but make a joke.

"Don't talk nonsense. This is the first time since the Anti-Japanese War that our 683 brigade has shown its chariots and horses to fight with half the division. How can we hide it? If we don't fight, we have to fight. If we want to fight, we have to beat the Japanese to tears and make them cry." You know, as long as I have the equipment of the 80th Army, the first division will not be able to use any bullshit. We are not just showing off our swords this time to enhance the prestige of our 80th Army, but to tell the Japanese North China Front and tell all of China and North China. It has never been truly occupied!" Brigadier Cheng waved his hands, his usually gentle face full of determination, and his eyes even more murderous.

Obviously, in this battle of Zishan, the headquarters of the 80th Group Army is willing to cooperate with Tang Dao to use the 683 brigade, which has been fully redressed, as the strongest elite force under its command. In addition to tactically cooperating with the Jinan Administrative Office and the Sixth Regiment to attack the First Division, , the more important meaning is to make one's own voice in North China.

Yamashiro had always been extremely wary of the 80th Army, and smeared it for actively conducting guerrilla warfare on the battlefield behind enemy lines to expand base areas and involving the strength of the Japanese North China Front Army, which led to many citizens in the south who did not know the truth to evaluate the 80th Army. went lower and surrounded the Fourth Army in the Jiangnan area with heavy troops.

Anxian's top officials used to be wary of the United Front, taking into account the grand strategy of jointly resisting Japan, and were unwilling to break up with that person. But now it is different. With the injection of magical fresh blood like Tang Dao, the oil field in the northwest can Producing considerable economic value, many of the army's equipment are already self-sufficient.

Even driven by a mysterious force in the United States, many overseas Chinese made donations and specified that the Eightyth Army would personally receive them when donating money and materials. The economic situation improved greatly in 1939.

With enough confidence, the Eightyth Army decided to show its sword and let the whole of China see that the Eightyth Army also had the courage and strength to fight the Japanese army on a large scale.

Therefore, this battle can only be won, not lost!

Compared with Brigadier Cheng, who shoulders the mission of the power of faith, Tang Dao doesn't have so many scruples. After receiving the telegram with a 'threatening' tone from the madman general, he just smiled slightly: "Now that madman Wang has spoken, No matter what, we have to give this face, command Pang Hai, and the mountain artillery company to give full support, and all gun positions should be based on a base number of one and a half! "

"Haha! After the war, Madman Wang must treat you to a big drink with the regiment commander. Chief of Staff Shangguan and I can have a shameless meal. It's not easy to drink from Madman Wang's wine. His comrades and I are very I only had two meals a year." Ye Chenghuan had a bright smile on his face.

"Regiment seat, Brigadier Cheng knows that we have 150 howitzers and only use 75 mountain guns to support friendly forces. Isn't it a bit stingy?" Shangguan Yun, who had just returned to the regiment headquarters from the front line for a long time, raised a question.

"Chief of Staff Shangguan doesn't know. It's not that the regiment commander is stingy and doesn't use heavy artillery, but that the reserve of heavy artillery shells is already slightly insufficient. Moreover, the reconnaissance company Mingxin sent a message that a Japanese heavy artillery squadron has been observed taking action.

That thing is too threatening to our army. However, our heavy artillery positions are mostly concealed four or five kilometers away from the front line. The Japanese army is also cunning enough. The heavy artillery positions are generally outside the range of our heavy artillery. It is not easy to wait until they take the initiative to walk into us. With the range of the heavy artillery, it was impossible to let them go easily. What the regiment leader meant was to use good steel on the blade and focus the fire to kill several Japanese heavy artillery pieces. "Ye Chenghuan took the initiative to explain.

The 150mm howitzer is a good thing, but its shells are too big and heavy. One shell exceeds 40 kilograms. A lot of the inventory is still unshipped from Fengfeng Coal Mine.

In the early stage, in order to give the Japanese army enough deterrence, basically one round of artillery bombardment was more than 100 rounds, and in order to give the Japanese army the illusion that we had no shortage of artillery shells, Tang Dao basically responded to the front-line troops' call for heavy artillery support and artillery retaliation. After five days of fighting, the entire Zishan area had less than 300 rounds of heavy artillery shells.

Although it can still support another week, if the Japanese are determined to fight a tug-of-war and continue to increase their troops, after a week, there will be no heavy artillery available.

Whether for tactical purposes or strategic deterrence, the 28 150 howitzers have to start saving their strength.

"Besides, the Japanese's thin-skinned and large-stuffed scum tanks don't need heavy artillery. The artillery battalion of the 683rd Brigade and my mountain artillery company's 36 mountain artillery have already given them face." Ye Chenghuan now has more or less the "bad habits" of the Four Lines Regiment and is full of self-confidence.

Tang Dao ignored the conversation between the two deputies and kept looking at the map. The 683rd Brigade had arrived according to the pre-war agreement. The battle situation in Zishan had entered a turning point. It was no longer just the enemy attacking and we defending, but a stage of both attack and defense.

The First Division has no intention of withdrawing yet. It should be that Okabe Saburo believed that the tens of thousands of troops under his command were enough to resist the attack of the 683rd Brigade on the plain while continuing to attack the Zishan defense line. This serious misjudgment may become another Waterloo for the former Chief of Staff of the North China Front Army of Japan.

If the 772nd Regiment can catch the Japanese army by surprise in this battle, this turning point may be able to stun the First Division.

"Send a message to Leng Feng. I will transfer the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion, the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion, and the 1st Company of the Guard Battalion to the northwest defense line. He will be in unified command. If the 683rd Brigade can break through the Japanese rear wing defense line, he must seek an opportunity to counterattack and try to stick to the Japanese troops in the northwest. Fight if you want, leave if you want? Okabe Saburo really thinks more beautifully than he looks. I will use the lives of the Japanese to tell him that it is 1940, not 1937!" Tang Dao ordered.

"Yes!" Shangguan Yun and Ye Chenghuan looked at each other in surprise, and immediately turned around to convey Tang Dao's military order.

The two colonels were also veterans who had fought the Japanese army countless times on the battlefield, but before that, the most common experience was that the Japanese came to attack, and they led the officers and soldiers to defend at the risk of their lives. Many victories were also because the Japanese army could not attack for a long time and had to retreat helplessly. But that was exactly what Tang Dao said just now. The Japanese fought when they wanted to fight, and retreated when they didn't want to fight. They had complete initiative. For any soldier, it was aggrieved!

Now, we can finally tell the Japanese with guns and cannons that if they come, they can stay here and be fertilizer. I won’t let you leave. Who wouldn’t be in high spirits?

But who else is the most high-spirited man on the battlefield now but Wang Xiaoqiang?

What does it feel like to be able to mobilize 36 mountain cannons and more than a dozen mortars and anti-tank guns? Wang Xiaoqiang can tell you with a face full of ashes: It feels great! It feels so great!

The truth is within the range of the cannons! This sentence is applicable in any era.

When 36 mountain cannons in several directions raised their muzzles, the artillery squad leader waved the small red flag and roared heartbreakingly, "fire", the battlefield in the northwest of Zishan was actually quiet for more than ten seconds.

Because the Chinese and Japanese soldiers were lying in the trenches, judging where the sudden scream in the air would fly to, and there were still a few seconds to land.

Such things happened countless times every day in these five or six days. Even the dumbest soldiers learned the parabola algorithm that they could never learn in math class. Those who didn't learn it would have a 90% mortality rate in the artillery fire.

Then, a series of muffled "boom boom boom" sounds came from the sky.

The shells did not fall on the Zishan battlefield, but on the plains farther away.

The Chinese and Japanese soldiers in the Zishan battlefield breathed a sigh of relief. No matter where the shells fell, as long as they were not on their heads, it would be fine.

But Major General Hattori Akitaro was in a very bad mood!

Dazzling fireballs rose up in an area less than 1,000 meters away from him. The earth seemed to be shaking. Even standing in a fortification that was strong enough to resist 105 grenades, Hattori Akitaro was still pale.

If the first round of more than 10 shells fell on the vast plain, Hattori Xiaotaro still had a little luck, the power of more than a dozen mountain cannons was not enough to pose a great threat to his position that stretched for more than 3,000 meters and was 1,000 meters deep.

But as one shell after another hit hard, and finally like a continuous rainstorm, the entire front of the position was submerged in smoke and dust, and all Hattori Xiaotaro's luck was gone.

That was the bombardment of more than 40 artillery pieces. Every second, his soldiers would be attacked by 3 shells. With such a density of firepower, even if it was a division, the entire artillery regiment must be dispatched.

But compared to the crazy artillery of the Chinese, what made the Japanese major general even more desperate was that just 3 minutes ago, he sent out a full tank squadron and 800 infantrymen.

All these people were exposed in the wilderness and were within the coverage of the Chinese artillery.

It was him, the brigade commander of the major general, who pushed these imperial officers and soldiers into the abyss.

Yes, in such a fierce artillery fire, let alone people, even the Type 97 medium tank weighing 15 tons was like a ship in the sea, shaking violently in the air waves formed by the explosion of the shells, and the sound of shrapnel hitting the steel plate was like rain hitting banana leaves.

The clanging sound was a song of death to the Japanese armored soldiers in the tanks.

It is true that shrapnel cannot penetrate a steel plate of more than ten millimeters or even more than twenty millimeters, but what if a shell hits the tank?

In terms of caliber, the fragile top of the tank is not different from armor-piercing shells and grenades. Whether it is a 150 heavy mortar or a 75 mountain gun, it has the power to destroy a tank.

The smoke and dust stirred up by the shells made the visibility of the Japanese tank observation port extremely low. There were only two ways for these Japanese tank soldiers, either to move forward or to retreat!

Moving forward may suffer more artillery attacks, but retreating, turning around, and avoiding the infantry following closely behind, which means staying in the artillery coverage area longer.

Kamiya Haosen, then the captain of the 1st Tank Squadron of the 1st Division, made an extremely brave decision and picked up the radio: "Brave Imperial Knights, follow me, full speed ahead! Long live the Empire!"

"Long live the Empire!" The heroic slogans of the Japanese armored soldiers came from the wireless intercom.

Except for two Type 97 light tanks whose tracks were damaged and unable to move due to shells exploding on the side of the vehicle, the remaining 20 tanks continued to move forward at full speed in the storm of artillery fire.

That scene happened to be seen by a Japanese military reporter, who wrote the following text with tears in his eyes: The enemy's artillery fire was so fierce that I could feel the heat wave coming even from a thousand meters away, but even in such a purgatory, more than 20 tanks of the empire still drove at full speed and killed the Chinese positions like sharp arrows.

They are like the sword in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor, which can cut through the darkness and pierce the sky; they are lightning and the glory of the empire!

It was almost that the lyrics of the classic song "You are electricity, you are light, you are the only myth" that would be sung in the future were released in advance by this emotional Japanese military reporter.

However, when this tearful Japanese military reporter tried his best to praise the brave and fearless Imperial Steel Knights, he might not have seen that Major General Hattori, who was not far from him, was also wet in the eyes at this moment.

However, it was because of heartache.

Tanks have steel and iron bones. As long as they are not unlucky enough to be hit by a shell, the probability of survival is still very high. But what can the Japanese infantrymen who can only lie on the ground use to resist the artillery fire?

Rely on the dirt accumulated from not taking a bath for a long time? Rely on the protection of the unreliable Amaterasu?

In the end, they can only rely on fate!

But it is not about luck, but as long as enough people die, the old god of death who has a lot of harvest will always miss a few cats and dogs, right?

According to Hattori Xiaotaro's estimation, 30% of the infantrymen in the area covered by artillery fire will eventually survive, and he will have to smile in his dreams.

And the premise for such a high survival rate is that his subordinates are quick enough to react and hide in a shell crater not far from them before the next shell kills them.

Hiding in a shell crater is the only chance for the Japanese infantrymen to survive, but that also means that no infantrymen can kill the enemy positions with sparks and lightning like the heroic Japanese armored soldiers.

The only outcome of running in the artillery fire is to be torn to pieces by the artillery fire.

Obviously, the "conspicuous bags" who braved the artillery fire and bravely moved forward completely lost the protection of the infantry after running wildly for 1 minute and finally leaving the artillery coverage area.

Tanks are indeed very powerful weapons on the battlefield, especially when there are not enough anti-tank weapons, which are simply invincible for infantry.

Heavy machine gun fortifications, tanks with tank guns can blast them into the sky with one shot, and infantry who dare to provoke them can be immediately sent to the next life by the machine guns carried by the tanks themselves.

But there is a premise that no one can get close to the surroundings of the tanks.

In World War II, the blitzkrieg of the famous German general "Gu Bu Shuai" defeated the Western world. He never said that it was just a group of steel monsters rushing on the battlefield. He also had the most advanced infantry-tank coordination tactics in the world at that time.

That is, the infantry advances forward with the tank as the center, the tank opens the way for the infantry and blocks the enemy's firepower attack, and the infantry needs to observe the surrounding environment at all times to prevent the enemy infantry from attacking the tank, clear the anti-tank mines on the road, etc., to escort the safety of the tank.

Tanks have always played the role of pioneers, and infantry is the extension of tank firepower, responsible for expanding the results of the war. This is a bit like the relationship between the queen bee and the worker bee, the only difference is that the tank does not create infantry.

Like the Japanese, who relied on 20 tanks to rush to nearly 4,000 elite infantry, and 4,000 elite infantry with 37mm anti-tank guns, how can we say it?

I can only say that there is no other word to describe them except stupid.

"The devil's tank is quite strong! Just rushing over like this?" Some infantrymen are still amazed that the Japanese tanks are really strong enough.

"Squad leader, what can we do?" There are also panics in the recruits who have dealt with tanks.

"Don't panic, don't we all have special training on how to attack tanks? Wait for orders." The squad leaders basically remained calm.

"Each blasting group, use smoke and terrain cover, avoid machine gun firing range, use explosive packs and Molotov cocktails, and kill the damn thing." The commanders of the battalion and company levels, who were still serious when hiding in the trenches, could not hide their excitement.

They are all veterans who have fought on the battlefield for many years. The shortest service time is more than 6 years. They have seen all kinds of battlefields. Seeing these 20 or so conspicuous packs dragging thick black smoke and rushing over like this, and there is no Japanese soldier behind them, they will find a chance to fight immediately.

It's not that the crazy generals were reluctant to use 37mm anti-tank guns to fire at the Japanese armored clusters rumbling over, but it's more cost-effective to use infantry to throw Molotov cocktails and explosive packs.

Tanks without infantry protection are just a group of big turtles. Apart from a harder shell, what else do they have?