Rise From Eight Hundred

The 769th Regiment was very tough!

From the beginning, the Japanese army regarded the front battlefield as the main breakthrough point!

Although Chinese soldiers appeared on the high ground on both wings, after several attempts, it was found that a large number of troops were needed. Colonel Goto, then the commander of the 108th Infantry Regiment, immediately adjusted his combat thinking.

The central plain in the Beiganling area is relatively wide, which is the main farming land for the mountain people in this area. There are also small hills for cover and concealment. In addition to heavy machine guns, the high ground on both wings can pose a slight threat to the infantry completely exposed in the wilderness. Light machine guns and rifles are basically powerless.

And artillery, does the Chinese army have it?

‘It is better to cut off one finger than to hurt ten fingers! ’ The Japanese army colonel who knew that he might be besieged by Chinese soldiers made a fairly wise decision.

In fact, at the subsequent high-level military meeting of the 108th Division, few people criticized the Japanese army colonel for his early tactical command, which was intended to make him take the responsibility for the failure of this battle.

As long as the unit can break through the Chinese front line at noon or even in the whole afternoon, even if there are more Chinese on the wings with enough distance, the unit with enough heavy firepower and infantry will not suffer the subsequent catastrophe!

They also have this strength!

After all, they have 8 infantry guns and 4 mountain guns in terms of artillery alone, and there are also 10 94 light tanks. Not to mention attacking a mountain where a Chinese person has no time to dig many trenches, even a strong city with city walls is enough.

You know, in Teng County on the other side of Xuzhou, the Chinese Sichuan Army has more than 4,000 troops stationed, but there is only one infantry battalion attacking the city. In addition, if they are equipped with 4 mountain guns and 2 92 infantry guns, the 4,000 Chinese Sichuan Army will have a very difficult time!

In the absence of air force participation on both sides, artillery is the key to dominate the battlefield!

Although the infantry guns and mountain guns equipped by the Japanese army are only small-caliber artillery in this era, they are well-deserved NO.1 in this barren mountain in China.

Especially the 75mm howitzer with a killing radius of 10 meters, in the Taihang Mountains, where there are more stones and less soil, the killing power is increased because of the rocks stimulated by the air waves. In the future, it is a superposition of BUFF. The commander of the 69th Regiment was smart enough and did not choose to fight the Japanese army right away. Two infantry companies from each of his two infantry battalions formed a 1,000-meter-wide defense line along the mountain, and each left an infantry company as a reserve, but this did not mean that nearly 600 officers and soldiers were directly thrown under the threat of Japanese artillery fire.

In fact, most people still hid behind the mountain, and each company only left a few observation posts, waiting for the Japanese infantry to come up, and then returned from behind the mountain to the simple positions that had been built with stones.

This is also the advantage of the stone mountain. If there is no time to dig trenches, then move the big stones and put them in front. They can't block artillery shells, but they are enough to resist bullets. It's helpless, but it has a certain effect.

However, facing the fierce artillery fire of more than 300 shells that the Japanese army poured out for a full 20 minutes, this simple fortification built with stones in a hurry was basically a hopeless situation.

To put it bluntly, the significance of this fortification in providing protection actually depends on personal luck!

Because it takes a certain amount of time to move from the back of the mountain to the position, in order to ensure that the impact of the Japanese infantry can be suppressed enough, 4 infantry companies placed 4 infantry squads on their respective positions.

The result is that in such an artillery attack, only half of the people can survive.

Nearly 30 people were torn to pieces by the artillery fire before they had time to fire a shot at the Japanese invaders.

At this time, the 921st Division had not yet developed and summarized any reverse slope tunnel tactics, but with sufficient combat experience, the general of the 769th Regiment had the prototype of this famous tactic in the future battle of the ice field, which was at least 70% effective.

The main tactical principle of the reverse slope tunnel tactics is not to defend the ridgeline of the mountain, but to retreat to the tunnel on the back of the mountain, and then recapture it after covering the ridgeline position with one's own artillery fire.

To put it bluntly, if you want to fight this kind of mountain defense battle with reverse slope tunnels as the main force, first of all, the defenders must have a large number of artillery, enough to cover the ridgeline position.

But the current 769th Regiment does not have these. They have no other artillery except a few small-caliber mortars, and they have no time to build any tunnels. All the soldiers are exposed behind the ridge.

If the Japanese air force had participated in the war at this time, this battle would almost not have to be fought. The bombs dropped from the air alone would have been enough to bury more than 1,000 Chinese infantrymen in this mountain.

A strong will can overcome the fear of death, but the fierce artillery fire brings death!

The reason why miracles are called miracles is that they are extremely rare probabilities, not that they will happen every moment.

Fortunately, the Japanese army had not yet achieved the level of land and air integration. The battle of Xuzhou, nearly a thousand kilometers away, was in full swing, and most of the air forces went to the war zone over there. This battlefield was at most 10,000 people, and it was not enough for the Japanese North China Front Command to focus on it.

Except for the morning when Xia Xiongyuan asked for support from the Army Aviation and asked the indoor shroud in Pingcheng to glance at the telegram for help from the special division, the entire Japanese North China Front Command did not pay much attention to the battlefield in eastern Shanxi.

This is completely understandable. A front army commanded 300,000 troops. If a battlefield with only a few thousand people had to be watched by an army general all the time, wouldn't the army general be exhausted to death?

So, in general, although the bomber formation composed of 6 Japanese bombers more than an hour ago caused considerable losses to the main force of the 769th Regiment, it was still during the march, and the queue was stretched to three or four kilometers long. If it was concentrated on a battlefield less than a kilometer away like now, the loss of more than a dozen heavy bombs would probably be more than doubled.

The Japanese Army Aviation actually missed the best fighter!

Besides, there are not enough artillery and no perfect fortifications on this battlefield. For the general of the 769th Regiment, the position on the top of the mountain must not be lost. He can only harden his heart and fill his elite soldiers into the battlefield with a mortality rate of more than half.

But this is not the end. Looking through the telescope at the battlefield where the smoke was about to dissipate, many Chinese soldiers rushed down from the top of the mountain and carried the wounded to the rear of the position. The Japanese army colonel showed a hint of coldness at the corner of his mouth.

"Order! After each artillery squad stops shelling for three minutes, shell again for 10 minutes!"

"Sir, what are you doing..." A major standing next to Goto asked cautiously.

As one of the two majors accompanying the colonel, Nobi Nobita was much luckier than the unlucky Komura Hiroshi. He followed the colonel with three infantry squadrons and a heavy machine gun squadron belonging to his infantry battalion. He did not have to trek hard on the narrow mountain road. He even had a 94 armored vehicle to ride, although the diesel smell inside made people want to vomit.

However, Major Nobi Nobi was very smart. He knew that the reason why he could follow Colonel Goto closely was not because he was handsome, but because he was well versed in flattery. He flattered the big man very well in several military meetings. At this time, he suddenly changed his tactics temporarily, not letting the front-line infantry launch a tentative charge, but letting the artillery continue to bombard. There must be a deep meaning behind it.

In particular, after issuing the military order, the colonel looked at the distance with a deep look in his eyes. Didn’t he know what he meant?

It was clearly waiting for him to ask questions. Fortunately, he pretended to be cool in the temporary command post built by the commander of the division, Mr. Shimokumamoto...

Of course, it’s not that this colonel is a pretentious dealer, but a common behavior of commanders to establish their own prestige in the army.

Who made this joint force temporarily drawn from various armies in Lucheng? Among the more than 2,000 Japanese troops, there were only 400 direct subordinates under the colonel’s regiment commander.

"Nobi-kun, you should have seen the color of the uniforms worn by the Chinese on the battlefield!" The Japanese army colonel pulled down his mouth, revealing a solemn look.

"Hi! I saw it, it's dark gray, it should belong to the Chinese 921st Division!" Nobi Nobita nodded heavily, and his face also showed a bitter look.

China has a lot of troops in Shanxi Province. It doesn't mean that there are a lot of soldiers, but factions. There are the Central Army of the Shanxi Suiyuan Army, the Northwest Army, and the Sichuan Army. In addition, there is an 80th Army Group. The connection between the various factions is so complicated that not only the Japanese are confused, but even the Chinese theater command wants to scratch their heads!

But as the battle in Shanxi Province deepened, the Japanese army, which had been fighting on this land for half a year, finally made its own judgment.

The Shanxi Suiyuan Army and the Central Army have the best equipment, but their fighting will is slightly worse. It is normal to fight if you can win and retreat if you can't win. As long as you don't force them into a desperate situation, it's fine.

The Northwest Army and the Sichuan Army have slightly worse equipment, but their will is tenacious. Once they really get angry, it's a life-and-death rhythm. Fighting with them, all the Japanese troops have a headache.

However, no matter how tenacious these two are, the Japanese army, which has the upper hand, is not afraid. If you want to die, I will give you death.

Finally, we have to talk about the 80th Army Group, which should be the most troublesome unit for the Japanese army in the entire Shanxi Province.

The strength of this unit is not large, with only two infantry divisions, about 20,000 people, which is similar to the strength of a special division of the Japanese army, not to mention the equipment. It is estimated that they are one of the worst equipped Chinese armies in the entire Shanxi Province. They are probably exaggerated. Perhaps only the most famous "beggar" army in China from Sichuan Province can compare with them!

But they have successfully become the most troublesome army for the Japanese army in these six months.

Their considerable strength and tenacious fighting will can be called a strong army, and they are fully qualified to fight head-on with an infantry brigade-level unit, but they don't.

They never fight head-on on a large scale, breaking up the whole into pieces. The battlefield revolves around the long traffic lines. The tactics of hitting the club, besieging the points and attacking the reinforcements, luring the snake out of the hole, etc. make the Japanese divisions as big as a bucket.

Because of the existence of this unit, the transportation and marching efficiency of the fully controlled transportation lines is less than half of the theoretical efficiency, and the losses of soldiers and materials are greater than those on the regular battlefield.

The key is that you still have no way to eliminate them, because they always hide in the mountains, leaving people helpless.

Even as an opponent, you have to admire them a little. The mountains can be a barrier to protect them, but there, they cannot get enough supplies, and food, salt, ammunition, clothing and other military necessities are impossible to produce.

From the inspection of the clothes of the dead soldiers, in the middle of winter, there is even only a shirt and a quilted military uniform. The temperature in the Taihang Mountains in winter is minus 10 degrees at night, and the weather is freezing. God knows how they survived by relying on this.

Their most obvious sign is the gray uniform, because their uniforms do not have enough dye, and the color of the coarse cotton cloth is used.

Moreover, don't think that they are only good at attacks and ambushes. They are also good at fighting tough battles. Two months ago, there was a battle in which two infantry squadrons besieged a mountain village.

In order to cover the evacuation of Chinese civilians in the mountain village, an infantry company defended the village. In the absence of any strong fortifications, two infantry squadrons plus an infantry gun attacked the village for a whole day, and paid the price of nearly 100 casualties before conquering the mountain village.

The total strength of the infantry company was only 125 people. After inspection, it was found that the reason why the two infantry squadrons were able to conquer the position in the end was not because they were able to crush the opponent with strength, but because the ammunition of the infantry company was completely consumed. After a detailed count of the shells left on the ground, it was concluded that the average number of bullets per person in the infantry company was no more than 15!

That was a number that made any Japanese commander's hair stand on end. They couldn't imagine how many infantry attacks they could withstand if the Chinese soldiers were given the same 120 rounds of ammunition as the Japanese infantrymen.

Anyway, two infantry squadrons were definitely not enough.

The will to fight was firm and the tactics were difficult to deal with. This was the label of this unit!

And now, this Chinese army that was causing headaches, liver pain, and kidney pain was right in front of them.

"Yes! It was that difficult Chinese army. If nothing unexpected happened, this battle in Licheng was just a cover for them. In fact, the real combat intention was placed on the 1,500 people in our Shentouling!" The Japanese Army Colonel sighed slightly. "A classic siege and attack, but even if our army knew it, it would still be fooled, because, including the division commander, no one could easily give up more than 1,000 imperial officers and soldiers!"

"Then they are here..." Nobita Nobi actually had a clear mind, but he had to pretend to be ignorant.

Because, here, the Army Colonel in front of him was the protagonist!

"Of course, it is to stop our troops from reinforcing Shentouling. The combat mode is the same as the battle of Pingxingguan half a year ago. The Chinese used half of their main forces to besiege the baggage train of the Fifth Division, and the other half of their main forces were on the periphery to block the reinforcements of the Fifth Division!" There was a cold light in the eyes of the Japanese Army colonel. "It's just that they are too confident this time. The imperial officers and soldiers surrounded in Shentouling are not baggage soldiers, and our troops are not the idiots of the Fifth Division who can't advance 10 miles in a whole day!"

"Just like now, the Chinese have to put their main force behind the ridge to avoid our artillery bombardment, but they dare not leave any people on the front line, fearing that the imperial infantry will advance quickly under the cover of artillery fire! Their commander is very smart and cruel!

Then, I will let him try what cruelty is!

They claim to be willing to sacrifice! Then let them watch their colleagues die wailing under our artillery fire!

Their soldiers have a firm will to fight, which is good. When we set out this time, we carried nearly 2,000 rounds of various types of artillery shells! They consume lives, and we consume artillery shells!"

"Your Excellency the commander is wise!" Nobi Nobita's face was filled with joy. "But what about Shentouling?"

"You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, Nobi-kun, you must have enough confidence in the imperial officers and soldiers!" The Japanese army colonel waved his hand with a firm tone.

"Hi! I understand!" Nobi nodded heavily.

The 769th Regiment on the front line had to make a choice in the face of the Japanese artillery bombardment again!

The young general hardened his heart and sent soldiers again into the battlefield with a mortality rate of up to 50%.

And the soldiers were determined to execute!

In terms of executing military orders, the 921st Division was completely comparable to the Four-Line Regiment, or even stronger. All the sergeants who received the military order did not hesitate to lead their soldiers into the battlefield where people could be crushed to pieces at any time.

This battle did not even have a prelude, and went straight into the decisive battle.

The Japanese army used artillery fire to wreak havoc, and the Chinese soldiers chose to stick to it with their flesh and blood!