The Japanese army was well prepared for artillery fire. The power of the salvos of 24 75mm mountain guns shrouded the 1,800-meter-long defense line on the north bank of the curved Zhuozhang River in thick gunpowder smoke.
In half an hour, 24 mountain guns actually poured more than 1,200 rounds of artillery shells on the position of the 772nd Regiment. Such artillery preparations were extremely rare even among the Japanese army.
Moreover, the position area chosen by the Japanese artillery was also extremely tricky. They were located around a small hill about 1,000 meters behind Zhaozhuang, a stronghold on the rear wing. The woods on the hill became a camouflage for the Japanese artillery, making it impossible to figure out.
In which area were the Japanese artillery placed?
And its infantry began to set up a defense line 600 meters away from the artillery position. There was no need for a ring. As long as it faced a semi-ring in the mountains 1,500 meters away, it could already block all enemies who dared to rush out of the mountains.
Even though the 683rd Brigade's supplementary group could see a large amount of gunpowder smoke rising 2,000 meters away from the mountain peak, and it also held several mortars in its hands, it could only do nothing! After all, the current 683rd Brigade is not luxurious enough.
Aimlessly and by luck, they launched retaliatory bombardments at the Japanese artillery positions.
Therefore, the Japanese artillery was very comfortable. Under the cover of gradually sparse artillery fire, the Japanese forward infantry began to attack the Zhuozhang River at the infantry squad level. More than eight Type 94 armored vehicles rushed to the front.
Of course, before it is found out whether the Chinese army has combat anti-aircraft artillery, the Type 94 armored vehicles are not cannon fodder to kill people. According to the order of Yamashita arriving at the frontline headquarters, all armored vehicles dispatched by the tank squadron must stay at the Zhuozhang River.
The first 200 meters are not allowed to be entered easily.
Armored vehicles cannot be used as cannon fodder. That cannon fodder must be the first batch of advancing infantry.
Although it was cannon fodder, it was not lost casually. 1,200 rounds of artillery shells paved the way for them, 8 Type 94 tanks served as bunkers for them, and there were up to 16 heavy machine guns on the flanks to provide fire support for them.
A total of more than 300 Japanese infantrymen bent forward and trotted forward, and a total of 8 infantry squads attacked on the left and right banks of the river.
The first wave of Japanese infantrymen who went into the attack were almost frightened. The battles in the past few days had shown them that the Chinese in the Taihang Mountains were completely different from the Chinese who had been defeated in one blow on the North China Plain.
Even though the bombers have already bombed several times, and the imperial artillery has come to clear the ground again, the Chinese are definitely not dead yet, and they will definitely stay in the trenches, waiting for them to get closer, and then get closer.
But the more timid the Japanese infantry were, the less likely they were to encounter the hail of bullets they imagined, even if they had already rushed to a position less than 100 meters away from the river.
This made Yoshitani Yoshio, who personally arrived in the trench 700 meters away to supervise the battle, look uncertain. Based on his understanding of the Chinese army, which lacked heavy firearms, the Chinese rarely fired to suppress the attacking troops from a distance of 200 meters, but they would never
He will not easily let his opponent cross the 100-meter line of life and death.
At a distance of 100 meters, it only takes about 16 seconds for a fully armed soldier to charge. Once a strong enough firepower network cannot be formed, it will be easily rushed to the 30-meter position by the imperial infantry. That is also the attack zone of the melon grenade.
Once there, countless melon grenades are thrown over, and the chance of rushing into the trenches is basically greater than 70%.
But the Chinese position was still quiet, as if they were collectively asleep. Could it be that all the Chinese were swallowed up by the raging artillery fire?
This kind of beautiful wish was fleeting in Yoshio Raitani's mind. As a mature soldier, he knew very well that fierce artillery fire might inflict heavy damage on the opponent, but if he pinned all his hopes of annihilating the enemy
As for cannonballs, that's extremely stupid.
In the history of battles between the imperial and Chinese armies, there has never been a battle in which all Chinese were killed by artillery.
The final solution to the battlefield depends on the infantry's muzzles and bayonets.
When things go wrong, there must be monsters. Looking through the telescope, watching our infantry getting closer and closer to the Zhuozhang River with a water surface of more than 20 meters wide, Lai Guyinan felt more and more uneasy. The "half-crossing attack" in the Chinese Art of War kept coming.
flashed in my mind.
When a person is in water, his flexibility is bound to be limited, and he cannot quickly lie down to evade. The battle fatality rate is far higher than that on flat ground. Yoshio Yoriyani can almost predict that the casualty rate of his subordinates who rushed into the river will definitely exceed one-third.
But as a commander, what can he do? He must know how deep the river is, how fast the water flows, and the layout of the opponent's heavy firepower points. All of these require bloody lives as bait to detect.
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"Order the tank squadron at the front to dispatch tanks. They must ensure fire suppression of the enemy and provide the strongest fire cover for the infantry." Yoshitani Yoshio ordered with a serious look.
This is the greatest support he can give to his subordinates.
As a result, a shocking scene occurred. Even though the leading troops of the Japanese infantry had stepped into the cold river water, as they moved forward, the river water was already waist deep, and the other side was still quiet.
What are the Chinese doing? This question has been the voice of almost all Japanese soldiers on the battlefield.
The eerie silence coming from the opponent made every Japanese soldier watching this scene involuntarily hold their breath. If the fire of the 75 mountain artillery was not still extending forward, blasting smoke billowing three to four hundred meters away, the Japanese army would even involuntarily hold their breath.
They had the illusion that there was actually no one else on this battlefield except them, and the Chinese had already been blown away by imperial fighter planes and artillery.
But obviously, this is also just a good hope.
Not to mention that the crisscrossing trenches had already been dug on the north bank of the Zhuozhang River. There were more than 20 artillery-proof holes alone. When the Japanese artillery fire began to test, the three infantry battalions of the 772nd Regiment passed through the communication trenches in platoon units.
Withdrawing to the artillery-proof holes that had been designated long ago, two infantry companies were left in the trenches as security forces.
The Japanese artillery fire was fierce enough and caused some losses to the two infantry companies remaining in the trenches. However, if it could kill all the more than 200 Chinese officers and soldiers scattered in the 1,800-meter trench, the intensity of the Japanese artillery fire would have to be at least
Take 5.
When the Japanese artillery fire gradually became sparse and extended a hundred meters away from the river, each battalion sent two infantry platoons out of the artillery holes to provide support to the front line through the communication trenches.
Although not all the main force of the 772nd Regiment is currently on the front line, there are as many as 4 infantry companies with nearly 540 people, which is slightly more powerful than the Japanese army.
Not only that, some heavy machine guns and mortars from the respective fire support companies of the 3rd Battalion also entered their respective fighting positions at the risk of being shelled. If they wanted to fight, they could fire at any time.
However, Battalion Commander Xiao Ding, who served as the front-line commander, was slow to give the order to fight back. Even though the captain and company commander who was following him asked him twice in a row with sweat on his face, he shook his head firmly.
"Wait, let everyone wait!" Battalion Commander Xiao Ding was lying behind the sandbags in the trench, carefully looking at the Japanese troops trudging on the river through the specially left gap. "The little devil is just waiting for our machine guns to fire.
Where are the guns? The grenadiers and infantry artillery of Dog Day should have been prepared a long time ago, but this time I did not wish to use machine guns."
As he was talking, the eight Type 94 tanks on the other side began to fire wildly, and machine gun bullets hit the soil in front of the position like raindrops, making a popping sound!
"The Japanese are about to cross the river on a large scale." Battalion Commander Xiao Ding leaned against the trench wall, his face still calm. "Tell the commanders and soldiers that according to the original plan, half of them will use guns and the other half will be responsible for dropping bombs. We will not use machine guns this time.
You can also kill the stubborn Japanese."
Before he finished speaking, a dozen meters in front of the position, "Boom, boom, boom!" exploded into a cloud of smoke. It was the Japanese melon grenade.
The reason why melon grenades are basically thrown in front of the positions is because the trenches are dug along the river, but not next to the river. The far distance is 50 meters from the river, and the short distance is about 40 meters. Crossing the river
The Japanese army wanted to throw hand grenades into the trenches, but that was a dream.
And the reason why the Japanese troops started throwing grenades as soon as they crossed the river instead of continuing forward was because they really didn't want to move forward, but they couldn't.
The terrain on the north bank of the river is relatively high, and perhaps due to being washed away by the river all the year round, a natural ridge is formed, which is more than 2 meters high.
After crossing the river, some Japanese troops couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded. They had to set up human ladders if they wanted to climb this hurdle.
In the past, one person would make the ladder, and the other person would run all the way with the gun, and use the momentum to jump up on the shoulders of his companions.
But now, they have already spent a lot of energy trudging in the mud, and after crossing the river, half of their energy has been lost. The completely soaked leather boots and military uniforms have gained more than ten kilograms in vain. You let them continue
With such strong skills, he still has to cross a ridge of more than 2 meters with a height of less than 1.6 meters. That is really a strong man locking up a man!
But staying here all the time is not a problem, and when more and more colleagues are crossing the river, it is also dangerous to crowd in here.
Not having enough sense of space on the battlefield is what worries soldiers the most.
Therefore, many Japanese troops who had already arrived at the gully chose to throw grenades outside the gully to build up their momentum. What if the Chinese were killed?
Little did they know, this was a signal sent to Battalion Commander Xiao Ding in the trench. Based on the density of grenade explosions, he judged that the Japanese army had reached at least one-third of the way.
"Fire!" Battalion Commander Xiao Ding held up his shell gun and fired along the gaps in the sandbags.
Suddenly, gunshots sounded like exploding beans on the battlefield.
This is not a targeted shot at all, it is a random shot.
Because the smoke caused by the grenade explosion made it impossible for those in the trenches to see the front. The bullets fired simply told the Japanese army that even if they climbed over the hurdle, they would still have to lie down. The bullets would hurt them if they hit them.
If you die, you will die.
The 772nd Regiment had all been equipped with Japanese weapons before the war. Faced with such a big battle, Brigadier Cheng Da naturally did not dare to hide it. Not only were the two main regiments all equipped with Japanese weapons, but even the supplementary regiment was equipped with half of them.
The Jin-made firearms even carried all the ammunition in stock.
In his words, if this battle is lost, we will not be able to stay in the Taihang Mountains. Our oath when we crossed the Yellow River has been fed to the dogs, so why do we need firearms and ammunition? On average, each soldier carries as many as 100 rounds of bullets.
Of course, the grenade is still an imitation of the German long wooden handle grenade, which is much more powerful than the Japanese melon grenade. The 683 Brigade is not short of that for the time being.
Therefore, this wave can be regarded as Japanese weapons versus Japanese weapons. In terms of light firepower, both sides are almost the same, except for grenades.
Several Japanese soldiers who had just appeared in more than a dozen places fell instantly. Those who were lucky enough not to be hit by bullets were either lying on the ground or quickly rolling down the ditch.
"Drop the bomb!" Battalion Commander Xiao Ding ordered again.
As the infantry company beside him threw sixty or seventy grenades in one breath, they exploded by the river, and the other infantry companies also began to throw grenades wildly.
This was a tactic that had been formulated long before the war. The first wave of Japanese troops tested it, and unless absolutely necessary, the heavy machine gun firepower points were not exposed.
But we can't let these cannon fodder Japanese troops just run back. Massive casualties are inevitable.
Neither rifles nor light machine guns can achieve this goal, so grenades are the only option.
The timing of using this grenade is also very important. It must wait until the Japanese army has finished crossing the river and gathered under the natural gully. The time is stuck at the time when they want to but cannot.
The melon grenade cannot be thrown at a distance of 40 meters, but the wooden handle grenade equipped by the Chinese army can.
Even if only half of the four infantry companies dropped bombs, there would still be more than 200 people. In one wave, more than 200 grenades would be thrown. Even if only half of them crossed the ditch and exploded below the ditch, there would be nearly 600 grenades in four waves.
Bar!
The river bank is nearly 2,000 meters long, with an average density of 3 meters. When a grenade explodes, the key is that there is nowhere to hide. Even if you lie down on the gravel ground by the river, there is a high chance that the grenade will hit your buttocks with blue smoke.
, do you think there is still a way to survive?
Nearly 150 Japanese soldiers gathered at the bottom of the ditch. They were howling like ghosts after being bombed! The scene of broken limbs and bloody flesh shocked the Japanese soldiers who were still trudging in the river.
A Japanese soldier felt his face being slapped hard. After looking around, he found that his nearest comrade was still 10 meters away. He instinctively reached out and touched it, but he pulled out a piece of skin with curly hair from his face.
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The skin and flesh could no longer show any specific features to the Japanese infantryman as to which part of the human body it belonged to, but it definitely belonged to his comrade.
The Japanese infantry looked at the bloody flesh on their hands in fear. After staying for nearly five seconds, they screamed strangely and ran back. At least seven or eight Japanese infantry imitated the same example and followed the deserter's crazy steps.
Run backwards with short legs.
"Baga!" A Japanese officer with the rank of second lieutenant held a Southern Type 14 pistol and prepared to shoot at his subordinate who was the first to escape.
But as a crisp sound of gunfire rang out, the Japanese officer's arm dropped weakly, and the tortoise box fell into the rushing river, becoming a real tortoise.
The light machine guns on the Chinese position began to take advantage of this opportunity and shoot towards the river through the shooting holes created by the sandbags.
The characteristics of the pistol in the hand of the Japanese officer were so obvious that a Chinese machine gunner spotted him and fired a hail of bullets at him. Therefore, he was not the first Japanese lieutenant to die on this battlefield, but he was definitely the first.
A team leader feeding the fish.
With just this fat, the fish in the Zhuozhang River would have to eat it for many days.
As the saying goes: no matter how fast you run, you can't outrun the bullets! What's more, you are still in the water. Although the Japanese Type 94 armored vehicles have tried their best to provide fire cover, and there are also Japanese grenadiers not far away who are bombarding them, but the Chinese side has two layers of sandbag cover.
However, the light machine gunners and riflemen could condescendingly kill the Japanese troops in the river who began to flee backwards!
According to post-war statistics, even in this first wave, 4 of the 8 infantry squads were declared out of organization. More than 200 Japanese soldiers stayed in the river and under the ditches by the river, but there were surprisingly few wounded soldiers.
No more than 20 people in total.
Because if you are injured in the river and lose the ability to walk, you will basically be swallowed by the surging river water very quickly. Those who survive are basically the chosen ones.
"Baga!" Yoshio Laitani watched helplessly as the lives of his soldiers were ruthlessly harvested by the Chinese. It was extremely rare that he took the initiative to retreat. And this was the result of the Chinese not using heavy machine guns. You can imagine the anger in his heart.
"Asshole! Give me the order to Yoshio Raitani. The artillery will continue to bombard the Chinese position in five minutes. The fire preparation time is 15 minutes.
During these 15 minutes, he immediately organized a second wave of attacks. This time the tank squadron could follow his infantry, and the engineers would also carry enough equipment to accompany the infantry. Tell him, I don't want any more difficult terrain, China
Excuses like heavy firepower!" Yamashita was equally furious when he learned over the phone that the front line was frustrated but failed to implement even the most basic tactics.
At this moment, a thunderous 'rumbling' sound suddenly came from the distance, and Yamashita's eyes, which were already very angry, were even more fierce. He knew that the noise could only be caused by the artillery group, and he did not order the artillery brigade to fire.
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How could the artillery brigade skip his command and provide artillery support to the rear wing? Even if the military situation was urgent, it was against the order.
In other words, the artillery battalion was still two kilometers away from him. Otherwise, the furious Yamashita might have pointed out some loudmouths.
But Yamashita obviously didn't know that the artillery battalion captain who had taken the blame for some reason was looking into the distance with his mouth wide open.
Although the muzzles of the 24 mountain cannons under his command are still emitting green smoke, this is the heat dissipation phenomenon of the previous firing and has nothing to do with the rumbling sound of the cannons.
Moreover, hearing that movement, it was not something that his 24 mountain cannons could have caused.
Those belonged to the Chinese, and the number of artillery pieces was probably no less than that of their artillery brigade. The heart of the Japanese artillery brigade was slowly sinking.
The experience of the old artillerymen is very correct.
The artillery fired this time were 6 150-meter heavy guns and 16 75-meter mountain guns, totaling 22 artillery pieces. The number was roughly the same as that of the Japanese artillery brigade.
However, the 150-weight cannon shell weighs 18 kilograms, which is nearly three times that of the 6.5-kilogram mountain cannon shell. The power is obvious.
In just the first round of shelling, the Japanese troops in the Zhaozhuang area were beaten to the point of crying. The captain of the infantry brigade asked Yamashita for reinforcements three minutes after being shelled.
If the Chinese artillery fire was allowed to continue like this, his already somewhat incomplete infantry brigade would be bombarded to the point of being paralyzed before nightfall, and its combat effectiveness would be less than half of the previous one.
On the one hand, the Chinese artillery is extremely powerful, but what is even worse is that their soldiers do not have decent trenches to protect them.
The major captain who originally stayed in the village did not dare to stay any longer. He had reason to suspect that the Chinese would open fire on the village.
Rich combat experience saved the Japanese army major. Within 5 minutes, the Chinese artillery group that found the coordinates of the village extended its artillery fire to the village. The entire village was reduced to powder in 5 minutes.
After the war, according to the captured Japanese battle reports, the infantry brigade lost 166 people in the first wave of artillery, almost an infantry squadron. If there were two more waves, the infantry brigade with more than 700 soldiers would be almost the same.
Facts have proved that not only Chinese soldiers were unable to withstand artillery, but neither were the Japanese.
"What? The Chinese have artillery groups no less numerous than ours?" Yamashita's face turned pale after receiving the telegram, and he sat down on a chair in the small courtyard and remained silent for a long time.
As an army general, he was very aware of the destructive power of artillery.
Without enough cover, his rear wing army is like meat on the Chinese chopping board, and can be cut into pieces as they like.
"Instruct Lieutenant Commander Yin Teng to the rear. The artillery brigade will give him maximum support and ask him to drag him until the sun sets no matter what. Then he will use all his strength to build fortifications overnight and tell the officers and soldiers of the brigade that this is a time of life and death for the entire brigade. If
If you don't try your best, you will die!" Yamashita tried his best to calm down.
It is no longer that important when to break through the Zhuozhang River. What is important is that the rear wing must not be broken, otherwise, the entire army will be destroyed in front of you.
Perhaps, if he survives this night and waits until the Army aircraft fighter planes find the enemy's artillery position tomorrow and destroy it, he will be able to hold on for a few more days even if he is trapped.
This is the only countermeasure the Japanese general can think of at the moment.
But the Japanese Army Major General who was at the end of his rope may not have thought about one question: Why do the Chinese dare to expose their artillery and strength in such a big way?
Or perhaps, Yamashita had thought of it, but now he was drinking poison to quench his thirst. No matter what the Chinese were up to, his hope of survival for the Second Mixed Brigade lay with the Imperial Air Force.
Captain Sasaki, who was hundreds of miles away, felt a slight chill in his vest!
This chapter has been completed!