As the top frontline commander of the Kunisaki Detachment, Captain Oshima Masayoshi of the 11th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Brigade was actually very hesitant when he received the order from the detachment leader Major General Kunisaki Sui to pursue the fleeing enemy at full speed.
It's not that he has insufficient troops under his command. There are 4 infantry brigades of infantry alone gathered in the Hexi Village area. If engineers, baggage troops, armored troops and other auxiliary units are also included, the number of troops under his command can be as high as 5,000. In fact, he has
The pinnacle of military career is commanding troops.
Moreover, there are 8 105mm howitzers and 12 75mm mountain guns in the distance that can provide fire support. Major General Kunisaki even promised him that if the war does not go well, he can coordinate with at least one bomber squadron from the North China Front Army Aviation Corps to provide fire support.
With such strength, he was not afraid at all of a Chinese infantry division, let alone an infantry regiment.
What made him hesitate was the terrain in front of him!
From the map, Hexi Village is only a few miles away from Black Dragon Pond. The commander sitting at the rear only needs to wave his baton, and it seems that these few miles of mountain road are not a problem at all.
But in fact, if you want to reach Black Dragon Pool, you have to climb two mountains with an altitude of more than 800 meters. The jungle is densely covered with thorns. Not to mention that the Type 94 armored vehicles and horses cannot move forward, and it is also difficult for personnel to move forward in this way.
After going over the mountains and ridges, not to mention the four-stringed group, the pheasants and rabbits were probably gone.
If he wanted to carry all kinds of heavy equipment and increase his marching speed to catch up with the fleeing Four Troops, there was only one way in front of Oshima Masaki, which was to take Heilonggou.
Heilonggou, as the name suggests, is a ravine. It is actually a canyon formed by crustal movement in ancient times!
Viewed from a high altitude, the miraculous craftsmanship of nature is like an angry god splitting the entire mountain with a sword. However, the sword of this great god is not sharp enough, and his swordsmanship is not good either. The split is slightly crooked, and the entire canyon is
The bend is like a bowstring stretched to the full moon.
Although you can reach Black Dragon Pool directly from here, and the gravel road there is accessible to large vehicles, the length of the entire canyon is as high as 4,000 meters.
Anyone walking in this extremely gloomy canyon, which is shrouded by mountains on both sides, will inevitably feel a sense of fear, let alone this kind of wartime.
If someone ambushes on the high ground on both sides, the people in the canyon will almost have to be beaten passively.
Oshima Masayoshi was cautious enough. Under the urging of his immediate superior, he did not immediately send troops forward. Instead, he sent four infantry squads as vanguards to search the interior of Heilonggou. In addition, he also sent two infantry squads.
Climb up to the high ground on both sides of Heilonggou to be on guard.
It wasn't until most of the infantry squads that had passed through had fired green flares indicating safety that Oshima Masayoshi waved his hand and ordered all units to set off and quickly pass through Heilonggou.
Oshima Masayoshi stood on the high ground not far from Heilonggou and continued to observe the surroundings of the canyon with a telescope. Although the soldiers he sent had passed through more than half of the canyon and found nothing unusual, the hazy weather
The dark entrance to the canyon below always made the Japanese army commander a little frightened.
If there were Chinese ambushes above the canyon and shooting below, the imperial warriors below the canyon would not have much power to resist.
Even aerial reconnaissance and advanced intelligence from the front line showed that the Chinese in Heilongtan had fled like their vanguard troops.
In short, the Si Xing Regiment is by no means an ordinary Chinese army. Their speed is so inconsistent with the characteristics they have shown on the battlefield in the past. No matter how high you value them, you cannot overestimate them.
Don't tell me, it's not for nothing that Oshima Masayoshi got to his current status.
It means "strategically despise the enemy and tactically value the enemy".
At least at this moment, there was nothing wrong with the tactical arrangement he made.
However, he still didn't understand his opponent and overestimated his friendly forces.
The so-called large number of people and horses seen by the Japanese reconnaissance planes were a baggage company and a mountain artillery company following them. The demonstration-style anti-air fire of the two machine guns prevented the Japanese planes from even entering the low altitude of 1,000 meters.
'Finding thousands of people retreating' was actually just a bold conjecture made by the Japanese pilots to cover up their cowardice.
It was this conjecture that led Kunizaki to greatly misjudge the battlefield situation. Even a cautious man like Oshima Masayoshi gritted his teeth and started his own military adventure.
Military adventures generally have two outcomes, one is a great success, the other is a great defeat and loss, and it is rare to have an average outcome.
His opponents, however, were more radical than him and chose more thrilling military adventures.
Not only did Leng Feng not retreat but advance instead and take advantage of the Japanese army's misunderstanding to ambush the Japanese army, he did not even invest all of his main infantry in this nearly perfect ambush battlefield.
The two main infantry battalions of the Four Lines Regiment have a total of 6 infantry companies and 2 artillery companies. In addition to the 4 infantry companies that sneaked into the mountains and forests, there are only 2 infantry companies and 2 artillery companies plus a supply platoon and two heavy forced platoons.
Waiting for them around Heilonggou.
An elite infantry company, an artillery company, and a transport platoon were hiding in the forest 800 meters away from the ridge of the canyon. They waited until the Japanese search troops passed by and the Japanese infantry brigade began to enter the canyon. Only then did they take command of the battlefield here.
Following Shangguan Yun's order, he quickly trotted into the position in a latent posture.
From 500 meters from the exit to 800 meters from the entrance, their position is on the nearly 3,000-meter-long canyon ridge. Because Japanese soldiers will search for it, there are no trenches or fortifications built on such a long ridge.
Remain as is.
In fact, if you shoot down into the canyon from a high position, the so-called trenches and fortifications are useless.
The real position is in the mountain forest at the exit of the canyon in the direction of Heilongtan. There is an iron gate that blocks the Japanese army from rushing forward. As long as the place is locked, the Japanese army can only be beaten passively in the long canyon.
Leng Feng personally led an infantry company and an artillery company with nearly 600 people there.
Oshima Masayoshi was more cautious than Leng Feng imagined. Even if there were top soldiers searching, he was extremely careful to divide his troops into three parts.
The first group to enter the canyon were four of the five Type 94 armored vehicles plus an infantry brigade. The bottom of the canyon was only five or six meters wide, but it was enough for driving.
The infantry group that entered the canyon was divided into three parts, with an infantry squadron at the head, two infantry squadrons in the middle, and an infantry squadron accompanying the heavy machine gun squadron and the group headquarters at the end. The three groups were separated by more than 200 meters.
The Japanese officers and soldiers lined up in two rows, with more than 1 meter between each soldier in front and behind. The 1,100-man infantry brigade advanced for more than ten minutes before it completely entered the canyon.
Then, the second part of the Japanese army entered the canyon. It was not until he saw the figure of the last soldier of the second infantry brigade completely disappearing at the entrance of the canyon that Oshima Masayoshi's serious face finally showed a smile of relief.
Two fully loaded infantry brigades with 2,200 people, plus armored troops and a baggage squadron accompanying the army, 2,700 people entered the canyon, enough to fill the entire 4,000-meter-long canyon.
If nothing else goes wrong, the forward of the first infantry brigade has now arrived at the exit, and no warning signal has been issued so far, which shows that his previous caution was a bit unfounded.
It seemed that he really thought highly of the Four Elements Group, and they just thought they were outmatched and ran away.
Although he has always been opposed to chasing the enemy in the mountains, the Japanese Army Colonel also understood his immediate superior's eagerness for revenge.
Since the Fifth Division entered the Chinese battlefield, it has won nine out of ten battles. The only two battles it lost were one in Guangde and the other in Taierzhuang. However, the battle of Taierzhuang was defeated. After all, it was dominated by the 105th Preparatory Division. Guangde
Those who participated in the battle were all the real elites of the division. Anyone in his position would probably want to prove themselves again, especially when facing an opponent who had tricked him before.
The glory of victory is enough to cover up all ugliness. This is what the Fifth Division did.
"Yo Xi! Order the artillery squadron directly under the rear wing to withdraw from the position, dismantle and load the mountain cannon, and be ready to march at any time." Oshima Masayoshi, who was about 300 meters away from the entrance of the canyon, put down the telescope in his hand and issued a military order.
In order to prevent accidents, when the infantry arrived at the canyon and prepared to enter, Oshima Masayoshi ordered the artillery squadron directly under his 11th Regiment to seize favorable terrain and set up the guns. The four 75-caliber mountain guns aimed directly at the mountain ridge and the exit of the canyon, 6,500 meters away.
The range is enough to keep the Imperial officers and soldiers in the canyon under their protection.
If the commander is cautious, he can save his life. This is what the infantrymen think. However, for the Japanese artillerymen who have always been the only ones who hit you and never you hit me, this military order is a pain for them.
Wangwu Mountain is steep and steep. Just climbing the mountain is tiring, let alone carrying hundreds of kilograms of mountain artillery up the mountain. Fortunately, the packhorse division is equipped with a large number of packhorses, otherwise these artillerymen would be exhausted to death.
, and there is no way to move the mountain cannon up the mountain.
But why, is it easy to dismantle and assemble the mountain cannon? Just put the nearly 100 kilograms of mountain cannon parts on the packhorse and lift it with your hands? There is also the artillery cart, does it have an engine or something like that? All that stuff requires manpower, okay?
.
However, the Japanese army has always had strict military discipline. Even if the commander knew that they were going to die from exhaustion, the artillerymen had to obey the order obediently.
In the words of China Future: "If there are conditions, we must go up; if there are no conditions, we must create conditions." From the moment the infantry began to enter the canyon with vigorous steps, the artillerymen jumped up and down like bastards to lift 600 kilograms.
The mountain artillery was moved up the mountain in pieces, and a sufficiently flat place was found for the artillery position. The artillery observers adjusted the muzzle according to the rough calculations and data based on the approximate direction.
That man screamed, "Ma neigh!" The artillery squadron was very busy, and the Japanese soldiers from the infantry squadron who were guarding them were shouting and cheering, but did not come forward to help.
Not to mention that the military order does not allow it, even if the audience is watching the fun, the infantrymen will not move a little finger.
He was going to fight the Chinese face to face, but the artillerymen were happy to let off big firecrackers from behind and there was no danger at all. It would be a lie to say that the Japanese infantry had no resentment against the artillerymen.
Then, the infantrymen watched happily as the artillerymen had just been busy for an hour. After a military order was issued, they began to dismantle and assemble the mountain artillery and repeat the busy work just now. The infantrymen felt as happy as
I ate several popsicles during the dog days of summer.
The audience, who were in a melon-eating mentality, did not realize that in the bushes only 300 meters away from them, a pair of hateful eyes were staring at them. The black muzzles had already been firmly locked, waiting for the battle flare to be sent out.
Bullets beyond their imagination will be rained on them.
They were two infantry companies and a mortar squad of the 4th Battalion that left in the dark. Under the leadership of their guide, they actually went around to the mountains around Hexi Village. Their original plan was to harass the Japanese rear after the battle started, but they didn't expect it.
The Japanese army actually deployed a mountain artillery squadron beside them, and this wave of Japanese troops only had an infantry squadron protecting them.
At a distance of 300 meters, in almost one minute, hundreds of Chinese elites could rush to the Japanese army's loose defense line.
In the words of the company commander Tang Li after the war: "I have never seen such a big piece of fat meat. I can swallow it in one bite."
However, the Japanese infantry had already begun to set off in formation, the artillerymen had dismantled the mountain cannons and mounted them on horseback, and no general attack signal flares appeared in the sky.
The two elite infantry companies could only stare at the big fat piece of meat that was delivered to them without being able to take a bite.
More than 40 minutes have passed since the Japanese infantry entered Heilonggou at 10 o'clock in the morning. The trotting Japanese forwards have even arrived at the entrance of the valley. At least two infantry squadrons have begun to establish temporary field positions at the entrance of the valley, four miles away from the ambush at the entrance of the valley.
The closest Japanese army to the group's blocking position was only 200 meters away.
Oshima Masayoshi has almost successfully completed his military adventure, as long as he is given 10 more minutes.
This situation is also a huge psychological torture for the troops of the Four Lines Regiment in an ambush state.
What kind of soldier is Shangguan Yun? Even in combat missions such as defending the Sihang Warehouse where he was almost certain to die, he entered the battlefield with no hesitation, but in his post-war memoirs, he focused on this battle very far.
Chaosixing Warehouse, and mentioned several times that in such cold weather, his forehead, vest, and palms were covered in cold sweat.
Obviously, in his mind, this battle is more dangerous than Sihang Warehouse.
Leng Feng's dangerous recruitment strategy was really dancing on the edge of a knife. Even if there was a slight mistake, thousands of people would lose their lives.
This is true even for commanders like Shangguan Yun, who have an extremely mature and tough mind, let alone ordinary officers and soldiers.
More and more Japanese troops are pouring out of the canyon. At the exit of the canyon, they are wielding ordnance shovels to dig trenches. They join the main force of the two teams and are ordered to continue searching. Dozens of Japanese top soldiers have even arrived to where the Chinese soldiers are hiding.
The position is 100 meters away from the dense forest position.
Even their low-pitched conversations, somewhat relaxed, could be clearly heard by the soldiers hiding in simple trenches in the forest with their helmets covered with dead grass.
The soldiers were so nervous that they almost stopped breathing. Their faces were pressed against the cold soil, with only a pair of eyes staring at the Japanese soldiers through the gaps in the grass. The knuckles holding the guns looked a little pale due to the extreme exertion.
However, Leng Feng, the top commander at the end of the canyon, still did not order an attack, even though the signal soldier on the side was reporting to him in a low voice the distance of the Japanese infantry: "100 meters! 90 meters!"
Leng Feng still looked ahead with cold eyes, unmoved.
It wasn't until the Japanese infantry had entered 50 meters in front of the position and glanced at his watch that it was already 10:50 in the morning. Leng Feng gave a low order: "Order all units to launch an attack according to the plan!"
Following his order, three red flares rose into the sky.
4,000 meters away, Oshima Masaki, who had just mounted his tall horse and was surrounded by nearly 2,000 people, was slowly heading towards the canyon, his face suddenly stiffened.
Compared to the MMP that the Japanese commander was shouting crazily in his heart, his subordinates who had just successfully walked out of the canyon and breathed a sigh of relief were almost in shock.
It's not that I was frozen hard by the cold winter weather, but that I was going to shit.
In a day like this, if a person burps, he will become hard in less than half an hour.
"咻~~咻~~咻~~~"
The unique roar of mortars echoed through the valley mouth!
The blocking force at Taniguchi fired not the first shot, but the first shot!
Then, there were various gunshots that were so dense that it made your scalp numb.
The sound produced by the combination of submachine guns, semi-automatic rifles, shell guns, Czech light machine guns, and MG34 heavy machine guns was even more exciting than the performance of a large symphony orchestra in a theater.
Caught off guard, the Japanese infantrymen who were only a hundred or ten meters away from the soldiers of the Fourth Army suddenly fell over. Dozens of Japanese soldiers did not even make an evasive reaction, but fell in a pool of blood, trembling and on the verge of death.
The Japanese troops who were further away still wielding individual engineer shovels to build temporary field positions were not doing well. Not to mention that the individual bunkers in the temporary field positions that were less than half a meter deep were of little significance. In fact, even if they were 5 meters deep,
Regular trenches could not stop the overwhelming fragments of mortar shells falling from the sky and flying in all directions.
The artillery companies affiliated to the infantry battalions of the Fourth Line Regiment currently have not many 82 mortars, and they are basically issued to the infantry companies. However, the two Bofors double-barreled 80mm howitzers they are equipped with are definitely for the infantry.
Nightmare.
Not only is its power far greater than that of a mortar, but its accuracy is less than 2 meters, which means it can hit exactly where it hits.
The artillery company of the 4th Battalion located on the ridge did not need artillery of this level to deal with the Japanese troops in the canyon a hundred meters below, so the mortars and other powerful weapons were left in the blocking position.
The roar of four howitzers on the mountains was earth-shaking. The power of one shell was no less powerful than that of a 105 howitzer for the Japanese army who had almost no bunkers.
In just 30 seconds, the temporary field position where the Japanese army had not even dug a few shovels of soil was a bloody mess!
If the Fifth Division used the dimensional difference to defeat the Chinese army in Jin Province, then the Si Xing Regiment is also crushing the Japanese army with firepower at a higher level, at least in the battle led by the Si Xing Regiment.
This was the case one minute before the attack.
The Japanese troops at Taniguchi were beaten so hard that they didn't even have a decent counterattack.
To use a common phrase, the army was completely defeated!
The so-called "steel army" of the empire, in the face of a thick enough stick, the steel cracked! ()
This chapter has been completed!