The roundabout infantry squad that Matsukita Yuki had high hopes for did indeed arrive on the flank of the 3rd Squadron's position on time.
Unfortunately, they strayed into a minefield again.
Although the mines here were not so densely buried, with less than 40, when the Japanese army tried to evacuate from the minefield, another Japanese soldier was killed. The infantry team of nearly 50 people was really confused staying in the minefield.
How could anyone do such a thing? You buried the roads to protect us, but why did you bury precious mines all over the mountains?
It's not that the Japanese don't understand, it's that the world is changing rapidly. As soldiers of the 10th Division who have been fighting with the Chinese army for more than a year, the Chinese army they have seen is characterized by "poor". There are no artillery and no artillery shells.
Normally, even heavy machine gun bullets have to be used sparingly, unlike here, it feels like the mountains are full of mines.
The so-called dilemma is about these more than 40 Japanese soldiers!
After receiving the report from the Mizutani Squadron, Matsukita Yuki almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He had already asked for help from the county coalition headquarters, hoping to send metal detectors, but the Chinese would not have known about it.
Where did he escape?
Captain Yuki Matsukita is probably still dreaming of having superior troops to kill his opponent and destroy the mountain village.
He might not have thought that two small Japanese troops with two three-wheeled motorcycles and one truck carrying four metal detectors from the county town would be ambushed 3,000 meters away from Panzhai.
They will never reach Panzhai.
After receiving the "Fenghuo" call for reinforcements from the direction of Panzhai, Wei Donglai, the top commander of the Four Lines Regiment in Guangping County, issued a military order to block the dirt road to Panzhai.
An infantry squad and an infantry platoon of the 80th Army planted electronic ignition explosives on the side of the dirt road. The power of the roadside bombs could blow up even the armored vehicles of American cowboys on the future desert battlefield, let alone the simple Japanese army.
A small truck.
The lack of demining tools was only secondary. At the frustrating moment when Matsukita Yuuki launched two consecutive attacks but failed in vain, the guard soldiers at the rear sent him news that surprised and delighted him.
There seemed to be a lot of gray military uniforms in the mountains and forests behind, which meant that Chinese reinforcements had arrived.
What surprised Matsukita Yuuki was that he didn't know how many Chinese people came, but he was happy that the Chinese people did not underestimate their own capabilities and dared to besiege him.
Although his two infantry squadrons have now killed more than 50 people, injured more than 100, and lost nearly one infantry squadron, he still has more than 200 infantry and two infantry cannons, which is not something a group of 'Tuba' can bully.
.
What's more, Guangping County is not the only one with a few hundred imperial troops. As the deputy captain of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 63rd Infantry Regiment, Matsukita Yuuki knows that this military operation to sweep southern Hebei was carried out by the front army commander.
Initiated by myself.
For this reason, the divisions that returned to Pingbeicheng from the front line to rest and recuperate sent 3 infantry regiments to Handan City. If the original garrisons in Handan and Xingtai are included, the empire has 5 infantry regiments alone.
, if we add the baggage, artillery, engineers and other auxiliary arms as well as three regiments of security forces, the empire's military strength in southern Hebei is actually as high as 30,000.
For example, Guangping County has a 63rd Infantry Regiment Headquarters, 2 Infantry Brigades and a security barracks, with a strength of more than 3,000 troops.
This time he led his troops to destroy a village that supported the resistance to the empire. It was just a trial attack by the captain. If all goes well, within a few days, all villages 4 kilometers away from the county seat will be dealt with in this way.
The empire doesn't want rebels, nor does it want good people, it only wants slaves!
"Yo Xi! The Chinese dared to gather a crowd and send a message to the regiment headquarters, telling Commander Kikukawa that the plan to lure the snake out of the hole has been successful. Our division will firmly attract the main force of the Chinese and wait for the regiment reinforcements to arrive!" Matsukita Yuki
He ordered with a sneer.
As the oldest Class A division in the Japanese army, the 10th Division naturally has extremely rich battlefield experience. Even if it is a "killing a chicken with a sledgehammer" clearing operation, it actually did enough homework before setting off.
It's not that they just led people to the mountain villages on the map as they imagined. After all, the vast rural areas of North China have never been under their control. The Eightyth Army and various resistance armed forces have endless reserves. In order to avoid being exhausted
Necessary losses, this "Operation Ember" actually has another hidden tactic codenamed "Luring the Snake out of the Hole"!
As long as the Chinese reinforcements don't come, then the Chinese mountain villages with a population of more than a thousand people will be slaughtered according to the original plan. If they really dare to come, it will immediately become a battle of annihilation with the center attracting and the periphery counter-encircling.
The purpose of Jiro Kikukawa of the 63rd Infantry Regiment of the 10th Division was to wipe out the main military force of the 80th Group Army in Guangping County in one fell swoop.
The lives of more than a thousand Chinese and nearly 500 imperial troops are the bait for the fish to take the bait!
The appearance of a large number of Chinese people has basically realized the tactical plan of the secret military meeting of the 63rd Infantry Regiment Headquarters two days ago.
Perhaps the only two things that exceeded Yuuki Matsukita's imagination were that the Chinese actually had a large number of landmines, and the combat effectiveness and equipment of the small group of Chinese were far beyond his imagination.
They actually have a lot of German submachine guns, and their firepower is extremely fierce!
In addition, what depresses Matsukita Yuuki the most is that the opponent has a marksman that even he, a veteran imperial officer, has to admire.
This marksman has killed no less than 10 of his men, including Takeo Yoshikawa, who is famous in the infantry regiment!
But until now, the Songbei Squadron, who was sweating coldly after being killed by the sharpshooters, has not even seen his shadow. Not to mention the grenade, there is nothing he can do. The two infantry cannons are constantly covering the area where he may be with fire, which is fatal.
Bullets still come from time to time.
This is also one of the reasons why the two squadrons of Songbei and Shuigu failed to launch two rounds of attacks!
Of course, Matsukita Yuki wouldn't know that. Until now, the MG42 machine gun and 60mm gun at the bottom of the old abacus box have not been used.
Yang Bicheng, who has improved his marksmanship after experiencing the New Year's Eve military competition, is only the fourth-ranked weapon in Class 3.
The third squad that was rebuilt after the counter-encirclement and suppression campaign in southeastern Shanxi only added 4 recruits, and the rest were all veterans. There were 11 people with the rank of sergeant, 3 staff sergeants, 4 sergeants, and 3 corporals. In addition,
Lao Abacus is a second-level sergeant major comparable to the rank of lieutenant.
When the counterattack against the Japanese "New Year's Day Offensive" in January was completed, the 3rd squadron shined as a battalion with no one killed and only 3 wounded. Perhaps the combat power was not as good as that of the 7th company and 4th squadron with a strength of 20 people, but let me tell you something.
Second, I guess no one would be dissatisfied.
The number one weapon in Class 3 is not the MG42 or the 60 gun with a rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute, but the overall combat effectiveness of Class 3. There are three elite soldiers like Takeo Yoshikawa in Class 3.
.
That is to say, Matsukita Yuki did not launch an all-out attack. If he deployed two infantry squads to attack the 3rd squadron's defense line, he would painfully find that no matter 50 people, 100 people or even 150 people, his subordinates would still not be close to 3rd squadron.
The squad defense line is 50 meters!
Lao Baanpan's thoughts were also very clear. He was afraid that these hundreds of Japanese would be frightened and run away before reinforcements could arrive.
This is the mentality of the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Army Regiment now. What they want is not to stop the Japanese army, but to kill them completely if they want to attack them.
At this time, the top commanders on the scene of both China and Japan could be considered to have "each other's own agenda." This created the strange situation in which the Chinese and Japanese sides fought for the first time in contact on the anti-mopping up battlefield in southern Hebei.
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, all the Chinese troops of more than a thousand people had arrived near Panzhai Village.
The four infantry squads of the Fourth Infantry Regiment were divided into two groups, one group of two squads, two infantry platoons of the Eightyth Army and 300 militiamen, a total of more than 600 people, completely blocking the back road of the Matsukoku Yukibu in the mountains.
The other two infantry squads joined an infantry platoon of the 80th Group Army and 200 militiamen, a total of more than 400 people, to set up blocking positions outside the mountainous area to prevent the Japanese troops from coming for reinforcements.
This is the valuable combat experience summed up by the 80th Group Army and the Fourth Army Regiment in a year and a half on the battlefield. At any time, all troops should not be put on the battlefield to annihilate the Japanese army.
Otherwise, once the Japanese reinforcements arrive, a dilemma will arise. They will not be able to break through the hard bones in the encirclement, but they may also face the risk of being counter-encircled by the Japanese army.
Sure enough, their decision was correct!
The Japanese troops in Guangping County had already lined up out of the military camp before the Chinese side was fully assembled. A full infantry brigade and a security army infantry battalion, a force of more than 1,700 people, marched along the road towards Panzhai.
direction.
There are 10 three-wheeled motorcycles and 15 trucks clearing the way ahead, and there are even 4 Type 94 Xiaoduding tanks, which fully demonstrates the strength of the semi-motorized Class A division!
At the same time, all the gates in Guangping County were locked and no one was allowed in or out to prevent anyone from leaking information.
However, the small radio station that the Si Xing Regiment invested a lot of money to purchase is not just for front-line troops. The intelligence department commanded by Gong Shaoxun has developed very rapidly in the past two months.
In all counties in southern Hebei, at least two intelligence stations have been developed to prevent one station from being destroyed and the entire county to fall into an intelligence gap.
Although there were loopholes such as the Matsukoku Yuki Division's scattered out of the city to attack Panzhai, where the reconnaissance information was not transmitted in time, the unabashed large-scale assembly of the 63rd Infantry Regiment out of the city could not be hidden from the intelligence station in the city.
"Order the entire company to assemble quickly towards Panzhai no matter what method is used! Power Generation Battalion Artillery Company, our company needs heavy fire support. Before 5 p.m., I want to see 80mm howitzers put into battle! Inform the 80th Group Army Guang
Ping County Division Chief, our department needs their full assistance! And report it to the regimental commander!" Weidong Lai, who is located in a plain village in the countryside of Guangping County, immediately issued a general mobilization order for the entire company after receiving emergency information from Guangping County.
.
After receiving the company commander's telegram, each platoon headquarters immediately ordered the messengers to run and verbally inform the villages and towns under their infantry platoon's jurisdiction. They did not need to meet with the platoon headquarters and rushed directly to Panzhai!
The Guangping Division of the Eightyth Group Army has two infantry companies plus a county armed brigade. The regular army has a strength of 1,200 people. Excluding the two platoons that have rushed to Panzhai, there are still more than 800 people. After military orders at all levels were issued, less than
In 2 hours, they all started running in formation towards Panzhai.
For a time, from time to time, heavily armed men in gray military uniforms were seen hurriedly walking along the simple village roads.
The entire Guangping County was like a pot of boiling water, boiling instantly.
In terms of the regular army alone, the Chinese have about 1,500 people, and the Japanese army also has 1,500 people. If a security army infantry battalion of 600 people is added, the Japanese army will naturally have an advantage.
After all, the ordnance and equipment of the security army is at least as good as that of a Chinese Type B division, and is nowhere better than the Chinese militia that only has muskets and spears.
Tang Dao, who was about 70 kilometers away from Guangping County, made a quick judgment the moment he received the telegram from Weidong. Thousands of Japs were easy to fight, but the Japanese army might have follow-up reinforcements.
Although Li Jiujin's troops and Cai Yongguan's troops nearby in Guangping County can also provide camera support, they cannot rule out the Japanese army's move to "encircle Wei and save Zhao". If the Japanese troops in those two counties were allowed to steal their homes, it would be a strategic failure.
"Order, the 1st platoon of the Mountain Infantry Company Longyan, the 3rd platoon of the reconnaissance company Shen Laoliu, and the 2nd platoon of the guard company Qin Wulang support Panzhai at full speed!" Tang Dao looked at his watch.
"Tell them that except for the weapons, ammunition and other equipment necessary for combat, all the other personal belongings have been left at the station. It is not that I need it, but the comrades of the 2nd Company need them to arrive at the Panzhai battlefield within 10 hours!"
"In addition, the 1st company of the escort battalion Yang Xiaoshan and the entire company are ordered to coordinate with the 1st and 2nd platoons of the heavy forced company, the 1st company of the air defense battalion Mo Songzi, and the 1st baggage company to rush to the Panzhai battlefield. The entire army does not need to conceal its whereabouts and advance at full speed.
I will send a telegram to the Jinan Military Division of the 80th Group Army to do our best to intercept the Japanese invaders along the way!"
Reloading 70 kilometers in 10 hours is definitely the most severe test for the officers and soldiers of the three most elite special forces companies of the Fourth Army Regiment.
You know, the world-famous infantry regiment of the Chinese army that once entered the ice field battlefield in time and space also spent 14 hours running 5 kilometers through the mountains!
For roughly the same distance, Tang Dao shortened this time by 4 hours.
Although more than 40 kilometers of it were not in the mountains, the individual weights of the three special infantry platoons far exceeded that of the infantry regiment.
Since the Japanese grenade was completely eliminated and the 60-gun modified by Tang Tuanzao was used, the firepower of the infantry class has been greatly enhanced, but correspondingly, the 60-gun has an 8-kilogram body and a 1-kilogram shell.
, also increased significantly.
Fortunately, thanks to the emergence of general-purpose machine guns such as MG42 and MG34, the difference between light and heavy machine guns in the Four Lines Group lies in whether to use a tripod or a bipod. Even if a tripod is used to stabilize the ballistic trajectory, the weight of the entire set of machine guns will not exceed
At 20 kilograms, the machine gunner and assistant gunner plus an ammunition hand can bear most of the weight of a heavy machine gun team. Otherwise, the machine gun alone would make the soldiers vomit blood.
But even so, the individual soldier's weight is still about 15 kilograms without individual food, bedding, personal change of clothes and other luggage.
If they can arrive at the specified time, they will surely create another miracle of long-distance field battle in the history of war.
Tang Dao's judgment was correct.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when the main force of the Japanese army arriving in the mountains around Panzhai continuously attacked the Chinese side, apparently hastily setting up defense lines and failed to advance, Colonel Jiro Kikukawa of the 63rd Infantry Regiment of the 10th Division, who was stationed in Guangping County, sensed a crisis.
Just a group of "Tuba" and underground armed resistance personnel will never be able to stop the impact of more than a thousand regular troops. If they can stop it, it means that it is not an ordinary Chinese army.
Is it possible that besides the bunch of bumpkins from the 80th Group Army, the Chinese also have elite regular troops entering southern Hebei?
When he thought of this possibility, Kikukawa Jiro was suddenly shocked!
Kikukawa Jiro is an anomaly among the senior officers of the Japanese army. He has a typical even-tempered personality. When he senses a crisis, he doesn't care about losing face and immediately asks for help from the commander of his own brigade in Handan.
When he heard that his family had dispatched one and a half infantry brigade and a security army infantry battalion, victory could not be guaranteed, and there was even a risk of being eaten up by two infantry squadrons and an artillery squad. The Japanese Army Major General who was stationed in Handan also
A little confused.
Why, isn't he in his own occupied area but in Zhongtiao Mountain and the southeast Shanxi front line?
After being stunned, he was overjoyed. Originally, he was dissatisfied with the tactics of the Front Army Headquarters, which used A-type divisions to sweep out China's barren rural areas, just using cannons to kill mosquitoes. At this time, he unexpectedly encountered the Chinese regular army.
Growing big fish is simply a feat that falls from the sky.
The two counties closest to Guangping County each sent about 2 infantry squadrons, a heavy machine gun squad and an artillery squad, totaling about 1,200 people, to attack Panzhai in a mighty manner.
At this time, the number of Japanese regular troops dispatched reached 2,500. If tanks, artillery and other auxiliary units were added, the strength was comparable to that of an infantry regiment.
According to the understanding of Japanese commanders at all levels, even when facing a regular Chinese infantry division, the Imperial Warriors of the 10th Division were not afraid at all.
Unfortunately, what they are facing now is a reduced version of the Four Elements Group.
Although the number of regular infantry troops is not large, that is, an infantry company of more than 300 people and 3 special infantry platoons, the number of soldiers is only about 530.
However, there are just as many large-caliber heavy-duty and anti-aircraft artillery as there should be, and its ground-to-air firepower has actually surpassed the entire four-line regiment that had to attack an infantry regiment of the 14th Division in the Bihe ambush.
Just this afternoon and evening, reinforcements from both China and Japan continued to arrive!
Both sides are planning to kill their opponents in one fell swoop!
But no matter what the commanders on both sides thought, Captain Matsukita Yuki, who was at the center of the encirclement, only discovered in the evening that the "hiding the truth" strategy set by His Excellency Kikukawa Jiro was very good, but I really begged him not to use it in the future.
The insidious Chinese actually had hidden cannons. Although they were small cannons, dozens of shells rained down like rain. No one could stand it!
Compared with the Chinese cannons, those two 220-kilogram infantry cannons are like idiots, with no mobility at all!
What does it mean to be beaten? The infantry artillery piece that had been blown into two pieces of scrap iron was proved by the tragic facts at the scene.
Baga! No matter what the final outcome of the battle is, his 'bait' will be gone.
Looking at his subordinates with less than 100 men left and the wounded soldiers all over the place, Captain Matsukita Yuki Dandan was very sad.
This chapter has been completed!