Chapter 113 Kong Jie: Catch the Thief First Catch the King
Nearly two hundred Japs and more than a hundred puppet soldiers, armed with heavy machine guns and mortars, stormed out of the stronghold.
Captain Futian was walking in the middle of the team. He was very confident in the men around him and felt that it would be easy for them to fight against two battalions of the Eighth Route Army at the same time.
On both sides of the road about three kilometers away from the stronghold, Second Battalion Commander Xiao Yuanchang was lying motionless on the top of the slope, his back covered with withered yellow thatch as a camouflage.
There was a heavy machine gun beside him, also camouflaged with thatch and branches, blending in with the surrounding bushes.
As long as they didn't fire, the Japanese wouldn't be able to detect the presence of the heavy machine gun even if they were standing more than ten meters away.
The remaining seven heavy machine guns were disguised in the same way on both sides of the road, quietly waiting for prey to take the bait.
More than 500 soldiers of the Second Battalion were scattered among the rocks and bushes. Some soldiers covered their bodies with thatch, while others hid in the crevices of the rocks, trying to blend in with the surrounding environment as much as possible.
When the assault platoon rushed over, the Japanese and puppet reinforcements were still three miles away.
"Battle Commander Xiao, the Japanese Cavalry Squadron has been killed by us... The Chief of Staff asked you not to be anxious, and to fight steadily, we must kill all the reinforcements and buy time for the regiment commander to attack the stronghold!" Huang Yu said to Xiao Yuanchang.
"Great!" Xiao Yuanchang's fists, which were clenched because of nervousness, immediately relaxed.
Looking at Huang Yu, he ordered with confidence: "I'm all ready, and I guarantee that the little Japanese reinforcements will never come back!"
"When you take the assault platoon to reinforce the regiment leader, you must protect the regiment leader's safety."
"The last time we attacked the Zhuma Village stronghold, the regiment leader still took the lead and rushed to the front of the team. Something almost happened!"
"You promised the old political commissar to protect the safety of the regiment leader. You must do what you said. Hurry over there. You are needed more there!"
Huang Yu heard about this for the first time. He knew that the regiment leader's old habit of rushing to the battlefield when his brain got hot had relapsed, so he quickly answered: "I will go to the Tanzhuang stronghold now!"
"Our independent regiment cannot be without its leader. Battalion Commander Xiao can rest assured that there will be an assault platoon here to protect the regiment leader..."
In the woods nearly two miles away from the Tanzhuang stronghold, the three battalions of the independent regiment and the artillery company were all lurking here and keeping their troops stationary.
Kong Jie squatted behind a bush at the edge of the forest, holding a telescope to observe every move at the Tanzhuang stronghold.
As soon as the cavalry squadron left the stronghold, he realized that the cavalry company of the independent regiment was located.
The next thing that needs to be done is to expand the results of the battle, slowly consume the strength of the Tanzhuang stronghold garrison like cutting meat, and then win the Tanzhuang stronghold in one battle after the battle is almost done.
Twenty minutes after the cavalry squadron broke out of the stronghold, the gunshots of the ambush cavalry squadron rang out on time, indicating that the entire battle is still going according to the script.
Kong Jie was very happy and stared at the Tanzhuang stronghold without blinking.
Two minutes after the gunshots of the assault cavalry squadron rang out, the long-awaited reinforcements finally broke out of the stronghold.
There were a lot of light and heavy machine guns, grenades, and mortars in the team, almost all the heavy firepower in the stronghold.
Kong Jie smiled even happier and couldn't help but sigh: "God helps me!"
"If Huang Yu hadn't reminded me, I almost missed this great opportunity to capture the Tanzhuang stronghold!"
"Inform the Third Battalion Commander and the Artillery Battalion Chen Daliang immediately, and we will rush out as soon as the battle to ambush the reinforcements at the Second Battalion's stronghold begins!"
"There is one heavy machine gun left in the stronghold. The artillery company will kill this heavy machine gun first, and then attack other firepower points..."
"The cavalry squadron is right in front. Everyone, please run faster and join the cavalry squadron to kill the Eighth Route Army attacking them!" On the road, Captain Futian ran in the middle of the team and jumped up and down, wishing he could leap to the battlefield.
The two team captains were following behind, listening to the gunshots getting closer and closer in front of them, as if they were waving to them after seeing countless military achievements, their faces were full of excitement.
Some people say that the Japanese have very strong combat effectiveness and are naturally very vigilant. It is impossible to reduce the vigilance of the troops by speeding up the march, and the possibility of successfully ambush them is almost zero.
This statement is correct, but it cannot be generalized.
The cavalry squadron was attacked four kilometers away from the stronghold. As the commander of the stronghold, Captain Futian had long been familiar with the terrain around Tanzhuang and knew that the road under his feet was difficult to set up as an ambush battlefield.
The cavalry squadron had just passed this road, and the reinforcements were less likely to be attacked here...
That's why they kept ordering the troops to speed up their march, even giving up some vigilance...
"Dong dong dong..."
The sound of heavy machine gun fire suddenly sounded in a bush on the hillside. Captain Futian's dream of defeating the Eighth Route Army was shattered on the spot, and the excited expression on his face was replaced by solemnity.
The two team captains on the left and right were trapped in a state of confusion at the same time...
But their instinctive reaction still made them lie down in an instant, lying on the ground. The sound of heavy machine gun fire was already connected, and the flying bullets flew towards them like rain, intertwining into an airtight fire net above their heads...
"We were fooled. The Eighth Route Army assembled at least twenty light and heavy machine guns to ambush us. Everyone, retreat quickly!" Captain Futian reacted quickly. As soon as he judged the number of machine guns around him, he made the decision to retreat with a stern face.
As for the cavalry squadron that was still "fighting hard" in front, he had no way to take care of it, nor did he have the strength to do so. It was impossible to lose all the more than 300 subordinates he had brought out of the stronghold just to rescue the cavalry squadron.
"Retreat... Everyone, turn around and retreat... Leave here immediately and go back to the stronghold!" The two team captains finally reacted from the trap. After hearing Captain Fukuda's order, they called on their subordinates to retreat.
But they underestimated the power of a salvo of ten or twenty light and heavy machine guns.
He raised his head and looked around, and sadly found that there were not many subordinates around him who could still breathe.
Most of the soldiers fell to the ground motionless, with bright red blood flowing out from their wounds. One glance showed that they were hopeless.
"Boom boom boom..."
The grenade fell from the sky and hit the road. The violent explosion immediately woke up the two squad leaders who were trapped again, and they quickly called their still-alive subordinates to move back.
It was easy to get in but difficult to get out, so Xiao Yuanchang had long been on guard against the Japanese.
As soon as the ambush started, the most powerful Fourth Company under his command began to outflank Captain Futian's retreat.
He finally managed to gather forty or fifty of his subordinates under the attack of light and heavy machine guns, but ended up running head-on into the outflanking Fourth Company.
The rifles and machine guns fired at the opponent desperately, trying to kill the opponent in the shortest possible time.
The Fourth Company had twice as many troops as the Japanese, and had a great advantage in shooting at close range.
Within a minute of the exchange of fire, Captain Futian was pushed back into the pocket formation, leaving more than twenty corpses behind again...
"Machine gun cover, let's press up, force the Japanese together, shoot them with heavy machine guns, and blow them up with grenades!" the commander of the fourth company ordered, holding up the tortoise box.
He was originally equipped with a Mauser pistol, but it was temporarily borrowed by the regiment headquarters, so he had to temporarily replace it with a bastard box.
On the way to the attack, I picked up a handful of Sanba Gai thrown away by the Japanese and fired while rushing forward.
"The whole army will go out and attack the stronghold..."
Kong Jie issued an attack order as soon as he heard the gunshots of the Second Battalion ambushing the Japanese and puppet troops.
Five to six hundred people rushed out of the woods and rushed toward the stronghold. Some were carrying mortars, while others were pushing infantry cannons... The formation was particularly large...
The Japanese squad leader who stayed at the stronghold was instantly frightened.
The legs of the puppet battalion commander had already started to tremble. If the Japanese hadn't been standing next to him, he would have turned around and run away in fear!
He quickly looked at the second lieutenant beside him, hoping that he could find a way to hold the stronghold.
"Taijun, there are at least two battalions of the Eighth Route Army coming towards us, and they also bring mortars and infantry artillery. How can we defend it?"
"All troops enter the position!" the second lieutenant team leader ordered calmly.
"The Eighth Route Army is short of ammunition. Even if they have mountain artillery, they don't have many shells. As long as we defend the gun towers, they will definitely not be able to do anything to us!"
"Send a retreat signal to the captain. He will fight the Eighth Route Army three or four kilometers away. When he sees the signal, he will retreat. It only takes ten or twenty minutes to fight back..."
"What are you still doing? Follow the order immediately!"
As soon as the puppet battalion commander left, the second lieutenant and squad leader couldn't pretend because of his guilty conscience. His legs were so weak that he almost fell to the ground.
The lack of ammunition in the Eighth Route Army was just his conjecture. If his judgment was wrong, the infantry artillery alone would be able to dominate the entire battlefield, naming the gun towers and firepower points in the stronghold one by one...
No matter how many defenders there are, they won't be able to blow them up.
The cold sweat on my forehead kept flowing out like rain, and I felt very nervous.
"Pa bang bang..."
The emergency signal flare quickly flew into the sky. The second lieutenant also looked in the direction of Captain Fukuda, praying that he would come back quickly to take charge of the overall situation.
"Taijun, the Eighth Route Army is setting up artillery... what to do!" The puppet battalion commander ran to the Japanese squad leader again. In the eyes of a die-hard traitor like him, only the Japanese can bring them a sense of security. They are not far away.
The infantry cannon slowly raised its muzzle and asked in a panic.
"The Eighth Route Army has few artillery shells, they must be bluffing!" Facing the panicked puppet battalion commander, the second lieutenant could only once again use the Eighth Route Army's lack of ammunition as an excuse to boost morale.
Repeat the order just now: "From now on, no one can take a step back without my order!"
"The captain has seen the retreat signal and is evacuating the battlefield and returning to the reinforcement base!"
"As long as we persist for twenty minutes, we can unite with the captains to attack the Eighth Route Army."
The puppet battalion commander could not think of any other way to break the situation, so he could only comfort himself with the reasons given by the Japanese.
Follow the Japanese team leader closely and never leave.
"Boom boom..."
Two infantry guns more than 300 meters away fired simultaneously.
The puppet battalion commander and the Japanese second lieutenant only heard an explosion in their ears, a white light flashed in front of their eyes, their feet trembled... and they lost consciousness...
If the independent regiment did not take action, they would flatten the central emplacement of the Tanzhuang stronghold.
This was Kong Jie's temporary decision to play.
Capture the thief first and capture the king first. When the stronghold defenders are mainly puppet troops, the independent regiment destroys the central gun tower of the stronghold with one shot, kills the commanders of the remaining troops and paralyzes their command system. It will definitely give them a huge shock and shake the puppet troops.
The army's determination to defend its stronghold...
His goal was achieved.
The puppet army has little military morale to begin with.
Seeing the infantry artillery pulled over by the independent regiment, the morale of the soldiers became even more dispirited.
If it weren't for the pressure from commanders at all levels, the army would have collapsed a long time ago.
Kong Jie killed their battalion commander with one shot, which was tantamount to removing the curse on the puppet army.
Without the threat from their superiors, if they are attacked by an independent group again, these people will rush to surrender and be taken as prisoners.
