The Eighth Route Army has been attacking the North China Front Army with cold guns and artillery for several years. Until now, they have not thought of a good way to break the situation, let alone the Kwantung Army, which was exposed to this method of sneak attack for the first time.
Although the commander of the regiment called his several battalion commanders and artillery squadron commanders together to discuss a way to break the situation, in the end, in addition to passive defense, they took the initiative to attack.
He wouldn't dare think of taking the initiative.
In broad daylight, the Eighth Route Army could use rifles and machine guns to sneak attack the main force of the regiment from a long distance under the cover of mountains and forests, consuming the strength of its troops.
It is night now, which is more conducive for the Eighth Route Army to hide its troops.
He is now sending troops to attack to eliminate the Eighth Route Artillery hidden around the station.
It is very possible that the Eighth Route Artillery was not found, but the attacking troops were wiped out by the Eighth Route Army's sneak attack troops outside the station. That would be the real loss of the wife and the loss of troops.
If proactive attack is not possible, then the only option is passive defense.
Let the troops disperse as much as possible when resting to reduce the casualties caused by sudden artillery fire to the troops.
At the same time, three mortar squadrons were assembled to counterattack, covering the Eighth Route Army's artillery position and the surrounding 100-meter range with artillery fire.
If we were lucky, the artillery squadron's counterattack would hit the moving Eighth Route Artillery with artillery shells, and they might be able to eliminate them in one fell swoop.
At dawn the next day, the sound of shell explosions that lasted all night finally stopped.
Including the captain, every Japanese soldier had a pair of dark circles on his face and was very tired.
"Sir..."
The chief of staff of the wing walked into the tent with his head lowered and his face solemn. One look showed that what he brought was not good news.
The captain who was having breakfast suddenly lost his appetite and asked directly: "Have the casualties of the troops been counted..."
"Ha Yi..." the chief of staff nodded quickly...
"According to statistics, the Eighth Route Army fired a total of 180 artillery shells at our station last night. Because the station was densely populated, the hit rate of these shells was more than 70%...a total of..."
"319 Kwantung Army officers and soldiers were killed... and 185 others were injured and lost their combat effectiveness..."
"There are only about 2,400 people left in the entire alliance who can continue to fight..."
"and……"
Speaking of these two words, the expression on the chief of staff's face became more solemn, and he hesitated for three seconds before continuing to speak.
"Our radio contact with the troops staying outside the mountain has been interrupted..."
"According to the agreement, the remaining troops outside the mountain will report their situation to the wing headquarters through the radio station after dawn..."
"We did not receive a telegram from the troops staying outside the mountain."
"My humble position made the decision without authorization and asked the radio operator to contact them proactively..."
"The call lasted for twenty minutes, but there was no response from the troops left outside the mountain."
"I suspect that something happened to them..."
The co-captain could not find a suitable word to describe his bad mood at the moment.
There was anger, shock, worry, and a little bit of panic.
If an accident happens to the troops left behind outside the mountain, it means that there is another Eighth Route Army inside the mountain.'
They may very well be like the Eighth Route Army that they were chasing yesterday. They would pounce on them and bite them when they see an opportunity, consuming their own strength.
Just when he didn't know what to do, the wing chief of staff on the side spoke again: "Sir..."
"Next, should we continue to pursue the Eighth Route Army in the mountains or retreat, please make a decision as soon as possible..."
"Continue to pursue..." the commander made a decision after a brief analysis.
"No matter whether our Eighth Route Army staying outside the mountain has an accident or not, there is no point in evacuating the mountain now. Instead, hundreds of elite Kwantung Army troops have been lost in vain."
"Now that we have chased here, let's continue to chase along the traces left by the Eighth Route Army's retreat."
"In short, the soldiers of the regiment who have died in battle cannot die in vain..."
"By the way, contact the aviation force and ask them to send a plane to investigate the remaining troops stationed outside the mountain to confirm whether they are safe or not, so that we can have a better idea."
"We'll leave in ten minutes."
…………
The 1st Battalion and 1st Company of the Northward Detachment led more than 2,000 Kwantung Army troops in circles inside the mountain. Duan Peng, who successfully raided the Kwantung Army troops remaining outside the mountain, walked in a straight line and caught up with the 1st Company around noon and rejoined the forces.
As a result, Duan Peng officially launched a large-scale mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare against the Japanese pursuing troops.
"Dong dong dong..."
The Japanese forward team had just emerged from a dense forest when a dense barrage of heavy machine gun bullets suddenly came from the hilltop more than 200 meters ahead. Two strings of bullets hit these little Japs head-on in a fan shape.
The thick bullet easily penetrated into the chest and then exited through the back, leaving two fist-sized bloody holes in the front and back.
The heavy machine gun bullets that had not completely lost their kinetic energy continued to fly.
Some fell on the ground, some hit the trunk of the tree and were deeply embedded in the wood, and some bullets hit the body of the little devil behind again...
The Japs were walking in the woods with great fear, and because they didn't sleep well last night, everyone was very tired and their vigilance was far lower than usual.
After walking out of the dense forest, facing the empty wasteland in front of them, the Kwantung Army's first reaction was to take a breath, and their vigilance became worse.
Heavy machine guns have a long range, fast rate of fire, and powerful bullets.
The machine gunner pulled the trigger continuously and fired forty or fifty rounds of ammunition in less than ten seconds.
The gunfire stopped immediately, and nearly twenty soldiers of the Kwantung Army who rushed out of the forest fell.
"The artillery squadron will counterattack immediately. Kill the heavy machine gun fire points of the Eighth Route Army." The captain of the Little Japanese Battalion, who was closest to the battlefield, responded quickly...
"Boom boom boom..."
Violent shell explosions soon sounded on the high ground where the gunfire had just been fired. The captain waited for another minute, and after confirming that there were no other attacks outside the forest, he ordered his subordinates again: "Hurry over and rescue the wounded..."
A small group of Japanese soldiers immediately rushed towards the soldier who was shot and lying in a pool of blood.
The heavy machine gun was very powerful, and the soldiers who were shot through the chest were basically killed, but there were still many Japs who were hit in the limbs and shoulders and were screaming on the ground.
Several Japanese soldiers surrounded a wounded man. Some stopped the bleeding, while others controlled the wounded man to prevent him from moving...
"Boom boom boom..."
Several Japanese medical soldiers rushed towards them quickly, and just as they were preparing to provide temporary rescue to the wounded, the sound of shell explosions rang in their ears.
Balls of fire rose around them at the same time.
Many little devils lost consciousness as soon as their eyes turned white.
More little devils were blown up...
The captain's face suddenly turned pale and he cried out: "Baga... we have been fooled..."
"The Eighth Route Army used the wounded to lure us out of the woods, gathered them together, and then used mortars to cover us with artillery fire, killing and injuring a large number of our troops..."
"The artillery squadron will counterattack immediately...kill the Eighth Route Artillery that attacked us and pick up the soldiers who rushed out of the forest."
