Directly north of Xingling, the Japanese Hirosue Battalion and Ikuchi Battalion had just merged. In order to prevent the independent regiment from breaking out from the junction of the two brigades and breaking out of the encirclement, the troops began to build defensive positions as soon as they were in place.
As a result, as soon as we started taking action, we heard the "rumbling..." sound of artillery coming from the pursuing troops.
"Hirosue-kun, are the independent regiment crazy? They actually launched an attack on the commander... They don't know that the commander has the largest number of troops and is the strongest. Attacking the commander is tantamount to committing suicide!" Ikuchi Shaozuo looked shocked.
road.
Hirosue Shaozuo was also confused by the scene before him. He frowned and analyzed: "The attacking artillery fire was very fierce!"
"Your Majesty the Wing Commander was attacked by at least twenty mortars...but the gunfire was not very dense, indicating that there were not many Eighth Route Army attacking them!"
"How about we take the initiative to launch an attack on the independent regiment and help the captain share some of the pressure?" Ikuchi Shaozuo suggested.
"The independent regiment has limited troops. After we launch an attack, they will definitely be in chaos!"
It was impossible for Hirosue Shaozuo to just watch the captain of the company being attacked and stay aside indifferently, so he quickly nodded.
But before he could give the order, a burst of "click, click, click, click, click, click..." sounded from the blocking position.
The subordinates who were building positions immediately raised their guns to fight back. The two captains were also shocked and quickly raised their binoculars to look towards the exchange point.
"Boom boom..."
Two flares were fired into the sky, and the situation at the firefight point was instantly visible to them.
About a company of the Eighth Route Army formed a skirmish line and slowly moved toward the blocking position with guns in hand...
He was not discovered until he was more than 100 meters away, and then the two sides started shooting at each other...
Looking behind these Eighth Route Army troops, at least two battalions of troops organized an offensive formation under the cover of night, and the Eighth Route Army was building artillery positions and heavy machine gun positions on Xingling Ridge!
Shengkou Shaozuo was the first to react: "This is a tentative attack by the Eighth Route Army..."
"Force all our firepower points before launching a general attack..."
"I think the Independence Regiment is attacking in the east and in the west..."
"Captain of the Sheep Attack Team, attract our attention!"
"If we divide our troops to reinforce the commander of the regiment, we will be tricked by the Eighth Route Army!"
"The Independent Regiment took the opportunity to launch an attack on us... when we were least prepared, they found a breakthrough and escaped from our encirclement."
Hirosue Shao Zuo was deeply convinced and immediately stood up to support: "I think so too!"
"The Independent Group is too cunning. They want to paralyze us by attacking in the east and attacking in the west when they are about to die!"
"When the commander of the regiment reacts and concentrates artillery fire to destroy the artillery unit of the independent regiment, the independent regiment's breakout plan will naturally be shattered by us!"
"I suggest we stand still!"
"All troops hold their positions and block the independent regiment's breakout troops at all costs!"
"The artillery power in the hands of the regiment commander far exceeds that of the independent regiment. As long as they start to counterattack, the independent regiment will become a turtle in the urn, at our mercy!"
"Take the initiative to attack the Independent Regiment, share the pressure with the Commander, and maybe give the Independent Regiment some opportunities to take advantage of!"
Shengkou Shaozuo immediately agreed: "I will give the order now!"
"The troops stood firm and repel the independent regiment's blocking troops at all costs..."
Five minutes later, the sound of artillery fire and firefights coming from the pursuing troops did not weaken. On the contrary, the fighting became more intense...
The independent regiment launched a tentative attack, but was easily repelled by the two brigades...
Ten minutes later, the sound of firefights at the commander's place still remained unchanged...
The Independent Regiment launched two more probing attacks... They both retreated as soon as the two sides fought, and the expected breakout did not occur.
Ikuchi Shaozuo and Hirosue Shaozuo looked at each other, and they both saw worry and uneasiness in each other's eyes...
It wasn't until a communications soldier sent by the wing commander came over that they realized they had been deceived.
"Sir, your Excellency, the commander of the regiment, was attacked by the Eighth Route Army. The troops suffered heavy casualties. I request you to immediately launch an attack on the independent regiment, share the strength and firepower of the independent regiment, let them disorganize themselves, and reduce the defensive pressure on the commander of the regiment!"
"Are you right?" Although Hirosue Shaozuo realized that something was wrong, he still didn't believe that the independent group dared to pick the strongest imperial army to attack, so he asked directly with a shocked look on his face.
"The Independent Regiment is obviously the follow-up pursuit force of the Sheep Attack. How could they suffer heavy casualties?"
"We left so many artillery pieces to pursue the troops, why didn't they fight back!"
"After so long, I only heard the independent regiment attacking us, but I didn't hear our artillery fire counterattacking the independent regiment at all!"
"Are so many artillerymen in the follow-up troops just for free? Why not fight back and suppress the artillery fire of the independent regiment!"
"The artillery fire fired by the independent regiment to attack us was too fierce!" the communications soldier explained with a frown.
"Our artillery was marching in a hurry with heavy loads, and every gunner was very tired!"
"The artillery unit of the Independent Regiment stared at our artillery unit and bombed it...more than twenty artillery shells were fired in one round, and they hit us on the head as if they were free of charge!"
"The artillery unit was bombed into chaos before it could counterattack. It suffered heavy casualties and was completely unable to counterattack!"
Hirosue Shaozuo immediately looked at Ingguchi Shaozuo next to him: "Ingguchi-kun..."
"The situation of the battle seems to be completely unexpected...what should we do next?"
"Your Excellency, the commander of the unit, is someone who refuses to admit defeat easily, but now he has sent people to ask for help from us, which shows that the subsequent pursuit of the troops has indeed reached a critical juncture of life and death!" Ikuchi Shao Zuo replied with a stern face.
"For the sake of the overall situation, we must immediately launch an attack on the independent regiment above Xingling, disperse their troops and firepower, and reduce the combat pressure on the commander of the company!"
"If the main force of the Independent Regiment is attacking the captain, the Eighth Route Army attacking us is just a bunch of empty troops. If we attack the Independent Regiment now, we can catch them off guard. If not, we can severely damage the Independent Regiment and kill them!"
Hirosue Shaozuo replied harshly: "Just do it..."
"The two of us launch an attack from the flank of the independent regiment. They will definitely not be able to withstand it!"
In addition to the test troops, several main battalions of the independent regiment that occupied Xingling were desperately building defensive positions.
Time was limited, so they did not dig trenches or build bunkers as usual. Instead, they used the terrain to quickly build some heavy machine gun fire points to block the Japanese attack head-on.
Kong Jie personally supervised the battle, with the 1st and 3rd battalions guarding the left wing of Xingling, the 24th and 4th battalions guarding the right wing of Xingling, and the guard battalion serving as a reserve...
"The heavy machine gun positions must be repaired, and several more reserve positions must be repaired... They are the key targets of the Japanese grenade launchers. They must be constantly moved during the firefight to survive longer!" Kong Jie ran back and forth on the Xingling Ridge.
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"Don't worry, commander, I have built two reserve positions for each heavy machine gun!" Shen Quan, the commander of the first battalion, replied seriously.
He suffered a big loss at the hands of the Japs last night. Since then, the arrogance and confidence he had before can no longer be seen on his face. No matter what Japs he encounters, he always looks cautious, for fear of being caught off guard by the Japs again.
"The left wing position will be left to you... The first and third battalions are all under your command... Use the minimum cost to protect the Japanese attack, and you must not fight with them head-on!" Kong Jie patted Shen Quan on the shoulder and ordered.
"When the assault company and the cavalry company take care of the enemies behind us, we can then join forces to take down the little devils on the flanks and strive to defeat them one by one and eliminate them all!"
"But one thing must be noted: If there are Japanese soldiers who want to retreat and escape, we must break out of the position to stick to them and not give them a chance to escape... Are you all clear?"
"Captain...the little devil is coming towards Xingling!" The commander of the first company who was responsible for the test mission suddenly ran over to report.
Kong Jie didn't say a word nonsense and directly ordered: "All troops should enter their positions immediately and prepare for battle!"
In order to relieve the commander of the regiment as soon as possible, the two captains did not launch a probing attack, but sent two infantry squadrons to launch a strong attack. They formed a skirmish line and rushed towards the Xingling Highlands at a very fast speed...
Mortars also joined the fray, raining shells on the high ground.
Because they didn't know the specific location of the Independent Regiment's firepower point, they could only attack Xingling Highlands randomly, resulting in very poor results in their first round of shelling...
Before the bombardment ended, the sound of heavy machine gun fire rang out on the battlefield. Three to four hundred Japs divided into two groups, holding guns and rushing toward the top of the mountain, running faster and faster...
When there were still forty or fifty meters left in the blocking position, the bombardment ended, and the Japanese attacked the high ground faster.
Each one of them was like a crazy hungry wolf, rushing towards the high ground desperately.
"Dongdongdong..." Heavy machine guns hidden in various locations in Xingling suddenly joined the battle.
The Independent Regiment killed a large number of Japanese troops last night and captured a large number of heavy weapons. Compared with mountain artillery and infantry artillery, heavy machine guns are much easier to carry and will play a greater role in the subsequent battle.
After supplementation, the number of heavy machine guns carried by each battalion was increased from the previous three to five.
The four main battalions had a total of twenty heavy machine guns. They suddenly opened fire, and thick bullets flew towards the little devils in a hail of bullets, killing seventy or eighty people in an instant!
All the surviving little Japs lay down, pinned to the ground by the rain of bullets flying overhead and unable to move.
But the Japanese counterattacked quickly.
Grenades, mortars, just stare at the fire points that suddenly appear on the Xingling Highlands and shoot...
"Boom, boom, boom..." The three heavy machine guns that were firing instantly misfired and were submerged in the artillery fire. This shows how high the aim of the Japanese's artillery fire was.
The Japs took action and killed three of his heavy machine guns. Shen Quan felt particularly uncomfortable, but his reaction was not dissatisfied at all. He frowned and began to give orders: "The heavy machine guns will move to their positions immediately...the light machine guns will provide cover and suppress the little Japs on the mountainside..."
We must not let them rush us!"
"What are the grenade squads of each company doing? Why don't they fight back..."
"The grenades of the first battalion counterattacked the Japanese grenades... The grenades of the third battalion attacked the Japanese heavy machine gun positions... Use two grenades to move to another position. Don't be targeted by the Japanese artillery."
"Let everyone not be afraid of wasting ammunition!"
"The ammunition we seized along the way is enough for everyone to squander, let me shoot as much as I want, suppress the Japanese heavy machine guns and grenade launchers at all costs, and reduce the pressure on infantry defense!"
