In less than a minute, the Japanese counterattack shells hit Baogudi where the Fourth Company was hiding.
But dozens of gunners had already carried mortars and ran dozens of meters away. No matter how hard the Japanese artillery blasted, they could not be hurt.
The Japanese leader did not know whether the mortar squadron's artillery counterattack had been effective, and he was not in the mood to investigate. As long as the Eighth Route Army artillery was repelled and no longer sneak attacks on him would affect his marching speed.
But this good mood only lasted twenty minutes before being destroyed by a new round of artillery fire.
The Eighth Route Army artillerymen were hiding in the valley, surrounded by straw that was as tall as a person. There were not many of them, so they disappeared without a trace as soon as they got inside. The entire army was like a piece of dog-skin plaster, stuck to the little devils.
When the Japanese launched artillery counterattack, the Eighth Route Army artillery had already moved ahead of time.
When there were Japanese planes in the sky, the Eighth Route Army artillerymen hid in Baogudi and stood still.
When the Japanese and puppet troops advanced, the Eighth Route Army artillery advanced simultaneously under the cover of straw.
Fire a few rounds of cannonballs to the east and a few rounds of cannonballs to the west.
In less than an hour, a team of more than a thousand people received more than a hundred artillery shells, which made the Japanese and puppet soldiers panic, fearing that shells would fall from the sky and take their lives while they were walking.
Under such a depressing atmosphere, the morale of the troops was visibly declining, which made the captain very worried.
"Sir..." The adjutant caught up from behind with a stern face, obviously something bad had happened.
"We have killed 83 people and seriously injured 86 people in previous artillery raids."
"In order to ensure the marching speed, I have left the bodies of the soldiers who died in the battle on the road and brought them back to the county town after the battle. At the same time, I have arranged for more than 200 soldiers to take turns carrying the wounded, so that the marching speed of the troops will not be affected for the time being."
"But if the Eighth Route Army continues to attack us with artillery fire from long distances, the casualties of the troops will continue to increase, and more and more soldiers will be required to carry the wounded. This will not only affect the marching speed of the troops in the future, but also weaken the overall combat effectiveness of the troops."
"It will also affect the morale and morale of the troops."
"After the troops were attacked by artillery fire, the morale of the troops was already low. If the wounded soldiers are further affected and the troops are further weakened, I am afraid that the Imperial Army in the team will collapse before they have time to join the battle."
"In order to avoid these accidents, I suggested that the troops keep all the wounded who can no longer fight, move forward lightly, end the battle, and then send them back to the county for treatment."
"The brigade commander just sent a telegram: The main force of the Second Regiment of the Peking Guerrilla Detachment is still in its hiding place. It is only a small force that is active around us. The previous sneak attack also proved this, otherwise they would not have stayed far away.
They're holding us up to fight."
"As long as we leave more than a hundred people, plus some soldiers who are still able to fight among the wounded, we should be able to ensure the safety of all the wounded."
The captain was moved after hearing this.
There are too many disadvantages to troops marching with their wounded, and leaving them behind can indeed solve all problems once and for all.
As for safety, as long as the adjutant just said that there is no problem, the situation will not be much worse no matter how bad it is.
He stared at the adjutant and asked: "Are you sure that the main force of the Eighth Route Army we want to encircle and suppress really hasn't moved?"
"The position is confirmed. When the Eighth Route Army just attacked us with artillery fire, the position specially asked the radio operator to contact the brigade headquarters."
"The aviation force has planes keeping an eye on this group of Eighth Route Army troops and will report the enemy's latest location to the brigade headquarters at any time. There will definitely be no problem."
After the last trace of concern in his heart was eliminated, the captain no longer hesitated and made a decision with a raised brow: "Then keep the wounded!"
"Deploy a reinforcement team from the 1st Squadron, and a company from the Imperial Alliance Army. Try to remove the troops with the greatest losses, and immediately establish a temporary defense line around the wounded."
"After being attacked, we can only wait for reinforcements and cannot take the initiative. After we have eliminated the main force of the Eighth Route Army, we will march back in a hurry."
The Japanese army's analysis of the Eighth Route Army was completely correct.
Even if there is a company of the Eighth Route Army around, it is impossible to capture the wounded with more than a hundred guards.
It is well known that the Eighth Route Army is poorly equipped. No matter how well-equipped the Peiping guerrilla detachment is, one company can only be equipped with three machine guns at most.
An infantry squad of the Imperial Army could suppress them with firepower, not to mention that there were more than a hundred Imperial Alliance troops there to cooperate with them.
Little did they know that their opponents came from the Yizhong Plain, or were small and reinforced troops.
Although there is only one company, it is equipped with ten light machine guns, three heavy machine guns, and six grenade launchers... The firepower has long been so powerful that it can easily suppress an infantry squadron of little Japs.
Without the burden of the wounded, the Japanese and puppet troops marched significantly faster, and the morale of the troops also recovered a lot during the march.
The Japanese captain became more and more satisfied as he walked. He felt that leaving the wounded behind was the wisest decision he made today.
In the end, we were only happy for twenty minutes when there was a dense firefight behind us, including the sound of heavy machine gun fire and the sound of grenade explosions.
The troops guarding the wounded were equipped with a heavy machine gun, and at least three heavy machine guns were firing during the exchange of fire, indicating that the enemy's firepower was much stronger than that of the wounded guard.
When I raised my binoculars, I saw several clouds of black smoke rising among the wounded. More than a hundred Eighth Route Army troops rushed into the wounded position like a whirlwind, and the sound of firefights on the battlefield immediately subsided.
"Boom boom boom..."
Before the captain could react to the shock in front of him, the artillery company's fourth round of artillery raids on the little Japanese just started.
…………
At the Japanese Army Brigade Headquarters in Fangshan County, the brigade commander was pacing back and forth in the war room waiting for news.
The encirclement and suppression troops launched the attack at ten o'clock in the morning. Twenty minutes have passed now. The troops of both sides should have been fighting together. The winner will be determined in another twenty or thirty minutes.
As a result, the operator ran over with a complicated look on his face. It was impossible to tell whether he was happy or sad.
But the brigade leader has his own judgment.
He mobilized more than 3,000 people to participate in the battle. Even if an accident occurred, the opponent would not be able to severely damage the encirclement and suppression troops in just twenty minutes.
Now that the radio operator is running over, the only explanation is that the mopping up troops have gained the advantage on the battlefield and are reporting victory to themselves in advance.
He immediately looked at the operator with an expectant expression.
"General, urgent call to the mopping up troops: The troops have successfully entered the Eighth Route Army's hiding place..." the radio operator began to report.
"Yo Xi! I knew they would definitely win this battle..." the brigade leader said with excitement before the operator finished speaking.
"We have aircraft support. No matter how powerful the Eighth Route Army is, it cannot withstand the indiscriminate bombing of aircraft..."
"Tell me quickly, how many Eighth Route Army troops they have killed, and how long it will take to end the battle and annihilate all the enemies..."
"Forehead……"
The telegraph operator was confused by the brigade leader's excited reaction. His face was full of embarrassment, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment.
The chief of staff of the brigade was keenly aware of the subtle expression fluctuations on the operator's face. His heart skipped a beat and he had a bad premonition. He asked anxiously: "Just say whatever is on the telegram?"
"Ha Yi..." The operator suppressed the panic in his heart, took a deep breath, and continued to report.
"The mopping-up department stormed into the Eighth Route Army's hiding place with just one assault, but there were only scarecrows there and not a single Eighth Route Army soldier... We were fooled..."
"The mopping up troops were also attacked by the Eighth Route Army's long-distance artillery fire on the march, resulting in direct losses of more than 200 people."
"The wounded they left on the road were also attacked by the Eighth Route Army, and all the guards and wounded were killed..."
"According to statistics, after the mopping up troops left the city, not only did they not completely wipe out the Eighth Route Army, they also lost more than 580 people to their sneak attacks and attacks."
"The mopping-up troops sent a telegram to ask the headquarters whether to end the operation and withdraw the troops and return to the county town. Or should they search for the main force of the Eighth Route Army near the Zhoukou stronghold and look for new fighter planes."
The brigade leader felt that he had heard wrongly, so he snatched the telegram from the operator's hand and sighed while reading: "Bagh Ya Road, how is this possible?"
"The aviation force has been keeping an eye on the Eighth Route Army. Is it possible that they will burrow into the ground..."
"How could one or two thousand troops disappear out of thin air right under the nose of the plane... There must be something wrong..."
His face became more solemn as he spoke, and it took him a while to calm down.
His hands were clenched into fists, and he smashed them on the table, gritting his teeth and saying: "I understand, we have been fooled by the Eighth Route Army from the beginning.
"The troops and camps seen by the intelligence officers were all fake. The Eighth Route Army was deliberately exposed and allowed us to attack. They could sneak attack us halfway to mop up the troops and consume our troops."
"Such cunning opponents must be eliminated as soon as possible, the sooner the better, otherwise it will be difficult to eliminate them when they grow stronger."
"Immediately call back to the mopping up troops: They will continue to operate in two groups to search for the main force of the Eighth Route Army. They must find them and gather together to annihilate them."
"The intelligence department, reconnaissance force, and aviation force all join in to find the main force of the Eighth Route Army."
"I will reward whoever finds it first."
…………
In a ravine where the Fourth Company was hiding, Wei Dayong had received the news that the Japanese had begun searching for the Second Regiment of the Peking Guerrilla Detachment, and his hands were also clenched into fists.
But he was excited, which was completely different from the mood of the leader of the Japanese Brigade at the moment.
Use a non-existent force to attract the attention of the puppet troops and let them drill into the surrounding ravines.
The Fourth Company became a group of hunters, destroying enemies in motion and consuming the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops.
As long as half of the mopping up troops could be eliminated, no matter how doubtful the Japanese were, they had to admit the existence of the Peiping Guerrilla Second Regiment. Otherwise, no troops would have the strength to kill one of their reinforced brigade first, and then eat one of their mopping up troops.
Three to four thousand of them were wiped out in just three days.
"Comrades..." Wei Dayong was very excited and said with a smile on his face.
"The Japanese and puppet troops gave up their strongholds, causing our plans to defeat them to fail. But now they have created an opportunity for us to fight mobile warfare. We must seize it."
"The longer they stay here, the more opportunities we have for sneak attacks."
"It's still the old rule. If there are no fighter planes, use mortars to attack the Japanese and puppet troops from a long distance and consume their troops. If there are fighter planes, rush up and bite them. Don't be afraid of wasting artillery shells. As long as we complete the task assigned to us by the regiment commander, we will capture the
It’s no problem to light up all the cannonballs.”
The first update is delivered today, please order it all!
