Chapter 688: Kong Jie: Sharpening the Knife and Chopping Firewood
Chapter 688 Kong Jie: Sharpen your knife and never miss the woodcutter (second update)
Author: 574981
Chapter 688 Kong Jie: Sharpen your knife and never miss the woodcutter (second update)
"This is our only chance to turn defeat into victory..." Neji Okamura suppressed his anger, tried his best to stay calm, and gave serious orders while looking at the sand table.
"Send a telegram to Fujita-kun and Kawasaki-kun immediately."
"Deploy chariot troops, cavalry troops, at least two battalions of reinforcements, and march quickly to reinforce the returning troops."
"A pincer attack from inside and outside, completely annihilating the main force of the Second Independent Regiment."
"Remind Mr. Fujita that the reinforcements must be fast."
"Our opponents are very cunning."
"The ambush battlefield was deliberately chosen between Baoding and Pingyang Town to make it more difficult for us to reinforce the battlefield."
"With a normal march, it will take five hours for the reinforcements to reach the battlefield."
"The returning reinforcements will definitely not last that long."
"I don't care what method they use, the newly dispatched reinforcements must reach the battlefield within three hours."
…………
On the ambush battlefield, in order to compete with the Japanese for time, Kong Jie went directly to the front line to command the battle. This could save the time for the messengers to send messages back and forth, and try to end the battle as early as possible without giving Neji Okamura a chance to encircle him.
"Commander, the Japanese army has built two circular defense lines in our pocket formation." Xie Guangfu, commander of the first battalion, pointed to the battlefield and said.
"Seven hundred troops are stationed on the first line of defense, and five or six hundred troops are stationed on the second line of defense."
"I suggest letting the troops attack directly..."
Kong Jie shook his head: "Sharpening your sword will keep you from chopping wood."
"First let the field artillery battalion fire a few rounds, then let the artillery fire for a minute, concentrate the firepower to attack a point, and open a hole in the defense line for me."
"After dividing and encircling, continue to compress the living space of the little devils."
"The more concentrated they are, the better the artillery effect will be during our general attack."
Deng Jingye immediately answered: "The first company is the most powerful among the three battalions. If I let them serve as the commando team, they will definitely be able to break through the Japanese defense line with overwhelming force."
Kong Jie continued to order: "The second and third companies followed and attacked. While the Japanese were being killed by the first company, they continued to launch attacks to expand the breakthrough point, and at the same time compress the living space of the remaining Japanese and puppet troops, creating conditions for our next round of assault."
The roar of mountain artillery shells streaking across the sky soon sounded over the battlefield, and the sound became louder and louder. A dozen fireballs instantly rose from the Japanese defense line a few hundred meters ahead.
In the dazzling firelight, the bunker built by the Japanese with sandbags was like a toy, and it was blown to pieces in an instant.
The little Japanese hiding behind the bunker were blown away at the same time, and even directly dismembered into pieces by the shells, which was horrible to watch.
"Boom boom boom..."
Before the first round of field artillery shells exploded completely, the explosion of mortar shells was heard behind the battlefield, and the flying shell fragments immediately created a steel storm over the position.
As long as the enemy pokes his head out from behind the bunker, or if the bunker is blown up by field artillery, and there is no hiding place, he will be blown into a sieve in an instant.
"Commando, follow me..."
The first battalion commander Deng Jingye personally served as the commando team leader. Holding a crooked handle that he used as a submachine gun, he bent over and slowly walked toward the battlefield.
He wanted to shorten the assault distance as much as possible while the artillery covered the enemy's position.
The results of the three-month assault training are well displayed here.
More than a hundred soldiers advanced in a skirmish line, and no one flinched in the face of the approaching artillery fire.
The artillery's shooting accuracy was also very high, and few shells landed in front of the position.
Close cooperation allowed them to reach 50 meters in front of the formation before stopping.
…………
The captain of the Japanese team is guarding the last line of defense.
Before the artillery battalion of the Duer Regiment opened fire, he was still dreaming of being a hero.
As long as the troops successfully hold off the Du Er Regiment, wait for reinforcements to arrive and then gather together to annihilate them, he will be able to achieve the greatest success in the sweep, and his promotion to brigade commander will be a sure thing.
In the end, God played a big joke on him.
Shells rained from the sky, and in an instant, the position where a squadron was stationed was covered by artillery fire.
The fire produced by the explosion of the artillery shell illuminated the battlefield so clearly that even without illumination bombs it was possible to see clearly.
The bunker made of sandbags, dug out with great difficulty by the men, was vulnerable to field artillery fire, and it was razed to the ground in just a few rounds of fire.
The soldiers who had no hiding place were like a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered, letting the shells harvest their lives.
As you can imagine, without the Eighth Route Army infantry attacking, two-thirds of the combat effectiveness of a squadron can be destroyed by a sudden artillery attack.
The reality was even crueler than he expected.
After the bombardment ended, the remaining machine gun firepower in the position was less than 30% of the pre-war firepower, and only a handful of riflemen were still able to move.
Many soldiers were hiding in the shell craters and were dazed, obviously not yet reacting to the shock caused by the shelling.
The commander of the unit became more and more anxious as he watched, wishing he could go to the battlefield and kick them in the face, when the sound of grenade explosions sounded again.
There was only five or six seconds between the end of the shelling and the explosion of the grenade, which meant that the Eighth Route Army rushed forward more than ten meters before entering the grenade throwing range.
With such a short assault distance and assault time, no matter how fast the blocking troops react, they can't stop it.
The already small blocking force was once again attacked by a hail of grenades, and even fewer soldiers could continue to fight.
In just one minute, the blocking position that the commander had high hopes for was captured by the Eighth Route Army.
Including the time spent on the previous shelling, it only took about five minutes.
It takes five minutes to wipe out one infantry squadron. If we continue to fight at this rate of attrition, we will not be able to hold on for even an hour with less than two brigades around us.
When the reinforcements arrive, the Du Er Regiment can not only retreat calmly, but also have plenty of time to clean up the battlefield.
This result suddenly shattered the captain's dream of becoming a hero.
"Captain of the regiment, the Eighth Route Army that broke through our blocking position is still charging forward..." the adjutant of the regiment reminded with a nervous look on his face.
The commander of the regiment then exclaimed: "No, they want to separate the troops stationed on the outer defense line, and then defeat them one by one, and eliminate us at the minimum cost."
"Then we will withdraw the troops on the outer defense line now and concentrate our forces to defend the inner line. We will definitely be able to hold on longer!" the wing adjutant immediately put forward his own idea.
"Cannot withdraw..."
The captain shook his head in pain.
"Although defeating each enemy can reduce the losses of the Eighth Route Army, it will consume a lot of time of the Eighth Route Army."
"What we lack most now is time."
"If all the troops are withdrawn to the inner line, the troop density will be very high. A single blast of artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army can blow up one or two of our squadrons. Then the troops will be wiped out faster."
"While the peripheral troops have not been completely separated, send someone to notify them immediately."
"Each unit is divided into squadrons and squads, and they must defend their positions."
"No one can take a step back without an order from the wing headquarters."
"If we can hold on for two hours, we still have a chance to hold on until reinforcements arrive."
