Chapter 842 Why are there so many troops running away?
"Captain...the troops suffered heavy casualties...no matter how we diverted the Eighth Route Artillery, they would still stare at us and bomb us. We can't continue to be bombarded like this passively..." the guard captain said with a painful look on his face.
A full squad under his command had already suffered more than half of its casualties in less than ten minutes following the company commander's breakout. The price was too high.
The key is that the Guard lost so many troops but didn't even eliminate a single Eighth Route Army soldier, and didn't even have a face-to-face encounter with them. This was too frustrating.
He now had an idea: he would rather lead his guards and fight to the death with the Eighth Route Army than be chased by the Eighth Route Army with artillery shells and die in a meaningless death.
The co-captain had a sullen expression and did not answer.
He also saw the heavy losses of the troops. If the bombing continued in the next few kilometers of march, the entire light infantry regiment would not have much left even if it reached Chenjiazhuang.
Not only would he not be able to save the Sakuragi Division, he would also lose his wife and troops, putting himself in trouble.
"Captain..." The chief of staff also rushed over because of this matter, looking at his partner and reminding him anxiously.
"The Eighth Route Army is equipped with a large number of mountain and field artillery. We have no artillery to counterattack, so we can only be bombarded passively. This does not threaten the safety of their artillery positions. We can stay in one place and bombard us continuously."
"If we divide our forces to attack their artillery positions and make the Eighth Route Artillery feel in danger, they will not dare to stay in one place."
"Once the artillery moves, it will not be able to attack us with all its strength, and the artillery pressure faced by the troops will definitely decrease."
A new idea suddenly opened up in the confused mind of the co-captain, and his eyes lit up and he said: "That's right..."
"We still have more than 2,000 elite Kwantung Army troops, so why do we just run away and not fight back?"
"The artillery that intercepted us must have come from Chenjiazhuang. Eliminating them will also reduce the combat pressure of the Sakuragi Division and take the opportunity to knock out the Eighth Route Army's tiger teeth."
"If I guess correctly, the artillery attacking us should be all the artillery that the Eighth Route Army can mobilize."
"Destroy them, and the Eighth Route Army in the Wings will become a complete light infantry."
"Just do it!"
"Notify our scattered troops to assemble immediately, use the reinforced squadron as a unit, and immediately launch an attack on the Eighth Route Army artillery position closest to them."
"If you can defeat it, defeat it... If you can't defeat it, defeat it..."
"In short, we cannot let them continue to attack us so recklessly and consume our troops."
"After taking care of the Eighth Route Army artillery unit, we will reinforce Chenjiazhuang and cooperate with the Yingmu Division to defeat the Chenjiazhuang Eighth Route Army."
…………
In the wasteland one kilometer to the left of the highway, a reinforced battalion of the Eighth Route Army was rapidly advancing toward the highway in battle formation.
In order to prevent the Japanese from being aware of the encirclement and to use more artillery fire, all three regiments were ambushed more than a thousand meters away from the road.
After the artillery bombardment began, each regiment moved from its hiding point to its respective combat zone.
"Battal Commander..." A figure suddenly appeared in front of the team and hurried towards the battalion commander of the third battalion of the 22nd Regiment.
"Are there any Japs ahead?" the battalion commander asked subconsciously.
"Not only are there Japs, but they are also coming towards us. A whole reinforced squadron, equipped with mortars and heavy machine guns, is coming with menacing force and is about to meet us!" the investigator reported breathlessly.
"Could it be that the Japanese want to break out from us?" the battalion commander thought for a moment and analyzed.
Staring at the investigator, he continued to ask: "Besides this reinforced squadron, are there any other little Japs behind?"
The investigator shook his head: "This is the only reinforced squadron..."
"There are no other little devils behind me, I can see clearly..."
"Even this reinforced squadron came towards us in a battle formation, very fast."
The battalion commander frowned and asked, "That's strange..."
"If there are no other Japanese behind the reinforced squadron, then they are not breaking out from our side."
"Then what is the real purpose of this little devil's attack?"
The instructor suddenly interrupted: "Whatever!"
"Since this little devil is a lone soldier and has hit the muzzle of our gun again, let's eat him!"
"Although there are only about 300 people left in our battalion, the level of equipment is not what it used to be."
"Don't say that the opponent only has one reinforced squadron. Even if we kill two squadrons, we can still devour them in one go."
"Eat them, and the real purpose of the little devil will become clear."
After hearing this, the battalion commander clenched his fists and said, "The instructor is right. There is no reason not to eat the fat meat that comes to your mouth."
"The troops immediately deployed. The Seventh Company, the Fire Company, and the Guard Platoon were to intercept me head-on."
"The Eighth Company's left wing will encircle them, and the Ninth Company's right wing will encircle them. Let me eat these little devils..."
"The investigation team will expand the scope of investigation and report to me immediately if there is any situation... start taking action..."
When it first arrived at the Yi Zhong base area, the third battalion did not have its own firepower company. The regiment headquarters was directly under the jurisdiction of a heavy machine gun company and a mortar company. Each subordinate infantry company was equipped with three light machine guns. The battalion headquarters was directly under the jurisdiction of a grenade squad.
The battalion is equipped with ten light machine guns and three grenade launchers.
After entering the Yizhong base area, various major battles took place one after another, and the casualties of the troops were increasing, but the equipment was getting better and better.
The heavy machine gun company and mortar company at the regiment headquarters were all dismantled, and each battalion fire company was formed, equipped with six heavy machine guns and six mortars, which were comparable to the mortar company and heavy machine gun company directly under the 22nd Regiment.
The main force has also changed its equipment.
Each infantry platoon is set up as a fire squad, equipped with two crooks.
Each infantry company sets up a grenade squad, equipped with three grenade launchers.
The firepower of a main force is almost equal to that of an infantry squadron of the Japanese army.
The combined light and heavy firepower of the entire battalion's equipment could easily overwhelm a reinforced Japanese squadron.
This was the confidence and capital that gave the battalion commander and instructors the courage to stand up to a strengthened Japanese squadron.
"Boom, boom, boom...dongdongdong..."
Six mortar shells suddenly hit the Japanese attacking troops, and the dull sound of heavy machine gun fire sounded in front of them at the same time.
Fire splashed, bullets flew, and in the blink of an eye, a reinforced squadron of the Japanese army was wiped out by more than half of the infantry squad.
"Bang bang bang...ta da da..."
The rifle machine guns equipped by the Seventh Company then joined the battle, and the dense rain of bullets once again claimed dozens of lives.
The little devil was stunned by the sudden fire attack.
They were ordered to attack an artillery position of the Eighth Route Army. They thought it was a sure thing, but they were caught off guard by the Eighth Route Army on the way and lost more than one squad before they even started to counterattack.
The Eighth Route Army's blocking troops were equipped with more mortars and heavy machine guns than we were, so they waited for work and had every advantage.
If we choose to storm the Eighth Route Army's blocking positions and continue to raid their artillery positions, we may not be able to defeat them even if all the troops are fired.
The squadron leader immediately chose to retreat...
