Not only Shunping County, but Tang County and Wangdu County, which are not far from Shunping, are also facing the same situation. After the two main companies brought heavy weapons and merged with the county brigade, coupled with the local militia organizations and guerrillas,
Each force has more than a thousand people.
With sufficient strength, the company commanders who led their respective teams had no worries, and at the same time, they became much more courageous. Because the locations of these two county towns do not have any strategic significance, the Japanese troops stationed here are not
There are many. Each county only has more than one squadron of Japanese troops and a large number of puppet troops, and the number is definitely not more than 1,500. Although the Japanese army has far more troops than our own, the combat effectiveness of the troops is several times higher than ours. But because of these two
The county seat is located in the mountains, so the company commander leading the team did not have any fear.
After conducting a simple reconnaissance of the county town, they swaggeringly led the soldiers to the county wall, out of the enemy's range, and began to dig trenches and erect heavy weapons, preparing to give the Japanese army the illusion of being trapped for a long time...
Of course, the top officials of these two counties were not as relaxed as Colonel Matsudaira when faced with the large number of local armed forces of the Eighth Route Army outside the city. They ordered the troops to strengthen their vigilance and hold out, waiting for reinforcements...
As the weather gradually became brighter, Wang Nanhu walked out of the temporary headquarters that had just been set up. At this time, due to successive wars in Shunping County, the broken city wall appeared in Wang Nanhu's field of vision. Wang Nanhu raised his hand
Using his telescope, the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops on the city wall suddenly appeared in front of him.
There was about one squadron of Japanese troops and another battalion of puppet troops on the entire city wall, with a total strength of no more than 500 people. The Japanese troops in that squadron were okay. In addition to leaving a certain number of troops to act as guards, the remaining soldiers were leaning against the base of the city wall.
Sleep and rest. But those puppet soldiers have no military literacy at all. They sit in groups and chat without any restraint, without paying attention to their own troops at all.
"Commander Wang, how are the preparations of the troops..." Seeing the situation of the defenders on the city wall, a contemptuous smile appeared on the corner of Wang Nanhu's mouth.
"Commander, all positions have been constructed. About two battalions of local armed forces have entered the trenches. The entire north gate has been completely blocked by us. The second battalion of the south gate has also been prepared. Now the Japanese troops in the city have been completely surrounded by our troops.
, it’s hard to escape with wings... The mountain artillery battalion has used various covers to build an artillery position less than 1,000 meters away from the city gate, ready to bombard at any time." Staff Wang reported.
"Okay, the mission has been completed very well. Order the soldiers to start now, take the time to have breakfast, prepare for battle after breakfast, and start the attack on time at eight o'clock..."
"Yes, Commander..."
Soon, the aroma of rice wafted from the Eighth Route Army positions outside Shunping County. Looking at Shunping County at this time, the defenders on the city wall were not as relaxed as they were just now. In order to understand more clearly
The strength of the Eighth Route Army outside the city was revealed. At this time, the highest commander of the Japanese army, Colonel Matsushita, personally came to the city wall with the staff of the headquarters.
"Reporting to your Excellency, Commander, our troops have been ordered to hold on to the city wall. After our investigation, we found that there are about two regiments of Chinese troops at our north gate and about one regiment of Chinese troops at our south gate. They are only five hundred meters away from the city wall.
They dug trenches with no intention of launching an attack. I guess they wanted to surround us and fight a protracted war... In addition, according to our reconnaissance, we found that the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side did not find any weapons other than heavy machine guns and other heavy weapons.
Heavy weapons such as mortars and mountain cannons used to attack the city..." As soon as they stepped onto the city wall, a Japanese squadron leader who was sent to guard the city last night came to report.
"Yoshi, you did a very good job. You and your team have been holding on for a whole night. Now you can go down and rest. Order the second squadron to come and take over the defense..." Colonel Matsushita smiled and patted the conscientious people in front of him.
The shoulders of the squadron leader.
"Hi, thank you for your understanding, Commander..." After answering, the squadron leader turned and left, began to organize his troops, and prepared to retreat. However, Colonel Matsushita did not return to the headquarters because of a report from his squadron leader, and still led
Following the staff, he came to the city wall, squatted down, and began to observe carefully.
"Yo Xi, there are indeed about two regiments of the Eighth Route Army in front of us. It seems that Captain Ono was observing very carefully just now... Chief of Staff, it seems that the Eighth Route Army opposite has dispatched all its troops..." Colonel Matsushita raised his hand
Looking through the telescope in his hand, he asked the chief of staff beside him.
"Hi, Lord Dazuo, our Shunping County is stuck in the throat of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army. If the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army wants to develop outside the mountains, it must first capture our Shunping County. Therefore, I think that the Eighth Route Army will dispatch itself.
With all the main force, it is reasonable to attack our Shunping County. However, I did not expect them to be so impatient."
"Yo Xi, the chief of staff has made a very thorough analysis. Our Shunping County is an important stronghold stuck in the throat of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army. Otherwise, the Shijiazhuang Headquarters would not have sent a reinforced brigade to station in the county. It's just that the Eighth Route Army
You are so brave and want to attack our Shunping County without artillery support. It is simply a wishful thinking..." Colonel Matsushita replied with a smile.
"Hey, Commander, your analysis is very correct..." Under the continuous compliments of several staff officers behind him, Commander Matsushita couldn't help feeling proud, and he wanted to leave the city wall and return to the headquarters with the officers behind him.
However, he didn't know that at this moment, there was less than five minutes left before Wang Nanhu's attack time. The soldiers were quickly arriving at the designated position along the traffic trench. At the same time, a series of light and heavy machine guns were also fired.
The soldiers quickly reached the predetermined position. More importantly, on a flat field less than a kilometer away from the city wall, green shelters that looked like bushes were slowly being moved by some Eighth Route Army troops.
Moving, the mountain cannons behind the bushes were revealed. Mountain cannons with heads held high were slowly appearing in the sight of the Japanese army.
"Baga, Your Excellency, Commander...there is a situation..." Just when Colonel Matsushita turned around and was about to leave the city wall, a burst of exclamation reached his ears. Colonel Matsushita, who was very familiar with the staff of the headquarters, knew it was him as soon as he heard it.
The voice of the Chief of Staff.
"Chief of Staff, what's going on?" Colonel Matsushita turned to look at the Chief of Staff next to him and said dissatisfied.
"Hi, Commander, look at the situation at the Eighth Route Army position opposite..." the chief of staff nodded quickly and replied eagerly.
"Nani? Do these Eighth Route Army troops without heavy weapons have any more advanced weapons that they haven't brought out yet?" Colonel Matsushita replied dissatisfied, but he still raised his telescope and looked at the Eighth Route Army positions outside the city.
However, at this time, Colonel Matsushita was completely stunned by the scene in front of him. He stood motionless on the city wall. More importantly, in the cold morning, large beads of sweat began to appear on the commander's forehead.
.
Because in his eyes, he was shocked to see that there were not many trenches of the Eighth Route Army just now, but now at least one regiment of the Eighth Route Army had been ambushed. A series of light and heavy machine guns were prominently placed on the position, and the gloomy muzzles of the guns were right in front of them.
Facing the city wall where he was, what surprised him even more was that less than 500 meters behind the trench, 12 mountain cannons were neatly arranged in front of him. Colonel Matsushita, who was very familiar with his troops' equipment, almost
The first moment I saw these mountain cannons, I was sure that these mountain cannons must be the cannons of the Japanese Empire.
"Baga...how could this happen? Where did the Eighth Route Army get so many cannons from? Bage Yalu, Captain Ono, didn't you say that the Eighth Route Army did not have heavy weapons for siege? Where did those cannons come from..." Colonel Matsushita finally said from
Reacting from the shock just now, he grabbed Captain Ono who was preparing to retreat next to him and cursed loudly.
"Hey, Commander, I don't know where the Eighth Route Army got so many cannons from. Just now there wasn't even a cannon, so why suddenly..." Looking at the man in front of him, his eyes almost popped out of his head because of anger.
Commander, Captain Ono answered incoherently.
You must know that the reason why Colonel Matsushita was so angry at this time was because he clearly knew that if the Eighth Route Army in front of him relied on those 12 powerful mountain cannons to attack the city, then it would be a matter of time before he broke through his own Shunping County.
Thinking of this, Colonel Matsushita felt frightened and vented all his anger on Captain Ono, who lied about the military situation in front of him.
"Your Excellency, Commander, are our First Squadron still retreating..." Looking at the commander in front of him who wanted to eat him, Captain Ono's back was already wet with cold sweat. The only thing he could think about now was to escape from this place of right and wrong as soon as possible.
Stay away from the angry commander.
"Baga, you still want to retreat. This morning, you and your entire squadron are not allowed to have breakfast. Prepare for battle immediately to prevent the Eighth Route Army outside the city from attacking the city. Hurry..." Colonel Matsushita let go of Captain Ono
collar, and cursed loudly.
"Hey, Commander, we must hold on to the city wall and repel the Eighth Route Army's attack.
"Chief of Staff, immediately order the Second Squadron to reinforce the city wall, and order the artillery squadron to prepare for battle and suppress the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire outside the city at any time..." Panasonic ignored Captain Ono next to him and looked at the gloomy 12 mountain cannons outside the city.
Dao. Because, although there was an artillery squadron in Shunping County at this time, the weapons of the squadron were mostly mortars used for defense. Only the two mountain cannons of one artillery squad could compete with the 12 cannons outside the city. And
How could his two mountain cannons withstand so many artillery pieces from the Eighth Route Army outside the city... Thinking of this, Colonel Matsushita began to worry about today's battle situation.
"Woooooo..." Suddenly, a whistling sound reached his ears. Colonel Matsushita, who was thinking about today's battle situation, quickly raised the telescope in his hand. He saw three mountain cannons on the Eighth Route Army's artillery position.
A large amount of white smoke followed, and a cannonball exploded at the front, back and back of the city wall, as well as on the city wall.
"Boom boom boom" three explosions sounded. The explosion on the city wall killed the bodies of several imperial soldiers and puppet soldiers. A heavy machine gun was lifted high off the city wall by the strong air wave generated by the shell explosion.
The corner of the city wall was smashed into a pile of scrap metal.
"Baga, get ready for battle immediately. Hurry, get into combat position..." With the sound of cannons, the roar of Captain Ono of the Japanese army was immediately remembered on the city wall. The Japanese army that had just fallen into chaos, under the command of Captain Ono,
The recovery continued quickly and he arrived at his combat position.
However, a battalion of puppet soldiers on the city wall did not have such good quality. You must know that among the more than 300 soldiers, except for a few battalion and company commanders who had gone through the war, almost all the remaining soldiers were captured by the Japanese army.
Faced with such a bloody and violent scene and the broken limbs falling on their heads, many of them were frightened. Of course, more soldiers chose to run around and shout loudly.
Howling, trying to leave this city wall that could kill him at any time.
"Bagh Ya Road... bang bang bang..." Three gunshots were fired, and the city wall that was still chaotic just now fell into silence. The puppet soldiers looked at their master, Matsushita Colonel, with unbelievable eyes. And Matsushita Colonel
His face was full of anger, he blew on his hand that was still smoking, and cursed loudly.
"Baga, return to your fighting position immediately, otherwise, your fate will be the same as theirs..." Colonel Matsushita used his broken Chinese to loudly order the puppet soldiers in front of him. At the same time, he pointed at the fallen soldiers.
The three puppet soldiers who had just been killed by him were in a pool of blood.
"Damn it, why are you still standing there? Go back to your position immediately. You want to take Japanese bullets? Hurry up..." At this time, the voice of the puppet battalion commander rang out from the city wall, followed by the company and platoon commanders.
Quickly start to move and pull your troops into combat positions.
"Your Excellency, Commander, I'm sorry. It was my mistake just now that caused you trouble. Please forgive me. I will lead my brothers to defend the city well..." Seeing the soldiers cursing and returning to their fighting positions,
The battalion commander quickly ran to the angry Colonel Matsushita and said.
"Your Excellency, Commander, retreat quickly. The headquarters needs you more. The Eighth Route Army will start shelling soon..." A staff officer next to him ignored the flattering puppet battalion commander and reminded Matsushita Colonel next to him.
"Yo Xi, we'll go back to the headquarters right away..." Hearing the reminder from the staff next to him, Colonel Matsushita immediately reacted and knew that he was under the artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army and could die at any time. He said immediately, turned around and led everyone away.
city wall.
Sure enough, just when Colonel Matsushita led everyone down the city wall, there was a whistling sound in the sky that was louder than before. It turned out that the three shells just now were just test-fired shells from the Mountain Artillery Battalion. After learning that he
After one of the artillery shells hit the target, the mountain artillery battalion immediately changed the shooting parameters of a total of 12 mountain artillery pieces based on the various coordinates of the artillery shells. Soon, all gun positions were prepared. Under the command of the battalion commander, the artillery shells were fired one by one.
It was shot out of the barrel by the soldiers and fell to the Japanese position not far away.
"Boom, boom, boom..." At this time, dense explosions were heard on the battlefield. Although everyone had reached the base of the city wall, Colonel Matsushita could still clearly feel the trembling of the earth.
"Baga... Your Excellency, Commander, be careful..." Just when Colonel Matsushita was about to curse, a burst of exclamation suddenly came from behind him, and an orderly quickly tried to rush towards him, pushed him away, and lay on the ground
On the ground.
"Ah... Baga...: A scream came out, and I saw that the orderly who had just rushed towards me was lying on the position where I had just stood, and behind the orderly, there was a huge battlement pressing down.
.
It turned out that just when Colonel Matsushita was about to complain, the second round of artillery shells from the artillery battalion had already been fired, and just in time, an artillery shell landed next to a battlement above Colonel Matsushita. The huge explosive power of the shells easily
He tore off a huge piece of battlement from the city wall and smashed it towards Colonel Matsushita. Of course, everything happened to be discovered by an orderly next to Matsushita, and then the scene just happened.
Looking at the orderly in front of him whose back had been smashed to pieces by a huge brick, even the battle-hardened Colonel Matsushita took a breath. Thinking that if the fallen orderly hadn't fulfilled his duties, he would be the one lying on the ground now.
Already.
"Baga, go back to the headquarters right away... Hurry..." Colonel Matsushita, who recovered from his nervous expression, did not say a word, and led a group of officers to quickly walk to the headquarters in the center of the county.
Of course, the shelling of the mountain artillery battalion did not stop because of the departure of Colonel Matsushita. The soldiers still loaded the shells behind them into the barrels one by one at their fastest shelling speed. Of course, the 500 people on the city wall
The human defenders are now being tested in blood and fire.
The city wall, which had been hit by several rounds of shelling, had now become dilapidated. There were broken limbs and broken arms everywhere. The entire city wall had been completely overturned by shells. There were burning corpses everywhere, and explosions continued.
Ammunition and scorching flames. At this time, those soldiers who had escaped the previous rounds of shells, whether they were Japanese soldiers or puppet soldiers. Facing the bare city wall without any fortifications, they no longer cared about their military image and hugged each other.
His head was scurrying around, begging for the protection of the gods.
However, their prayers had no effect. The shells were like having eyes, exploding constantly in the running crowd, causing rain of blood. Finally, the first batch of shells, a total of 120 shells, was squandered by the Mountain Artillery Battalion.
Once empty. Looking at the empty shell boxes behind them, and then at the city wall that had been plunged into a sea of flames, the soldiers of the mountain artillery battalion all smiled. They began to collect shell casings, transport the shells, and prepare for a new round of shelling.