Captain Noel soon realized that his kick hit the steel plate.
Because in the light of the artillery shells, he faintly saw heavily armed half-track armored vehicles.
"What is that?" Captain Noel was shocked.
It's not that he didn't know what it was. As Hans's advisor, Captain Noel certainly knew the half-track armored vehicle.
He couldn't believe that there was such a thing on the land of China!
In shock and confusion, Captain Noel ordered: "Flare bombs, three illumination bombs!"
Usually, it is difficult for troops on the offensive to use flares, because the attacking troops emphasize launching surprise attacks in secret. Setting off flares should be done by the defensive side...in order to observe the enemy's attack direction and strength.
Captain Noel is not ignorant of this truth, but at this time he can no longer care so much.
"Tengteng..." After a few soft sounds, three illumination bombs slowly rose into the air and illuminated the battlefield in front of them.
Captain Noel was so shocked and speechless by what he saw on the spot. In his sight, rows of tanks and half-track armored vehicles blocked his face like a torrent of steel.
The half-track armored vehicle looked a little weird. The armor on the front was wedge-shaped. Captain Noel had never seen such an armored vehicle before.
Then Captain Noel understood... Armored vehicles of this shape seemed to be specially used to prepare for collisions, while most of the empire's mechanized troops were sidecar motorcycles.
What's even more exaggerated is that the Empire's side motorcycles rushed towards the opponent's armored vehicles in pieces, like an overestimating wave trying to break a dam.
The next second, Captain Noel shouted on the radio: "Stop, retreat! All retreat!"
Captain Noel's order was a wise one.
Because he clearly knew that if this battle continued, the only outcome would be the annihilation of the entire army.
There is only one choice now, and that is to return to Laoyang Village as quickly as possible to defend.
Captain Noel vaguely felt that he and Lieutenant Colonel Yata had been tricked by the Eighth Route Army.
If the mechanized force of the Eighth Route Army has such strength, that is, a combination of tanks and half-tracks, then the combination of tanks and sidecar motorcycles should not be allowed to take the lead.
The reason why they did this was to hope that the imperial mechanized troops would get out of Laoyangcun, which was conducive to defense.
But the enemy's troops have always been easy to release and difficult to recover.
This is not because the Japanese troops are not of good quality and do not obey orders, but because the Japanese soldiers from top to bottom "see death as if they are home", and especially regard retreat as a shame.
For example, Major Ishibashi, the captain of the 201st Battalion, remained silent after receiving Captain Noel's order.
It was not that Shiqiao was unaware of the seriousness of the situation before him, but he had always maintained an inexplicable psychological advantage over the Eighth Route Army. He believed that the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness would not be stronger than his own in any case, even if they were equipped with these weird equipment.
What's more, Major Ishibashi looked down on Captain Noel.
"This is Hans's fighting habit!" Major Ishibashi said: "They always choose to retreat in the face of difficulties. This fighting method may be suitable for Westerners, but it is not suitable for us! The Empire has no such cowards!"
Shiqiao's idea is really not groundless.
The combat styles of Asian countries are indeed different from those of the West.
The West often emphasizes surrendering if you try your best, etc., while Asia emphasizes fighting until the last moment, and the Japanese took this style to the extreme.
Therefore, the Japanese did not listen to Captain Noel's orders at all, and continued to charge and fire at the Eighth Route Army while riding on their backs and holding machine guns.
The commander of the Eighth Route Army was Feng Hailiang, commander of the First Battalion. He was a little confused when he saw the Japanese charging scene.
"What's the situation?" Feng Hailiang asked the instructor: "We are looking for the Japs everywhere, and the Japs rush up to us to die? Isn't it a scam?"
Feng Hailiang felt that the bargain came too quickly and felt a bit unrealistic.
The instructor who was observing with a telescope looked at the enemy's situation and said, "Even if there is a trick, what else can we do? Can we not fight?"
Feng Hailiang was right when he thought about it. This was a close encounter between two mechanized troops, and there was no room for evasion... This is how a battle between mechanized troops is. Once one side flees on the battlefield, unless it is very fast and can reach the enemy
If you can't catch up, you will be chased and beaten by the enemy from behind, so there is no room for maneuver at all.
So Feng Hailiang no longer hesitated. He turned around and shouted to the correspondent: "Everyone is here, get ready for battle!"
This is the fault of Mao Xiong's lack of communication equipment... Mao Xiong's other equipment is fine, such as tanks, aircraft, and cannons. These heavy industries have everything they need, but light industries such as communication equipment are not even on Mao Xiong's own tanks.
Several racks installed.
This is also one of the reasons why Mao Xiong's T34 can't always beat Hans' No. 2 and No. 3 tanks with worse performance on the battlefield... Mao Xiong's T34 lacks communication equipment and therefore cannot coordinate effectively, and is often defeated by Hans' tanks.
The siege created a situation where "too many ants kill the elephant".
Mao Xiong himself lacked communication equipment, and the equipment sold to the Eighth Route Army was even more so.
The tanks in the tank battalion are okay, that's because there are not many tanks, Wang Xuexin put some blood to buy them all.
The half-track vehicles of the mechanized troops are gone, and there is no way to equip them with communication equipment.
So Feng Hailiang had to yell to give the order.
The correspondent responded, and then immediately passed on the order. Then three signal bombs were fired into the air, and the Eighth Route Army's half-track vehicle started to move.
The combat formation of the Eighth Route Army's mechanized troops is that each T26 tank is equipped with ten half-track armored vehicles.
Because a half-track armored vehicle can accommodate ten soldiers, it happens to be a company.
During combat, the tanks are in front and the half-tracks are behind. It is possible that the entire army will charge towards the enemy. Otherwise, the infantry will dismount and follow the tanks and half-tracks.
The so-called "possible" means that the terrain is suitable and there are not many obstacles.
For example, if the enemy is stationed on high ground, or there are obstacles such as barbed wire fences, anti-tank trenches, and mines, if you continue to advance en masse at this time, you are courting death.
At this time, what was in front of the Eighth Route Army was an open field.
Face to face is another Japs driving a satchel... This thing is almost a toy in front of a half-track armored vehicle, and of course it is an all-out charge.
The charging speed is getting faster and faster.
Then, the first thing to fire was the mortar mounted in the rear compartment of the tracked armored vehicle.
Rows of artillery shells, with a terrifying roar, passed over our own armored vehicles in a perfect arc, and then slammed into the Japanese convoy.