Wang Xuexin saw the key point... Since the Eighth Route Army had already recaptured Niangziguan and had artillery positions on the high ground in the First Battle at Niangziguan, what was the point of encircling and annihilating the remaining Japanese troops?
If those remnant soldiers want to escape, let them escape. Anyway, Naosaburo Okabe will not let them go easily... Naosaburo Okabe needs someone to take the blame for his mistakes in command, and these soldiers who execute the orders
It's the perfect person to take the blame for.
At that time, Naosaburo Okabe will say that there is nothing wrong with his command, but that these soldiers are not fighting well.
What a simple and appropriate excuse.
Therefore, instead of encircling and annihilating these remnants, it is better to defend the artillery position so that the Japanese have no chance...
The Japanese helicopter rappelling operation chose the north side.
The reason is that the high ground on the north side is flatter and there are not many blind spots for the bombing of Niangzi Pass, while the opposite is true on the south side.
Therefore, it makes more sense for the Japanese to capture the artillery positions on the north side.
But they chose the wrong side... There may be hope for attacking the south side. One of the regiments on the south side is the former Taihang Mountain troops. They haven't finished changing their equipment yet, and they still have 38 caps and old sleeves in their hands.
On the north side is the main regiment, which has been equipped with repeating rifles up to the squad leader level.
So this battle was quite brutal...
How could the Japanese know this? The helicopter flew over the high ground in a "sudden" manner and slowly lowered its altitude to approach the high ground.
The Japanese special forces members thought that this operation would go smoothly, because until then there had been no gunshots on the ground, and the Eighth Route Army did not seem to realize that they dared to rappel directly to the target.
However, just as the Japanese put down the rope and the special forces team members slid down, fierce gunfire suddenly rang out in the jungle below, and bullets rushed towards the helicopter like a gust of wind.
Helicopters of this period did not have thickened armor at the bottom like modern Wuzhi. Hans's "Dragon" helicopter had a layer of iron in order to reduce weight and carry as much load as possible.
Of course, this layer of iron sheet could not stop the bullets fired from the ground. After a "pop" sound, the helicopter was shot through. The moonlight penetrated directly into the helicopter cabin from the top, and the Japanese in the cabin were already inside.
There was blood dripping and howling.
The bullets are all fired from the bottom up, so you can imagine how painful it will be for them... Most of the bullets from the bottom up penetrate the soles of the feet, the lower body, or penetrate the abdominal cavity from the lower body. None of these are harmful, among which
Although the abdominal cavity is a vital part, the organs in the lower half will not survive the injury for a while, which is why "cutting in half" is called "torture".
But they didn't endure the pain for long.
Because the helicopter pilot, engine, fuel tank, etc. were also hit.
The moment the driver was killed, he lost his balance and plunged into the abyss next to him.
If the engine is damaged, it will not have enough lift and it will plummet.
When the fuel tank was ignited, a fire ignited in the air like a torch...
On another helicopter, the propeller was hit, causing asymmetry in power between the left and right sides. It rotated violently in the air and then "soared" and collided with another helicopter.
The sound of propellers turning, the sound of debris breaking through the air, and the terrified cries of the Japanese all intertwined to interpret this massacre in the air.
In the end, only a helicopter was able to escape.
The helicopter's rappel point was unguarded... The Eighth Route Army didn't know where the helicopter would rappel, so they could only choose a location with a gun fort.
The helicopter had just descended halfway when the Eighth Route Army opened fire. Seeing the tragic scene next to it, the helicopter pilot did not dare to stay any longer. He immediately climbed up and escaped regardless of the fact that the special operations team members were still descending.
As a result, the special team members who rappelled fell into the abyss one by one, screaming.
After Naosaburo Okabe received the information about the failure of the operation, he didn't know what to say. He had worked hard for several months to prepare and train for several months, and finally had a paratrooper that could rappel... This may be
Because of the Japs' paratrooper complex, they have never been able to train decent paratroopers, so they call these troops who can use helicopter rappels paratroopers.
After putting in so much effort, the paratroopers, including the helicopters, were all burned down.
When Naosaburo Okabe watched the last lonely helicopter return to the airport, he felt like he wanted to cry without tears...
The helicopter unit is finished!
This also means that the Yamada Division is finished, and so is the 9th Independent Tank Brigade!
Naosaburo Okabe turned around silently and ordered Oshiro Sanji: "Withdraw the artillery regiment!"
"Your Excellency General..."
"Withdraw it!" Okabe Naosaburo said in a more serious tone.
"Yes!" Sanji Ojoto responded helplessly.
Naosaburo Okabe knew that the victory was decided at this time, and even if the artillery regiment went to reinforce, it would be of no avail.
Because the Eighth Route Army has helicopters, they can transport artillery and artillery shells up as long as they create a flat area on the high ground.
In this way, how many artillery and artillery pieces would the Empire have to lose to suppress the Eighth Route Army's artillery?
This is impossible when the Eighth Route Army has artillery detection radar!
When Sanji Oshiro came back after issuing the order, he couldn't help but ask: "Your Excellency, General, what about the Yamada Division and the 9th Independent Tank Brigade..."
Naosaburo Okabe replied: "Order them to return through the Taihang Mountains!"
"Yes!" Ojoto Sanji's face turned pale when he responded. He knew that this meant that the imperial army had to abandon all tanks, cars, armored vehicles and even heavy machine guns.
It would be fine if they were ordinary troops, but this is the Kwantung Army, and one of them is a chariot brigade!
However, he believed that Okabe's order was right, because at this time the empire needed soldiers with combat experience more than equipment.
As soon as Wang Xuexin heard that the Japanese artillery regiment had withdrawn, he immediately knew that the Japanese would withdraw from the Taihang Mountains again as before.
The Taihang Mountains were a suitable place for the Eighth Route Army to conduct guerrilla warfare and also suitable for the Japanese.
Although the Japs were not guerrillas but traversals, in such a complex terrain and the Japs would be divided into several parts and pass through different routes, it would be very difficult for the Eighth Route Army to intercept them.
Wang Xuexin ordered: "Order the aviation force to prepare for battle, take off as soon as it gets dark, and focus on bombing the Japanese cars!"
Cars are the means of transportation for the Japanese to transport supplies. Bullets and artillery shells are easy to talk about, but the Japanese can't take many back with them. They won't cross the Taihang Mountains with boxes of shells on their backs!
But if the cars were transporting grain or canned food... it would be a good thing to blow up one of them, because it would probably mean that dozens of Japs would starve to death.
Then Wang Xuexin asked the helicopters to take off immediately. They would lead the monk's troops to the location where the Japanese were about to enter the mountain to defend themselves, and then let the Taihang Mountain troops move closer...
Even if we can't annihilate all the Japanese, we still have to peel off a few layers of their skin!