Although the Japanese generally give the impression that they are brave and fearless of death, at the last moment they will always launch a suicidal charge or die together with the enemy.
But that's generally speaking. When faced with life and death, there are still many people who want to live, even if they become prisoners of war.
The most typical example is Tojo Hideki. After the defeat, he had plenty of time but failed to commit suicide several times. He even failed to commit suicide with a pistol... This can only be said that he did not have the courage to commit suicide at all.
On the contrary, Anda Twenty-san, who was still the commander of the 37th Division at this time, successfully committed suicide in prison with a rusty fruit knife... He made a cross on his abdomen, but because the knife was too blunt, the wound was not deep.
Finally, another cut was made to the artery.
Therefore, Anda Twenty-Three was nothing famous in his life. He was an ordinary general who had never commanded any outstanding battles and had no extraordinary talents. There were a lot of officers like him in the Japanese army.
It means getting used to commanding operations according to the lessons and routines learned.
But this guy became famous after his death because he committed suicide very simply and with great determination, which was in sharp contrast to Tojo Hideki.
The Japanese tank force was wiped out with a total of 36 tanks. In the end, only 6 surrendered, and two of them could not be considered surrenders... They knew they could not escape, so they stopped and lit grenades in the tank compartment.
commit suicide.
In other words, only four vehicles chose to surrender, which is already a very low surrender rate.
Then Androvich asked on the radio: "What should we do now, comrade company commander? Continue to pursue?"
Judging from the military rank, Captain Androvich is at the level of battalion commander, so he should be the one commanding Gangzi.
But Androvich was Mao Xiong's advisory group after all, and this was still a Chinese battlefield. Androvich didn't even know the entire battle plan, so he left the decision-making power to Gangzi.
Gangzi thought for a moment and then ordered: "Continue the pursuit and don't give the enemy a chance to breathe!"
After the war, when Wang Xuexin learned about Gangzi's orders at this time, he felt that he had not hired the wrong person. Gangzi indeed had the courage to take the lead.
For ordinary people, after achieving such a brilliant achievement... 10 T34s faced off against 36 enemy tanks and achieved a complete victory with zero casualties, most people would choose to wait for the main force to catch up before making a decision.
If you have a little selfishness, you will think like this:
Since you have already won enough to be promoted and saved your life, why risk yourself again?
Besides, there's nothing wrong with waiting for the main force.
In the process of chasing the enemy tanks, except for Chen Fujun's infantrymen who followed up with their shoulder straps, the main force, which was marching on two legs, was left several miles behind.
On the other hand, the enemy's escaping tanks have probably merged with the mountain artillery regiment that came for reinforcements. Is one tank company enough to deal with the Japanese mountain artillery regiment plus a tank squadron?
So, let’s try to win steadily!
Otherwise, you may accidentally lose the victory you just won, and you may even lose your life.
But that's not what Gangzi was thinking about.
What he was thinking was that the Japanese tank squadron had not escaped far, and it would probably only take ten minutes for the T34 troops to catch up.
On the other hand, the Jiazishan Artillery Regiment carried mostly 92 infantry guns that did not pose a threat to tanks. They did not know that the Eighth Route Army was equipped with T34 tanks, which were almost godlike to the Japs, so they were 80% unprepared.
Then why not catch the Japanese off guard?
The fighter plane disappeared in a blink of an eye. As long as they waited like this, the Japanese would probably have communicated with the tank regiment and be ready.
Therefore, Gangzi did not hesitate and immediately ordered: "Go forward at full speed and break through quickly!"
Yutomijiro on the other side has indeed contacted the 37th Mountain Artillery Regiment.
The commander of the 37th Mountain Artillery Regiment is a colonel named Nagatake Taro.
The mountain artillery regiment, if it is a standard establishment, should have 36 mountain artillery, with a total strength of more than 3,000 people.
But in fact, it is far from meeting this standard... This is related to the insufficient strength and equipment of the Japanese. In particular, the mountain artillery regiment is usually used to fight the Eighth Route Army, and it is even more targeted for being streamlined.
The 37th Mountain Artillery Regiment has only 12 artillery pieces, ten of which are 70mm 92 infantry guns, and two howitzers, with a total strength of more than 2,000 people.
This is still considered a mountain artillery unit in relatively good condition. Some other mountain artillery units only have 9 guns, or even 6 guns.
Nagatake Taro was taking a nap in the passenger seat of the car when he received the telegram.
He didn't care about the battle in front of him. The tank regiment and the cavalry regiment also needed his mountain artillery regiment... Nagatake Taro didn't understand what General Okamura thought, even if the enemy was equipped with dozens of Mao
Bear’s chariot wouldn’t be able to send out so many troops, right?
I heard that the Ninth Mixed Brigade even lost the gate of Yuncheng. What a bastard!
These guys are simply wasting the empire's resources. With so many troops and equipment, this is the result.
Just when Nagatake Taro was drowsy, a communications soldier drove a three-wheeler to catch up with the car and shouted out the window: "His Majesty Colonel, Your Excellency Colonel..."
Nagatake Taro rolled down the window, and the signal trooper reported: "Your Majesty Colonel, the 7th Tank Regiment has received an urgent call. They and the Cavalry Regiment have been defeated by the Eighth Route Army!"
"What?" Nagatake Taro was suddenly awakened from his sleep. He asked in surprise: "What did you say? The chariot regiment was defeated? What is going on!"
Nagatake Taro ordered the car to stop, opened the door and took the telegram. It turned out that just as the signal soldier said, the front line had been completely defeated.
"Your Majesty Colonel!" the communications soldier continued to report: "The tank regiment reported that the Eighth Route Army is equipped with new types of tanks. Please make sure we are prepared for anti-tank tanks!"
"New type of tank?" Nagatake Taro frowned: "Isn't it T26?"
"It is said not!"
"What is that?" Nagatake Taro asked.
"Unknown model!" the signal soldier replied.
Then Nagatake Taro asked a series of questions:
"How thick is the armor of this tank?"
"What's the speed?"
"What's the caliber of the cannon?"
…
The signal soldier was confused when he was asked. He only got a few words from the tank regiment and did not know the detailed information.
In fact, it was not just the communications troops who didn't know, but even Aritomijiro, who fought with the Eighth Route Army, didn't know.
This is the advantage of new equipment. Only the person who uses it knows its detailed data. The enemy will be confused even after fighting a few battles, unless it is obtained from intelligence personnel or one is captured on the battlefield.
However, because Taro Nagatake didn't know this and couldn't reasonably estimate it, he didn't even know whether the 92 infantry cannon he was equipped with could penetrate this new type of enemy tank.