This battle really took a lot of effort from the Japanese as Imano Chimi imagined.
To put it simply, the Japs hoped that their opponents would fight according to conventional tactics or confront the Japs head-on. However, the Jinsui Army used trenches to fight guerrilla warfare against them, which was a soft nail for the Japs.
When the Japanese tanks majestically rushed upward, they were greeted only by mines and barbed wire, and from time to time a few grenades or mortar shells were fired from the trenches.
The Japanese infantry are called crazy: You bastards of the Jinsui Army dare to play tricks with our imperial army?
So the commander gave an order, and the infantry detached themselves from the tanks and moved along the trenches to clear out the enemy.
This was not Chimi Konno's idea, but the idea of infantry commander Sekiguchi Tianli... The Japanese's concept of tanks is actually somewhat similar to that of Mao Xiong. They also regard tanks more as auxiliary tools for infantry rather than as the main force.
Arms, so command is often in the hands of the infantry.
In short, in battle, tanks should cooperate with infantry more than infantry should cooperate with tanks.
But that's not entirely the case.
The reason is that although the Japanese are stubborn, they have a strong learning ability. Influenced by Hans' great victory in Europe, they will consciously improve the status and independence of tanks on the battlefield. For example, Malaysia's large-scale penetration of the Sun Never Sets army is a lesson in "blitzkrieg".
"tactics.
At this time, Chimi Konno was in principle the supreme commander... Chimi Konno was the lieutenant colonel, and Captain Sekiguchi was the major sergeant. It was natural that Konno had the right to command.
Konno also always ordered the infantry to follow the tanks and break through the defense line.
Konno's idea is very simple and clear. As long as he breaks through the defense line and goes around to the back of the defense line, the Shanxi-Sui Army's defense line will exist in name only.
Because the imperial army does not necessarily need to rely on this line of defense to surround the main force of the 358th Regiment. They have tanks, more than fifty tanks, and no matter where they are on the plain, the moment the tanks stop, they form a line of defense.
Therefore, it is not important whether to destroy the enemy force in front of you. What is important is to maintain the speed of the 25th Tank Regiment and continue to insert into the enemy's rear...
From this point of view, it can be said that Chimi Konno learned the essence of "blitzkrieg" from Hans.
"Blitzkrieg" never only requires "fast", but also requires knowing your own goals, knowing how to "bully the small with the many", and "bullying the small with the big"...Use tanks to penetrate the enemy's rear and attack the enemy's
Warehouses, artillery, supply convoys, and other units that have no close combat or anti-tank capabilities in the field, aren't they easy to capture?
It's simple and easy, can inflict heavy damage to the enemy, and at the same time surround the enemy, why not do it?
But Sekiguchi Tianli didn't think so. The inherent thinking of an infantryman made him see the line of defense in front of him like a beggar seeing a pile of treasures:
As long as we seize this line of defense, we can block the enemy's main force within the line of defense, win, and achieve great success. We would be a fool not to seize it!
In fact, there is another reason. Sekiguchida Ri believes that the reason why Imano Chimi restrained his behavior and prevented the infantry from spreading the attack was because he was worried that the infantry would take the credit of the chariot soldiers. When the post-war merit review was held, Konno, the commander, would be judged by him.
This subordinate is going to compete.
Coupled with the passerby's disdain for the Jinsui Army, the infantry started chasing the Jinsui Army in the trenches with "hoorah" and "waha" noises while holding their rifles.
This is what Wang Binghua is most happy to see.
Originally, a single battalion might not be able to knock out a few tanks and a few Japanese if it pressed forward, but now it's a one-on-one fight. Who's afraid of whom?
Even if we eight hundred people can't fight one by one, two or even three of us can exchange you for a Japanese, it can still be regarded as a piece of flesh being ripped off from you!
So the two armies fought in the trenches.
This left Imano Chimi at a loss...
Although the Imperial Army had always had the upper hand, it was completely out of control for him.
At this time, Chimi Konno is neither moving forward nor not moving forward.
Moving forward means that the tank will completely lose the cover of the infantry, which is likely to cause problems.
Without advancing, the chariot can only watch the enemy and our infantry fight together.
And because the enemy and our infantry were in a group, the firepower of the tanks was almost useless.
There were even several enemy soldiers who unexpectedly rushed to the tank with explosive bags in their hands during the melee...
"Your Majesty Lieutenant Colonel!" the mechanical and electrical officer reported to Chimi Konno: "Two of our tanks were blown up, it was the 97th Battle!"
"These bastards!" Chimi Konno, who popped up to observe, slapped the hatch cover hard: "Order them to concentrate their forces and follow the tank!"
The electromechanical personnel sent the message over and over again, but no one knew that it was impossible for the infantry, which had gone crazy and was on the verge of victory, to recover.
Sekiguchi Tianli even received the order, but he pretended not to see it.
All he was thinking was to wait a while and then call back. If he just waited a little longer...we would be able to win, win without the need for tanks, then he would call back and see what the commander's expression would be like.
At this moment, Chimi Konno suddenly saw a 98 light blast passing in front of him and making an "8" circle in the air.
"An enemy is coming!" Imano Chimi's expression changed slightly.
That is a communication method between reconnaissance aircraft and ground forces, and it is a communication method in emergency situations... If there is no emergency, the reconnaissance aircraft can drop intelligence from the sky through the "communication bottle".
But sometimes the enemy is so close that it's too late to use the communication bottle, so you can only use the flight path to warn.
Imano Chimi was not nervous at first. He believed that even if an enemy came, the 25th Tank Regiment could easily handle it.
After all, this is the empire's most advanced "One" tank. What other enemy can fight it?
unless……
Then Chimi Konno's expression changed, because he saw billowing smoke and dust in front of him, and could still hear the faint "rumbling" sound of the engine, which was probably the enemy's tank troops.
Could it be the T34 unit of the Eighth Route Army?
No, impossible!
Imano Chimi said that they should have been destroyed by the flying brigade on the road!
However, at this moment, the electromechanical officer shouted: "Your Majesty Lieutenant Colonel, there is a call from the headquarters. The interception by the flying group failed. They have been completely wiped out. The enemy tank troops are likely to rush towards us!"
Konno Chimi opened her mouth for a long time and didn't close it.
The flying brigade was actually... completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army?
How did they do it?
In fact, not only Konno Chimi couldn't believe it, Okamura Neji also couldn't believe what he heard.
Okamura Neji only heard the news twenty minutes after the war.
The reconnaissance plane belonging to Xiaocun saw the battle situation and sent it back to the aviation command headquarters, which was a disastrous defeat that the empire had never suffered on the Chinese battlefield.
The aviation command was shocked from top to bottom by this news.
And because they were afraid of being punished by Neji Okamura, they did not report the results immediately, but held a meeting to study countermeasures...
It was during these twenty minutes that Konno's 25th Tank Regiment was in trouble.