If according to normal people's thinking, poison gas grenades are used to "capture" the opponent's tanks when one's own tanks are in melee with enemy tanks, then if one's own tanks are not "on site" now, then gas grenades should not be used, even if it is
Ordinary grenades or explosives used to blow up tracks are better than gas grenades.
But Sekiguchida Ri didn't think so.
His thinking was: What if a few T34s could be captured?
You must know that there are more than fifty enemy tanks, including T26, and a large number of following infantry... These Eighth Route Army troops are not easy to mess with in that posture, and there are still hundreds of soldiers in the trench positions who have not been cleared.
The Jinsui Army was remnant of the enemy. At this time, the imperial army could be said to be in a desperate situation with almost no chance of getting out alive.
In this case, why not take the risk and try to seize the T34?
Once a few T34s are captured, it is likely to cause chaos in the enemy's tank troops, and only then will the imperial army have the possibility of victory.
Objectively speaking, there is nothing wrong with Sekiguchi Tianli thinking this way, and it is also in line with the Japanese's desperate gambler mentality.
The problem is that there are follower infantry at the rear of T34. The task of these follower infantry is to prevent the Japanese infantry from approaching, and it is even less possible for them to climb on the tank and lift the cover of the tank to throw gas grenades under their noses.
What's more, the T34 tank didn't slow down at all but rushed into the Japanese position...
When tanks encounter enemy infantry, there are usually two ways of fighting:
One is for the tank to slow down and allow the following infantry to dismount and take cover.
The other is to break through the enemy's position at the highest speed.
The front is straight and steady, while the latter is more risky, because you are not sure whether there are mines, explosives or obstacles in front of you, and the tank chassis is the weakest part and can easily be blown through by the enemy.
This is one of the reasons why Japanese tanks usually choose to "fight steadily" in battle.
But Gangzi believes that "adventure" is relative.
After the war, Gangzi reported to Wang Xuexin this way:
"I think this battle would be more risky if it were fought according to the first plan. At that time, our T26 troops were in the rear, and there were only nine T34 tanks in the front plus a company of accompanying infantry. However, the Japanese had a large group and were well-trained. If they slowed down,
Advance steadily...I'm worried that it will cause considerable casualties, and even the loss of tanks will inevitably happen!"
“But rapid breakthroughs may achieve unexpected results.”
"At this time, the Japanese have just organized their defense. We just have to use our speed to catch them off guard. Moreover, such a strike must be something that the Japanese would never expect..."
Wang Xuexin nodded and agreed with Gangzi's analysis.
The battlefield is never static. Gangzi's seemingly risky approach is actually safer and can cause greater damage to the enemy.
What's more, the T34 troops have a reason to fight like this: the T34 tank has good cross-country speed, and the three-wheeled shoulder tank it drives with the infantry has both cross-country speed and combat capabilities, and it also has quite strong combat effectiveness during the march.
This is also true.
The Japanese were stunned when they saw the T34 tank "rumbling" towards them at full speed. The speed at this time was at least thirty kilometers per hour. It was difficult to catch up, let alone climb up, so the gas grenade in their hands could not be moved at all.
It won't do anything...if it does, it will poison yourself.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Sekiguchi Tianli saw that the enemy tanks were going to break through at full speed and would not give the imperial army a chance to "capture", so he quickly ordered: "Put away the Ichiki and change to grenades!"
But it was too late to react.
The gas grenade is a glass bottle, and its protective cover is a hard wooden box... If it were not a hard wooden box, there would be no guarantee that the glass bottle would not be broken during the march.
Therefore, it is not easy to take it out and store it, and it must be handled with care.
The Japs actually have a faster way, which is to throw the gas grenades directly in front of the position. Not only can they quickly get rid of the trouble and danger of the gas grenades, but they can also prepare ordinary grenades and explosive packs in a short time, and may even be able to attack the enemy.
The Eighth Route Army followed the infantry and caused a certain amount of damage...but this damage was very limited because the poisonous gas was only effective in a confined space and would dissipate within a short period of time.
But how could the Japanese soldiers on the battlefield have thought of this? They hurriedly took out a wooden box to store a set of grenades, and at this moment...
There was a soft "Teng Teng" sound, and a row of grenades passed over the tank and hit the trench where the Japanese were hiding.
Tianli Sekiguchi was stunned immediately.
"What is that?" Sekiguchi Tianli's eyes widened: "They...can actually shoot a grenade on a motorcycle?"
That was actually not a grenade, but a rifle grenade equipped by the Eighth Route Army.
To be precise, it is a grenade integrated into a carbine.
Rifle grenades are also equipped in a batch of follow-up infantry, but only for T34 follow-up infantry.
Wang Xuexin's original intention of equipping these infantrymen with rifle grenades was that the T34 needed rifle grenades for demining... If there are mines in front of the tank, rifle grenades can be used to explode forward in an emergency.
As a result, I found that a carbine, a rifle with a large ammunition capacity, is very suitable for use on the side seat of a shoulder bag.
The Japs usually mounted a machine gun on the side of the bag.
But there are actually many problems with doing this. For example, the space on the shoulder is limited, and the machine gun is basically unable to turn when it is mounted on it. It can only hit a small range of targets directly in front. If the enemy goes around to the side, it can only be accomplished by turning the shoulder as a whole.
Shooting at target.
But the carbine is different.
The rate of fire of the M1 carbine is no slower than that of the machine gun (compared to the Japanese's crooked machine gun), and the ammunition capacity is the same, 30 rounds.
The machine gun cannot be turned on the side seat due to its weight, recoil and length, but the short and lightweight carbine can be easily turned and aimed.
In particular, the carbine is equipped with a grenade launcher, which is an artifact for tanks following infantry.
Then before Sekiguchi Tianri could react, another wave of grenades came over.
Although it was not very accurate, it soon caused a commotion among the Japanese in the trenches.
In fact, there have been "riots" before.
When Japanese soldiers are hit by rifle grenades, they will naturally fall down when they hear the explosion.
There may be no problem at other times, but at this time many of them were still holding glass "gas grenades" in their hands. When they lay down like this, there was only a "pop" sound, and the gas grenades were broken.
The reason why there is no "riot" is because this kind of poisonous gas can make people lose consciousness within 2 seconds. The poisoned person does not even have time to shout or cause chaos, and then loses consciousness.
Moreover, many people were poisoned because they were in semi-enclosed trenches.
The second wave of rifle grenades caused chaos because it was only then that many Japanese soldiers discovered that the poison gas was leaking.
So the Japanese all fled from the trenches in a hurry... They were not sure where the poisonous gas would spread, and their fear of the poisonous gas made them flee the trenches immediately.