But the Japanese were not completely unprepared. Behind the first bunker was an anti-tank trench that was 2.5 meters deep and 4.5 meters wide.
The Japanese did not often build anti-tank trenches when fighting in China.
The reason is that the Chinese army has almost no tanks, and even if there are tanks, they are no match for the Japanese tanks. In addition, most of the Chinese army does not know how to cooperate with infantry and tanks. The Japanese infantry can usually blow up a few tanks easily when they encounter them.
But it's different now.
As the saying goes, "The Tao is as high as the devil."
The Eighth Route Army in Yuncheng had tanks, and they repeatedly destroyed the Japanese armored forces in large battles, which was enough for the Japanese to pay attention to the tanks of the Eighth Route Army.
The best tactic to defend against tanks on the defensive line is to defend against tank trenches, and of course the Japanese will spare no effort.
It's just that the Japanese anti-tank trenches are a bit strange.
Usually, anti-tank trenches are built at the forefront of the defense line, so that when enemy tanks attack, they will be blocked by the anti-tank trenches and unable to advance. The infantry can kill the enemy with firepower behind the anti-tank trenches.
But the Japanese's anti-tank trenches were built on the second line, that is, there was a layer of barbed wire, mines, trenches and bunker fortifications in the front, an anti-tank trench was built in the rear, and then there was another line of defense.
The reason makes people feel a little ridiculous, that is, Li Yunlong's independent group and the guerrilla activities organized in Yuncheng were too frequent.
The Yuncheng guerrillas were organized by Li Yunlong. Relying on the manpower base of Yuncheng and the financial resources and equipment of the independent group, they quickly grew to more than a thousand people... This scale can be called an "independent group" in other places.
, But Li Yunlong insisted on calling it a guerrilla.
This is what Li Yunlong said to Zhao Gang: "Old Zhao, our independent group has become prosperous today, but there is a saying that 'wealth should not be exposed'! We occupy this precious land in Yuncheng and drink and eat meat (referring to strengthening the team), while others
Can you not be greedy? If we develop another independent regiment, the headquarters will be transferred to wherever we go, and the result will not be in vain?"
Li Yunlong learned the lesson of being too high-profile during the last meeting at the headquarters. He knew that the result of being high-profile would be boredom and loss.
Zhao Gang felt funny in his heart. How could you hide this fact from the headquarters? The leader just said that Yuncheng is the focus of defense in recent times, so he didn't say anything. Li Yunlong thought that using the name "guerrilla" was enough.
Being low-key can hide the truth!
However, after thinking about it, Zhao Gang felt that there was no need to point it out, otherwise Li Yunlong would worry that the guerrilla force that had been transferred from Yuncheng would belong to someone else or become independent in the future, and then he would give up the job again.
Therefore, Zhao Gang didn't say anything, and just casually dealt with it with a few perfunctory words.
Li Yunlong was a commander who focused on actual combat. He always knew that the troops could not lack actual combat. Even if there was no combat mission, he would send troops and guerrillas in batches to attack the enemy's positions.
It's not that the Japanese didn't want to build anti-tank ditches at the front of their positions.
However, anti-tank trenches are difficult to build but easy to explode. For a pit more than two meters deep, the guerrillas only need to touch it and bury explosives every few meters on the side wall, and then ignite an explosion... dozens of meters away.
The long anti-tank trench collapsed in an instant.
Moreover, it is extremely difficult to fill such a collapsed anti-tank trench... Compared with filling, digging is easier, because digging an anti-tank trench only requires two processes: digging and earth transportation. If you want to fill it, you must consider whether the soil quality is sufficient.
Is it hard? Can it hold up the side walls or even the enemy's tank? Otherwise, the enemy's tank will collapse as soon as it rolls over. Can it still trap the tank?
After going back and forth and being bombed a few times, the anti-tank trenches built by the Japanese in front of the position were completely destroyed.
In the end, the Japanese had no choice but to "sacrifice" some bunkers and gun towers, that is, to build an anti-tank trench behind the bunkers and gun towers.
This seems perfect: the bunkers and gun turrets in the front can prevent guerrillas from infiltrating, and the anti-tank trenches in the rear can resist tanks. As for whether the bunkers and gun turrets in the front can block the tanks, will they become cannon fodder under the tracks of the tanks...
Wouldn’t it be enough to use puppet troops?
Therefore, most of the bunkers in front were occupied by puppet troops. As soon as they saw the Eighth Route Army tanks approaching, they knew that they were out of luck. They could not hold on but could not escape.
Guard, how to deal with the tanks of the Eighth Route Army?
If you run away, you will be shot at by the Japanese from behind!
This may be what the dilemma is about.
The smart puppet troops immediately killed the Japs who were commanding and supervising them (a group of puppet troops usually has a Japs in command), and then stretched out a white flag from the perforation hole in the bunker to surrender.
Therefore, the battle to the west of the anti-tank ditch went very smoothly. A total of twenty T26s and several Japanese tanks were dispatched. Only one was hit by a stray bullet fired by a Japanese mortar and broke down on the battlefield. The others were unscathed.
hurt.
But getting in front of the anti-tank trenches was a bit troublesome.
Arranged behind the anti-tank trenches were the strength of a Japanese brigade.
The Japanese standard for a brigade is 1,100 men, but this is a standard that can only be achieved by regular Class A divisions. Due to the severe shortage of troops, a brigade usually cannot reach 1,000 men.
However, the Japanese Zhucun Brigade stationed at the Yuncheng defense line was an exception.
Takemura Yuta is a captain of the Japanese 101st Division.
The 101st Division, which participated in the Battle of Taiyuan and the Battle of Niangziguan in China, used only five brigades to surround Yan Laoxi's four divisions.
At that time, one Japanese brigade had less than 1,000 men, and the five brigades had no more than 3,000 troops, but they were able to surround Yan Laoxi's four divisions with nearly 40,000 men.
And not only the siege, the five Japanese brigades also defeated Yan Laoxi's troops under continuous attacks and captured more than 2,000 prisoners... The number of prisoners almost caught up with the Japanese troops.
After that, the 101st Division was deployed to Wuhan to fight against the stubborn troops. It was not until recently that Yuncheng was in critical condition that Okamura Neiji urgently transferred it back to Yuncheng.
Because he has been fighting stubborn armies for a long time, his combat experience goes without saying.
In addition, the Takemura Brigade has received varying degrees of troop reinforcements after entering Yuncheng... Okamura Neiji also knows that the independent regiments stationed in Yuncheng are growing, so accordingly, the Empire's Takemura Brigade stationed in Yuncheng's defense line should also invest more
troops.
After a series of intermittent additions, the Zhucun brigade was supplemented by more than 1,500 people.
Based on the usual comparison of military strength, more than 1,500 people are more than enough to deal with one division of the Eighth Route Army, while Li Yunlong's independent regiment only has about 5,000 people, not to mention that the imperial army is assisted by two puppet military camps.
However, Okamura Neiji also knew that at this moment, the current independent regiment is an independent regiment with tanks, artillery, and even aircraft coordination. It is impossible to compare the previous military strength. The current 1,500 people may not be the same.
Can stop Li Yunlong.
Therefore, Okamura Neiji also has a trump card... The 101st Division is a unit that once used poison gas bombs in Wuhan.