It only took less than an hour for the battle to begin, and the Hundred Battle Group suffered more than half of its casualties, losing more than 800 people.
After the commander learned about the situation of the Hundred Battle Group, he immediately gave Li Changfu an order: "Order the Hundred Battle Group to abandon their positions and retreat as a whole!"
Li Changfu was jealous of the fight with the Japanese. As soon as he saw the telegram, he refused to agree. He called back without thinking: "Chief, we can still do it. We are still in the position. As long as there is one person in the Hundred Battle Group, the Japanese will not even think about taking advantage of us."
Step over on the battlefield!"
This is not because Li Changfu is greedy for merit, nor is it because he thought he could block the attack of an elite Japanese division by himself, but the Eighth Route Army commanders often associate positions with sacrificed soldiers... Damn it, in order to defend this
Our troops lost more than 800 casualties at the position and just gave up. Wasn’t the blood of our comrades shed in vain?
No! You must stick to whatever you say! Otherwise, how can you be worthy of the sacrificed comrades?!
In fact, it is common for strategic retreat to abandon one or two positions on the battlefield, but many Eighth Route Army commanders will use perceptual thinking to think about this issue.
The chief didn't have so many ideas. He only replied with four words: "Obey the order!"
So Li Changfu was at his wits end. He took off his hat, sighed heavily, and ordered: "Everyone is here, retreat!"
The Hundred Battle Group retreated in an orderly manner, covering in batches and retreating while laying mines, so that even if the Japanese had the firepower of the "Type 1" tanks and several times the number of troops, they would not dare to pursue easily... Another point was that the Eighth Route Army deployed
Many of the mines are bullet mines, jumping mines, and even self-destructing directional mines.
The so-called "self-exploding directional mine" means that there is no need to manually detonate it, but a trip wire is set up. Once the enemy touches this wire, it will detonate, and then shoot out a large steel ball at close range, almost advancing the search.
The Japanese were beaten into a sieve and fell to the ground screaming in agony.
And injuries like this are usually extremely troublesome and painful... Although it is a skin injury that is not fatal in a short time, there are dozens or hundreds of steel balls embedded in the body and it is difficult to find. Just the surgery does not know how long it will take. In addition, there are
You need to take medicine, recuperate, etc. Even if you don't die from the infection, you may not be able to fight after recovering from the injury, because you may be blinded, or there may still be steel balls left in your body.
Therefore, this directional mine is something that consumes a lot of Japanese resources, so much so that when the Japanese medical soldiers see such an injured soldier, they will choose to give up treatment as soon as possible. At most, they will carry him to the rear and let him die.
Because of the power of the Eighth Route Army's mines, the Japanese could only advance while clearing mines.
At this time, the Japanese used minesweeper trucks.
It was a rolling-type minesweeper modified from a tractor. Hollow iron rollers slightly higher than the body were installed on the front of the vehicle.
As the tractor's motor roared, the roller slowly rolled forward, pressing the mines on the position as it rolled, making a crisp "ping-ping-ping-ping" sound, just like setting off firecrackers.
But these are not the point.
The key point is that after the 21st Division tore a hole in the defense line, a special Japanese force quickly passed the 21st Division from the rear and followed the minesweeper onto the road.
This force was a mechanized force temporarily formed by Shinta Kono. It was called the "Endo Task Force" by Shinta Kono.
It was called the "Endo Task Force" because its captain was Shino Endo who had just been transferred from Tokyo.
Shino Endo was a major. He had no other specialties except that he had two years of study experience with Hans. Therefore, Shinta Kono took notice of him and transferred him from a long distance to command the mechanized troops.
Endo Shino was a little shocked.
This is because turtles like him who have learned from Hans and returned are not very popular. The reason is that Hans' tactics may conflict with the spiritual philosophy of the imperial army.
He originally thought he would just train new recruits in the military academy and do research, but he never expected that he would be transferred to the front line to command troops in combat, especially mechanized troops used to penetrate the enemy's hinterland!
This made Endo Shino overjoyed, thinking that his chance had come... As long as he won this battle, getting promoted and making a fortune in the future would no longer be a dream.
The reason why Shinta Kono chose Shino Endo, an instructor who has taught in domestic military academies for a long time, is very simple. It was precisely because Shino Endo did not have much practical experience.
Because Kono Shinta believes that as an imperial officer, if he fights on the Chinese battlefield for a few years, he will inevitably be solidified by the rigid model of the entire army. At this time, it is very difficult to get back this habit.
difficulty.
But Shino Endo is not like that. He studied tactical theory from Hans and was baptized by advanced tactical ideas. At the same time, he has never been on the battlefield and was influenced by the tactics of the imperial army... Kono Shinta believes that there will never be a better one.
He found Endo a more suitable commander, so he boldly entrusted him with the important task.
Shino Endo did not disappoint Shinta Kono. He rushed to Taiyuan and organized an exercise. Although it was not completely satisfactory to Shinta Kono, it already looked like a "blitzkrieg".
At this time, Endo Shino led two brigades with about 2,000 troops. They were almost all sidecar motorcycles (three-wheeled sidecars) and Type 95 light combat vehicles. In addition, each brigades added more than ten vehicles fully loaded with ammunition.
The cars, under the cover of the 21st Division, drove along the highway toward the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army.
Cars loaded with ammunition are ready to be abandoned at any time.
Endo Shino's plan was to use the ammunition from these dozen cars as a final replenishment when the troops were blocked from crossing the highway and had to take a cross-country detour.
However, Kono Shinta's focus at this time was not on Endo Shino's mechanized troops, but on the air.
From the beginning of this battle, Shinta Kono has been trying to force out the Eighth Route Army's air force.
Because this is a serious problem for the mechanized troops... Although the mechanized troops advance quickly, they are sidecar motorcycles with no defense. Even the 95 light combat can hardly block the volleys of enemy fighter jets.
Therefore, Kono Shinta hopes to deal with the Eighth Route Army's aviation force first, so that the mechanized troops can march in with confidence.
However, the Eighth Route Army Air Force could not escape.
This made the imperial army embarrassed:
Mechanized troops are indeed interspersed, but mechanized troops need aviation cover at any time, and it must be "zero combat"... Other aircraft types are simply no match for the Eighth Route Army's "Hawker 81", especially after it is equipped with the x1.
However, the Imperial Army's "Zero War" only has forty-eight available at this time.
If the cover is divided into two batches, only twenty-four can be arranged in each batch... This makes Shinta Kono feel unsure.