Chapter 1345 The spring breeze also penetrates the bones
The combat effectiveness of the First Division was not overwhelming. Seeing that its baggage station was being bombarded, the artillery regiment's 12 150-meter heavy guns were also set up. Under the guidance of the balloon observers rising from the rear, they launched a counterattack in the direction of Zishan.
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More than 40 kilograms of artillery shells bloomed into terrifying shell flowers on the top of Zishan Mountain, and the whole mountain seemed to be trembling!
However, this round of retaliatory artillery fire by the Japanese army caused almost zero damage to the personnel of the Fourth Army Regiment.
Firstly, because the distance between the two sides is more than 13 kilometers, even if the weather is clear and the visibility is good, the Japanese observers in the sky cannot accurately locate the artillery position of the Fourth Row Regiment hidden in the dense forest of the mountain col;
Secondly, after a year of careful construction, the Si Xing Regiment's defense line in the Zishan area is basically divided into two layers: ground trenches and underground tunnels.
This is Tang Dao's reference to the battlefield experience of the Battle of the Five Sacred Mountains in the past time and space.
In order to dig these tunnels, the young people in the Zishan area almost did not participate in farm work this year. Instead, they were paid 100 kilograms of grain per person per month. Under the leadership of the engineering company of the Sixing Regiment, they worked day and night in Zishan.
Dig.
Not counting the soldiers of the Four Elements Regiment, the number of young people in the Zishan area alone is as high as 30,000!
The excavated earth, in the words of Wang Gongyu, who was personally responsible for the logistics work, said: Just this excavated earth can be used to build the main peak of Zishan.
You must know that Zishan belongs to the remnants of Taihang, covering an area of more than 20 square kilometers. The main peak of Zishan is 4 meters high, making it the highest altitude point in Handan City.
And Tang Dao's headquarters is in the underground tunnel on Zi Peak, the main peak of Zi Mountain!
Although the Japanese 150-meter heavy artillery was powerful enough, it was still too weak for the underground tunnels that were nearly 15 meters underground.
At that time, Tang Dao was standing in a fortification on the Zifeng battlefield that was shrouded in dense forest, covered with a layer of green camouflage net, and nearly one meter thick in reinforced concrete, quietly looking into the distance with a telescope.
Zishan is very famous in the Handan area. During the Warring States Period, Zhao She, the general of the State of Zhao, made outstanding achievements in resisting the invasion of the Qin army. He was named Mafujun. After his death, he was buried in Zishan, so it was renamed Mafushan.
Standing on Zifeng, the highest peak of Zishan, you can overlook the mountains. On the north side of the mountain, the mountains are like "groups of snails"; on the south side of the mountain, the hills and hills stretch for dozens of miles.
Whenever the sun sets in the west, the sun shines on Zifeng, dyeing it golden yellow. From a distance, it seems to be wearing a golden helmet, overlooking the two Ming rivers in the northwest, south and north, with sparkling waves and golden colors.
The rivers gather at the foot of the mountain, then turn to flow north and east. This is the "Purple Peak Sunset" that was once one of the top ten landscapes in Handan.
This was not the first time that Tang Dao stood here overlooking the mountains. Although the beautiful scenery was always there, he still felt comfortable. He even took the initiative to ask Xia Dayu for a camera and took some photos for Tantai who could not come to Zishan.
Mingyue sent it back.
As long as I have you in my heart, even if you are thousands of miles away, you will still travel hand in hand with me. Although Tang Tuanzu may look like a straight man, he is actually a bit romantic in his heart.
Only this time, what stayed in his eyes was no longer the majesty of mountains and rivers, but the flames of war!
Duo Tianjun was desperate this time, and actually used one and a half divisions with nearly 40,000 people as the main attack, while the 10th division that had been defeated was only used as a follow-up.
The Jinan Division currently has nearly 30,000 main troops. Although it is not a guaranteed victory against a 10th Division, there is still no big problem in self-reporting, not to mention the two chiefs of the 921 Division who have arrived in Xingtai to personally lead it.
On the battlefield in southern Hebei, the only thing Tang Dao was concerned about was an infantry platoon trapped in Hanjiazhai, but it was too far away. The Four Lines Regiment, which had already shrunk its main force to deal with the main attack of the Japanese army, was beyond its reach. As strong as Tang Dao, it could only temporarily
Let go of your worries and focus all your attention on the main battlefield that is about to begin.
The crazy retaliatory fire from the Japanese 150 howitzers continued, and the nearest explosion point was less than 300 meters away from the fortification where Tang Dao was located!
The scorching air waves blew right in front of the rectangular observation port of the fortification, and the trunks of miscellaneous trees as thick as arms could not withstand the huge force and broke one after another!
A trace of worry flashed across the face of Lieutenant Colonel Shangguan Yun, the commander of the 4th Battalion who was accompanying him. He was not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. If a 150-mm howitzer shell really fell on the fortifications, Tang Tuanzuo, the highest commander of the Zishan Theater, would be reimbursed.
Well, this battle hasn't even started yet, and we've already lost 90% of it.
"The Type 96 150 howitzer used by the Japanese army is hailed by the Japanese Army as one of the most modern and most powerful artillery pieces, but in my opinion, it is just a short man trying to pull out a general." Tang Dao put down his telescope and glanced.
He turned back with a calm face.
"I asked Pang Pang Hai to expose part of his artillery strength from the beginning. The main purpose was not to frighten the Japanese, but to show our army that after having enough fortification protection, the Japanese could only scratch our itch with the little artillery fire they had.
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Tang Dao's words are not unreasonable to look down on the Japanese. Compared with the heavy firepower projected by American cowboys that Chinese soldiers faced in the Battle of the Icefields ten years later, the current heavy firepower of the Japanese army is like that of hillbillies from Somalia.
It's the same as Miss Laura's comparison of financial resources, it's completely two dimensions.
You know, in the Battle of the Five Sacred Mountains that lasted for 43 days in space and time, the American cowboys poured out 1.97 million artillery shells alone. The rate of falling bombs once reached six rounds per second. The intensity of the artillery fire was far more intense.
The intensity of firepower exceeded the highest level during World War II. Even the nearby soil was loosened to a depth of several meters, the top of the mountain was shaken down by dozens of centimeters, and there were dozens of bullet casings in any handful of soil.
Under such fierce artillery fire, it was impossible for anyone to survive. However, in order to cope with this absolute firepower suppression, the wise Chinese soldiers began to build extensive tunnel defenses under the leadership of Brigadier Cheng, then deputy commander.
, a total of more than 7,700 tunnels and fortifications were constructed on the front line and flank positions, as well as 3,420 kilometers of covered open-air trenches.
At that time, the 15th Army, which was responsible for the construction of tunnel fortifications in the Five Sacred Mountains, put forward the "seven defenses" requirements for its defense fortifications: air defense, artillery protection, poison protection, rain protection, moisture protection, fire protection, and cold protection. Strive to "break through"
Build the Great Wall at the heart of the mountain and dig out the heart of the mountain to make my home safe.”
In order to ensure that these tunnel defenses can meet combat requirements, the thickness of the top of all tunnels must be at least thirty meters, and even the protection thickness of the tunnel entrance must be at least 12 to 15 meters, and the width must be 1
Two meters, and there must be at least two entrances and exits.
Outside the tunnel, corresponding supporting trenches, traffic trenches, anti-tank trenches, firearms bunkers and other field fortifications are also available.
As for the Zishan area defense fortifications that Tang Dao personally designed and took the lead in constructing, although the thickness does not reach the 30-meter standard that can defend against ground-penetrating bombs, the length and breadth are still beyond.
Tang Dao even hollowed out a hill in the core area of Zishan as a base for ammunition, food, and field hospitals. In order to prevent the Japanese military from using aircraft and artillery to block the forward positions, the base has four exits, with a depth and width of 3
A 30-meter-long trench serves as a transportation trench to reach the forward position.
There are even temporary shelter holes designed in the communication trenches. Not to mention encountering Japanese artillery fire, even if Japanese aircraft find out and strafe or bomb these communication trenches, personnel and materials can temporarily escape.
This is also based on the experience that in the Battle of the Five Sacred Mountains, the logistics supply line was blocked by American cowboys with artillery fire, so that even an apple that could be sent to the front line would be a meritorious service.
Brigadier Cheng, who arrived in Zishan two months ago, once looked at the tunnels and trenches designed and constructed by Tang Dao, and once sighed: "Faced with such a position, if it were my 683rd brigade, I would most likely be
If you refuse to attack in violation of military orders, this is not fighting, it is making our entire brigade commit suicide. Perhaps only with most of the main force of our 921st Division gathered here, coupled with all the heavy firepower support of your Fourth Army Regiment, can I conquer this place.
Confidence in the position, but then, you must also be prepared to be beaten to half a disability!
It can only be said that the Qi Tang Sword was really created to defeat the Japanese, and I didn’t know that that unlucky division would run into a piece of iron like you."
"That's right! I'm stealing from my master, don't ask me for tuition fees!" Brigadier Cheng was joking with Tang Dao at that time with the various fortification drawings drawn by Tang Dao.
Tang Dao snickered in his heart. Most of his drawings were copied from the masterpieces of this man 12 years later. Little did he know that the ancestor who dug the tunnel had learned in advance from his disciple and grandson.
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It can only be said that even if the timeline was temporarily confused because of his little butterfly that traveled through time, God has used cause and effect to bring it back together again.
It's so magical!
"The Japanese artillery is nothing to worry about. The only thing I'm worried about is how many bombers the Japanese army will use this time. The Japanese Army Aviation, which has already suffered losses, will not take it lightly this time." Shangguan Yun also nodded, with a hint of cloud flashing on his face.
Air supremacy is currently considered the only shortcoming of the Four Lines Group!
Even though the Fourth Line Regiment Air Defense Battalion now possesses the most advanced 40mm anti-aircraft anti-aircraft guns on the Chinese battlefield, it can only be passive defense and lacks the ability to actively attack.
"Nothing is perfect in this world. If our fighter planes are stronger than the Japanese, I'm afraid the one or two Japanese army divisions that will deal with us will not be one or two Japanese army divisions, but the entire Japanese North China Front." Tang Dao shook his head and said.
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"What our four-pronged group has to do now is to kill more Japanese devils before the Japanese fully react. When they wake up completely that day and come to deal with us with all their strength, we and our friendly forces are no longer just that little tree.
They are not saplings, but big trees that can withstand violent storms.”
What Tang Dao was talking about was actually the changes in the Japanese perception of the Eightyth Army in time and space.
In the early days of the war, although the 80th Group Army fought hard against the Japanese troops in Pingxingguan and Southeast Shanxi, the casualties it caused to the Japanese troops were only around a thousand people, and its main method of combat was to shoot and change places, and to take advantage of the situation.
Guerrilla warfare of your own.
The Japanese army, which was accustomed to fighting in large groups, did not pay attention to the "Tuba" at all. It was not until the large-scale counterattack against the backdrop of anti-Japanese army raids and the fight against capitulationism began that the Japanese were shocked to realize that they looked down upon them.
Tuba actually had hundreds of thousands of troops, enough to fight them in a large-scale battle in North China.
As a result, the Japanese North China Front changed its westward advance strategy to annihilate the 80th Army first, but by this time it was already a bit late, and a single spark had already formed the potential to start a prairie fire.
In the following five years, the Japanese North China Front not only failed to complete its strategy, but by the end of the war, their biggest enemy even had a million-strong army. Even if Japan did not surrender, the Japanese North China Front would be unable to defeat it.
The Four Elements Group currently belongs to this stage, and Tang Dao knows that this may be the only chance left for the Four Elements Group.
After this battle, it was a foregone conclusion that Duo Tianjun, a guy with great ambitions but little talent, would leave office. Koji Okamura, who was about to take over, was not an easy guy to deal with. Once he adjusted his strategic focus in time, and with the beginning of the Pacific War, Western powers began to confront each other one after another.
Japan declared war and the concession fell. It was no longer possible for the Four Troops to obtain various supplies from Jincheng.
Hard times are coming for the Fourth Army Group and the Eightyth Army Group.
"Yes! The strength of our regiment is limited by the establishment. It is still a little too small. I don't know what the people in Shancheng think. You, regiment leader, have made such great achievements in battle, but you have been standing still for two years." Shangguan Yun couldn't bear it.
Zhu frowned.
The war has been going on for more than two years, and countless generals have been promoted because of their bravery.
Let alone talking about the distance, just speaking of good relations with Tang Dao, the two generals Guo and Wu were promoted to army lieutenant generals with the rank of general, and General Zhang of the 59th Army not only held the rank of general, but also became
Commander-in-Chief of the Right Wing Corps of the Fifth Theater and Commander-in-Chief of the 33rd Group Army. Even Commander Xie, who had just joined the Ninth Theater for a year, became the commander of the independent brigade directly under the Ninth Theater two years ago and was successfully promoted to major general.
Compared with them, Tang Dao's starting point was lower, but in terms of military prowess, it was unmatched. However, he was stuck at the critical moment of being a colonel in the army and could not make any progress. This made it difficult for him to stay in the army for many years.
Shangguan Yun is puzzled.
"Brother Shangguan, do you know why humans choose to use dogs as guards instead of raising ligers, tigers, jackals and leopards? Is it because their appetites are too big to be raised?" Tang Dao smiled slightly and asked Shangguan Yun.
"Of course not. Ligers, tigers, wolves, and leopards are wild and difficult to tame, and they may eat their masters!" Shangguan Yun replied casually.
As soon as he finished speaking, Shangguan Yun's face instantly turned ugly. He finally understood what Tang Dao meant.
The man in Shancheng was trying to prevent Tang Dao from becoming powerful, and the core of the reason for his precautions goes without saying clearly.
"Brother Shangguan, the Great Patriotic War will eventually be victorious, and the Japanese bandits will eventually be driven away by us. But after the war, who can lead our 400 million compatriots to restore the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties?
Do you think those bureaucracies in the mountain city who have become accustomed to sucking the blood of the common people to nourish themselves will become such people?" Tang Dao looked into the distance calmly.
Among the senior officials of the Four-Hand Regiment, Lei Xiong had already communicated with Tang Dao and basically agreed with Tang Dao's opinions. Needless to say, Ye Chenghuan, Gong Shaoxun, and Zhuang Shisan were all clear-cut. Only Tang Dao followed his lead. Only the one who had been promoted to the Chief of Staff of the Four-Hong Regiment
Shangguan Yun has not clearly expressed his thoughts and opinions to Tang Dao.
"But this is wartime after all, and it is a time for unity and openness to the outside world. Even if, sir, you are closer to the 80th Army, it is because of the common resistance against Japan. I think sir, you can talk to Guo, Zhang or Xue
"Sir, please ask the superiors to be accommodating." Shangguan Yun subconsciously avoided Tang Dao's questioning of the decaying high-rise building.
"Haha! It doesn't matter to me whether I get promoted or not. If they don't give it, why can't we do it on our own? We are not afraid of the Japanese, so why are we afraid of those villains who are just eating nothing?
We'll talk about the future later. Now we have to knock Saburo Okabe down first. Does he think he is great just because he is a division commander?" Tang Dao brought the topic back to the battlefield in front of him.
It doesn't matter if Shangguan Yun avoids sensitive topics. Tang Dao respects everyone's choice, and time can give people the most accurate answer!
"I think the Japanese army will first use aircraft and artillery to covertly attack our Zishan regional defense position before launching a ground attack. And the main direction of their attack will definitely be the northwest as a breakthrough point!" Shangguan Yun pointed his finger towards the visible to the naked eye.
Minghe, explained his reasons.
"Although there is danger of the Ming River there, it is less than 5 miles away from our main peak position. As long as Okabe Saburo is not blind, he will not sacrifice the near for the far and attack our Zishan position from the rolling hills in the south.
Moreover, the areas just bombarded by the Japanese army were mostly concentrated in the No. 4 and No. 5 Highland areas in the northwest!
Based on Danzao's analysis of the extremely frugal character of the Japanese nation, even if they launch a retaliatory bombardment, they must have the intention of not wasting a single shell. Even if they cannot hit our artillery positions, they will also destroy the area they are about to attack.
Surface positions are also good!”
"Haha! Brother Shangguan's analysis is very reasonable. Saburo Okabe must not know that his group of stupid artillerymen have exposed his main attack direction." Tang Dao smiled.
"Since the Japanese are willing to let us cross the river and attack, then we will allow them to do so and tell Leng Feng by telegram that the Japanese infantry want to build a bridge to cross the river, so let them build it. When they have crossed half of the people, we will use artillery shells to blow up the bridge again.
, I want the remaining half of him to either stare at me on the other side of the river, or fight with my bare buttocks in the spring breeze, it will be so cold."
Although it is already March, the cold wind in the north is not warm at all. Even if the sun is shining brightly, the temperature is only about seven or eight degrees. If you jump into the cold water river to take a bath and then be blown by the cold wind,
That's really not too cool.
"The Chinese are so despicable!"
Because all the wooden bridges crossing the river were destroyed by Chinese artillery fire, he was forced to take off his military trousers and cross the chest-deep Ming River. He huddled up in the spring breeze like a quail shivering in the cold wind.
Major Seiichi Yamashita, commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment of the Infantry Brigade, cursed the Four Lines Regiment from the depths of his soul.
Really, the low temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius in the three northeastern provinces has never made this army major with a dog-skin hat and woolen coat feel so cold.
But in Handan, where peach blossoms were gradually blooming, he received it.
But this Japanese Army Major apparently didn't realize that the cold of the body is not really cold. The flying flesh and blood caused by the fierce artillery fire is the bone-chilling cold that can solidify the soul.