Chapter 141 The Moon Army takes the initiative in combat

The First and Fifth Squadrons sent by the Yue Army to monitor Yangpo Village and Xihui Village were attacked by the superior forces of the Jinsui Army.

Each squadron faced attacks from two infantry companies and one machine gun company, and their casualties continued to increase.

At this time, the strength of the two squadrons had dropped sharply from the full strength of about 400 to 300, and their casualties were constantly increasing.

The two 90MM mortars occupying the high ground launched bombardments one after another, and the Moon Army's light machine guns and grenade launchers were exposed by mistake.

The Jin-made heavy machine guns continued to fire accurately, and the dense bullets continuously suppressed the firepower of the Japanese position.

The grenade launchers of each company will seize the opportunity and directly launch grenades to cover the troops' charge.

Four infantry companies, in squad and platoon units, quickly approached the Moon Army's position.

When they were less than 200 meters away from the Lunar Army's position, light machine guns from each squad started suppressing fire.

At the same time, groups of rifles alternately provided cover and quickly advanced toward the position.

The squad leader of each squad held a Jin-made submachine gun and directed the light machine gun to fire.

When encountering fierce firepower from the Lunar Army, the squad leaders' Jin-made submachine guns would immediately fire to suppress the Lunar Army's firepower.

The casualties of the two squadrons continued to increase, and their positions were in danger and could be breached at any time.

Even though the two captains of the squadron continued to direct the little Japanese to defend, they were still unable to intercept the charging Jinsui Army troops.

The 500-month puppet troops in Suohe Town immediately assembled, but because they did not receive the order, they did not take action for the time being.

In the detachment headquarters of the Sato detachment of the Lunar Army in the rear, Lieutenant Colonel Sato received the report immediately.

He quickly picked up the pencil and quickly marked on the battle map.

After all, whether Sato is a staff officer or not, this is hardly what he could have done.

After the marking was completed, Sato Nakasa showed a playful smile on his face as he looked at the map of the battle.

"The 48th Independent Brigade has indeed won several battles in succession and achieved certain results."

"Now they are obviously dazzled by the victory. They stick to the high ground and hold on tenaciously. They can definitely block their attack."

"Even if they rely on high ground, it is likely to cause heavy damage to their attacking troops, so they give up the high ground and take the initiative to attack."

"That is simply a bad move. They are so arrogant that they forget the huge gap between the Jinsui Army and them!"

"Order, the Sixth Independent Infantry Brigade and the Seventh Independent Infantry Brigade to attack quickly to assist their eastern troops in defensive operations."

"Order, the troops outside Suohe Town launch defense on the spot, wait for the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army to retreat and attack decisively to cut off their retreat to the highlands."

"Order, the field artillery brigade is ready for artillery bombardment, ask for artillery support from the high ground on the wrong side, and immediately carry out suppressive bombardment."

With a confident expression on his face, Lieutenant Colonel Sato quickly issued the combat order.

The 1st Squadron and the 5th Squadron belong to the 6th and 7th Independent Infantry Brigade respectively.

Now Lieutenant Colonel Sato arranges for the two brigades to rush over quickly for reinforcements, so that the Moon Army can have the advantage in strength and weapons.

Just ask these two brigades to advance to the front line and fight on the ground with the Shanxi-Sui Army troops. Will the Yue Army have an absolute advantage?

Even Lieutenant Colonel Sato firmly believed that those two brigades were fully capable of defeating the attacking Jinsui Army troops.

Of course, he also knew that the artillery of the Jinsui Army had strong combat capability, so he did not immediately arrange for the field artillery brigade to fire.

Although the Yue Army's field artillery brigade also set up sheltering positions, the artillery of the Shanxi-Sui Army occupied the commanding heights.

He was worried that the field artillery brigade would expose its position in advance and be suppressed, so he asked to wait until the artillery of the Jinsui Army on the high ground was exposed, and then launch artillery fire to suppress it.

After receiving the order from Lieutenant Colonel Sato, the messenger quickly began to convey it.

The main forces of the two brigades at the starting position quickly began to attack without any hesitation.

It is worth mentioning that the independent infantry brigade in the east of the independent mixed brigade of the Lunar Army has three infantry squadrons and a weakened machine gun squadron.

But when the First Army formed Sato's detachment, he knew that the three independent infantry brigades lacked field capabilities.

Therefore, the commander of the army, Yoshio Shinozuka, personally sent the combat order to the East and supplemented them so that they could have the strength of a field brigade.

The Sato detachment currently has three independent infantry brigades in the east, all of which are organized into field brigades. They have four infantry squadrons, a machine gun squadron, and an artillery squad.

In terms of heavy weapons, each brigade has twelve heavy machine guns and two infantry cannons.

A normal independent infantry brigade has four to six heavy machine guns instead of artillery.

Lieutenant Colonel Sato arranged for two brigades to attack, and he was confident that he would annihilate the attacking Shanxi-Sui Army troops.

As for his confidence, does it come from those heavy weapons?

And in the rear, there are twelve field guns that can support at any time, and he has a leg that controls the main force of a brigade that can attack at any time.

The Moon Army quickly launched into action, and the infantry artillery of the two eastern brigade had already begun shelling.

Grenades were fired at the Jinsui Army troops one after another. With the sound of explosions, the charging Jinsui Army troops were affected to a certain extent.

At this moment, the overall deployment of the Moon Army is very good. Lieutenant Colonel Sato, who is a staff officer, has no loopholes in the arrangements.

The two brigades faced four infantry companies and two machine gun companies. The Yue army had a perfect advantage in terms of both its troops and weapons and equipment.

What's more, in Suohe Town, they have five hundred puppet troops who can attack at any time, posing a fatal threat to the attacking Jinsui Army.

The main force of the 6th and 7th Independent Infantry Brigades attacked and quickly joined forces with their eastern counterparts.

Two artillery squads and four infantry guns fired one after another.

Can the Type 92 Infantry Artillery of the Lunar Army be a support artillery with good performance?

That infantry gun is very light and can be pushed around by just two soldiers.

When the gun mantlet is disassembled, its height is about fifty centimeters, making it highly concealable.

The most highly sought-after infantry gun can be used for both curved and horizontal fire, and can be used in multi-faceted combat.

With the continuous shelling of the four infantry guns, the positions of the 1st Squadron and the 5th Squadron were supported.

The attack troops dispatched by the 5th and 6th Independent Infantry Battalions were greatly suppressed and were temporarily unable to continue their breakthrough.

Especially after the Lunar Army's machine gun squadron quickly built a machine gun position and launched covering fire.

Two machine gun squadrons, with a total of twenty-four heavy machine guns firing.

Such intensive firepower almost made the Jinsui Army troops unable to move.

The Moon Army infantry advanced rapidly towards the front, and the two major captains did not follow the command.

As if in an instant, the Moon Army directly took the initiative in combat.

Wu Ziqiang, who personally commanded the eastern troops under his command, and Shi Yujian discovered that a large number of Moon troops were rushing to help.

The two men contacted Chen Ziyun by chance to report, hoping to receive support from the artillery unit.

At the same time, the main force of the Yuan army attacked, and the two battalion commanders did not understand the situation of their own troops.

With superior strength and weapons, the Shanxi-Sui Army troops can easily carry out offensive operations.

If the Jinsui army is at a disadvantage in terms of strength and weapons, it is impossible for the Jinsui army to launch an offensive operation. If you can forcefully continue the attack, the army will be defeated.

"The little devils reacted too quickly, and they immediately grasped their weakness. They immediately contacted Commander Chen and asked for artillery support."

"In addition, they have more than 400 troops, but now the Moon Army has dispatched a large group of more than 1,000 people to fight."

"Please tell me if you can continue to fight eastward. I'm afraid their small number of troops will be severely damaged. Contact Commander Chen and ask if you want to withdraw quickly."

Wu Ziqiang showed a worried expression on his face, and he quickly arranged for the signal corps to contact Chen Ziyun.

"The Sixth Battalion of the Independent Infantry has a certain number of new recruits. I hope we can have a smooth battle."

"But now that the Moon Army has completely taken control of the combat initiative and continues to attack eastward, the army may be defeated."

"Contact Commander Chen, request artillery fire, and cover the rapid withdrawal of the attacking troops."

Shi Yujian frowned and said nervously.

The 48th Independent Brigade has three infantry battalions east of the 358th Regiment that have strong combat effectiveness.

Those three infantry battalions are all elite soldiers and generals carefully selected by Chu Yunfei. Most of the officers and soldiers have been the main force of several battles and have rich combat experience.

As an infantry commander, Qian Bojun was responsible for unifying three independent infantry battalions under the command of Li Yanli. His overall combat capabilities were poor and he had a certain number of new recruits.

Wu Ziqiang and Shi Yujian are also old brothers who have followed Chu Yunfei for many years, but in terms of commanding ability, they obviously cannot compare with Qian Bojun.

Otherwise, Chu Yunfei would not have let Qian Bojun command a battalion of two thousand troops.

When the two battalion commanders discovered that the main force of the Lunar Army was attacking, they inevitably became a little confused.

Chen Ziyun, who returned to the headquarters, was not too surprised after receiving the report.

The overall strength of the Moon Army's force of more than 4,000 people is not weak to begin with. If they were to be soft, they would not be able to take over so many towns.

That time when Chen Ziyun commanded the troops to attack, Qian Bojun most likely leaked the information in advance.

After the little devil gets the information, he will definitely ask for the dispatch of capable officers to take command.

First, the Fifth Squadron is about to be annihilated. Is it normal for the Moon Army officer in charge to react like this?

"The 1st Company of the 5th Independent Infantry Battalion advanced to Yangpo Village to garrison."
To be continued...