The 3,000 men of the 4th Division actually did not lose the prestige of Japan's permanent divisions in the first ten minutes of the battle.
For the officers and soldiers of the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the Si Xing Regiment who fought hard with the 21st Division and the 108th Division, the combat effectiveness of this Japanese army that they successfully suppressed on both sides of the road was much stronger than what they had encountered before.
past opponents.
The infantry's failure to seize the commanding heights did not affect its sharp counterattack with heavy firepower!
The infantry artillery, mortars and even the Type 41 mountain artillery set up in a hurry by the Japanese army entered the battle one after another three minutes after the battle began.
The infantry artillery is a direct-aiming artillery, and it is self-evident that it can strike targets at close range. At least three fire points on the hillside were shrouded in smoke and had to stop firing and move their positions.
Due to the problem of shooting range, the mountain artillery actually cannot cause effective damage within a distance of 500 meters to 800 meters. However, this group of Japanese soldiers actually chose to flatten the muzzle of the gun and use it as a direct-aimed gun. Seven or eight consecutive clouds of gunpowder smoke were just in the distance.
The hillside not far from the mountain path rose up, accompanied by the figures of infantrymen who were blown away.
The 5-kilogram blooming grenade posed an extremely fatal threat to the officers and soldiers of the Fourth Row Regiment without trenches and bunkers.
The four 90-caliber mortars were set up in a mountain col, and they kept shelling the hillside. Clouds of gunpowder smoke exploded in the area where the four rows of infantry were crawling.
If you look at it from the air, in the first few minutes of the war, the fields on both sides of the road belonging to the Japanese army and the hillsides belonging to the Chinese side were constantly rising with gunpowder smoke, and it was impossible to tell which side had the advantage.
The Four Lines Regiment had fought many ambushes against the Japanese, such as Guangde's Guoqi detachment in fishing for gold, and an infantry regiment of the 14th Bihegan Division. Basically, the Japanese troops were surrounded and rubbed from the beginning.
Never before had the Japanese troops in this kind of encirclement fought them back and forth, especially since the equipment of the Si Xing Regiment was no longer what it used to be.
"Order the 60 soldiers in each infantry squad to postpone the attack on the Japanese infantry and provide me with firepower to kill the Japanese artillery. Tell the two artillery company commanders that if they cannot knock out half of the Japanese artillery group in five minutes, the artillery company commanders will also
There’s no need to do anything anymore, just let me go to the artillery squad to carry the shells.” Leng Feng, who rarely had strong emotions, was furious for the first time.
"You're so good, I can't be the company commander, and you bastards can't even think of continuing to be the platoon commander. I'm the squad leader, and you're going to move the shells with me." Qin Ruoyu, who was originally full of bookishness, received a message from the signal corps.
After Leng Feng's words, he also became anxious and cursed Liang with all the vulgarities.
This improper official position is secondary, the important thing is that he cannot disgrace the Fourth Battalion, let alone Tang Dao.
Who in the entire Si Xing Regiment didn’t know that Shangguan Yun and he were Tang Dao’s old comrades-in-arms in the Battle of Si Xing Warehouse. Tang Dao did not hesitate to take huge risks and go to Songhu, thousands of miles away, just to bring these old comrades together.
After being rescued, a fourth battalion was even established specifically for their old comrades.
After the battle, he was nominated by another old comrade to be removed from office. Who can accept this?
Although anger cannot help improve the accuracy of artillery, it can definitely improve the efficiency of artillery company officers and soldiers.
The 60 gunners at the forefront were the first to find the Japanese artillery. More than 20 small artillery pieces abandoned the light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers of the Japanese infantry, and blasted at the Japanese artillery who were working hard to fire.
Smoke of gunpowder instantly enveloped the Japanese artillery positions that were completely out in the field, which also pointed the way for the six 80mm howitzers from two artillery companies of the Fourth Army Regiment.
Of course, the heaviest blow to the Japanese artillery was the six 150-gun artillery units led by Pang Panghai himself.
During the security period, the six 150-pound guns were placed in an area 1,500 meters away from the battlefield. There were dense forests there to cover the artillery. This was because Leng Feng considered that if the battlefield was delayed for too long, the Japanese army would have a group of bombers coming to help.
If a wave of carpet bombing destroys the artillery battalion, even if the battle is won, it is actually lost.
The dense forest protected six large weapons, which also made them lose their sharpest response to the battlefield. At least they did not retaliate against the Japanese army's almost crazy artillery group in the shortest time.
Leng Feng gave Pang Panghai some face by scolding the two captain-level artillery company commanders, but Deputy Battalion Commander Pang's fat face was a bit unbearable.
You know, since joining Tang Dao, Pang Panghai has basically received recognition, and Pang Panghai himself has never slacked off. The mountain artillery unit he leads can be regarded as one of the hardest-working teams in the entire Four Elements Regiment.
It's not just the hardships in training. Tang Dao once said that when there were no planes and tanks, the artillery was the most cutting-edge technical arm of the Four Lines Regiment besides the arsenal.
But 90% of the guys in the artillery battalion were transferred from the infantry bosses. It was difficult to even write their own names, let alone be linked to any technical arms.
Therefore, the Artillery Night School was established on Pang Panghai's proposal when the Sixth Regiment was still marching to the Taihang Mountains.
As long as it is not wartime, the Artillery Night School provides two hours of various cultural classes every night.
In addition to a few officers who came from regular artillery schools, there are also many talented people from Jinling University majoring in physics, mechanics, etc. who serve as instructors. Even the handsome old man from Tantai served as instructors at the suggestion of Tang Tuanzuo.
Lectures on art courses.
What kind of experience is it for a bunch of rough guys to listen to the top calligraphy and painting masters in China of this era talking about art as if they were listening to a book from heaven?
Not to mention the ordinary artillery sergeants, even the two mountain artillery and anti-aircraft artillery battalion commanders Pang Panghai and Cheng Tieshou were all drowsy after listening to it, let alone the pain.
But they all persisted. This artillery night school has only been open for a year. Not only have countless artillery sergeants learned all the basic knowledge of artillery, but many of them have been able to write a complete letter of 400 words to their relatives in their hometown.
There are even letters home, and some people can even write a lyric poem between the battlefields.
'The sound of a cannon shook the ground, and the soldier woke up from his sleep. Just when he was about to shout at the young recruit, he ran away with bare feet!'
Really, as soon as this poem came out, Deputy Battalion Commander Pang's hard work this year has borne fruit, and it has been completely confirmed that the artillery is the top technical branch of the Fourth Army Regiment.
Even those gangsters in the infantry would never dream of writing a seven-character quatrain that reflects the reality of the battlefield!
Deputy Battalion Commander Pang, still looking shy, ran to Company Commander Tantai Mingyue and asked her to publish this little poem reflecting the panic and bravery of the artillery battalion recruits in the newly established "Taihang Briefing".
That was a newspaper for all the troops garrisoned in the Taihang Mountains, and it was read by a hundred thousand people! Because of this poem, the Sixings Tuanshan Artillery Battery would completely become the literate benchmark unit for all the troops in the Taihang Mountains.
Don't tell me, although Company Commander Tantai was laughing so hard, he still recommended it to the Taihang Briefing Editorial Department for publication of the original text, and it also received high praise from the Eightyth Army Headquarters, believing that the soldiers were fighting.
He did not stop studying during the break, accumulating knowledge for the future construction of China and serving as a role model for the entire army.
Do you think the officers and soldiers of Pang Pang Hai and the artillery battalion can tolerate such cowardice? To a certain extent, they are more eager than the artillery companies of the two more forward battalions.
Fortunately, the 60th and two battalion artillery batteries pointed out the direction and coordinates to them with artillery fire. Six Bofors Mountain Cannons and six 150th heavy guns covered these areas with full firepower.
The Bofors Mountain Cannon is just that, its power is actually about the same as the Type 41 Mountain Cannon equipped by the Japanese army. If it hits the sky, it will destroy most of the people and objects in the basketball court area, but the 150-pound force is at 3000 meters.
The range is comparable to that of a 155mm howitzer.
The Japanese artillerymen, let alone hurriedly setting up a formation with a straight line distance of 30 meters from one gun, even 100 meters, would probably be destroyed under the bombardment of nearly 20 kilograms of projectiles.
The 150 heavy mortar, which fired more than 30 rounds of artillery shells in a row, once again proved with its results that in mountain warfare, mortars are the king of artillery.
In less than five minutes, the artillery and artillery of the 4th Division withstood a rain of 400 rounds of 60-meter mortar shells, 180 rounds of explosive grenades, and 40 rounds of 150-meter mortar shells on an unprotected field battlefield.
Being covered by such firepower, it was not that he was maimed, but that he died on the spot.
Several artillery pieces were only overturned by huge air waves and could still be used as long as they were righted. However, nearly 95% of the artillerymen were killed by shrapnel and air waves.
The cannons are still there, but the people are gone, so you decide whether it's miserable or not.
"The 1st and 2nd Infantry Squadrons stayed to block the enemy, while the rest of the units looked for opportunities to withdraw from the battlefield!" Seeing this, a Japanese Army Major sensibly issued a retreat order.
If this military order was transmitted to all Japanese troops quickly and efficiently, Leng Feng's troops might still be able to severely damage the Japanese army at this time, but they would not be able to annihilate them all before they could completely tie up their pockets.
Amaterasu once again abandoned his followers. A 60-meter bomb flew over and exploded less than 2 meters away from the Japanese major.
The flying shrapnel pierced the Japanese major and the six Japanese soldiers surrounding him. When the other Japanese major had no choice but to issue the withdrawal order, it was much later than the dead interim supreme commander of the 3,000-man Japanese army.
5 minutes.
But in these five minutes, an infantry platoon carrying two 7mm heavy machine guns seized a high ground 600 meters away from the Japanese rear team, firmly blocking the Japanese army's retreat route through the road.
The two 7mm heavy machine guns were simply not something that the human body could contend with. One bullet hit the body, causing a wound the size of a bowl visible to the naked eye. Such a level of flesh and blood shattered the Japanese army's last confidence in their attempt to attack this highland.
After sending a broken message to the detachment headquarters, the Japanese major issued a military order to disperse and break out.
From this moment on, the Japanese infantry squadrons began to lose unified command and fought independently.
After only holding on for 20 minutes, the 4th Division, which had more than 2,600 troops and was comparable to an infantry regiment, collapsed. Compared with the strong combat effectiveness shown in the early stage, it was extremely typical of an anticlimax.
But this does not mean that the battlefield is coming to an end. After 20 minutes of brutal attacks, the Japanese army still has nearly 1,500 people. Those are veterans who have undergone two years of training, not 1,500 pigs.
An unknown number of Japanese troops tried to hide in the mountains and forests. The 1,600-meter-wide ambush battlefield was filled with gunshots and turned into a mess.
Leng Feng immediately ordered an infantry squad to pursue the Japanese troops who had fled into the mountains.
This is also what a bombing formation composed of six Japanese bombers saw in the air an hour later.
Teams of blues were running in the mountains, chasing and encircling the khakis scattered in the mountains. They wanted to pull the handbrake and drop the heavy aerial bombs hanging under the belly of the aircraft. The difference in number was not too big.
The blue and yellow turned to dust together.
But obviously, no one dares to do this. Even if the war situation is obviously unfavorable to one's own side, no one dares to turn his colleagues and the enemy into dust, which will inevitably lead to a military court.
Although the Japanese have never lacked crazy courage, this will never produce a moment when the entire country has an absolute advantage.
Especially when their commander was named Sasaki, this Japanese bomber formation circled helplessly at an altitude of 1,200 meters for several times. After all, they could not find a good bombing area and had no choice but to rush towards Ruicheng, 8 miles away.
battlefield.
Ruicheng is still in the hands of the imperial army, and the Chinese are still in the wilderness outside the city, so the Japanese bomber formation can fully display its capabilities.
However, the two battlefields were not far away. The huge roar of the Japanese planes had already reached the Independent 46th Brigade, and concealment of the entire army had long been inevitable.
Although they did not help their colleagues who were being surrounded and chased, these six Japanese planes at least gave the more than 600 Japanese troops still alive in Ruicheng County a breather, which can be considered an achievement.
But for the Japanese planes who are used to being arrogant in the sky, how can they bear it if they can't bomb the battlefield here and can't find the target at high altitude on the battlefield there?
Especially since the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the young men of the Japanese North China Aviation Regiment, who have regained supplies of 120 fighter planes and more than 200 pilots, have never encountered decent resistance. The sky above the vast battlefield of nearly 200 miles is like the Imperial Army Air Forces
The pastures allow them to fly freely.
Not to mention those Japanese Army Air Force pilots who had just arrived on the battlefield, players like Sasaki who had been ravaged time and time again by the terrifying ground firepower of the Four Elements were somewhat forgetful of the danger.
Therefore, under the repeated requests of the good guys, Captain Sasaki made an extremely wrong decision. Four 96 land attack aircraft dropped from an altitude of 1,500 meters to about 800 meters to search for the Chinese.
Sure enough, the lowered altitude allowed them to see several Chinese positions. Four heavy bombs were thrown near the target by the "hungry" Japanese pilots, causing four thick plumes of gunpowder smoke to rise.
"Lieutenant Sasaki, I request you to lower your altitude and shoot at the Chinese. They must pay with their lives for their stupidity." A Japanese second lieutenant looked at the dark blue figure running in the smoke below with ferocious eyes.
"Second Lieutenant Fukai, we are here to carry out the mission of bombing the enemy infantry. Please don't forget your duty." Sasaki instinctively wanted to persuade this second lieutenant with a profound background.
"Captain Sasaki, I remember the Legion Commander said in front of all of us that the eagles of the Imperial Army Aviation not only have the speed of eagles, but also the will of an eagle to soar into the sky. The infantry of the Empire struggled under the Chinese artillery fire.
, as the most proud eagle of the empire, if he just dropped the bomb and left like a walk, I think it would be worse than a group of sparrows!" The tone of the Japanese second lieutenant's answer to his immediate superior was full of arrogance.
As a leader among the younger generation of Army aviation pilots, it may not be enough for this second lieutenant pilot to have such confidence to have such a conversation with his superior, but his uncle is a colonel, so this amount should be enough.
"Okay! Lieutenant Fukai, you have convinced me. I wish you good luck. I will sweep the formation for you at high altitude." Sasaki looked helpless, but he finally agreed to the proposal of his arrogant second lieutenant pilot.
There is only one Four Elements Group in North China, so there shouldn’t be another one popping up!
Sasaki's idea is correct. The success of the Four Elements Regiment is almost impossible to replicate. At least there is no regiment-level unit on the Chinese battlefield that can achieve this.
The Independent 46th Brigade with 12 heavy machine guns is also impossible. Even if the civilian Type 24 heavy machine gun without an anti-aircraft machine gun mount temporarily raises the muzzle, the violent vibration of the gun body will prevent it from forming a stable ballistic trajectory, and it will almost hit the general.
The four Japanese fighter planes that dropped to an altitude of 500 meters did not pose much of a threat.
But the 46th Brigade also has four 25mm twin-mounted cannons, which are widely equipped on Japanese gunboats, destroyers, battleships, and even aircraft carriers. Their main function is for air defense.
Brigadier Kong Da’s original idea was to let him drop the bombs when Japanese planes dropped them at high altitudes. They were allowed to fly in the sky, and ‘bumpkins’ like them, who simply ran on the ground on two legs, could only endure beatings.
As a result, the Japanese planes went even further. After dropping more than a dozen bombs, at least the 46th Independent Brigade suffered nearly a hundred casualties. Four Japanese planes even pounced down from high altitudes, as if they were sure to defeat you. How could that be possible?
Tolerate?
"I'm going to wipe Tenonai's. The little devil is forcing me to go to Liangshan. Okay, I don't plan to go back alive this time. Today I will see if the little devil's machine cannon is good at hitting my own plane." In the woods.
Brigadier Kong Da, who saw the Japanese plane lowering its nose and rushing down like crazy, also became angry and threw his helmet to the ground.
"Tell Lao Wang that if he shoots down a stupid plane today, the marriage he mentioned last time between his precious daughter and my eldest nephew will be settled."
Lao Wang is the commander of the heavy machine gun company directly under the headquarters of the 46th Independent Brigade. Four machine guns were seized this time. The commander of the heavy machine gun company, who had grown up naked with Brigadier Xiao and Kong Da, immediately replaced the cannons with four heavy machine guns.
An infantry regiment, the heavy machine gun company was directly transformed into a machine gun company.
Lao Wang is indeed synonymous with the future of "stealing people", and his patience exceeds everyone's imagination.
Four Japanese fighter planes had fired back and forth twice on the battlefield. The crazy whips had stained the blood of at least fifty or sixty soldiers of the 46th Independent Brigade.
Brigadier Kong Da wished that Japanese pilots in the sky could hear his curse words, but he remained unmoved and waited until the Japanese plane returned again. The altitude unknowingly dropped to less than 350 meters, and the four aircraft were hidden in the woods.
The 25mm twin-mounted machine guns in the machine opened fire together.
Although the shooters of the heavy machine gun company gained experience in machine gun shooting by attacking the city wall of Ruicheng, their shooting accuracy was not comparable to that of the veteran shooters of the Four Lines Regiment, but they were unable to withstand the Japanese aircraft because they flew too low, and
They still gathered fire together and had a fight.
"Long live the Imperial Army Aviation, kill!" The young Japanese Army Aviation second lieutenant looked excited at this time, shouting slogans while pulling the trigger of the machine gun.
The next moment, the sound stopped suddenly.
What appeared before the eyes of this Japanese Army Aviation lieutenant was blood-red!
A 25mm artillery shell exploded in front of his windshield, and the solid windshield instantly exploded into pieces. The face and chest of the Japanese Army Aviation Second Lieutenant, who had been extremely excited just now, were covered with small dagger-like daggers.
The shards of glass resembled the sudden opening of the spines of a frightened hedgehog.
The second lieutenant of the Japanese Army Aviation instinctively threw away the rudder and touched his face covered with glass. The severe pain that instantly spread to the brain nerves made him cry out in heart-rending pain.
That was also the last time Japanese pilots heard the voice of Second Lieutenant Sora Fukai.
After losing control of the pilot, the fighter plane with thick smoke coming out of its tail quickly turned its nose downwards. As Sasaki watched in shock, it hit the ground and exploded into a ball of fire. The whole process took no more than 3 seconds.
The other three Japanese planes were like frightened birds, their noses quickly pulled up.
The expression on the dark face of Lao Wang, who likes to 'steal' people the most, has become distorted and ferocious at this moment. He has stolen everything, why don't he just 'steal' all at once?
