This battlefield that broke out on the plain on the north bank of the Yellow River was recorded in the history of the Sino-Japanese War.
The Chinese record title for this battlefield is: The fastest Japanese infantry regiment to die in the Great Patriotic War!
It's not that they die quickly, but that their marching speed is truly top-notch.
It took an infantry regiment of more than 3,000 people and carrying all the equipment 15 kilometers from the base to the Bihe battlefield in only 2 hours. This did not include the 20 minutes of rest in the middle, which meant that they were completely moving at about an hour per hour.
Moving forward at a speed of 9 kilometers.
Such a marching speed would put the Fourth Line Regiment to shame. For 20 consecutive days, their average daily march distance was only 30 kilometers. However, the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 14th Division covered half of the distance in just two hours.
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What does elite mean? This is it.
Even Ishiguro Sadazou himself is proud of his subordinates.
There are not many troops who can run 15 kilometers in two hours, but there are really not many troops like his who can maintain an orderly formation.
All the good mood of the army commander riding on the tall horse was ruined the moment the first ray of sunlight shone on his face.
Finally, he no longer had to worry about the things he was worried about.
The reconnaissance team led by Captain Utsunomiya was discovered 3 kilometers away from the north bank of the Bi River.
However, the 94-person reconnaissance team was piled into a small pile.
He didn't even go to the scene to see it in person. Listening to the report of Captain Zuo of the 1st Infantry Battalion who was galloping forward, Ishiguro Sadazou had already imagined that scene in his mind.
More than ninety heads are piled up layer by layer, a view from ancient China!
That is also a sign that the opponent will not stop fighting.
Obviously, there is no need to ask why the entire reconnaissance team was wiped out. The Chinese should have discovered the traces of their own reconnaissance team on the other side of the Bi River and mobilized heavy troops to surround and kill them, which led to the current situation.
Why didn't Utsunomiya's reconnaissance team send a telegram to the wing headquarters until all members were in pieces? It's very likely that he didn't expect it to be so tragic at the beginning, and by the time he wanted to send a telegram, it might have been due to damage to the radio or the death of the signal corpsman.
Lost that ability.
As for why the Chinese did not hesitate to build Jingguan so far away from Bihe River, according to the Japanese Army Major Zuo's survey of the nearby terrain, fierce battles took place there, and the scorch caused by a large number of explosions can be seen everywhere.
It should be that the reconnaissance team tried hard to evacuate, but still failed. That was the farthest distance they could escape.
"Baga! Order the first and second brigades to continue to speed up and reach the bank of Bihe River. When the Chinese army is unprepared, cross the river immediately. If there are Chinese troops stationed there, quickly defeat them. The artillery squadrons of the regiment will attack them.
Carry out fire support, and please inform me, our unit does not need any prisoners!" Ishiguro Sadazou gave the military order with a livid face.
"In addition, order the 1st Infantry Brigade's Baggage Squadron to gather the remains of the Imperial Warriors and hold memorials after our troops have defeated the Four Troops and build a higher and larger Beijing with their heads!"
The two infantry brigades of the 2nd Infantry Regiment originally advanced at a trot, but after receiving military orders from the rear wing headquarters, they speeded up again.
Although the two infantry brigades suffered losses in the continuous battles, they still maintained a strength of 900 troops each. The queue of more than 1,800 troops, if viewed from the air, looked like a long khaki dragon, with thigh-deep legs.
On the wasteland of wild grass, it crawls forward.
The heavy leather shoes stepped on the only dirt road leading to the bank of the Bi River, and the footsteps were like thunder!
It completely shattered the still somewhat quiet dawn in the wilderness of the Central Plains!
Because of the military order issued by Ishiguro Sadzo at around seven o'clock in the morning.
The record title given to this battle in the history of Japanese army warfare is: One of the stupidest military orders in the history of army warfare!
Yes, in order to speed up the march, the two infantry brigades strode forward in a long snake formation on the only dirt road. They did not even send any scouts, even if they could not see the sides of the dirt road at a glance.
There was no proper search of the wild grassland.
Not only can we hide people there, but even a herd of bison is not easy to see, let alone in this kind of weather.
At seven o'clock in the morning, the sky was just getting bright. Coupled with the mist in the early morning in winter, the visibility was only 50 to 60 meters, which was by no means a good sight.
But the Japanese army ignored these and bravely rushed towards the quiet Bi River along the only dirt road.
To be honest, it’s not that the more than 3,000 Japanese troops from Ishiguro Sadazo below are all pigs, but that since North China, the 14th Division has fought consecutive battles and has hardly encountered any decent resistance. Even the First Army is fairly equipped.
The sophisticated Chinese army, whose strength far exceeded that of the 14th Division, was still defeated one after another.
It can be said that although the 14th Division did not achieve astonishing feats in conquering Jin Province like the 5th Division, they were better than the 5th Division in terms of battle losses and the speed of defeating the Chinese army's front lines.
I am the number one standing division of the Imperial Japanese Army. This idea has already spread among the 14th Division.
Don't say that they didn't expect to be ambushed by the Chinese army. Even if they were ambushed, they could still crush the Chinese attack. This was the confidence exuded from the top and bottom of the 14th Division.
This extreme self-confidence also led them to make mistakes in their judgment. Even if the Chinese army wanted to stop them, they could only rely on the natural dangers of the river to stop them, not in such an unobstructed plain area, which was very difficult for China, which lacked artillery.
As far as the army is concerned, it is completely self-destructive.
If it were another Chinese army, Ishiguro Sadazou's judgment would be correct. If the infantry is laid down on such an unobstructed plain, an infantry squad may be gone as soon as a shell comes down. As long as a Chinese commander with a little bit of brains can
, will not do this.
It's a pity that he met the Four Elements Group!
Its supreme commander Tang Dao, as Kenji Doihara said, his favorite tactic is surprise attack. What his opponents think is impossible is the best reason for him.
The Si Xing Regiment is not an ordinary Chinese army. This time, they transported two entire infantry regiments of equipment, not to mention dozens of heavy machine guns, more than a hundred light machine guns, and even a 150-caliber heavy mortar.
Each cannon has 6 guns.
That thing, except that its range is only 3,300 meters, is slightly closer, but its power is no less powerful than the 105 howitzer.
In addition, there are more than 20 82mm mortars, 7 infantry guns captured from the Japanese army, and 4 Type 41 75 mountain guns.
And what about the 2nd Infantry Regiment?
Each infantry brigade is only equipped with two infantry guns. The wing headquarters also has a squadron of 4 infantry guns, totaling 10 infantry guns. In addition, the rapid-fire artillery squadron directly under the wing headquarters is equipped with 6 37mm rapid-fire guns and mountain guns.
The squadron is equipped with four 75mm Type 41 mountain guns.
With a total of 20 artillery pieces, the 2nd Infantry Regiment's heavy firepower can exceed that of an infantry division against ordinary Chinese troops.
But in front of today's Four Lines Regiment, these 20 artillery pieces may only be beaten. This is one of the reasons why Tang Dao dared to use this unexpected tactic.
Of course, compared to the advantage of heavy firepower, the biggest reason why Tang Dao dared to make up his mind was probably the Czech semi-automatic rifle that had been installed in the entire regiment.
That was a secret that Tang Dao didn't reveal during the military parade in the town. Except for a few generals, no one knew that the entire Si Xing Regiment had installed semi-automatic rifles at the level of upper class soldiers.
Yes, except for the 500 recruits and student companies, all battalions and companies had been equipped with semi-automatic rifles during the confrontation with the 20th Division more than 20 days ago, and even the cooking soldiers were no exception.
The most conservative estimate is that the continuous firepower of individual soldiers that the Four Lines Regiment now bursts out in an instant is three times that of before. Not to mention far surpassing the Chinese army, even the Japanese army equipped with Type 38 rifles is beyond the reach.
Therefore, when the leading troops of the Japanese 1st Infantry Battalion could already see that the wide Bihe River was beginning to slow down, they planned to send forward soldiers to conduct reconnaissance while the main force prepared to cross the river.
"Peng!"
Gunshots were fired!
That's the flare gun located in the wasteland.
Erya pulled the trigger towards the sky, and the red signal flare erupted with brilliant red light in the high sky, like a meteor cutting through the haze, leaving a brilliant silhouette in the pupils of the Japanese soldiers who raised their heads and suddenly contracted.
What followed was gunshots like exploding beans.
The Japanese troops who were caught off guard fell like mowing grass.
"Enemy attack!" The Japanese officer's heart-rending roar was quickly drowned out by the surging flow of metal bullets...
The bullets came from the grass on both sides of the dirt road that the Japanese army ignored during a cursory inspection. Tang Dao took out all seven infantry companies in hand, including Peng Chong's guard company and 300 of the 500 recruits.
The long snake formation of the two Japanese infantry brigades on the dirt road is nearly 1,500 meters long. The six infantry companies and the attack line of 300 recruits on both sides of the dirt road just include this 1,500-meter road section.
The nearest trench on the dirt road is only 30 meters away, and the one farther away is only 40 meters, which is almost the distance between soldiers.
Because the distance was too close, and Tang Dao used ambush from both sides of the road, even if the road was higher than the grass on both sides, the soldiers of the Fourth Army spent the whole night digging a trench of nearly 90 centimeters.
Dao still ordered each company to adopt a staggered formation of troops.
That is to say, each squadron is never allowed to face each other head-on, and must be staggered by a certain distance. All the firepower on both sides of the road is like a criss-crossing force that tightly clamps down on the entire dirt road.
There was no problem with the distribution of firepower. The key was this extremely bold tactic of using bushes and ambushing almost under the eyes of the Japanese army. Not to mention that the Japanese army did not expect it. Even Lei Xiong, who advocated taking the initiative, was so shocked that he almost fell off his feet.
Lifted his chin.
As long as the Japanese army is more careful and searches the grass, even if the soldiers use the evening time to dig a trench that is more than half a person deep, cover it with straw mats sent by the baggage company and then spread withered grass to camouflage it, it is inevitable that they will be discovered.
of.
By that time, the Japanese army would use various types of artillery to bombard the grass on the plains, and there was more than a 90% chance that they would lose everything.
However, Tang Dao, who arrived at the north bank of Bihe River at night, adopted this tactic arbitrarily after inspecting the terrain.
This is the inspiration that Tang Dao got from the near-miraculous battle at 'Shentouling' fought by Brigadier Chen of the 385th Brigade in time and space. Since he has decided to take the enemy by surprise, he will take this point to the extreme.
In the Battle of Shentouling, the 385th Brigade's ambush site was only a dozen meters away from the road where the Japanese army was traveling, but the Japanese army did not notice it at all. In the end, the 385th Brigade wiped out the Japanese army's baggage of more than 1,000 people with more than 300 casualties.
Team.
What is even more surprising is that the main force that ambushed the Japanese army's baggage convoy was not the 772nd and 771st regiments of the 385th Brigade, but the supplementary regiment.
It is said to be a supplementary regiment, but it is actually a reserve. During this period, the 385 Brigade's regular army soldiers could only have one Hanyang-made bullet and 10 bullets per soldier, let alone the reserve. According to the war history records at that time, the 385 Brigade's supplementary regiment had an average of three people.
A gun, each gun is equipped with 5 bullets, but each person has a red tassel gun.
The most fundamental reason for annihilating these more than a thousand Japanese invaders was that the ambush site was chosen very close. After all the officers and soldiers of the supplementary regiment fired all their bullets, they all started hand-to-hand combat with red-tasseled guns.
The Japanese army's 1.7-meter-long Sanba Gai originally had an advantage over the Hanyang-made guns, which were 10 centimeters shorter. However, the 385th Brigade Supplementary Regiment did not have many rifles at all. The more than 2-meter-long Hongying Gun was the most advantageous weapon they had.
weapons.
Facing the Japanese heavy troops who were dozens of centimeters longer than their own rifles, the 385th Brigade was able to win this miraculous battle.
On the other hand, the equipment and combat will of the Japanese 2nd Infantry Regiment are not comparable to those of the heavy troops. However, the equipment of the Fourth Infantry Regiment and the 385th Brigade Supplementary Regiment are both in the sky and on the ground.
All infantrymen equipped with semi-automatic rifles are issued with 120 rounds of ammunition, infantrymen equipped with submachine guns are issued with 160 rounds of ammunition, and those equipped with shell guns are also issued with 160 rounds of ammunition. In addition, because other baggage is discarded, each infantryman carries an average of 6 grenades.
, some with enough strength even brought as many as 10 pieces.
Light machine guns and grenade launchers were not only issued to each infantry squad, but each infantry company and infantry squad were equipped with up to 9 light machine guns and 9 grenade launchers. In order to ensure the intensity of firepower, Tang Dao ordered the Maxim heavy tanks to be transported.
The machine guns were taken out, and eight machine gun shooters from each infantry company were selected as temporary heavy machine gunners. Four people were responsible for one heavy machine gun. During the march, special personnel were assigned to help carry the heavy machine gun and ammunition.
In this way, an infantry company has 9 light machine guns and 2 heavy machine guns, and the infantry company alone has 12 heavy machine guns.
But this is not all. The three major infantry battalions all have a machine gun company. Because the ambush distance is too close, in order to prevent accidental damage, the mortars of the machine gun company will not shell the highway area unless necessary, but the machine gun
But no, the original standard configuration of the 6 heavy machine gun squads was 6 heavy machine guns. In order to increase the firepower, Tang Dao frantically equipped the heavy machine gun squad with two Maxim heavy machine guns.
That means that the six infantry companies and three machine gun companies responsible for ambushing in the grass on both sides of the road have 54 light machine guns, Mark
There are 48 Qin heavy machine guns, 54 grenade launchers, and 18 82-caliber mortars.
According to the configuration of the Japanese infantry brigade, of the two infantry brigade marching on the dirt road, one infantry squad is equipped with two light machine guns, one squadron has only 6, and the two infantry brigades can only have 48 at most, which is close to the four-line regiment.
The two heavy machine gun squadrons equipped by the two infantry brigades only had 24 Type 92 heavy machine guns, but they were completely outnumbered by the 48 Maxims.
Tang Dao felt that just heavy firepower to defeat the Japanese army was not enough.
The ambush location selected by the Fourth Army Regiment was only 40 meters away from the dirt road. For what reason, it was to facilitate bombing.
There are nearly a thousand infantrymen, with an average of six or seven grenades per person, which is thousands of grenades. The other 300 recruits who were ordered to participate in the battle are not just here to feel the atmosphere of the battlefield.
The new recruits who were also in the trenches were ordered not to fire unless there was an emergency. All they had to do was to throw out all the grenades they carried.
There is no need to throw the grenade accurately, as long as they throw the grenade 30 meters or 40 meters away like they usually train. This is also the only tactical training for the recruits in the past month besides reorganizing the training queue. I didn't expect it to be so fast.
It came in handy.
Basically, each infantry company participating in the ambush battle is assigned 50 bombardiers.
This also meant that the Japanese troops on the road at this time not only had to be baptized by a dense flow of metal bullets of an intensity they had never experienced before, but also had to withstand the intensity of an average grenade explosion every 10 square meters.
In just five or six seconds, explosions, howls, and roars resounded throughout the entire dirt road. The noise was much louder than the Japanese army's previous march.
It was almost like a thunder that completely tore apart all the silence in this wasteland covering an area of several square kilometers.
Not to mention that 500 meters away, on the south bank of the Bihe River, the cannons were watching the battlefield with binoculars. Pang Dahai was shocked by the huge sound and his pupils shrank slightly. It was Ishiguro Sada who was riding a tall horse a thousand meters away.
Zang almost fell off his horse in fright due to the muffled thunder that mingled together.
He quickly picked up the telescope hanging on his chest and looked ahead. The thick smoke even broke through the pre-dawn mist and broke into his field of vision.
"Are the Chinese crazy?" The Japanese army officer Zuo Zuo, whose face turned pale as a sheet, was stunned.
Yes, the Chinese must be crazy.
Faced with the nearly dimension-reducing attack by the Japanese army, the Chinese would become dead if they did not become madmen.
You can only choose one of the two.
That's what Cheng Dakui thought.
"Blow you up, blow up you bitch." Cheng Dakui was throwing a grenade onto the dirt road 40 meters away.
While throwing, he roared crazily.
Watching the grenade he threw blossom into a black-gray flower on the dirt road, tears appeared in Cheng Dakui's eyes.
Two months ago, he was just an ordinary farmer in rural China. He worked in the fields on weekdays, and then returned home. His ordinary-looking but gentle wife brought the boiled water that had been cooled and drank it heartily. Doudou had already grown.
My son started to learn to speak with a few teeth, and the fatigue of the day disappeared in an instant.
Cheng Dakui once thought that he would live such a stable life. When his son was raised and he got married and had a baby, he and his wife would take care of him. Finally, like his father, he would calmly close his eyes and kick his legs to go to heaven.
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However, the war started and the Japanese came.
Everything Cheng Dakui had and all his imagination came to an abrupt end that day!
He is crazy, just like today.
The bullets from the Japanese counterattack were whizzing around him, and he could feel the scorching temperature of the warheads in his ears and temples, but he was not afraid and threw the grenade in his hand even more standard than usual training.
