It is only 15 kilometers away from the Xiantianhuangyadong Arsenal.
Under the first wave of attacks from various forces, the Japanese and puppet troops were routed.
However, the division commander Kenkichi Hirata issued an order for the mopping up troops to defend on the spot in brigade units.
Hirata Kenkichi's idea is very good, but he did not consider the actual situation.
Because the Eighth Route Army's offensive was extremely fierce and fierce, some of the Japs and puppet troops who raided the troops were either completely wiped out or simply defeated and chased around by the Eighth Route Army.
Especially the puppet troops, after being dispersed by the Eighth Route Army, many surrendered directly or simply hid.
Under such circumstances, it was simply impossible for the Japs to gather most of the remaining troops.
The Japanese right-wing sweep troops starting from Licheng County, with a total strength of more than 3,000 men, were tasked with destroying the villages and Huangyadong arsenal along the way.
However, the Japanese and puppet troops were attacked by Ding Wei's attack group and dozens of cannons. Now only more than 1,000 people gathered in Mahu Mountain to resist.
If it hadn't been for Hirata Kenkichi's order, the Japanese and puppet troops of more than 1,000 people would have fled long ago.
Most of them were Japs. Seeing that the Japs could not defeat the Eighth Route Army, most of the puppet troops simply ran away all over the mountains and plains.
The puppet army is definitely not as fast as the puppet army in terms of marching speed, but when it comes to escaping to save one's life, the Japanese army is not as good as the puppet army.
For example, the South Korean army during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea did not fight very hard, but their escape speed was top-notch.
The Japanese and puppet troops of more than 1,000 people established a foothold in Mahu Mountain and repelled two attacks by the Eighth Route Army.
At the headquarters of the 1st Attack Group of the Taihang Column, Ding Wei looked through the artillery mirror and saw the Japanese and puppet troops digging foxholes and trenches.
In front of the trench, there were many corpses of soldiers lying, some of them were from the Eighth Route Army, and some were from the Japanese and puppet troops.
It must be said that the Japanese's fighting power was still very strong. Although they turned to defense in a hurry, they quickly stabilized their position.
If the Japanese and puppet troops are allowed to dig trenches well, the difficulty of annihilating the Japanese will at least double.
"Report, the commander-in-chief of the column ordered the 1st attack group to defeat the Japanese and puppet troops in one go, leaving no chance for the enemy to breathe!"
A staff officer was notified and quickly reported the situation to Ding Wei.
Hearing this, Ding Wei looked at his watch, turned around and asked, "Have the 1st and 2nd Battalions cut off the enemy's retreat?"
The previous two attacks of the Eighth Route Army were repelled by the Japanese and puppet troops, but they were just Ding Wei's sheep attacks. His real intention was to completely eat this Japanese and puppet army.
Currently, Ding Wei commands four infantry regiments, namely the New Second Regiment, the New Third Regiment, and the 13th and 14th Regiments of the 385 Brigade.
In the past, it was a bit difficult for these four regiments to capture more than 1,000 Japanese and puppet troops from a hill like this.
However, times have changed. Ding Wei not only has four infantry regiments, but also an artillery regiment with artillery support at any time.
Ding Wei has never fought such a battle for wealth in his eight lifetimes.
The staff officer immediately grabbed the mobile phone, with the antenna and switch turned on, and called: "Hey, call the 1st Battalion, call the 1st Battalion."
After a while, the staff officer put down the walkie-talkie and gave Ding Wei a military salute: "Report, the 1st and 2nd Battalions have cut off the enemy's retreat."
"good!"
Ding Wei ordered: "Let the artillery fire first, and as soon as the artillery fire stops, the 13th Regiment and the tank company will immediately launch a general attack!"
The mountainous terrain is not suitable for tanks, so Li Yunlong assigned a tank company to each attack group.
In order to better block the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese specially chose a hilltop with an open land in front of them.
And the mountain is not very steep, which is just suitable for tanks.
Then, Ding Wei looked at Wei Dayong who was responsible for calibrating the shooting elements: "Monk, have the shooting elements of each artillery battery been calibrated?"
"It's all calibrated!" Wei Dayong nodded and replied with sharp eyes, "You can fire at any time."
Ding Wei decisively ordered: "Then fire immediately!"
Wei Dayong held a high-power walkie-talkie: "Every artillery battery listens to my order and fire at the Mahu Mountain target immediately!"
All gun positions are located 4 kilometers behind the headquarters, and protective measures are in place. Each gun is camouflaged, and each gun has at least 2 machine guns to cooperate with air defense.
About 10 seconds after Wei Dayong finished speaking, a sharp whistling sound sounded in the sky.
Ding Wei and the command staff walked out of the command post and looked up, only to see dozens of red projectiles like meteors appearing in the sky.
Wei Dayong called in 10 artillery batteries, and a total of 40 cannons fired at the enemy's positions at the same time.
Not only Ding Wei and Wei Dayong, but also the soldiers of several regiments around the command post, all looked up blankly at the artillery shells flying overhead.
This was the first time for many soldiers to see so many artillery shells streak across the sky almost at the same time.
A moment later, artillery shells landed on the Japanese and puppet army positions one after another, bursting out into balls of blazing orange-red fireballs, accompanied by large amounts of mud and mist, turning into mushroom clouds.
The front slope of Mahu Mountain seemed to be torn into pieces and submerged in fire and smoke.
Four Japanese tanks lined up in a battle formation and advanced toward Mahu Mountain. The Eighth Route Army commandos following the tanks were covered with grenades and magazines, and held submachine guns and rifles in their hands. The gray waves swept towards the Japanese positions.
The leading tank was 150 meters away from the Japs' forward position. Wei Dayong immediately called to stop the shelling. If it went any further, it might inadvertently injure his fellow troops.
Mahu Mountain seemed to be dead and silent.
The attacking tanks and Eighth Route Army commandos approached the Japanese's forward position.
Suddenly, Ma Hushan came to life first, and the Japanese who survived the bombardment set up weapons and attacked the Eighth Route Army.
The gunshots sounded like dense firecrackers.
The Japanese soldiers, covered with grenades and explosives, jumped up from the shell hole and rushed towards the tank in a suicide attack, intending to die with the tank.
"Da da da…"
Before the infantry could fire, the machine gunner in the tank had already pulled the trigger.
The 12.7mm machine gun bullets from the M2 Browning large-caliber heavy machine gun fired at the Japs. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the Japs were instantly beaten into two pieces.
The tank guns were also firing, and in an instant they killed two enemy firepower points.
At the same time, on the ridge of Mahu Mountain, Yamazaki Kiyoshi, captain of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 225th Regiment, saw this scene with disbelief on his face.
After the artillery bombardment, the infantry charged?
Artillery and tank coordination, infantry and tank coordination...
Aren't these the tactics of the imperial army?
Also, isn’t this tank from the Imperial Army? Why did it end up on the Eighth Route Road?
Moreover, the Eighth Route Army tank was also modified. Not only was the machine gun inside the tank replaced with a large-caliber machine gun, but a large-caliber heavy machine gun was also installed above the turret.
The power of this machine gun can cut a person into two pieces at once!
Yamazaki Kiyoshi suddenly took a breath. This battle was impossible to fight. The two sides were not at the same level in terms of military strength and firepower.
Although the Eighth Route Army's infantry and tank coordination seemed a bit unfamiliar, the small amount of troops in his hands certainly could not stop the Eighth Route Army's attack.
There is no way to fight this battle. The artillery group will fire. After the artillery group hits the tanks, the infantry will charge.
Compared with the Eighth Route Army, their equipment is far behind.
"Telegraph Soldier!"
Yamazaki Kiyoshi said in an anxious tone: "Immediately send a report to the division commander. The Eighth Route Army first used mountain artillery groups to attack our Mahushan position, and then used tanks to break into our position. Our unit has suffered most of its casualties. We request immediate tactical guidance and send the telegram immediately."
!”
"Hi!" the telegraph soldier responded.
…
at the same time.
On a hilltop in Xiling, more than 1,000 Japanese left-wing mopping up troops were entrenched on the hilltop.
The hilltop is not big and there is open space around it, but the hilltop is relatively steep and tanks cannot go up at all.
The person responsible for the attack was the second attack group led by Kong Jie.
Kong Jie asked Li Changshun to call for artillery fire. Amidst the continuous explosions of landslides and ground cracking, the entire Xiling Mountain was plowed by artillery shells.
At this time, smoke of gunpowder rose into the sky in Xiling.
The Japanese and puppet troops who hurriedly turned to defense and had no time to build artillery were heavily bombed.
Even if the Japanese and puppet troops hide on the reverse slope, it will be of no avail.
Kong Jie had already ordered the mortars of each regiment to sneak back to the back of Xiling, and more than 30 60mm mortars blasted against the reverse slope.
As soon as the artillery fire stopped, Kong Jie ordered all the troops to launch a general attack, and the troops poured into the Japanese positions like a tide.
…
The Japanese's central mopping up force seized Xiantang Mountain.
There is a temple on the mountain called Xiantang Temple.
The terrain of Xiantang Mountain is relatively complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so the Japanese defended the mountain.
Because of the terrain, the commander-in-chief of the 3rd attack group Cheng Shifa deployed two companies to attack.
Although they are using refueling tactics, they can call for artillery support at any time, and it is only a matter of time before they take over the hilltop.
…
37th Division Regiment Headquarters.
Hirata Kenkichi received telegrams requesting tactical guidance from three sweeps of troops from the left, center and right at almost the same time.
Except that the situation in the center is okay for the time being, the troops on the left and right are almost unable to withstand the Eighth Route Army's offensive.
Kenkichi Hirata sat on a chair with a look of disbelief on his face. Was the Eighth Route Army's offensive so violent?
He thought he had overestimated the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army, but unexpectedly he underestimated it.
At this time, the reinforcements are already on the way. As long as we persist for 3 hours, the reinforcements will arrive.
However, the troops on the 3rd route who were defending the mountain were unable to hold on for even 3 hours...
Can anyone tell me why the Eighth Route Army is so powerful?
"Division Commander, what should we do now?"
"Are we still going to let reinforcements rush in?"
Chief of Staff Ishida Kinzo asked Hirata Kenkichi.
At this time, the reinforcements were only halfway through. Although the straight-line distance between the reinforcements and the defense points of the mopping up troops was only 20 kilometers, this was a mountain road. The real distance was at least about 30 kilometers. According to the rapid march speed of 10 kilometers per hour, at least
It took 3 hours to arrive.
According to the combat effectiveness displayed by the Eighth Route Army, the mopping up troops would definitely not be able to hold out for three hours, and if these 5,000 Japanese troops continued to rush for reinforcements, they would only be giving heads to the Eighth Route Army.
If these 5,000 Japanese reinforcements were concentrated together, it would be difficult for the Eighth Route Army to defeat them in a short time.
But the current situation is that the 5,000 Japanese troops who were originally ambushing a small group of Eighth Route Army troops on the outside were divided into three parts to rush to support the mopping up troops.
Each of the reinforcement troops has less than 2,000 troops. Can these troops withstand the Eighth Route Army's attack?
The troops of the 14th Brigade and the 18th Brigade will definitely not be able to rush to the rescue of the 37th Division in a short time.
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Hirata Kenkichi's face turned ugly: "Order the reinforcements to stop advancing, stay put, and immediately request tactical guidance from Commander Shinozuka!"