Anhua County is only more than 20 kilometers away from Dagu Town.
The 222nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division of the Japanese Army marched quickly and arrived at the outskirts of Dagu Town in about 3 hours.
The 36th Artillery Regiment drove all the way from Heyuan County to haul the cannon and artillery shells, which also took about three hours.
Division commander Jing Guanren sat in an armored vehicle and came to the front line to personally direct the 222nd Infantry Regiment and the 36th Artillery Regiment in the battle to capture Dagu Town.
The 222nd Infantry Regiment arrived first, but did not immediately attack the Eighth Route Army positions, but waited for the arrival of the 36th Artillery Regiment.
The tactic of charging the infantry after the artillery bombardment is not feasible with only infantry and no artillery.
When Jingguan Ren entered the 222nd Regiment headquarters carrying the Lieutenant General's command saber.
The Japs' headquarters has been constructed. Not only does it have an excellent view, it also has a camouflage net, and all communication equipment such as radio stations have been set up.
"Division Commander!"
Seeing Iseki Ren walking in, all the Japanese officers, including the commander of the regiment, Atsushi Sato, raised their hands and saluted him.
"Sato-kun, how is the situation now?"
Jingguan Ren raised his hand and returned the military salute before asking, with a cold expression.
Sato Atsushi straightened up: "Reporting to the division commander, the 224th Infantry Regiment's 9th Infantry Group's attack was not going well and has now withdrawn. The 222nd Regiment is preparing to take over the 9th Infantry Group's attack on the Eighth Route Position!"
"Baga!" Jingguan Ren scolded, "I know that the 9th Infantry Battalion's attack is not going well. What I'm asking is how is the defense and troop strength of the Eighth Route Army?"
"Hi!" Sato Atsushi said hurriedly, "The Eighth Route Army built fortifications in the mountains entering Dagu Town. The 9th Infantry Regiment launched two probing attacks and lost more than 140 infantrymen. Although the Eighth Route Army only had about one soldier.
Battalion, but the light firepower of the Eighth Route Army is very powerful!”
Jingguan Ren then raised his telescope and looked.
I saw that on the mountain 2 kilometers away, a large number of civil fortifications and foxholes had been built by the Eighth Route Army, but no Eighth Route Army was visible.
Behind the mountain is Dagu Town.
Dagu Town is located in a basin surrounded by mountains. From Anhua County to Dagu Town, there is only one road and a small road that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Putting down the telescope, Jingguan Ren said: "The Eighth Route Army even gave up the county seat, but did not give up Dagu Town. Such an uncharacteristic behavior shows that Dagu Town is very important to the Eighth Route Army. The more so, the more we must capture Dagu Town at any cost."
town."
"Hi!" All the officers nodded in unison.
…
"Move quickly!"
It is two kilometers behind the 222nd Wing headquarters, next to the highway.
Lieutenant Colonel Tanaka Kuji, captain of the Japanese artillery regiment, waved his saber and directed a group of Japanese artillerymen to unload the Type 94 75mm mountain cannon and the Type 99 105mm howitzer from the tractor.
The Type 94 mountain gun was one of the three types of mountain artillery equipped by the Japanese army during World War II.
The Type 99 howitzer is the main artillery of the Mountain Artillery Regiment.
Normally, the mountain artillery wing under a field division is equipped with 12 105mm howitzers, but in fact many divisions are equipped with only 9.
The 36th Division was also equipped with only 9 howitzers and 24 mountain guns.
These two cannons are standard infantry support artillery of the Army Infantry Division. They are lighter in weight, easy to disassemble and carry, and have a high range. The design is relatively successful.
It performs well when fighting in mountains or other complex terrain.
The 36th Mountain Artillery Regiment of the 36th Division is equipped with 24 Type 94 mountain cannons and 9 Type 99 howitzers, with very powerful firepower.
It is worth mentioning that the Type 94 mountain gun weighs only 536 kilograms, has a rate of fire of about 10-20 rounds per minute, and a range of 8.3 kilometers.
When marching on rugged mountain roads, they could be dismantled and transported by mules and horses, but this time the battlefield was in Dagu Town, so the Japanese did not dismantle and transport them, but towed them directly with trucks.
This greatly saves time and artillery effort.
Under the order of Tanaka Jiuji, the Japanese artillerymen began to unload the cannons from the tractors, build artillery bunkers, and transport the artillery shells. After more than 20 minutes of busy work, the Japanese artillery positions were finally constructed.
"Report to the division commander immediately!"
Tanaka Jiuji came to the mountain and looked at the Eighth Route Army position four kilometers away with the artillery mirror. A sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth:
"The artillery wing's 24 mountain guns and 9 howitzers have all set up artillery positions and are ready to fire at the enemy's positions at any time!"
The Japanese artillery positions were not located on the high ground on the top of the mountain, but on the flat land on the reverse slope of the mountain.
Because the Japanese learned from intelligence that the Eighth Route Army was also equipped with mountain artillery, and even 105 mm caliber howitzers, which were much better than the Type 94 mountain artillery in terms of range and power.
Moreover, the quality of the Eighth Route Artillery cannot be underestimated.
Under such circumstances, Tanaka Kyuji naturally did not dare to take the risk of placing the artillery position on the hilltop, even if the hilltop had a good view.
Once the Eighth Route Army observers see the Japanese artillery position, they can immediately call in artillery fire to destroy it.
The artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army could not hit the artillery position, and the cavalry had already scouted the surrounding land for more than ten miles and built artillery bunkers. It can be said that the artillery position was very safe.
The news that the artillery position was completed was conveyed to the Japanese command headquarters by semaphore soldiers using semaphores.
Looking at the Eighth Route Army position in the distance, Jingguan Ren shook his head.
"It seems that Li Yunlong is nothing more than this."
Li Yunlong actually gave up his own advantages to fight a positional battle with the Japanese elite division for the sake of Dagu Town. He was really arrogant.
The combat effectiveness unleashed by an elite infantry regiment and artillery regiment is beyond what these idiots can imagine.
"Li Yunlong killed countless imperial soldiers, including 4 major generals and 3 lieutenant generals. He even led his troops to capture Taiyuan and killed the commander, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio. This man must have been extremely mentally inflated."
Chief of Staff Ishikawa Water Control Colonel on the side echoed:
"So much so that he became extremely arrogant, thinking that the strength of just one regiment could compete with an elite division of the Imperial Army."
The 36th Division was established in 1939 and was stationed in the Lu'an area for most of the past two years. It participated in many battles to attack Zhongtiao Mountain and mop up the Eighth Route Army base areas.
Although its combat effectiveness and equipment are not as good as those of the permanent divisions, it has relatively rich combat experience and is considered a more capable division among the North China Front.
"Then, it's time for Li Yunlong to see what the true combat power of the Imperial Army of Japan is!"
"Hi!"
All the Japanese, including Ishikawa Harishui and Sato Atsushi, bowed their heads.
"Order the Mountain Artillery Regiment to fire immediately!"
"To avenge Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio, cut off the heads of all the eight soldiers on the opposite side and build the Jingguan!"
Jingguan Ren immediately issued the order to fire.
The semaphore soldiers immediately used semaphores to issue orders to the rear mountain artillery regiment to fire.
The so-called construction of Jingguan is to pile up corpses from the enemy camp to build a pile of corpses similar to a "pyramid".
Building Jingguan is the most inhumane way for ancient people to treat their enemies. This is because building Jingguan not only humiliates the defeated enemies, but also disrespects the souls of the dead in every possible way.
During the Battle of Nomenkan, after a Japanese cavalry regiment was completely annihilated by the Mongolian cavalry, it was built into Jingguan.
"One test shot, let go!"
A Japanese mountain cannon shell and a howitzer shell rushed out of the barrel one after another.
A 75mm mountain artillery shell and a 105mm howitzer shell, with a unique whistling sound, landed not far from the Eighth Route Army position, raising large amounts of mud, mist and gunpowder smoke.
Twenty seconds later, the rain of shells arrived as expected.
Continuous artillery shells hit the positions established by the new regiment and battalion, shrouding the entire hill position in continuous smoke.
The Japanese artillery was really serious, and the shells were dropped as if they were free, intending to completely destroy the Eighth Route Army's infantry defensive positions as soon as they came up.
The power of the salvo fire of 24 75mm mountain guns and 9 105mm howitzers is indeed terrifying.
The defensive positions built by the new regiments and battalions quickly collapsed in the waves of explosions.
Unless reinforced concrete fortifications are built, it will be difficult to withstand such a level of shelling with mere civil fortifications.
Except for the first and second wave of test-fired artillery shells, which were deflected, almost all the remaining artillery shells hit the Eighth Route Army's positions.
The quality of the Japanese artillerymen is still very good.
The mountain artillery and howitzers worked together, and the shells they fired cut into the hill position layer by layer, making a rumble and biting every inch of soil like a shrew.
But it was of no use. The main force of the first battalion had already taken refuge in the tunnels that had been constructed. The few observers who remained on the position were also in the relatively safe anti-gun caves on higher ground.
If we continue to fight as usual, even if there are anti-cannon holes dug in the trenches, under this level of shelling, at least half of the battalion will suffer casualties.
In the headquarters.
The division commander, Lieutenant General Jingguan Ren, looked at his watch. The artillery had been firing continuously for 10 minutes, and the artillery shells they carried this time were not enough.
"Infantry attack!"
The sound of artillery did not stop, and the Japanese's powerful charge began. The Japanese infantry also took action, launching a brigade-level attack, frantically attacking the positions of the new regiments and battalions.
Only when they were 300 meters away from the Eighth Route Army position did the Japanese artillery stop shelling, and the Japanese soldiers roared towards the position.
At this time, the soldiers of the first battalion hunched out of the tunnel one after another. Rows of guns were placed on the trenches, and the sound of rattling bolts was heard.
In the field of vision of the telescope, Jingguan Ren first saw the Eighth Route Army's position turned into a sea of fire under the intensive artillery fire, and even the soil turned into burnt yellow.
Then suddenly I saw the ruins of the Eighth Route Army trenches. In the craters, there appeared many figures of Eighth Route Army soldiers wearing gray military uniforms.
Jingguan Ren's face sank slightly, what's going on?
But it was too late to think too much, the infantry had already charged towards the Eighth Route Army position, and the vanguard was less than 100 meters away from the Eighth Route Army position.
Now the arrow is on the string and has to be fired.