After receiving Zhang Dabiao's order, the artillerymen began to work in an orderly manner.
The fireworks from the muzzles of howitzers and mountain cannons flashed continuously, and the shells soared into the sky, arcing across the sky, and then fell on the Japanese positions.
Boom boom boom...
Groups of artillery shells fell, and explosive fireballs and billowing smoke formed into pieces and continued to rise.
Not only did they blow up the position that had been plowed several times to pieces again, but they also blew up the Japanese soldiers, dirt, and gravel into the sky.
The Japs ran to the top of the mountain in panic...
Zhang Dabiao once again ordered 8 tanks and the 8th company to start the attack. As Zhang Dabiao expected, after attacking the enemy's position this time, the Japanese on the reverse slope counterattacked again.
However, the 8th Company, which had just captured the position, immediately withdrew from the newly occupied position under the cover of tanks.
As soon as the Japanese emerged from the top of the mountain, they were attacked by intensive artillery fire.
But the Japanese were not fools. When they saw the Eighth Route Army infantry retreating and being shelled, they immediately returned to the reverse slope of the hillside, leaving only a small number of infantry on the front slope.
Zhang Dabiao then reported this situation to the new regiment headquarters via telegram.
At the same time, the 9th Company was ordered to launch a feint attack on the Japanese position.
…
At the new regiment headquarters, Li Yunlong couldn't help but narrowed his eyes after listening to Chief of Staff Wang Dehou read the telegram.
The three main attacking troops sent telegrams almost at the same time, but were stubbornly blocked by the Japanese. The Japanese had a large number of troops, and all the main attacking troops suffered losses due to being caught off guard.
Especially in the 7th Company of the 1st Battalion, no one left the battle alive.
Although the position was taken back by the Japs, the Seventh Company lost at least 400 Japs with more than 160 casualties.
Of course, Li Yunlong was not satisfied with this battle loss. According to previous battles, one soldier could even exchange the life of a Japanese soldier.
But this time the new regiment is the attacker, and the enemy is the Japanese from the 10th Division. Even if they are not satisfied, they can only accept it.
"When the battle is over, we must rebuild the Seventh Company!"
"From now on, our Seventh Company will be called Steel Seventh Company!"
Li Yunlong looked solemn. Although he was not watching the battle on the front line, he could imagine how cruel the battle was.
An elite group of Japanese troops was hidden on the reverse slope and counterattacked against a company of soldiers. They were in close combat. The Japanese soldiers were condescending. It was impossible for the soldiers of this company to block the Japanese attack.
No one expected that the Japanese would come this time, mainly because the previous battle went somewhat smoothly.
However, this can't change anything. The new regiment has four main infantry battalions plus seven battalions in the division, for a total of 110 infantry companies.
Zhao Gang nodded and said: "After this battle is over, we must promote the fighting spirit of the Seventh Company!"
While speaking, Zhao Gang looked at Li Yunlong. This guy Li Yunlong had brought out an iron-clad heroic army that could not defeat an army that could not be defeated.
Even when faced with an enemy several times their size, not one of the soldiers of the Seventh Company flinched.
Even the seventh company commander used a walkie-talkie to call the battalion headquarters at the last moment to fire at him and to die with the Japanese.
"Yeah!" Li Yunlong nodded.
Two combat staff officers marked the location on the map where the Japanese would concentrate their forces to block the new regiment.
Deputy Commander Xing looked at the map and said, "Are the Japs of the 10th Division ready for a decisive battle?"
Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang and others also came together and looked at the red and blue arrows marked on the map indicating the positions of the enemy and the enemy.
"It should be." Zhao Gang nodded, "With those thickened bunkers and gun towers alone, the Japs of the 10th Division cannot stop our attack. The two old Japs, Tanabe Moritake and Ishikawa Jiro, are ready to fight.
"
"You're going all out, right?" Li Yunlong snorted coldly, "I think these two old devils Tanabe Moritake and Ishikawa Erlang don't know how many eyes Lord Ma has. Send me an order and immediately order the fourth and fifth battalions to be divided into reinforcements."
Battalion and Second Battalion, go to Heyuan County for me, capture the thief first, capture the king, and kill Tanabe Moritake and Ishikawa Erlang!"
Attacking in the direction of Heyuan County were the most elite First and Second Battalions of the New Regiment.
Those attacking from the direction of Anhua County are the 3rd and 4th Battalions, while those attacking from the direction of Ping'an County are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Division.
As for the Japs' frontline headquarters, Boss Chen has provided information that Tanabe Moritake and Ishikawa Jiro are in Heyuan County at this time.
so.
Li Yunlong prepared to take advantage of the situation and sent a reserve team to fight with the 1st and 2nd Battalions to Heyuan County and directly seize the Japanese frontline headquarters.
The 1st and 2nd Battalions suffered over a thousand casualties in the battle, but the 4th and 5th Battalions of the division never participated in the battle. At this time, their combat effectiveness was at its peak, and the total number of the two battalions exceeded 4,000.
The total number of troops of the four battalions exceeds 7,000. Coupled with the cooperation of tanks and artillery, it is easy to defeat the Japanese in the direction of Heyuan County.
Although the other two groups of attacking troops are just feints, they still have artillery groups and tanks to coordinate the attack, and their forces are not weak. The pressure from the Japanese on these two groups will be great, and they will definitely not be able to spare any troops to reinforce the Heyuan County.
"Yes!" Wang Dehou turned around and immediately walked to the high-power walkie-talkie and gave orders to the fourth and fifth battalions of the division.
The troops of the Fourth and Fifth Battalions are on standby just outside Dagu Town and can go to the battlefield at any time.
After Wang Dehou finished giving the order, Li Yunlong looked at the time and said to Wang Dehou: "Immediately send a report to the New Second Regiment and the Independent Regiment, informing them to give up blocking the Japanese and move closer to our New Regiment immediately."
"yes!"
Wang Dehou began to draft the telegram, and then Li Yunlong signed his name and handed it to the decoder. After the decoder translated it, he handed it to the telegraph soldier and immediately sent the telegram.
Then, Li Yunlong asked Zhao Gang: "Old Zhao, are the villagers ready to move?"
"The people are ready!" Zhao Gang, who was responsible for organizing the transfer of the people, nodded, "The transfer can be done at any time!"
This transfer was possible thanks to the mobilization of militias and local governments.
The Japs of the 10th Division failed to break into the base area of the New Regiment, so the autumn grain harvest was successful and the people in the base area had food to eat for the time being.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! However, there is so much food that there is no way to take it all away at once. Some of the food has been dug in pits and buried. After the Japanese soldiers leave, they will return to the base area to dig out the food.
In addition, all the weapons, ammunition, and food of the new regiment must be taken away, and those that cannot be taken away must be hidden in caves or buried in pits.
All this work has been completed so far.
Li Yunlong nodded: "Let the villagers be ready to move at any time, and our regiment will move to the front line immediately."
After receiving the order, the Fourth and Fifth Battalions of the Division rushed to reinforce the First and Second Battalions.
Next, Chen Feng followed Li Yunlong and others to the front line to watch the battle.
…
To the northwest of the New Regiment Base Area, the Independent Regiment Headquarters.
"Third Battalion Commander, I order you to hold on for another two hours and retreat immediately after two hours!"
The team leader Kong Jie was on the phone, looked at the watch on his hand, and then said loudly into the phone.
There are still two hours left before the scheduled retreat time.
The rumble of artillery shells in the distance continued like muffled thunder, and the Japanese mountain artillery regiment was bombarding the position of the third battalion of the Independent Regiment.
The artillery battalion of the independent regiment also fought back without showing any signs of weakness, and the two sides launched an artillery battle.
The third airdrop arrived the day before yesterday. The airdrop arranged by Boss Chen not only airdropped three basic amounts of ammunition, but also included canned fruits, medicines and canned meat.
It was precisely because of the three airdrops, as well as the strategies, tactics and steel and concrete provided by Boss Chen that the independent regiment was able to persist for half a month under the attack of 40,000 Japanese soldiers.
After hanging up the phone, the political commissar Wang Yingcai on the side said with emotion: "Our regiment actually blocked the attack of a Japanese division and thousands of puppet troops for half a month. I have to say, it is simply a miracle."
"I mean Lao Wang." Kong Jie was staring at the map, raised his head and said with a smile, "Why are you so sentimental all of a sudden?"
There was a trace of exhaustion between Kong Jie's brows. He had not slept for three days.
Wang Yingcai said: "Before the battle started, I never thought that our independent regiment's combat effectiveness was so strong, but our regiment has already suffered more than half of its casualties."
When he said the last sentence, Political Commissar Wang couldn't help but sigh.
Before the war began, the independent regiment had about 10,000 militiamen and main force, but now there are only more than 5,000 left.
Among them, the main force uses American-style equipment, while the militiamen use mainly Japanese-style equipment that has been eliminated by the original main force.
The common people in the independent regiment's defense area all went to the Yellow River ferry to northern Shaanxi. However, facing nearly 40,000 Japanese and puppet troops, the independent regiment's main force was insufficient, so the militiamen also participated in the battle.
"Although we suffered more than half of our casualties," Kong Jie said, "but we killed more than 15,000 Japanese and puppet troops, so the deal is not a loss."
At the end of the battle, even if the Japanese and puppet troops rushed into the position, the Japanese artillery would continue to bombard the Independent Regiment's position. The battle was extremely cruel, both sides were risking their lives, and the Independent Regiment suffered a lot of casualties.
However, the anti-slope and tunnel tactics, the bunker group, as well as wartime air-dropped supplies, firepower and other advantages allowed the independent regiment to have a casualty ratio of 1:3 with the Japanese and puppet troops.
The puppet troops were almost used as cannon fodder, and now the attackers are all Japanese.
"That's true!" Wang Yingcai said, "In this battle, our independent regiment is really strong enough!"
"Report!" At this moment, the telegraph soldier held the telegram in his hand, walked in hurriedly, and gave a military salute: "Regiment commander, political commissar, Commander Li of the new regiment, urgent call!"
Kong Jie quickly took the telegram and read it, and immediately laughed: "Old Li informed us that we can retreat."
Then he said loudly: "Pass my order, and the direct companies of each battalion will retreat according to the plan, and cover the withdrawal positions alternately!"
...
Ten minutes later, the third battalion of the independent regiment took position.
"Report to the battalion commander, what should I do if I still have a few boxes of large knob grenades and I can't take them with me?"
A bombardier reported to Wang Huaibao.
Boss Chen's airdrop supplies, in addition to American grenades, also include some large knob grenades, which can be used as cluster grenades.
"Silly?" Wang Huaibao said, "Just bury the grenades that can't be taken away, string them up, and cook dinner for the Japanese."
"yes!"
The bombardier turned away and began to lay booby traps.
About twenty minutes later, a squadron of Japanese soldiers rushed to the third battalion's position with a 38-meter rifle, only to find that the Eighth Route Army had already withdrawn.
One of the Japanese soldiers slowly approached a bunker holding a 38-meter rifle and accidentally stepped on a match rope.
A few seconds later, a series of explosions suddenly erupted, and the Japs immediately fell to the ground, with more than a dozen Japs falling into a pool of blood.
At the same time, the New Second Regiment also received a telegram to retreat, and regiment leader Ding Wei immediately ordered a retreat and moved closer to the New First Regiment.