Chapter 18: One shot at the leader of the Japanese division
Speaking of the Yamashita Division, we have to talk about the organization of the Little Japanese troops.
After 1937, in order to adapt to battlefield conditions and the expanding war, the Japanese army rapidly expanded based on the original 17 divisions.
Due to insufficient domestic troops and equipment, the expanded new troops were divided into four levels: A, B, C, and D:
Category A Division: Also known as the horse-drawing division, it has 2 brigades (each brigade has 2 infantry regiments), one regiment each of engineering, cavalry, artillery, and cavalry, for a total of 8 regiments, plus one division.
There are a total of 28,200 non-combatants in the headquarters of the two brigades and regiments.
Class B Division: Also known as the Pack Horse Division. Due to the shortage of horses in the later period, the cavalry regiment was reduced from the standard of Class A Division and changed to a brigade (sometimes without cavalry). It has 2 brigades (each brigade has 2
Infantry regiment), one engineering regiment, one artillery regiment, and one regiment each, for a total of 7 regiments. In addition to the first division and regiment headquarters, the non-combatant personnel of the two brigades and regiment headquarters totaled 24,400.
Category C Division: expanded from the mixed brigade, with jurisdiction over 3 infantry regiments, one engineering regiment, and one artillery regiment. There are generally 5 regiments, and about 15,500 non-combatants at the division headquarters.
D type division: It is also expanded from the mixed brigade. It only has 3 infantry regiments. Other arms have only brigade or squadron formations, with about 11,000 people. Due to its flexibility, it is mainly used to sweep the North China base of the Eighth Route Army.
Independent mixed brigade: It is an independent strategic unit like a division. It usually has 2-3 infantry regiments. The number of other arms is smaller than that of the D division, about 6,000-8,000 people. It undertakes auxiliary strategic tasks.
The Yamashita Division is the security division used in the North China battlefield. It belongs to the C-type division and can only be regarded as third-rate in the combat order of the little devils. (I checked a lot of information, there are many opinions, personal guesses, and mistakes)
The division commander is Yamashita Fengwu. The division has 3 infantry regiments, a mountain artillery battalion, and 12 Type 41 75mm mountain guns. Each regiment contains an artillery squadron, equipped with 6 Type 92 infantry cannons and heavy machine guns.
Because the Yamashita Division is a security division, it is not equipped with the more advanced Type 94 mountain artillery. Instead, it is the Type 41 mountain artillery that the Japanese army has been using in the early days, also known as the regiment artillery; the Type 92 infantry artillery is also called the brigade artillery.
; Japanese squadrons and below are equipped with "Type 89" grenades.
Another example is the configuration of the number of heavy machine guns. Since the total weight of the 92 Heavy Machinery exceeds 55 kilograms and requires four people to carry it or carry it on horseback, the Japanese army did not organize it into an infantry squadron, but set it up at the brigade level of the main division.
The machine gun squadron has eight heavy machine guns (some even 12).
Zhou Weihan here is obsessed with getting Yamashita Fengwu to shoot him. It doesn't make sense that Li Yunlong can kill the little Jaap Nobutetsu Sakata's headquarters with a 60 mortar, but what if he can't do it with Zhou Weihan?
Chen Feng was determined to go back to the station to have a look, which happened to coincide with Zhou Weihan's thoughts.
The two of them immediately agreed to take a company each with them, and if they went more, they would also deliver food.
Zhou Weihan's new second regiment asked Jing Dagang to lead the sharp knife company, and specially called Li Dazhi and Li Daji.
Li Da is a capable boy with many clever ideas. His magnet was originally from the Nine Column Artillery Company. In terms of artillery shooting, he is no worse than Wang Chengzhu under Li Yunlong.
The rest of the New Second Regiment, led by Wu Qin, were repairing in Wu'an Village. Wu'an Village had long since been out of the encirclement of the Japs' raids, and it was located in a no-care zone with high mountains and dense forests. If necessary, they could evacuate to the mountains.
In this way, the soldiers of the two companies took turns riding in four military trucks and set off towards the location of the Hebei-Cha decisive column.
At dawn the next day, a group of people arrived in the mountains and forests near the station. Zhou Weihan ordered everyone to take a rest first.
"Jing Dagang, Chen Feng, come with me to investigate the enemy's situation." Zhou Weihan shouted.
Several people first found a commanding height nearby, and Chen Feng took out his telescope and took a look.
The entire station was eerily quiet, with a hint of weirdness everywhere.
"There is indeed a problem. Normally at this time, there should be morning exercises, but there is no movement at all today." Chen Feng frowned and said.
"I'm afraid your brothers are in danger. With the little devil's personality, I'm afraid not many of them will survive." Zhou Weihan said.
In the garrison, Yamashita Fengwu, dressed as a commander of the National Army, stood at the city gate and said to the surrendered National Army officer: "Wang Sang, you only have this chance to live. I want to see your sincerity, and you must cherish it."
"
The national army officer nodded quickly and said: "Commander of the Yamashita Division, I understand."
To say that this little devil's fighting ability is really impressive, Yamashita personally led a large group of Japanese troops to capture the national army's station.
"Terauchi-kun, go welcome our last Chinese soldiers." Yamashita said.
"Hey, division commander, don't worry. I will definitely pay my dues this time," Isamu Terauchi, who had been demoted to lieutenant by Yamashita Fengwu, nodded.
As he spoke, he led a squad of "national troops" to line up under the city gate to welcome him. A national army officer surnamed Wang was accompanying him, as if he had known that Chen Feng and his group would be back today.
"The person on top of that city gate tower must be a high-ranking Japanese official. People around him are nodding and bowing to him." Zhou Weihan's eyes almost dropped as he stared at him. Unfortunately, the distance was a little far, and the telescope could only see a single figure.
"Look, there are people coming out of the city gate. They seem to be coming to pick you up." Zhou Weihan said to Chen Feng.
"Damn it, someone must have rebelled, otherwise how would the little devil know that we are coming back today."
"It would be great if there was a cannon. I could kill the little devil directly." Chen Feng hammered himself and said helplessly.
"I have a gun, I just need to think carefully about how to shoot the little devil," Zhou Weihan said with a smile.
"That's great."
"Let's go back first."
Zhou Weihan called Jing Dagang over and asked him to assemble two Little Japanese Type 94 mountain cannons imitated by the Taiyuan Arsenal and set them up on the artillery position.
Speaking of which, these two mountain cannons were also from the arsenal. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhou Weihan sent people to take away the two cannons. They usually dismantled them and hid them in order to use them at the foot of the mountain.
The Type 94 mountain artillery was one of the three types of mountain artillery equipped by the Japanese army during World War II (the other two were the Meiji 41-type mountain artillery and the Type 99 mountain artillery). It was the standard infantry support artillery of the Army Infantry Division and was lighter in weight.
It only weighs 536 kilograms, making it easy to disassemble and carry, and has a range of 8.3 kilometers. The design is very successful and performs well when fighting in mountains or other complex terrains.
"The hilltop opposite is in a good location and the distance is right," Zhou Weihan said.
After saying that, he asked Jing Dagang to take people to transport the disassembled Type 94 mountain gun parts to the hilltop for assembly.
"Shitou, I heard that you were originally from the Nine Column Artillery Company. This will make you happy." Zhou Weihan said to the magnet.
"What the hell kind of cannon is this? Why does it look bigger than the little Japanese's Type 92 infantry cannon?" Mr. Li said from the side as if he had never seen the world before.
"You haven't seen this, haven't you? This is the Jaap's Type 94 mountain cannon. I almost had the Jaap blow up to death back then, so let's take a look at mine today." The magnet patted the steel plate on his head.