On the battlefield, the fighting was extremely fierce.
The appeasement army was forced to use human wave tactics to launch a strong attack on the group's position. Facing the powerful firepower, the puppet troops fell in pieces.
Geng Erdong personally controlled a heavy machine gun, constantly slanting firepower at the enemy in front, and the steaming gun barrel made Geng Erdong's face turn red.
"Ammo hand, ammo hand, the barrel of the gun is too hot, pour some water on it!" Geng Erdong shouted without turning his head.
Hearing this, the guard on the right hurriedly opened the kettle on the ground, stood up and poured water on the barrel of the gun. There was a stabbing sound, and a cloud of water vapor rose from the red barrel.
Perhaps it was the standing guard who attracted the attention of the Japanese tank, but the 37mm tank gun on the Japanese Type 95 light tank turned, and in the blink of an eye, shells were fired one by one at the heavy machine gun that was still raging.
With the explosion of the shell, the heavy machine gun was blown away. Geng Erdong felt his eyesight go dark and lost consciousness in an instant.
Another guard not far away on the left saw Geng Erdong buried alive, and hurriedly stepped forward and dug Geng Erdong out of the soil with all his hands.
Waiting for Geng Erdong to wake up and turn around, the health worker was treating the wound on his right arm. Next to the guard, who was worried about guarding him, the body of Pan Rongxian, who acted as a temporary ammunition hand, was also leaning against the trench.
"Battalion Commander, you scared me to death. If the cannonball were to move a little further to the left, you would be dead!"
Geng Erdong didn't pay much attention to the injuries on his body. Instead, he looked at the guard who made no sound at the side: "How is Pan Rongxian?"
"Sacrificed!" the guard said sadly: "At that time, Pan Rong used his body to protect you first, and then..."
When Geng Erdong heard this, he hit the trench with his uninjured left hand: "You damn little devil!"
Although the Japanese tank squadron was immediately destroyed by four tanks from the anti-aircraft artillery battery, the Japanese also learned the trick and stopped advancing. Instead, they began to move laterally from east to west, acting as mobile turrets.
Correspondingly, without the cover of Japanese tanks, the attacking infantrymen naturally suffered heavy casualties.
The contest between the two sides began at this time. The Japanese tank troops were strictly trained. The qualified tank groups had a distance of 600 meters to 1000 meters, and had a 100% hit rate on static targets and a 20% hit rate on dynamic targets.
The Japanese tank troops had first-class single-car combat capabilities. In this case, the light machine guns were okay. However, the nine heavy machine guns attached to the second battalion were blown up by the Japanese one after another. More than half of the heavy machine gun shooters were injured or killed. Otherwise, Geng Erdong, the battalion commander, would not have
I will go up personally.
The hit rate of the combat defense artillery battery on dynamic targets is obviously not up to the level of Japanese tanks. Although it has never stopped shelling Japanese tanks, most of the time it can only pose a threat within a few seconds before and after the Japanese tanks fire.
At the same time, at the rear regiment headquarters, Jing Dagang and Li Ziwen were always observing the battle situation on the front line.
"Commander, the casualties of the Second Battalion are not small. The defensive range of the Third Battalion's position is smaller. Let the Second Battalion withdraw!" Li Ziwen suggested.
Jing Dagang glanced at the time. It was four-fifteen. The second battalion had been holding on to the enemy's offensive for more than three hours. Although there were many attacking appeasement troops, the three circular positions of the regiment were in steps, four hundred meters apart.
The Yumi Third Battalion can still use heavy machine guns to suppress fire in the second position.
Jing Dagang turned his head and said: "Guard, inform the second battalion that after the firepower of the mountain artillery company is suppressed, immediately begin to retreat, and the third battalion will provide cover!"
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"Yes!" the guard responded, and then quickly followed the traffic trench to the forward position.
"What? Retreat?" Geng Erdong was stunned when he heard this. Although the enemy's offensive was fierce, the Second Battalion's position was still stable and it was not yet time to retreat.
"Yes, the political commissar said that the Second Battalion suffered a lot of casualties. Let's go down to rest and wait for the counterattack!"
Hearing what the guard said, Geng Erdong immediately said: "Okay, I understand!"
Then Geng Erdong glanced at the appeasement troops who were still rushing up, and ordered: "Guards, inform each company to retreat. Before retreating, shoot out all the mortar shells!"
In this battle, the 2nd Battalion suffered more than 40 casualties among the heavy machine gun shooters and ammunition feeders alone. Counting other soldiers, the total casualties were more than 180 soldiers.
The appeasement army suffered even more heavy casualties. The third regiment of the 19th Division of the appeasement army, which was the first to attack, retreated with more than half of its casualties after attacking for more than an hour.
The fourth regiment of the 19th Division was now launching the frontal attack. At the same time, there was also a regiment of the Pacification Army on the east and west sides.
"Commander, the Eighth Route Army's firepower is too strong. There is not even a bunker in front. The brothers really can't stand it anymore. It's almost time. Let the brothers withdraw!" A battalion commander of the puppet army had gauze wrapped around his head.
He begged with a sad face.
"Withdraw? If the Japanese don't say anything, who among us would dare to withdraw?" While speaking, the commander of the puppet army glanced at the Japanese adviser who was personally directing the battle.
Compared with the Third Regiment, the situation of the Fourth Puppet Regiment was much better. During the early battle, the Puppet Army dug a trench, and the Fourth Puppet Regiment launched an attack from the trench, thus shortening the attack distance in disguise.
While the two were talking, the situation ahead changed again.
The firepower of the Eighth Route Army suddenly increased, and more than a hundred mortars opened fire. In just ten seconds, more than 700 grenades fell on the attacking formation of the Appeasement Army.
Although the attack formation of the Appeasement Army was dispersed, the Eighth Route Army's mortars seemed to have eyes, specifically targeting crowded places.
The more than 800 appeasement troops scattered on the frontal battlefield had no intention of attacking. Under the fierce bombardment, their casualties increased sharply again, and they retreated backwards.
There were several man-made mounds behind it, and battalion-level Japanese tactical instructors who specialized in supervising operations were hidden here. Seeing this, the little Japanese immediately commanded a dozen Japanese soldiers to organize the appeasement troops to retreat.
"Bagaya road!" The little devil held a Southern Type 14 pistol in his hand and knocked down several appeasement army soldiers with several shots.
"Taijun, the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire is too fierce, let us go down and take a breather!" begged a puppet army officer in the lead.
"Go back, go back quickly, or you will die!" the little devil shouted menacingly.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Eighth Route Army soldiers on the opposite side noticed the relatively densely populated area, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of artillery shells flew over.
The little devil who was still showing off his evil just now was immediately blown away, the smoke cleared, and all the Japanese and puppet soldiers who stayed here died.
Long before, the Second Battalion had discovered through binoculars that there were Japanese presence in several soil pockets here. There was no need to dispatch a mountain artillery company. Only 50 mortars were enough to threaten them. They just thought that the Japs would be needed to force the appeasement army to attack by force.
Only these little devils who were supervising the battle were spared.
In the trench at the rear, the commander of the puppet army looked at the tragic situation in front. He couldn't help but swallowed his saliva. He suddenly came back to his senses and said to himself that the Eighth Route Army had been really merciful before. He turned to the Japanese adviser in the regiment and said:
"Taijun, withdraw first!"
"Baga, how can the Eighth Route Army's small-caliber mortars have such a long range? It far exceeds the Imperial Army's Type 89 grenades!" the Japanese adviser scolded.
Just as the two were talking, the long-defunct mountain artillery battery opened fire again. Each of the six mountain artillery fired a basic number of shells, aiming directly at the disintegrated appeasement army, and then opened fire at the moving Japanese tanks further back.
