The northern part of Caoxian County, Qinggangji, is about sixty miles away from the old road of the Yellow River. The terrain on both sides of the road here is slightly undulating, forming a small hill in some areas.
The heavy artillery battalion of the Tainan Military Region consists of twelve 150-caliber howitzers and six 105-caliber cannons forming the west wing artillery group. The American mountain artillery battalion has eighteen 75-caliber mountain cannons, four American 105-caliber howitzers and two 105-caliber grenade guns.
A howitzer battery composed of Lupp howitzers and six 107-caliber heavy mortars belonging to the heavy mortar battery were placed on the east side of the road to form the east wing artillery group.
The terrain of the Hebei, Shandong, and Henan areas is flat. The heavy artillery captured from the Japanese army can be used in tractors. As long as it does not rain, it can move around the base area unobstructed.
The entire heavy artillery cluster has a total of forty-eight artillery pieces. It is a gift prepared by Zhou Weihan for the 16th Division. The number of artillery pieces is equivalent to that of the Japanese Army's Type A Division, but its power is far greater than that of the Japanese Army's Type A Division.
Artillery Regiment.
Zhou Weihan's target was the five heavy artillery brigades of the Japanese army. This time they went to war and mobilized so many troops. On the one hand, the heavy artillery unit of the Eighth Route Army had hardly been used in previous battles. At this time, it was time to test the strength of the artillery unit.
As well as the coordination ability of infantry and artillery, on the other hand, the lion fights the rabbit with all his strength. Zhou Weihan naturally will not underestimate this group of elite Japanese troops.
After landing, the Japanese troops of the 16th Division took a short rest and began to pursue the main force of the Eighth Route Army in front of them.
Traveling from the old route of the Yellow River to most of the northern part of Caoxian County, to the surprise of Mitsuo Nakazawa, there was no resistance at all along the way. The main force of the Eighth Route Army was tracked by the Japanese search team, and no small force was left behind.
To block.
This unusual behavior immediately alerted Mitsuo Nakazawa, who immediately ordered the troops to stop marching and then convened the chief officials of each ministry for discussion.
"How are the progress of the 35th Division and the 21st Division on the east and west wings of our department? Please use the radio to contact us immediately!" Mitsuo Nakazawa was worried that he would go too far alone, so he immediately asked his adjutant to contact other Japanese combat units.
The adjutant took the order and left. However, Jing Minming, Noda Takeshi and others had recovered from their previous setbacks. The long drive along the way made their arrogance grow more and more.
"Sir, with all due respect, as you said before, our army still has strength. Previously, the Eighth Route Army only relied on fortifications to resist our army. Along the way, there were few households in the entire southwestern Shandong area that were unsafe. The Eighth Route Army
How can we continue to resist in front of the imperial army’s offensive!”
"In my opinion, the Eighth Route Army seems to want to hold on to the city. If its main force is allowed to escape to Heze County, the difficulty of attacking the city will be greatly increased. Even if the imperial army captures Heze County, the casualties will not be small!" Jing Minming said bluntly!
road.
"What do you mean?"
"Our troops can speed up the march and destroy the Eighth Route Army in front of us. In terms of field capabilities, the infantry regiment of our 16th Division can easily defeat a Chinese division-level combat unit from the front!"
"At this time, the Imperial Army is besieging the Eighth Route Army base area from multiple fronts. How many Eighth Route Army troops do we need to face? If we are really surrounded by heavy Eighth Route Army troops, we can also stand firm and wait for reinforcements until the Imperial Army troops on the east and west wings are surrounded by the Eighth Route Army.
What's the harm in starting an encirclement?"
I Toshiaki's arrogant words immediately aroused the approval of the other Japanese officers present. Even Nakazawa Mitsuo was shaken. Naturally, Nakazawa Mitsuo was confident in the combat effectiveness of his subordinates.
"Report, the Thirty-fifth Division just broke through the Eighth Route Army's defense line on the old course of the Yellow River half an hour ago. The Eighth Route Army fled towards Heze. The first division is currently pursuing them. General Harada asked if our division needs support and can send a partial division.
Come and join us!"
"The 21st Division is still entangled with the Eighth Route Army in the Huxi area and has not yet arrived in Wuhan, the city in southwestern Shandong!" the adjutant who went to contact reported back.
"Contact the 35th Division to meet up with our troops at the junction of Caoxian County and Dingtao!" A hint of joy flashed across Zhongze Sanfu's face. It was easy to eliminate the group of Eighth Route Army troops in front of him. He was just worried about being attacked by the rest of the Eighth Route Army troops.
He stared at them, and then said in a deep voice: "Order the troops to advance at full speed, and we must destroy this group of Eighth Route Army before dark!"
The story is divided into two parts, Qinggang Ji.
The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Regiment were located on the hill on the left, the 3rd Battalion and the regiment-affiliated teams were responsible for building positions on the road, and the assault regiment in charge of Dong Jiang was located on the hill on the right.
The fortifications of the entire position had been completed yesterday, and the Japanese army had not seen any movement for a long time. Jing Dagang and Dong Jiang were bored, and each of them held a low-power walkie-talkie in his hand and chatted.
"Dong Jiang, judging from the battle situation reported by the headquarters, the Japanese casualties are not small. There are at least thousands of people. Apart from the artillery, the Japanese army has only a few people in total. If the little devil really entered the ambush circle, just those dozens
One artillery piece is enough for them. When it's our turn to go on stage, we will really be collecting the corpses of the little devils!" Jing Dagang complained over the walkie-talkie.
"Hey, the dead camel is bigger than the horse. We don't know the specific combat effectiveness of the Japanese A-type division. The *** members are right to be so cautious. The Japanese marching team is long and cannot take advantage of artillery fire, and the two of us
The regiments were deployed on both sides of the ambush circle, blocking the Japanese army like a dam. The Japanese army gathered their forces and launched a charge, so that the artillery troops could use their artillery superiority to greater effect!" Dong Jiang said.
While the two were talking, a correspondent from the guard camp of the Southwest Shandong Military Division arrived on horseback and shouted toward the ambush circle: "Who is Commander Dong?"
"That's me!" Dong Jiang responded as he got up from his hiding place.
"Commander Dong, the remaining Japanese troops have accelerated their march and are less than twenty miles away from here!" the correspondent reported.
Upon hearing this, Dong Jiang said to the telegraph operator beside him: "Has the headquarters sent a warning telegram?"
"No, the last power supply was half an hour ago. The Japanese army's Xinxiang Airport has not moved. The Japanese army's reconnaissance planes have been operating in Dongming territory before. Since the 35th Division broke through the defense line of the old Yellow River, the planes have not taken off!" said the telegraph operator.
"Okay! Hey, Lao Jing, you heard it just now, the Japs are coming, you immediately notify the west wing artillery group to get ready!"
At the other end, the Japanese army led by Mitsuo Nakazawa saw that the Eighth Route Army was in front of them, and once again ordered the troops to speed up their march, but they were never able to catch up with the Eighth Route Army that was right in front of them.
"Bagayalu, are the legs of these Eighth Route Army soldiers made of iron?" Mitsuo Nakazawa said in disbelief. He couldn't believe how the Eighth Route Army soldiers, who couldn't even eat enough to eat, could be physically stronger than the Japanese army.
But little did they know that iron baseboards were an old tradition of the Eighth Route Army.