Chapter 922: Destruction of the 50th Regiment of the 14th Division
The ground defense system in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan base area is a combination of highway lines and ditches. To a certain extent, it is the same as the cage policy implemented by the Japanese army in North China.
An independent regiment is stationed in each county. The regiment headquarters and directly affiliated teams are located in the county. Each battalion and company is stationed in many towns along the highway. Local armed forces and militia are scattered in vast rural areas.
As a result, the original linear shape of the entire defense system became a mesh shape.
Stationed in Huanggang Town is the First Battalion of the Shanxian Independent Regiment. In order to achieve the purpose of the center blooming, Zhou Weihan specially arranged the First Regiment directly under the General District in Huanggang.
"Chief, my idea is that the headquarters should evacuate immediately!"
Luo Benzhong glanced at Chi Fengnian, the leader of the first regiment, and shook his head decisively: "No!"
"It's not that I have to stay in Huanggang to add pressure to you, but there is no way to evacuate. You are also a battle-hardened person, so staying in Huanggang is the safest."
"There are many people in the headquarters. If you retreat along the highway, you will definitely be noticed by the Japanese cavalry. Will the Japanese commander continue to attack Huanggang?"
"If you evacuate to the west, once the highway line defenses are breached, the Japanese cavalry can conduct reconnaissance on all sides at will. Once the headquarters is found to be transferred, the reason is the same."
"So the headquarters can only be in Huanggang!"
The perspectives of Luo Benzhong and Urakawa Michio were surprisingly similar. From the very beginning when he led the headquarters into Huanggang, Luo Benzhong had no intention of leaving.
Chi Fengnian nodded helplessly. No subordinate wanted to be with his superior. In addition to the issue of command authority, it also involved the safety of his superior.
Chi Fengnian took command of the Huanggang battle. Since the First Regiment directly under the Military Region was not familiar with highway defenses, the First Battalion of the Shanxian Independent Regiment took the initiative to ask Ying to deploy its troops on the periphery.
The Japanese army still uses the same tactics. After the artillery bombardment, the infantry rushes in. This may seem rigid, but it is extremely easy to use on the Chinese battlefield. Ordinary fortifications cannot withstand the power of Japanese artillery.
However, now that the war is going on, both the Nationalist Army and the Eighth Route Army have studied the Japanese tactics in depth.
"The Japs are coming!" the soldiers who stayed on the position to monitor the movements of the Japanese troops roared loudly.
The Hebei, Shandong, and Yu plains are not as big as those of the Three Shanxi Provinces. The purpose of highways is to facilitate transportation and prosper commerce, so most of the places that highways pass through are plains.
The positions on both sides of the road were composed of bunkers, trenches, and artillery holes. There was endless open space outside, which meant that the Japanese army had no cover when attacking.
There was only one squad stationed in this area where the Japanese attacked. It was originally thought that resistance had been lost due to the shelling, but the Japanese squadron leader led the squadron and prepared to occupy the position with confidence.
To the surprise of the Japanese army, the Eighth Route Army's light machine guns in the bunker were not destroyed, and the charging Japanese troops were continuously knocked down. At the same time, the Eighth Route Army on both sides of the north and south quickly converged on the fighting area.
The two attacking Japanese troops retreated one after another. Michio Urakawa, who was observing the battle ahead through a telescope, was very puzzled: "Nani? Why didn't the heavy artillery destroy the Chinese firepower?"
The 14th Division once fought against the Nationalist Army on the Longhai Line until it returned to China for rest and recuperation in 1940. Since then, it has been stationed outside the customs for a long time.
In Mizuhiro Urakawa's impression, the Chinese army could only slightly compete with the imperial army by virtue of its numerical superiority, but it could not change the outcome of defeat.
"It seems that the Chinese people have really made some progress. Our army fought too hastily. We should conduct careful reconnaissance before the war."
The adjutant on the side used an artillery scope to have a clearer view: "Sir, there is a bunker buried deep underground on the Eighth Route Army position."
Urakawa Michihiro quickly stood in front of the artillery team mirror, with a stack of ammunition boxes placed in front of him as a bunker. Only then did he realize that the Eighth Route Army's firepower point was more than three meters above the ground.
War promotes the advancement of weapons and also changes tactics. After years of war, simple trenches become above-ground fortresses and underground bunkers.
The bunker on the Japanese offensive position happened to be on a slope. The bunker changed from being half exposed on the ground to completely buried underground. The upper layer was at least three to four meters thick in loess, and there were three trapezoidal shooting holes in the front.
Since the fortifications were built for a period of time, the loess covering them has long been hardened and even grass has grown on them. You can't tell anything unusual unless you look carefully.
"Baga, we must seize a position that can be settled as soon as possible." Urakawa Michihiro showed an anxious look on his face, and immediately ordered: "The warriors of our 14th Division have already tested the firepower layout of the Chinese, and ordered the soldiers of the Guards Division to
Soldiers go up!"
"Each attacking team selects three hundred people, but let them choose themselves!"
Michihiro Urakawa came up with a vicious plan to cause internal strife among the Japanese troops in the Guards Division. Not long after, the Japanese troops started shelling again.
However, this time the shelling was at the location of the firepower point, and shells continued to fall around the bunker. As the shelling ended, the death squads composed of the Guards Division were on the front line of the offensive team, followed closely by the squadrons of the Guards Division.
"Click, click, click!" The light machine gun in the bunker fired again.
"The Japanese have invested a lot of troops. I'm afraid they won't be able to withstand it this time. It would be great if they had a heavy machine gun!"
Zhou Weihan once said that the defensive line is used to break through. At this time, there were more than 40 soldiers gathered on the position, but the Japanese army only had about 500 people.
There was a big gap in numbers between the two sides. Who would have thought that the Japanese soldiers of the Guards Division who were running at the front suddenly raised their white shirts with their hands and then suddenly ran towards the defense line away from Huanggang Town.
This scene not only confused the minds of the soldiers on the position, but also caught the Japanese troops of the 14th Division behind by surprise, directly exposing them to the shooting range of the Eighth Route Army.
"Baga!" Urakawa Michihiro was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
The Japanese soldiers of the Guards Division were running and waving their white shirts. The Japanese soldiers who knew some Chinese shouted loudly: "We are here to surrender, don't shoot."
The Eighth Route Army soldiers on the position did not fire, because they found that this group of Japanese soldiers not only held white flags, but also did not even have a few weapons in their hands.
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A group of Japanese soldiers jumped over the position, their weapons automatically placed on the ground, and the officers among them even began to organize a formation.
A bizarre scene appeared. The Japanese troops stood neatly in several rows on the road. The leading officer said, we are officers and soldiers of the Guards Division. A few days ago, we surrendered to the 14th Brigade of your army south of the Longhai Line.
Today we continue to surrender to your army.
On the battlefield, a deputy commander was reporting the situation to Chi Fengnian over the phone.
"Captain Chi, these Japs avoided the fighting area and then ran to our company's position. It seems that they sincerely surrendered."
After the deputy company commander hung up the phone, he immediately asked two soldiers to send the Japanese troops of the Guards Division to Huanggang Town.
This situation was not accidental. The Japanese troops of the two Guards Divisions broke away from the attacking team and surrendered to the Eighth Route Army. This was obviously a long-planned move.
The surrender of this group of Japanese troops not only led to the disadvantages of the second attack, but also brought detailed information about the Japanese army.
"According to the statement of the surrendering Japanese army, they belonged to the Guards Division, with a total of about 1,400 people. All the weapons were brought over by them, and the remaining 800 people had no weapons. In addition, the main force of the Japanese army this time was the 50th Regiment of the 14th Division.
Team, an artillery battalion equipped with 12 mountain guns!"
"The Japanese commander was named Michihiro Urakawa, and he intended to use the Japanese troops of the Guards Division as cannon fodder, so the remaining 800 Japanese troops were also dissatisfied, but they just didn't find an opportunity!"
A combat staff officer at the regiment headquarters reported the summarized situation one by one.
Luo Benzhong immediately realized the importance of this piece of information. In fact, Zhou Weihan had never been able to figure out the specific number of people in the 14th Division, so he immediately deployed four regiments on the periphery.
After the failure of the third attack, Urakawa Mizuhiro realized the unreliability of the Guards Division, and immediately increased troops on the north and south sides of Huanggang Town.
Facing the numerically superior Japanese army, the commanders and soldiers on the position knew that there was no possibility of holding on. After killing and injuring the Japanese army, they immediately abandoned the bunker and evacuated away from Huanggang.
For safety reasons, Michihiro Urakawa set up his headquarters in a bunker and at the same time directed the Japanese army to launch a north-south encirclement of Huanggang Town.
"Sir, there is a considerable number of Eighth Route Army troops around the highway. They do not want to fight with our army and will withdraw after a short confrontation. The pursuit troops ask if they want to continue the pursuit?"
Urakawa Michihiro shook his head: "The top priority is to capture Huanggang Town. The Eighth Route Army on the periphery is deliberately distracting our troops. Leave them alone!"
In order to capture Huanggang Town as soon as possible, the Japanese troops of the 14th Division under Michihiro Urakawa attacked from the north and south sides respectively. The battle became intense from the beginning.
"The strength is at least two thousand, and the weapons and equipment are not weak, including infantry cannons and mortars!"
The Japanese army never expected that a small town of Huanggang could hide so many Eighth Route Army troops. Of course, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army of the 14th Division should not be underestimated.
The two sides fought until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the Japanese troops broke through the wall of Huanggang Town and were immediately pushed out again.
However, even worse news came. Urakawa Michihiro had long been worried that the main force of the Eighth Route Army from the previous Longhai line battle would go north, so he sent cavalry to conduct reconnaissance in the direction of Yucheng.
"Sir, the main force of the Eighth Route Army has indeed been discovered in the direction of Yucheng. This must be a trap of the Eighth Route Army."
Without the adjutant's reminder, Urakawa Michihiro also discovered that something was wrong. Under normal circumstances, there would not be so many defenders in Huanggang Town.
In fact, the two regiments of the 13th Brigade of Jingdagang were only more than an hour behind the Japanese army. The 2nd Regiment secretly stationed in the defenses around the highway line, the 1st Regiment was in the southeast of Huanggang, the 11th Regiment of the 4th Teaching Brigade was in the east, and the 10th Regiment was in the northeast.
The four regiments mobilized by Zhou Weihan have formed a large net outside Huanggang, just waiting for Luo Benzhong inside Huanggang to send a signal.
"Order the troops to regroup immediately and retreat along the original route!"
As soon as the Japanese army showed signs of retreat, Luo Benzhong immediately contacted the four surrounding regiments through the walkie-talkie. According to Urakawa Michihiro's order, the Japanese troops on the north and south sides were to meet in the open space outside Huanggang.
However, the retreat of the Japanese army did not go smoothly. The first regiment directly under the military region in Huanggang launched a counterattack against the Japanese army on the north side, which effectively delayed the retreat of the Japanese army on the north side.
At the same time, the Japanese troops on the south side who had assembled at the predetermined location found a large group of Eighth Route Army troops in the surrounding area, and instructed the 10th Regiment of the Fourth Brigade to quickly reinforce Huanggang and annihilate the Japanese troops on the north side.
The 11th Regiment of the 4th Brigade, the 1st Regiment of the 13th Brigade, and the 2nd Regiment of the 13th Brigade were taught to target the Japanese troops on the south side led by Michihiro Urakawa himself.
Due to the unsmooth retreat of the Japanese army, the two groups of Japanese troops were successfully divided by the Eighth Route Army. There were only about 1,500 Japanese troops on the north side and about 2,500 Japanese troops on the south side.
At this time, Michihiro Urakawa realized that he had made a fatal mistake. There was nothing wrong in giving the order to retreat, but now it seems that the Japanese army voluntarily gave up a position that could be defended.
Just as the three regiments were attacking in large numbers, the Guards Division in the Japanese army's formation suddenly stirred up momentum and disrupted the Japanese army's formation from within.
"Baga!" Urakawa Michihiro was horrified to find that he seemed to have lost command of the troops.
The Japanese soldiers of the Guards Division were very experienced. In order to prevent being accidentally injured, they decisively lay down on the ground, and any standing Japanese soldiers became the target of attacks by the Eighth Route Army soldiers.
8,000 vs. 2,000, I have the advantage.
The battle lasted for more than an hour. Before his death, Michihiro Urakawa sent a telegram in pieces, burned the regiment flag, and committed suicide by caesarean section.
In this battle, more than 4,000 Japanese troops of the 14th Division were wiped out, but most of the 1,400 Japanese troops of the Guards Division survived.