In particular, the 28th Regiment had to detach part of its troops and strengthen the protection of the artillery that fought during the day and made great contributions to the 28th Regiment's ability to hold its position. This made Kaneoka Masatada feel that the troops were even tighter. , but he also knew that without artillery cover, he might not be able to hold on for even a day.
Although Kaneoka Masatada and other senior officers of the Japanese army believed that the Imperial Army of the Empire of Japan, both officers and soldiers, were absolutely fearless and willing to sacrifice themselves for the emperor, he also knew clearly that after all, the Japanese soldiers were also It is made of human flesh, and no matter how fierce it is, it cannot withstand the attack of a cannonball.
All senior Japanese generals know that the gap in firepower cannot be made up by manpower and tactics alone. Otherwise, the Japanese army would not strive to develop heavy artillery of various calibers, as well as modern weapons such as tanks and aircraft. Although due to technical and The restrictions on combat targets, and the performance and power of most heavy weapons still lag behind those in the West.
However, the Japanese army has never stopped researching and developing various heavy weapons. They even spent a lot of money to buy samples and patents from the West and then came back to imitate them. Their sense of the development trend of heavy weapons is quite sensitive. The Japanese are very sensitive to the development of new weapons. , not slow.
As for Bushido, for the Japanese army, it was only used to coax junior officers and soldiers, and to boost morale and make them firm in their determination to devote themselves to the Emperor. On the battlefield, firepower had to speak for itself. If Bushido was really useful, it would have to be What do heavy artillery, aircraft, and tanks do?
Facing an entirely new opponent, with the overwhelming artillery, aviation firepower, and endless new weapons in this battle, Colonel Masatada Kaneoka knew that the 28th Regiment was full of heads and full of weapons. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for too long, especially on this flat terrain.
During the daytime battle, he saw the power of the artillery of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, Kanoka Masatada. Not only was the firepower fierce, the light and heavy artillery was complete, but its shooting accuracy was not inferior to that of the Japanese artillery, which always claimed to be elite. Every barrage shot After that, the bomb craters on his position were neatly arranged like fish scales, but his reaction speed during the war was even faster than that of the Japanese artillery.
Today's battle during the day left a profound impression on Kaneoka Masatada and the soldiers of the 28th Regiment under him, especially the extremely fast rate of fire in the face-to-face resistance alliance. A rifle can suppress an enemy. It is an infantry weapon similar to the Taisho 13-type light machine gun.
There are also light and small-caliber artillery that can fire at an extremely fast rate and can easily turn the civil fortifications built by oneself into a hornet's nest. Even tanks and armored vehicles are equally vulnerable to the fire of this kind of rapid-fire cannon. If it hits a person, it can easily tear the person in half.
The huge lethality of the 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun's level fire made Kanoka Masatada think that the new equipment of the Anti-Japanese Alliance was a powerful, fast-firing, and ultra-long-range light artillery. After all, it was not even equipped with armored vehicles, light tanks, etc. Even civil engineering works cannot withstand the fire of this kind of weapon, so for ordinary people, it is easy to judge it as a cannon or a gun. How can it be so powerful that it can turn a tank into a hornet's nest.
There are also light direct-aiming artillery pieces that can be carried around by one person, which impressed Masatada Kaneoka even more. The far, medium and near cross-fire network composed of these light weapons gave a huge impact during daytime battles. The 28th Regiment suffered heavy casualties.
Fighting against such an opponent, without effective artillery support, it may be difficult to defend. For Masataka Kaneoka, not only cannot the troops be deployed to guard the artillery, but on the contrary, it must be strengthened. Who knows what the opponent in front of him will do? You won't take advantage of the darkness to sneak in and blow up your own artillery.
Therefore, for Kaneoka Masatada, although he was very reluctant, he still had to deploy a squadron of troops on the already tight defense line to protect those who could only protect those who could only fight because of the air superiority of the Anti-Japanese Alliance on the front line. The artillery adopts the tactics of dispersed deployment and concentrated shooting at the target in the form of a single gun.
During the daytime battle, as the key target of the anti-alliance aviation, the artillery suffered little loss due to its dispersed layout and enhanced concealment. However, who can guarantee that at night, the opponent would not use sneak attack tactics to eliminate them during the day? artillery.
There is no way. Since the beginning of this battle, the Kwantung Army aviation has not known what it means to have an advantage on the battlefield. It has disadvantages in equipment. In addition, a large number of veteran pilots have been transferred to Vietnam and the Southern Army. New fighter jets The equipment has been deployed to the Southern Army since the beginning of the year.
The aircraft currently used by the Kwantung Army are mainly fighter jets purchased from Germany. In battle, it is difficult to compete with the American fighter jets currently equipped by the Anti-Japanese Alliance. The Kwantung Army aviation force feels that every time it takes off for combat, the opponent feels that the aircraft it flies is The performance of German fighter aircraft is very familiar.
This makes it difficult for the Kwantung Army to gain an advantage in air battles. Although it cannot be said that it always returns with a huge defeat, its ground support is extremely limited and cannot even cover the actions of ground troops. The failure of the air battle leaves the front line The artillery of each division can only be deployed dispersedly, for fear that the aviation force of the Anti-Japanese Alliance will be overwhelmed by centralized deployment.
At this time, the Japanese artillery had no longer dared to directly deploy the artillery on the bare positions like last autumn battle and the battle inside the pass. In many cases, they did not even build bunkers. When needed, Just find a suitable place, set up the artillery and shoot.
And they don't care at all about the opponent's pitiful artillery counterattack and let their artillery put out the fire, because for their opponents, that pitiful firepower does not pose any threat at all, especially in the Guanci Civil War, their opponents even have a group army , there are only a few cannons, and mortars are the main supporting firepower on most battlefields.
As for heavy artillery and mountain artillery, there is very little firepower that can pose a threat to the Japanese artillery. Air-to-ground support has always been a special project of the Japanese army. In the Guanci Civil War, the Imperial Japanese Army suffered bombings, but the current At least in the Northeast, the Kwantung Army no longer had the same arrogance as before.
In last year's summer battle, the Japanese army suffered a big loss in this regard. In the artillery battle between the two armies after the battle, they also did not take any advantage, especially when they fired against the Anti-Japanese Rocket Artillery. Once it explodes, one cannon is almost equivalent to the artillery of a group of artillery, and it is impossible to deal with it at all.
Therefore, the Japanese army, which had suffered countless heavy losses, changed its previous arrogance and became unprecedentedly cautious. Not only did they build a large number of solid artillery fortifications during this battle, they also distributed a large number of camouflage nets to cover the artillery bunkers. , most of them also adopted the tactics of deploying small clusters or even single artillery and concentrating firepower. Whether it was a confrontation or a war, heavy troops were deployed to cover these artillery units.
However, the quality of the Japanese army's artillery is indeed excellent. Although under this tactic, field telephones can only be used for command, the accuracy of cluster shooting has not dropped significantly. During the daytime artillery battle, the artillerymen of the Ninth Division were very disappointed. At a disadvantage, without these artillery pieces, the 28th Regiment might not have collapsed, but the position would probably have been lost.
Therefore, Kaneoka Masatada can conclude that if the Anti-Japanese Alliance launches a night attack, they will definitely focus on artillery, because if they do not destroy the artillery that caused them heavy losses during the day, they want to eliminate the 28th Regiment at least in a short time. It's impossible within the time limit, and judging from the overall situation around them, they won't be willing to be tied up with too many troops and too much time here.
Moreover, for Kaneoka Masatada, what he has to worry about is not only that the Anti-Japanese Alliance will give priority to his artillery positions in frontal attacks, but also that the Kanto Army Intelligence Department reported before the war that the Anti-Japanese Army's elusive and powerful ghost-like force They can easily infiltrate even the heavily guarded rear area, let alone the criss-crossed front lines.
Before this battle, the Kwantung Army Headquarters had issued a notice, telling the Japanese troops at the division level and above to tell them that they must not only do everything possible to prevent the Anti-Japanese Alliance fire counterattack, but also strengthen the attack on key targets, such as artillery positions. , protection of headquarters at all levels.
Although the Kwantung Army headquarters does not yet know the specific situation of this unit and does not have detailed intelligence, at least the Kwantung Army now knows that its opponent is an elusive unit that specializes in picking out important targets of the Kwantung Army. Their strike range can even reaching hundreds of kilometers.
Before this battle, the Kwantung Army headquarters did not pay much attention to the back-and-forth between the two sides on the front line. However, before this battle, the incident that occurred at the Gongzhuling Chariot School made the Kwantung Army headquarters very frightened. Hundreds of kilometers away from the front line, a target that was still within the strategic depth of the Kwantung Army at least for now was unexpectedly attacked by an opponent. This shocked everyone in the Kwantung Army.
Before the war, the Gongzhuling Chariot School where the Kwantung Army stored the printing equipment of the Puppet Central Bank of Manchukuo was unexpectedly attacked by a unit of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. During this battle, not only the Gongzhuling Airport was attacked under tight security, but also all the people on the airport. Except for a few people who were lucky enough to survive hiding in some special place, a squadron of security personnel, dozens of pilots and ground guidance personnel were all killed, and no one survived.
As for the Gongzhuling Chariot School, which temporarily served as guards for the so-called financial stability and money printing equipment of Manchukuo, more than 300 students were all killed in the opponent's sneak attack. When the support troops arrived, except for one Nothing was left except the bullet casing.
Even the bulky money-printing equipment stored in Gongzhuling Chariot School was stolen, and even the printing technicians there were all missing. Penetration tactics were used to sneak attack and occupy the airport, and then attack the airport ten kilometers away. After seizing the equipment, the tank school used the captured trucks to transport the equipment away in the shortest possible time.
In this sneak attack, the opponent's performance was as smooth as clouds and water, and the layout was meticulous. His actions could even be described as invisible or without a trace. This made everyone in the Kwantung Army headquarters feel chills on their necks. Today was the batch of banknote printing. Equipment, if one day they want to destroy the Kwantung Army Headquarters, they can also sneak attack the conspicuous Kwantung Army Headquarters building in Xinjing City.