Qi Zhiyuan believed that if there was a defensive or offensive battle on the battlefield, the Sixth Company, as the fist company of the 27th Regiment, would never be confused, let alone lose to any company of the Ninth Division, but if it engaged in this kind of reconnaissance behind enemy lines The commander of a pure infantry company like the Sixth Company was not good at fighting and destroying the enemy. Especially conducting such a solitary and in-depth battle at night was a considerable test for the Sixth Company.
Just when Qi Zhiyuan was somewhat nervous about whether his troops could complete the tasks assigned by the regiment commander, the feint troops over there led by the deputy company commander had already launched into action, accompanied by violent explosions caused by explosive cords exploding in the minefield. When the landmine exploded, there were crisp explosions, 700 meters to the north of Qi Zhiyuan, and at the same time there was a dense sound of gunfire.
The Japanese soldiers were not fools. When the explosions rang out in the minefield, they immediately understood that someone was using blasting and mine clearance methods to clear the minefield. They desperately used firepower to try to block the next follow-up mine clearance operation of the attacking troops opposite them, and at the same time blockaded the minefield. Seize the passage opened by the opponent through blasting.
After all, as a minefield with a width of fifty meters, it is not possible to open a wide enough channel with just one explosive rope. Even a company-level attack channel needs a five-meter-wide channel to be considered safe, and a single explosive rope can open a channel wide enough. The rope can only destroy a distance of three meters wide at most. For the Japanese army, the opponent in front of them will definitely carry out follow-up demining operations.
As soon as the Japanese machine guns, grenades and mortars fired, the fire cover team commanded by the instructor of the Sixth Company over there also used intensive firepower to suppress the Japanese firepower desperately. Two large-caliber machine guns, and three more The company's general-purpose machine gun fired desperately, covering the blasting operations of the troops in front. Bullets of various calibers shuttled back and forth in the night sky, forming beautiful ballistics, making the battlefield that had calmed down for less than a few hours once again become noisy. stand up.
Hearing the explosions and the intensive gunfire from the north, Qi Zhiyuan did not hesitate. With a wave of his hand, he took the lead in leading the team to crawl into the Japanese minefield and began clearing mines as quickly as possible. He knew that the feinting troops in the north were fighting for him. There won't be too much time. The Japanese army is not the kind of fool who can't even judge the size of the opponent's attacking troops. Once the feint is seen through, it will no longer be possible for them to quietly infiltrate the Japanese army's position.
After entering the minefield, Qi Zhiyuan was somewhat lucky to find that the actual width of the Japanese minefield was not wider than he expected, and the density was far less dense than he had imagined. The actual width of the minefield was only about thirty meters. , the rest are just fakes made by the Japanese army using some cans or painted wooden blocks.
The actual width of the minefield was not as wide as he imagined, and the density was not as large as it seemed. For Qi Zhiyuan, this was naturally a good thing, and the Japanese army in front of him was obviously attracted by the sound of gunfire from the north. , apart from occasionally firing in this direction with a machine gun obviously located deep in the depth, it did not pay much attention to this side.
Seeing that the Japanese army's attention was attracted by the feint of the deputy company commander, Qi Zhiyuan waved his hand back without any hesitation, signaling the squad leaders following him to start clearing mines immediately, while he himself took the lead in picking up the mines. Local materials were collected, and the Type 30 bayonets removed from the Japanese rifles that died in the battle began to clear mines.
This tool he used would make the troops inside the pass who had been short of guns and ammunition not know how to feel distressed when they saw it and called him a prodigal son. If you clear mines, you can clear mines. It is normal to use a bayonet to clear mines, but why do you have to use a bayonet to clear mines? Not only did he break a good bayonet, but several squad leaders behind him also had Type 30 bayonets that were broken for convenience.
At the moment, Qi Zhiyuan was not in the mood to worry about the Guan Nei troops thousands of miles away. What did he think when he saw the demining tool in his hand? For him, passing through the minefield as quickly as possible and infiltrating the Japanese army's position, Finding the two artillery positions that pose a serious threat to our troops during the day is the most important thing right now.
In fact, in the past, except for the Type 93 anti-tank mine, the Japanese army rarely equipped mines used by ordinary infantry. Compared with landmines, when it was in defensive operations on the Chinese battlefield, the Japanese army preferred to use poison gas. Although During the battle, they suffered heavy losses from anti-Alliance mines, but the Japanese army was still stubborn in not equipping them with such a relatively cost-effective defensive weapon.
However, in the infiltration and counter-infiltration operations in the first half of this year, the Japanese army suffered a lot. In order to prevent the opponent's all-pervasive infiltration operations, the Japanese army used the captured anti-union landmines as prototypes and used their arsenal in Fengtian to imitate them in the shortest possible time. A batch of anti-infantry landmines were obtained and distributed to various divisions on the front line.
However, since the Japanese army has always paid little attention to the use of landmines in defensive operations, although they were forced to imitate and produce a batch due to the war situation, the number of imitations was generally not large, and the number of landmines allocated to the Seventh Division was not very large. The number given to the 28th Regiment is even less.
For the 28th Regiment, whose defense line is several kilometers wide, the few mines issued by the superiors are far from meeting the needs, especially after the battle losses during the day, there are very few mines left in the evening. If they want to deploy When it comes to a minefield that is wide enough, the 28th Regiment still has a long way to go with the mine reserves on hand.
In urgent need of everything to make up for the weakness of the lack of troops, but at the moment he was helpless. Colonel Masatada Kaneoka, the commander of the regiment, redeployed the minefield at night. In addition to mixing some mortar shells, grenades used in grenade canisters and poison gas shells, A large number of fake landmines were also made out of cans and buried in the minefields.
Originally, Colonel Masatada Kaneoka had spread poisonous gas, coupled with the seemingly real minefields. Unless the Anti-Alliance force used a large number of people, there would definitely be taboos in attacking at night, especially to prevent the opponent from using the cover of night to infiltrate his position. It will play a role that ordinary weapons cannot.
At the very least, if the Anti-Japanese Alliance wants to rely on manual demining, there is no need to think about it. If they use artillery fire to clear mines, then there is no need for their infiltration operations. Colonel Masatada Kaneoka's move can be said to be gambling, betting on the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Although each person has one gas mask, the number of protective clothing required for demining in poisonous gas-contaminated areas is not large.
He thought that the poisonous gas he spread to protect the half-true minefield was easily cracked by a small health worker from the Anti-Japanese Alliance using the materials on the position. The poisonous gas he spread in the minefield was not at all It did not prevent his opponents from clearing mines, and the methods used by his subordinates to lay mines were obviously not on the same level as his opponents.
In the Anti-Japanese Alliance, even ordinary troops were specially trained in mine-laying methods. When Japanese engineers were clearing mines, they often went up to a small team. When they came down, if there were only two or three kittens left, it would be enough. This is a pretty good result, and new mines often appear in places where engineers have cleared mines.
However, this result is also normal. When the Japanese engineers were training, they used captured ordinary compression-fired and mixed-fire anti-infantry landmines from the Anti-League. However, there are at least dozens of types of landmines produced by the Anti-League, including anti-infantry mines alone. In terms of detonation methods, there are trip fire, compression fire, pull fire, and electric fire. The killing methods include ordinary anti-personnel mines, anti-infantry jumping mines, directional mines, etc. There are even more types.
When laying landmines, many landmines were often tied with grenades, blasting tubes, and even special explosive packages composed of explosives and iron nails, as well as chain mines and other layout methods that were difficult for the Japanese army to prevent. The Japanese army, which used mines and trip mines, faced these various types of landmines, and it would be hard not to suffer a big loss, especially the anti-infantry jumping mines, which were almost fatal to Japanese engineers.
The Japanese army's mine-clearing methods are not very good, and their mine-laying methods are not that good. The layout of the minefields is extremely simple, with almost no tricks. They are all the simplest digging holes and laying mines, with no cover between them. The mines are imitations of the most common anti-infantry mines of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. There are no anti-infantry jump mines, no anti-infantry directional mines, and no magnetic mines specifically designed to deal with minesweepers and steel mine detectors.
For veterans like Qi Zhiyuan, there are many ways to clear this minefield, and facing familiar types of mines, the speed of clearing mines is naturally not much slower. In addition, the Japanese army can be said to be clumsy in the way of mine clearing. The speed is almost the same as on the training ground. If it weren't for having to look at the Japanese positions opposite from time to time, the demining speed would be much faster.
It took Qi Zhiyuan and several squad leaders less than twenty minutes to quickly open a three-meter-wide passage in the Japanese minefield with the intensive sound of gunfire from the north. As for the gas bombs that relied on landmines to detonate, Qi Zhiyuan didn't even look at it, but although the ones listed were imitations, their workmanship was obviously much more detailed, and the mines were not left behind.
After opening the passage, Qi Zhiyuan did not stop. He took off the submachine gun from his back and put it flat on his chest. He held a new Sanzer bayonet in his right hand and jumped into the minefield next to the two squad leaders who were demining with him. In the Japanese trench, a Japanese soldier whose attention was obviously attracted by the movement to the north was knocked down, and the bayonet in his hand was directly inserted into the Japanese soldier's back.
Beside him, the two squad leaders raised their swords and dropped their swords at almost the same time, killing two other Japanese soldiers who were staying in a Japanese combat group in front of them. They neatly eliminated three Japanese soldiers and glanced at the movements of the Japanese troops on both sides. Afterwards, Qi Zhiyuan turned on the flashlight he was carrying and sent a signal to the troops waiting in hiding on the other side of the minefield to advance immediately.
After receiving the signal from Qi Zhiyuan, the two platoons on the other side of the minefield, who had done their best to protect themselves as simply as possible, immediately followed the original plan, passed through the minefield channel opened by Qi Zhiyuan as quickly as possible, and jumped in one after another. Among the Japanese army's fortifications.
After the troops passed quickly, Qi Zhiyuan did not follow up immediately. Instead, he took off the gas mask on his face, stood on the edge of the Japanese trench, looked back at the Japanese minefield behind him, and then quickly jumped off the edge of the Japanese trench. Qi Zhiyuan and most of his men did not know that the minefield they had left behind had become a life-or-death line for most of them.