In response to Yang Jicai's worries, Lin Zhiqiang laughed and waved his hands and said: "You don't need to mobilize people for this. My troops in the front are indeed quite insufficient in strength and can only barely cope with the battle. But with the number of people using light and heavy weapons like yours, It’s still enough..”
"This batch of machine guns you allocated can just make up for my previous battle losses. I have been worried about the firepower in the front because the gap of light and heavy machine guns has not been replenished, and it is a little too thin. With these machine guns, you can just relieve me now." It’s an urgent matter, and I can’t care where Ren Guang got these machine guns. Anyway, they can’t just sit idle when they get to me.”
After listening to Lin Zhiqiang's statement, Yang Jicai shook his head but did not say anything else. After ordering the troops behind him to defend on the spot, he raised his telescope and looked at the front line of Straw Hat Mountain. He had to estimate what would happen to Straw Hat Mountain after he appeared. What will be the reaction of the Japanese and puppet troops on the front line?
At the same time, the artillery was ordered to prepare for battle. After the telephone line leading to the front line of Straw Hat Mountain was repaired, fire support would be provided to the front line of Straw Hat Mountain at any time according to the requirements of the front. As for the radio station, calibrating the artillery fire was too time-consuming, so it was better to adopt The situation of double insurance for walkie-talkies and telephones is relatively good.
Just when Yang Jicai raised the telescope again, Lin Zhiqiang suddenly discovered that he was wearing a small red logo on his right arm, which was not too eye-catching. Only when he got closer could he see the pattern on the logo clearly. It is marked with two golden horizontal bars and a gold star.
Seeing the mark on Yang Jicai's arm, Lin Zhiqiang, who had already known that the army was about to assess military ranks before he was transferred to Northeast China, hesitated and said, "This mark on your arm is a rank mark, right? We in the Anti-Japanese Alliance have already completed the awarding of military ranks." It’s work.”
Hearing the hint of envy in Lin Zhiqiang's tone, Lin Zhiqiang looked at the mark on his arm and said with a smile: "Well, except for the internal affairs troops, which have not yet been awarded the titles, all the field army departments have completed the work of receiving titles. , my military rank mark is the rank of major, which is equivalent to the original deputy regiment level or battalion level."
Having said this, Yang Jicai turned his head and looked at Lin Zhiqiang, who looked somewhat disappointed next to him, and said with a certain regret in his tone: "Old chief, according to your current position, you can at least be awarded a lieutenant colonel in our Anti-Japanese Alliance. With your qualifications and abilities, it is not impossible for you to be awarded the rank of colonel."
"No. 1 has always valued you. If the internal troops were not in urgent need of talents, No. 1 would have transferred you to the main division as chief of staff. This time you were awarded the military rank. Basically, our main division chiefs of staff are colonels. Only Very rarely, the rank of lieutenant colonel is awarded due to seniority issues.
"Regiment commanders and political commissars are generally lieutenant colonels, and some senior ones have the rank of colonel. Division commanders, military division commanders or column chiefs of staff are all senior colonels. Several column levels and various services and arms, The commanders and political commissars of each secondary military region are awarded the rank of major general. According to your seniority and position, senior leader, you can at least be a lieutenant colonel."
Although he was somewhat envious, Lin Zhiqiang was Lin Zhiqiang. After working beside Yang Zhen and Guo Bingxun for such a long time, his emotions quickly adjusted. Regarding Yang Jicai's regret, Lin Zhiqiang pondered for a while and shook his head and said: "The implementation of the military rank system is not Sooner or later, if we alone resist the alliance, the relevant troops will carry it out."
"Whether it is the Anti-Japanese League, the Eighteenth Group Army or the newly formed Fourth Army, all our troops are a whole. Some of the policies implemented by the Anti-Japanese League will be implemented by the internal forces sooner or later. The Anti-Japanese League first implemented the military rank system, but This is because the environment and location of the Anti-Japanese Alliance are relatively stable, and there are certain conditions for implementing the military rank system."
"The implementation of the military rank system is a sign that an army is moving from guerrilla mode to regularization. As long as we want to implement regularization, the entire army will implement this system sooner or later. The difference is just earlier or later. The troops have not implemented it yet because the conditions are not yet mature. When the conditions are mature, I think it will be implemented."
"If you want to say envy, there is indeed some envy. After all, this is an affirmation of a soldier's value, and this is definitely much easier than getting some medals from the headquarters. As you said, if I don't transfer to Working in the customs force, I now have at least one star more than you."
"But work is work, and there is no room for negotiation. Didn't No. 1 say that if you want to be a brick of the revolution, you need to move it there? I also want honor, but you have to do your job well before. If you worry too much about gains and losses because of honor, Not only will the gain outweigh the losses, it will also miss important things."
"For those of us who are commanders and staff officers, every stroke of our pen on the map is related to the lives of thousands of cadres and soldiers. I also have a sense of honor. A soldier without a sense of honor is not considered a soldier." He is a qualified soldier, but if his sense of honor is too strong, it will not only delay our personal gains and losses."
Lin Zhiqiang's magnanimity revealed by his words made Yang Jicai admire him. At the same time, he did not discuss this issue in depth. The current battle situation on the front line of Straw Hat Mountain did not allow the two of them to have too much time to think about this matter. It's not a problem yet.
After the telephone line was re-erected, Lin Zhiqiang learned that the front line of Straw Hat Mountain had been under great pressure during last night's night battle. Except for the main peak 1613 highland and the two adjacent cover highlands on both sides, the rest of the Almost all the cover positions were lost, especially a highland with an altitude of more than 1,000 meters in front of the main peak, which posed a great threat to the main peak position.
After the Japanese and puppet troops captured this highland, they spent a lot of time transporting several 92 infantry artillery pieces up the mountain and fired flatly at the front line of the main peak, causing great losses to the simple defensive positions on the main peak. The heavy machine gun positions simply constructed with sacks were all destroyed by the Japanese 92 infantry artillery fire.
Although it was on mountainous terrain, the flexibility of the Type 92 Infantry Cannon still allowed it to exert its maximum power. The Third Regiment concentrated its artillery fire several times in an attempt to destroy these Type 92 Infantry Cannons, but in the end it was due to its flexibility. But it returned in vain, and a lot of shells were wasted in vain.
This kind of gun is not as powerful as a mountain gun, but it is too flexible. With the wheels removed, it is not much higher than the Type 92 heavy machine gun. Coupled with the distance between the two sides, you will not be able to defend yourself against a cannon. This is also why the Anti-Japanese Alliance has equipped itself with various artillery with excellent performance, and has not completely eliminated the Japanese-style 92 infantry artillery. Coupled with the illumination bombs fired by the Japanese and puppet troops, the various fortifications on the position are in front of the Japanese army. It can't be hidden at all.
After a fierce battle in the middle of the night, the defensive positions on the main peak had been completely destroyed. The troops on the mountain could only rely on bomb craters and ruins to resist. Since the main peak position was too narrow, the third regiment commander had no choice but to resort to refueling tactics. Disable one company on the mountain and replace it with another.
The crippled troops were unable to rest and regroup after they were withdrawn. They reorganized at the foot of the mountain and, together with the personnel of the regiment's direct team, replenished guns and ammunition as a reserve team, ready to go into battle together at any time. There was no way to have too few troops. We cannot afford to fight a war of attrition.
Not to mention that the people who had withdrawn from the mountain could not rest and recuperate, even the lightly wounded could only continue to fight. If the third regiment hadn't concentrated all the artillery fire allocated by Lin Zhiqiang, they would have covered the main peak position at all costs and fought with the Japanese and puppet artillery for most of the night. In the battle, the limited strength of the entire Straw Hat Mountain has already been consumed by the Japanese and puppet troops' repeated attacks.
Everyone in the Third Regiment knows that behind the Straw Hat Mountain and across the Xiaoluan River is the grassland landform on Bashang. From there to the Keshiketeng Banner, which connects the current lifeline of the advancing army and the Anti-Japanese Alliance, although it cannot be said to be a flat river, it is basically a flat river. There is no danger to defend the top. The loss of Straw Hat Mountain means that the entire advancing army will be trapped in the mountainous area west of Rehe. It is almost impossible to even return to the old base in the pass. If Straw Hat Mountain is defended, it will be impossible. It means holding on to the lifeline of the advancing army heading north.
But no matter how strong the will to fight is, it still cannot make up for the disparity in strength and firepower when the difference in strength is too great. After the Japanese and puppet troops besieging the brigade headquarters retreated, the Japanese and puppet troops on the front of Straw Hat Mountain Instead of retreating, they increased their troop investment.
Concentrating their forces, they launched an entire battalion attack on the main peak of Straw Hat Mountain. The fire support of the artillery was also greatly strengthened. The artillery shells that fell on the main peak in just one hour did not include the 92nd Infantry Artillery and mortars. For light artillery, the mountain shells alone can reach two to three hundred rounds.
After re-establishing contact with the main peak, Lin Zhiqiang realized that the main peak position was now in critical condition. The number of troops guarding the three highlands of the main peak was less than two companies. The effective strength of the third regiment was almost completely exhausted, and most of the light and heavy machine guns were damaged. The shells are also about to burn out their embers.
After hearing the situation on the main peak, Yang Jicai looked at the latest progress of the Japanese and puppet troops marked on the map. He turned to Lin Zhiqiang, who was looking at the fierce battle on the main peak with a telescope and said with a gloomy face: "Old chief, you will put your troops here. Shrink it a bit, and put the main force on the 1123 heights in front of the right side of the main peak, except for the 1613 Highlands."
"The 910 Highland on the right can be controlled directly with firepower. There is only a relatively flat mountain ridge connecting it with the 1613 Highland. Controlling it with firepower can maximize the effectiveness of our firepower. If we continue to fight like this If we go down, the troops on the main peak will not be able to hold on for long, and they will be exhausted bit by bit by the Japanese and puppet troops."
"At the same time, find a position for my 23rd anti-aircraft gun and 14mm anti-aircraft machine gun, and let them cooperate with your artillery to directly support the front-line battle. My rocket artillery will concentrate its firepower on their second echelon. However, I The number of 107 rockets in my hand is also low."
"As for the 92 infantry cannons opposite the main peak, you don't have to worry too much. As long as the recoilless rifles and anti-aircraft machine guns can get into position, those 92 infantry cannons can't escape. I think they removed the wheels and moved them.
The position is fast, and the reaction speed of my recoilless rifle is fast. As long as we can hold on until the two cavalry regiments dispatched from the advancing army headquarters arrive, there will be more room for maneuver in the use of troops. No. 1 often said that the key is this
In the gritting stage, whoever can persevere will win the final victory."