Wang Deyao just briefly explained why the heavy artillery troops behind him fired ten rounds of rapid fire, which had already beaten the Japanese army to pieces, and why they still fired incendiary bombs. Wang Deyao shut his mouth and did not continue. That's what this person is like. If Li Mingqing's character wasn't to his liking, he wouldn't even be willing to give such an explanation.
He always thinks that his decision is correct, but he is not willing to waste too much words. In his opinion, as a subordinate, he should understand the superior's combat intentions by himself, instead of having to explain them one by one. If you ask yourself to explain your combat intentions, then you don’t have to do anything else and just explain your combat intentions to your subordinates every day.
He is not only like this to his subordinates, but also to his superiors and colleagues. He only talks about his plans but is never willing to say a word to explain. This is why he is the deputy commander of the Second Division. Above, the reason why I didn’t get along happily with my teacher.
After closing his mouth, Wang Deyao, who looked serious, raised his binoculars and observed the battlefield in front of him that was set ablaze by incendiary bombs from behind, as well as the large tracts of grass and trees that were set alight, as well as those who were killed by artillery shells and Li Mingqing's troops before. After the Japanese soldiers' corpses were burned, there was a bit of a choking smell, so I observed them for five minutes.
After the fire intensity subsided slightly, he raised his left hand and slashed downwards, signaling an immediate attack. Although the troops behind him only had more than four rows, in Wang Deyao's view, It was enough to defeat the Japanese troops who suffered heavy casualties from the shells in front of them.
He didn't believe that the ten rapid fires fired by two field artillery batteries plus two 155 heavy howitzers, ten artillery pieces over 75 mm, would not cause many casualties to the Japanese army in front of them. The Japanese army still has the strength to bite us back.
Moreover, he still has two or three companies of troops on the periphery, which have been attracting the attention of the Japanese troops on the periphery. The troops of these three companies can all be thrown into the battlefield at any time. Therefore, for Wang Deyao at this moment, although he can directly The number of troops under his command is not large, but he is very confident.
As his gesture fell, without any verbal orders, the troops behind him were ready to attack. Under the leadership of Li Mingqing, who took the initiative to stand at the front without any hesitation, he held a rifle with a bayonet or a rifle held flat. The light machine guns and submachine guns jumped out like sharp knives and struck hard at the Japanese soldiers in front of them.
In particular, the guard company that had been watching the battle from behind was holding on to its full strength, holding rifles with bayonets in hand, and rushed forward desperately. All light machine guns and submachine guns were concentrated on the first echelon, opening the way with dense bullets. , and struck hard at the depth of the Japanese army.
It's just that the results of the next battle really annoyed the troops who had worked hard but never used them. They were gathering and adjusting their troop deployment to prepare for the most fatal blow to the Anti-Japanese Alliance in front of them. They had not made any anti-artillery preparations at all, and even more Unexpectedly, Wang Deyao's sneak attack would cause the troops of the 28th Regiment, which was armed with mountain artillery and heavy artillery, to suffer heavy casualties from the ten rapid fire rounds.
The casualties during the attack were heavy, more than one squadron was lost, and another squadron was crippled. This mixed brigade, under the personal control of Ichiki Kiyonao, was not prepared for the sudden bombardment. When this When the artillery shells fell, they were gathering, and the dense formation almost became the best target.
Li Mingqing's hesitation in the previous battle was that he did not dare to call for artillery support for fear of causing accidental damage. Instead, he succeeded in confusing Ichiki Qingzhi. The battle was so fierce that the artillery deployed by Wang Deyao behind did not fire a single shot. At this time, suddenly When it comes to artillery, let alone Ichiki Kiyoshi, no one would be mentally prepared for the opponent to have artillery, or even heavy artillery.
The casualties in the previous battle, coupled with the heavy losses caused by the artillery bombardment, Ichiki Kiyoshi's strength dropped directly from an infantry brigade to half an infantry squadron. With the addition of peripheral blocking and other resistance forces moving closer, during the artillery bombardment The two squadrons that also suffered considerable losses did not have much strength left at this moment.
At this moment, there were already heavy casualties, and they were baptized by the fire. The most critical commanders were either killed during the attack, or were blown to pieces by artillery shells. How could the Japanese army, which was unable to fight, withstand the group of soldiers in Wang Deyao's hands? After resting for a long time, he was attacked by a new force like hungry wolves.
As soon as Wang Deyao's counterattack started, the troops invested had not yet reached their full strength. The remnants of the Japanese army who were actually unwilling to fight were already unable to resist and kept retreating. In addition to heavy losses, the two captains in charge of the command , one was killed during the attack, and the other was blown into parts during the artillery bombardment, causing confusion in the command, and they could only fight independently.
The death of the supreme commander Ichiki Kiyonao further aggravated the decline and chaos of the Japanese army. Although this colonel, who was ambitious to be promoted to general, relied on his many years of actual combat experience and the desperate protection of the guards behind him, he was able to survive the shelling. He was lucky enough to escape.
But Ichiki Qingnao, who had not yet been dumbfounded by the sudden bombardment, got up from the ground, fired a 155 howitzer, and directly hit the incendiary bomb at his hidden position, knocking the ambitious colonel down with him. A guard who fought desperately to protect him was cremated on the spot.
The death of Ichiki Kiyonao caused the Japanese army here to lose almost all their commanders except for one squadron leader. As well as the exhaustion and huge casualties after a long battle, it is strange that these Japanese soldiers still have the heart to fight, and the battlefield The raging fires ignited everywhere on the ground further intensified the fear in the hearts of the defeated Japanese soldiers.
Moreover, even if he wanted to continue fighting, most of the squadrons were left in the front, and the two squadrons on the periphery were still restrained by the anti-alliance forces and could not provide any support. It was not Wang Deyao who had rested and recuperated for a full hour, and the formation The opponents of this complete and well-equipped company only resisted for less than ten minutes before the entire line collapsed.
Their collapse not only caused their own chaos, but the retreating Japanese army also overwhelmed the Japanese squadron that rushed behind to block the resistance of a company of the Anti-Japanese Alliance and came for reinforcements. Although the Japanese squadron leader who led the team fought desperately They tried to stabilize the troops, but were unable to stop the decline of the Japanese troops. They could only be swept back and retreat passively.
The Japanese troops in front of them changed from a retreat to a rout. The surrounding Japanese troops who did not know the situation here were confused by this retreating Japanese army. Except for those who were too far away and could not be contacted, the rest of the troops also followed. They kept retreating backwards, but they were already mixed up with the resistance alliance. It would be so easy to retreat.
Now the situation on the entire battlefield has finally turned into what Wang Deyao originally envisioned. The Japanese army has fallen into complete chaos on the battlefield. The death of Ichiki Kiyonao and the two captains completely turned the 28th Regiment into a single unit. Although some squadrons of regiment skirmishers were still resisting passively, most of them were retreating towards Shaogen, and they were still retreating in scattered groups.
The remnants of the 28th Regiment were in chaos, which was exactly what Wang Deyao wanted. He gathered all the surrounding troops that he could assemble, and constantly intercepted the troops that the Japanese army had not had time to withdraw. After a fierce battle, they arrived Two Japanese infantry squadrons, an artillery squadron, and most of the communications squadron were divided and surrounded by him because they were unable to run away due to lack of legs or lack of contact with each other.
Apart from these few Japanese troops, plus some Japanese troops who dispersed at night and ran to unknown places, the 28th Regiment managed to escape the wolf-like pursuit of Wang Deyao and managed to retreat to the Shaogen line before stabilizing its position. The strength of the remaining troops is less than one brigade. It can be said that the 28th Regiment has been crippled before the battle has really begun.
In fact, the remaining strength of the 28th Regiment was able to escape Wang Deyao's pursuit. The real reason was that Wang Deyao did not have enough troops. In addition, Wang Deyao could only concentrate four and a half troops, making it impossible to pursue parallel pursuits and overtaking pursuits. , can only stay behind like a wolf, taking one bite at a time.
If both of his regiments were here, Wang Deyao would dare to make dumplings for the entire 28th Regiment. In fact, the limited number of troops at hand would not limit his appetite. Wang Deyao's character is that even if he only has half a kilogram of alcohol, he would He dared to drink a pound as soon as he came up. He never knew what it meant to eat according to the amount of food. He would never eat even half full if he could hold it up.
But he understood that the delay was enough. The 28th Regiment had collapsed, but there were still two Japanese regiments over there. If the other two regiments swept over, those who would be surrounded would be If you are scattered again now, if new Japanese troops appear, you will be seeking death.
Moreover, the four and a half companies that have been regrouped now have suffered heavy casualties. The actual strength of each company is only 60% of its original strength at most, and the team-affiliated artillery only concentrated one 82nd mortar company, and the following Qiu Jintang rushed over and reinforced the 150mm heavy mortar battery given to him.
The lack of troops made Wang Deyao unable to pursue a parallel pursuit even if he wanted to. Fortunately, the two Japanese squadrons and an artillery squadron that were cut off from the retreat sequence of the 28th Regiment were enough for him to have a full meal. , although it seems to him that there is a little less meat, but for his current military strength, it is barely enough to fill his teeth, but a good harvest is much better than getting nothing at all.
In fact, Wang Deyao also knew that the enemy army he faced was not only the Japanese army that had been divided, but also a large number of scattered Japanese soldiers scattered on the battlefield. If he wanted to pursue it, he would be a little greedy. There was more to chew than he could chew, so for Wang Deyao right now, it was a top priority to eat what was in the bag that had been divided into three pieces.
And for him, he also knows that he has wasted enough time here. If he delays for a while, once the two regiments of the Seventh Division really change their combat plan, they will break into Bahrain from the Tianshan Pass line, which is adjacent to the main battlefield of Linxi. Zuo Qi, then even if he wins here, he still fails overall.
So although he has not fought enough, his mind is still very clear at the moment. He clearly realizes that he can no longer be greedy. Once the Japanese reinforcements come from other directions, not only will he really be stuck here, but he will also be In crisis.
The more this time comes, the more clearly I, as a commander, have to judge the battle situation. I am responsible not only for the battlefield in front of me, but also for the entire Aruhorqin Banner battlefield. Although Yang Jicai has never reported any situation, he is not responsible for it. It means that you don’t consider the situation over there.
The most important thing he should do at the moment was to fight quickly and deal with the enemy army that had been cut into three sections as soon as possible. As for the scattered Japanese troops, he didn't care too much. These skirmishers were basically formed. Without any threats, there is no point in wasting time on them.