After the Zhangjiayingzi front line was lost, Gou Zaihe not only did not add a single defensive force to the Shizuishi front line, but instead mobilized the only heavy machine gun there and strengthened it to the front of Bala Qirude to resist the increasing Japanese troops. The more violent the offensive.
As a result, under the cover of Zhangjiayingzi's artillery fire, when the Japanese army concentrated its superior forces to launch a sudden attack, the defenders, who only had three light machine guns and were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of firepower and troops, had their entire defense line broken through in less than twenty minutes. , all the defenders died.
If he had not been stubborn, if he could have been more flexible in his tactics, even if he had listened more to his own suggestions, he would not have ended up in this situation. In fact, Yang Jicai also knew that Gou Merger did not agree with him very much. He believes that the chief of staff is the head of the staff and has no authority to change the deployment of superiors without authorization.
As the chief of staff, all of his work should be centered around the overall deployment of his superiors, rather than changing or correcting on his own. The chief of staff is not a military officer, especially if he changes the deployment without authorization in Wang Deyao's absence. It was very unacceptable to him.
For Gou Zaihe, Wang Deyao's deployment was the deployment of his superiors. Both he and he had to abide by it. However, he changed the deployment without authorization. Although he reluctantly accepted it, he did not really understand and support it in his heart, and even , there are also some disguised rejections, thinking that his move is against the arrangements of his superiors.
Therefore, on some issues, he did not fully accept his orders, but accepted them very selectively, unless he clearly told him that Wang Deyao had sacrificed his life, and now his superiors appointed him as the highest military commander of the entire Aruhorqin Banner. Then he will truly obey himself completely.
But now, I am afraid that his various instructions are somewhat unfair in his eyes. He has chosen to believe in himself more in this battle, and there is a conflict between his own ideas and his own orders. , he still believes in his own judgment more.
This is also the reason why he often did not take his orders seriously during the battle, because in his opinion, he, the chief of staff, who is younger than him, is not a military officer, even according to the chief of staff of the Anti-Japanese Alliance Due to the extremely powerful command regulations, it is against the principles to issue any combat orders without consulting the military commander.
The current danger in the direction of Shizuishi is absolutely inseparable from his thoughts and mentality. If all his deployments are in accordance with his own requirements, at least he will not fall into the passive situation at hand. A platoon, as a warning force, is It's enough, but defending key parts of the flank is tantamount to actively exposing one's flank weaknesses.
Of course, the Japanese army was able to successfully break through this time, and the tactics they adopted also caused this passive situation to a certain extent. Using the frontal attack on Bala Chirud as a cover, the Japanese army secretly mobilized two infantry squadrons and set up a front-line position at Shizuishi. He lurked less than a hundred meters in front of him for a full four hours.
It was not until the new reinforcements of the Japanese army arrived in front of Bala Qirud, and the intensity of the attack on Bala Qirud was strengthened, and all eyes were attracted to it, that they suddenly launched an attack. Before they launched the attack, the Japanese army did not Using any artillery cover, even the artillery deployed in Zhangjiayingzi, the focus of the artillery strike was still on Bala Qirude.
In the direction of Shizui, before launching the attack, except for a tentative attack at the beginning of the battle, no battlefield reconnaissance was conducted. Of course, Shizui was close to Zhangjiayingzi and the terrain was lower than Zhangjiayingzi. The Japanese army After controlling Zhangjiayingzi, you can clearly overlook the stone table from the commanding heights.
But after all, it was night, and it was impossible for the Japanese army to truly reconnoiter the troop deployment and fortifications in the direction of Shizui. In addition to constant harassment with artillery shells, even though they controlled the commanding heights of Zhangjiayingzi, the Japanese army did not engage in any condescending tactics. Reconnaissance, even before launching the attack, even the telephone line from Stone Table to Bala Chirud was not cut off.
Without conducting any battlefield reconnaissance, they suddenly concentrated a large number of troops to launch an attack in the direction of Shizhui, which had been calm before. It would have been a risk for anyone else, but just like that, the Japanese army successfully confused Gou Zaihe. This made him relax his vigilance in the direction of the stone table, which was actually the most dangerous on the entire battlefield because it was too close to Zhangjiayingzi.
Under such circumstances, even if you are there, it is difficult to accurately judge the main direction of the Japanese army's attack in a short period of time. The Japanese army's move is indeed quite beautiful. At least on the surface, their attack There were no loopholes in the combat plan that anyone could seize, and these short four hours almost had the most fatal impact on the Aruhorqin Banner battlefield.
A large number of mines previously laid at the front of the Shizhuizi position were cleared by the Japanese troops at the commanding heights of Zhangjiayingzi with inconspicuous piecemeal artillery fire long before the Japanese latent troops secretly entered. The area was basically wiped out during four hours of Japanese shelling.
The frontline troops lacked reserve mines on hand, and the fire blockade of the Japanese troops on the front line of Zhangjiayingzi made it impossible for the garrison to re-lay mines. The large number of minefields arranged on the front of Shizuo did not have any effect when the Japanese troops moved to the latent area. The original defense forces expected the role they were supposed to play.
Although half an hour before the battle of Stone Table began, the Japanese troops on the front line of Zhangjiayingzi were bombarded by hot and cold bombardments, and the Japanese troops in front of Bala Qirude launched increasingly stressful offensives, but their side was extremely calm. Sensing something unusual at the front line, the garrison platoon leader requested.
Gou Zai gathered all the regiment's mortars, as well as the two attached mountain guns and the regiment's No. 92 Infantry Artillery Company, and fired hundreds of rounds at possible locations, conducting fire reconnaissance and testing, but these hundred The remaining shells were fired, but they did not cause any movement.
Considering the supply problem of artillery shells and the increasing pressure from the Japanese troops on the Bala Chirud front line, it is impossible for these artillery units to be placed at a point that has been peaceful before for a long time, especially at Aohan Yingzi. , under the situation where the defense pressure commanded by the political commissar was also increasing, Gou Zaihe did not pay too much attention, and turned his main attention back to the front of Bala Qirud.
After the front line of Shi Zhui was broken through, Gou Zaihe realized that none of his more than one hundred artillery shells had actually been wasted. They had all accurately hit the area where the Japanese troops were lurking. The casualties of the lurking Japanese troops in this period of artillery fire could be used. To describe it as tragic, the lurking Japanese troops were not exposed in any way because of the heavy losses.
None of the seriously wounded members of the two squadrons involved in the lurking were killed, and the lightly wounded did not move at all. Even when the captain and a squadron leader who led the team were shot dead, the organization did not fall into any chaos. The radio remains silent.
Its battlefield discipline and soldiers' tolerance for casualties, as well as the tenacity of its officers and soldiers, can be seen in this. Even the current Anti-Japanese Alliance, which has been painstakingly rectified by Yang Zhen, can only be compared with it, and it can only be compared with any other. I'm afraid it would be difficult for an army to do so.
Despite suffering huge casualties, the two lurking Japanese squadrons did not reveal any intentions. Instead, after receiving the order, the two squadrons merged into one squadron immediately under the command of the only remaining squadron leader. With absolute strength superiority and extremely sudden tactical movements, they broke through the front-line defense of Shizuishi in the shortest possible time.
Facing the Japanese army that suddenly appeared in front of them and attacked with overwhelming force, a platoon guarding the direction of the stone table had only three light machine guns. After twenty minutes of hard fighting, all the defenders were killed in hand-to-hand combat and no one survived. In the direction of the table, all Japanese troops broke through in a short period of time.
After the battle started in the direction of Shizui, Gou Zaihe discovered that something was wrong, but it was too late. When a platoon of reinforcements he mobilized rushed to the direction of Shizui to reinforce, facing the swarming follow-up Japanese troops, a platoon of troops even The waves didn't even stir up.
Just when he was about to concentrate all the artillery fire in his hands to try to block the breakthrough, Bala Qirude faced the Japanese troops who were attacking at the same time, and the tension caused by their successive attacks, as well as the intensive artillery fire from the front line of Zhangjiayingzi , so that he could only give up his original idea of blocking the breach with firepower.
The reason why he did not report the breakthrough immediately in the direction of Shizuishi was because he wanted to recapture the breakthrough point and re-stabilize the front before reporting it. However, he did not expect that the Japanese troops who rushed deep into the defense line almost missed the entire Balaqirud to Ao. The Hanyingzi front-line high command almost took the blame for his carelessness.
In fact, Gou Zaihe still doesn’t know. He is still very lucky. He may think that it is more important to disrupt the entire defense in depth of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, or he may think that the force to launch a frontal attack from the Balaqirud front line is enough. After opening the breakthrough, a large number of troops were mobilized to advance in depth without changing direction to cooperate with the front-line attack at Balachirud.
Otherwise, when the enemy situation appeared in Butun Maodu at the same time, and with only one and a half battalions of troops in Bala Chirud, he would not be able to withstand the siege of the Japanese army from three sides, especially when Shizui was surrounded. After the breakthrough, the Japanese army's front had already reached his ribs. His troops in Balachirud might be in danger of being surrounded by the Japanese army, and his depth would also be completely disrupted by the Japanese army.
Now Gou Zaihe is commanding the troops to launch an all-out counterattack in an attempt to re-block the breach opened by the Japanese. However, due to the insufficient number of troops deployed and the desperate efforts of the Japanese to open up the gap, many counterattacks failed, creating a situation of adding fuel to the fire. , the Japanese army has now secured a breakthrough and is mobilizing follow-up forces to continue the assault in depth.
The Seventh Division's offensive on the Shizui front line was not simply an action against a certain point. During the latent period, the Japanese troops in other directions did not reduce the intensity of their attacks. After the attack in the Shizui direction, the Japanese troops even intensified their attacks. The offensive was launched against several key points such as Balaqirude, Aohan Yingzi, and Bayanbaote.
The number of troops invested by the Japanese army in the newly launched offensive and the intensity of the attack are not comparable to those before. Under the circumstances of being under increasing pressure, the forces of the frontline troops have been used to the extreme. At present, It was no longer possible to mobilize more than one platoon of troops to fight for a breakthrough with the Japanese army. Facing the Japanese troops that continued to swarm in from the direction of Shizui, the strength of a platoon was barely even a drop in the bucket.
After getting in touch with Yang Jicai, at this moment he was not only faced with being breached across the board, but also facing the severe situation of being surrounded. Gou Zaihe, who was almost filled with regret, immediately hoped to get support from artillery fire as soon as possible. He resealed the direction of the stone table that was broken through by the Japanese army. The sharp turn of the battle made all his previous disapproval disappear long ago.