Chapter 539 Battle for the periphery of Tongliao (3)
So this time, the Onimu Fifth Colonel did not dare to play any tricks. Even though he knew that it would be difficult to meet the division commander's request to regain the front line of Kongjiawo Fort in the shortest possible time, he still had to bite the bullet and command everything he could. The mobilized troops adopted the tactics of advancing hand in hand and attacking on multiple fronts.
Onimu Wuyi's starting point is the same as that of his division commander, which is to take advantage of the situation where the Anti-Japanese Alliance has just captured the front line of Kongjiawo Fort and has not yet had time to gain a foothold. Under the cover of rear artillery fire, in the shortest possible time To recapture the front line of Kongjiawo Fort, Onimu Wuyi had the idea in his heart to at least prevent Lieutenant General Kawami from using himself as the scapegoat for the entire Tongliao battlefield.
After last year's battle, his original ambitions have long since faded into embers. Now he only wants to survive in peace until he retires, or is transferred to the Kanai battlefield as a garrison captain. Onimu Goto Colonel knows that to achieve this wish, the current No matter whether you can get over this hurdle or not, you have to go through it bravely.
Opposite Onimu May 1st, Hai Jingqing, the current commander of the 54th Regiment of the 18th Division, who played a key role in last year's battle to annihilate the 15th Regiment of the 14th Division, faced last year's Old enemies and rivals showed no fear or courtesy. Regardless of the fierce Japanese artillery fire, they immediately commanded their troops to attack directly.
Although he did not know that the Japanese commander in front of him was his old enemy who slipped away from his old army during the battle to encircle and annihilate the 14th Division last year, Hai Jingqing's decisive victory against the 14th Division last year made Hai Jingqing feel more confident. When facing the defeated generals in front of him, he had an innate advantage mentally.
However, this time in the face of the ferocious counterattack of the 14th Division, which used almost all its resources, in addition to the regimental-level mortars providing fire cover and some 107 rocket launchers implementing deep and long-range interception, the artillery of the 18th Division behind them However, the regiment's mountain artillery was always extremely silent. From the time the Japanese counterattack started until the end of the battle, almost no shots were fired.
In fact, Hai Jingqing, as the commander of the main force of the 18th Division on the Tongliao battlefield, had long known that the few artillery shells currently in the hands of the artillery had already been consumed when covering his capture of Qianjiadian and Kongjiawo Fort. A large part, plus the part allocated to the Third Division, to replenish the artillery shells it had previously consumed on the Bayantala front line, even the 18th Division that later joined the war had very few artillery shells left.
Long before they captured Kongjiawo Fort, Division Commander Wang Jun personally told him when he was deploying the mission that Kongjiawo Fort was the gateway to the entire eastern part of Tongliao County. After capturing Kongjiawo Fort, the Japanese army was bound to send out heavy troops to counterattack. But now there are not many artillery shells left after being consumed in the previous stage.
The division can only guarantee him fire support in the battle to seize Kongjiawo Fort. However, in the face of the Japanese counterattack, the artillery support the division can provide will be quite limited. As the division commander, he can only provide him with some rocket launchers. In his opinion, Intercept and shoot when necessary.
As for the rest of the time, I'm afraid the division won't be able to provide much fire support, because the next step is to seize Tongliao County, and all the artillery shells on hand cannot be consumed here. However, the division has requested Commander Chen to fight at Kongjiawo Fort. During this period, the direct artillery units that had arrived on the other side of the Xiliao River in the north of Tongliao were mobilized as much as possible to provide fire support.
However, before the battle started, considering that the Japanese army's possible counterattack would be extremely fierce, Wang Jun still spent all his resources to supplement the 54th Regiment with 120 mm and 200 82 mm mortar shells. One hundred and fifty rounds each of 60 mortar shells and 57 recoilless artillery shells, as well as some 14mm and 12mm anti-aircraft machine gun ammunition.
The ammunition allocated by Wang Jun is already the last reserve of mortars of the same caliber in the 18th Division. Before receiving a large amount of supplies from the rear, even if all his shells are used up, the division behind him will no longer be able to give it to him. To supplement even one artillery shell, the artillery force directly under the headquarters also transferred most of the artillery shells to the battlefield in northern Tongliao.
Although he received limited fire support, considering Hai Jingqing's character of becoming more courageous with every setback and getting stronger when encountering a strong force, this is actually not a big deal. For him, he can eliminate one more enemy here. , in the next stage of the attack on Tongliao County, there will be one less defender. The Japanese army will pay an extra price on the front line of Kongjiawo Fort. In the next stage of attacking Tongliao County, the troops will have to pay one less sacrifice.
However, the artillery support that the division can provide is limited, but for the 54th Regiment, the firepower is actually not too thin. In addition to its own equipment of various caliber mortars and recoilless rifles, the division commander heard before departure After specifically telling him Commander Chen's criticism of the Third Division, he became more thoughtful when seizing the front line of Kongjiawo Fort.
Although the two 77 field guns and the Type 94 rapid-fire cannon were eventually destroyed by the Japanese army, he captured the 92 Infantry Cannon, one 57mm Gruson Mountain Cannon, and the Liao 14 Type Infantry Cannon. There were three flat-fire cannons and Type 97 automatic cannons. Although the ammunition captured for the light and heavy machine guns was not too much, the number was as high as more than ten.
In addition to his regiment's 14mm anti-aircraft machine gun, battalion's 12mm machine gun, company general machine gun and the same automatic rifles throughout the regiment, although the artillery support he can get is limited, his infantry firepower is It is far more powerful than fighting back against the Japanese army.
In addition, although the two permanent fortification groups on the front line of Kongjiawo Fort were bombed, half of the semi-permanent fortification groups fell completely after the defenders inside were burned to a crisp by flamethrowers. In his hands, the Japanese corpses were dragged out. These semi-permanent fortifications were ready-made defenses.
When the Japanese army built these permanent and semi-permanent fortification groups, they considered the situation of being breached behind them. Therefore, on the Tongliao battlefield, all Japanese fortification groups could shoot in a 360-degree circle. This is also One of the reasons why the Battle of Bayantala was so difficult has turned out to be a ready-made field fortification that Hai Jingqing can use.
These semi-permanent fortification groups that can be fired at 360 degrees, as well as the original trenches and communication trenches built by the Japanese army, he can form a complete defense system without even having to go to war to build it. In addition, he has an absolute advantage in infantry In terms of firepower, he really doesn't have anything to fear.
In order to recapture Kongjiawo Fort, the eastern gateway to Tongliao County, in the shortest possible time, Lieutenant General Chuan Bingmi spent a lot of money. He not only mobilized nearly half of the Tongliao defenders, but also laid all the artillery assets on the table. He came out and used all available artillery fire to cover Onimu Wuyi's counterattack.
The more than 800 expatriates under the age of 45 who were able to fight with guns in the city were all armed with the Liao 13 rifles in stock, and strengthened to the counterattack force commanded by Onimu Mayi, and even the 14th Division was not included in the army. He commanded the Japanese Tongliao Military Police, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the Kwantung Army Military Police Headquarters, and was also brought to the battlefield to be used as a field supervisory team.
In order to cover Onimu Mayi's counterattack, Lieutenant General Kawaami Mi spent a lot of money. In just one hour after the Japanese army launched the counterattack, Hai Jingqing's blocking position dropped seven or eight artillery shells of various calibers. Hundreds of rounds, including more than a hundred rounds of 150mm heavy artillery shells alone.
According to the number of artillery deployed by the Japanese army in Tongliao County, this firepower density is unprecedented. Its firepower intensity is almost double that of Bayantala before. In other words, during this period, the Japanese army concentrated almost the entire Tongliao County. All artillery provided fire support for the counterattack on the front line of Kongjiawo Fort.
However, despite the extremely fierce covering artillery fire, the Japanese offensive was almost unable to reach the 100-meter full-speed attack launch distance in the face of the intensive infantry firepower of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. According to the Japanese army's tactical habits, its attack formation was deployed, especially the infantry support firepower was all The expanded distance of 200 meters was like a wall of life and death for the Japanese army. No matter how much they paid, they could not break through to within 200 meters.
Hai Jingqing organized the various weapons at hand into a tight fire echelon based on the range, including 60mm mortars and snipers, specifically to deal with the Japanese grenades that were the greatest threat to machine guns, and the 12mm The anti-aircraft machine guns and regimental 14mm anti-aircraft machine guns were unified and organized specifically to suppress the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine guns.
As for the Japanese light machine guns, when they were close, they were suppressed by the general machine guns. When they were far away, a grenade fired by a 57mm recoilless cannon was directly sent to the west, including the man and the gun. To deal with the infantry, automatic rifles and squads were used. Using machine guns, Hai Jingqing weaved a dense fire net at a distance of 200 meters. Although the time was very tight, Hai Jingqing still completed the point-and-area firepower formation in the shortest time.
In order to reduce the firepower threat and damage of the Japanese artillery as much as possible, Hai Jingqing strictly required the frontline troops that the Japanese attacking infantry must not fire at a distance of less than 200 meters. The general-purpose machine gun must immediately move its position after firing a bullet chain. , to prevent Japanese artillery fire coverage.
The two anti-aircraft machine guns deployed in depth for long-range fire suppression were directly equipped by him into the remaining semi-permanent fortifications of the Japanese army, and consisted of two 12mm machine guns and a 60 mortar. The mobile firepower team was designed to deal with the Japanese light and heavy machine gun teams that slipped through the enemy's forces.
The 82 mortars belonging to his battalion were used to stare at the Japanese infantry artillery. Hai Jingqing had only one request for them. As long as the Japanese infantry artillery, which was the greatest threat to machine guns, appeared, they must do it. When it comes to preemptive action, in short, they must not be allowed to shoot down a machine gun to ensure that the forward position has sufficient firepower.
As for the regiment's most powerful 120mm mortar, he used it to suppress the Japanese army's deep attack starting positions and troop assembly points. Of course, if he could find the opponent's command post, he would not mind commanding all to concentrate. Heavy mortars fired a salvo.
The 120mm mortar currently used by the Anti-Japanese Alliance is an improvement on the imported Soviet M1938 heavy mortar. It is 101% lighter than the same type of Soviet artillery.
kilogram, but the range has been increased to 6,500 meters, and the types of ammunition fired are also several more types than the Soviet prototype cannon.
This kind of total weight is only 174 kilograms, which is nearly half the weight of the 92 Infantry Cannon, but its range is a full four thousand meters. This 120 mm heavy mortar can even
It has a range of 200 meters longer than the Japanese Type 41 mountain gun, but is only a fraction of the weight.
It was extremely popular after it was equipped with troops. With its large range, moderate weight, and relatively good power and accuracy, it quickly eliminated the 92 infantry gun that was originally a regiment-level artillery. It was the same caliber heavy mortar made by the Soviet Union.
The artillery became the leading artillery piece at the Anti-League level.
General Hai Jingqing's regiment has a 120mm heavy mortar, which serves as the gathering place and starting point for the Japanese counterattack. This artillery has enough range and power to bear such a heavy burden, not to mention suppressing the Japanese troops.
At the assembly area, even if we were to fight against the standard Japanese regiment artillery 41-type mountain artillery, we would definitely not lose.