Chapter 190 The Destruction of the Seventy-two Division II
It was precisely with the full support of the aviation force that the two squadrons that broke through the long-range artillery blockade of the Anti-Japanese Alliance joined. This allowed the 1st, 3rd and 4th Wings to barely hold on. Although these four squadrons arrived at Encha
Behind Zhang Xiutun's front line, there were less than three squadrons left. But for Colonel Nishioka Takahiro, Haolai had a little more confidence to persevere.
After the reinforcements arrived, Colonel Nishioka Takahiro did not stick to the spot, but immediately launched a counterattack in front of Encha. After paying a considerable price, he was finally allowed to assemble the scattered structures around Encha.
Part of it is roughly equivalent to the strength of two squadrons. However, this is also the only strength that his 1st, 3rd and 4th Regiments can concentrate at the moment.
Although in order to bring these two squadrons together, he received less than three squadrons of reinforcements, and only one and a half were defeated. But in any case, Colonel Nishioka Takahiro now has a lot of resources at his disposal.
A certain amount of mobile troops was obtained. It was precisely relying on this effective strength that Senior Colonel Nishioka Takahiro managed to sustain himself for another whole day.
However, the reinforcements that the 152nd Regiment reluctantly mobilized were the last reinforcements that the 134th Regiment received before the entire army was destroyed. Only after the 155th Regiment was completely destroyed, it was already north of the Qingliang River.
The only remnants of the 134th Regiment of the Japanese Army are facing a situation that is deteriorating rapidly.
The anti-alliance forces that completed the battle against the 155th Regiment not only sent most of their troops to cross the Qingliang River and joined the siege of the 152nd Regiment in the south of the Qingliang River. They also used a considerable part of their troops under the cover of tanks.
, launched an attack on the flanks of the remnants of the 134th Regiment, which was struggling to hold on.
In particular, a tank company invested by the Anti-Japanese Alliance on the flank and two infantry companies were strengthened to form a rapid detachment, which cut into the remaining positions of the 134th Regiment like a steel knife. The last remnant of the 134th Regiment was divided into
Two sections made the final resistance of the 1, 3, and 4th Regiment even worse.
The remnants of the 134th Regiment, facing attacks from three sides, were no longer able to support themselves after another difficult day. There were very few remaining positions, and the reinforcements they received were basically wiped out in less than a day. Zhang Xiutun
The remnants of a brigade waiting for reinforcements on the front line have all been wiped out.
The troops on the right wing that were holding on to several villages were barely holding on, but after a day of hard fighting, they had been surrounded and annihilated. The anti-alliance offensive had already reached the location of its regiment headquarters. The entire regiment was actually in a state of collapse.
Next, Takaichi Nishioka, who was really unable to support himself, made the most difficult choice.
He ordered all the remaining units of the 134th Regiment that could be contacted not to assemble, but to immediately break out to the south bank of the Qingliang River with all their strength and join the 152nd Regiment behind them. What he meant was that he could rush out as much as he could.
.As for the division commander staying on the spot and waiting for orders for reinforcements, he no longer cared about it.
But at this time, there were very few subordinates Nishioka Kiichi could still contact. Those who could carry out his breakout order were less than one-seventh of the troops under the jurisdiction of the 134th Regiment before the war. As for those
With his subordinates who had lost contact but were still resisting, Takahiro Nishioka had no choice but to abandon them.
The manpower has been basically exhausted. Even the non-combatants in the wing headquarters picked up their rifles and went out to fight for their lives. He really didn't have the ability to rescue the small groups of troops who were surrounded. This little man is not a golden man, so don't
Sell one and join a bunch of others.
For Kiichi Nishioka, who clearly knows that according to the current situation, if he continues to stay here, the remaining remnants of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Regiments may not be able to survive the night, how can he ensure that he will survive the night?
The only thing he can do now is not to completely exhaust the No. 3 and No. 4 Regiments.
After issuing the breakout order and requesting the friendly forces on the south bank of the Qingliang River to provide fire support to cover his breakout operation, Colonel Nishioka Takahiro blew up all the radio stations, carefully wrapped the regiment's military flag around himself, and took the lead in commanding his side.
With the troops gathered around them in a patchwork manner, plus the non-combatants from the wing headquarters, and the defeated remnants of a squadron, they broke through with all their strength to the south.
As for the wounded, regardless of their severity, he abandoned them. In addition to the two light machine guns, he also abandoned all heavy weapons and ammunition that could not be taken away with rifles. In a word, all personnel and materials that might become a burden were abandoned.
He threw them away. He even didn't even leave suicide grenades for the wounded because of the insufficient number of small arms.
It's just that Nishioka Takahiro's thoughts are good, but now that he and his remaining defeated soldiers are alone, will they still have a chance to stand out? The anti-alliance forces around them will give them the opportunity to cross the Qingliang River.
Will the night provide effective cover for their breakout operation? At least judging from the current situation of the entire Zaonan war, the possibility can be said to be almost slim.
After discovering that the unit was making a move to break out of the encirclement to the south, a battalion facing the Anti-Japanese Alliance immediately launched a full-speed pursuit despite being blocked by the small force left by Nishioka Kiichi. At the same time, on the other side of the encirclement circle behind him
, the troops, who had been severely criticized because the Japanese reinforcements rushed through their positions and entered the Encha battlefield the day before, ignored the supporting firepower of the Japanese troops from the south bank of the Qingliang River and launched an interception on the spot.
After his flank had completed the encirclement and annihilation of the front-line enemies in Zhangxiu Tun, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops that came in from the direction of Cai Tun and Donglixiang on the flank discovered that there were signs of a breakout. He immediately sent a complete formation of the reserve team behind him.
The battalion was mobilized and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese breakout troops from the side.
The unit not only took the initiative to engage in the attack, but also, guided by the continuous firing of flares, concentrated one Type 41 mountain gun from the brigade artillery battalion, three German 75mm infantry guns, and all regiment-affiliated mortars.
Artillery, two heavy machine gun companies, six captured Type 92 heavy machine guns, and almost all light machine guns. Fire blockades were set up along the Japanese army's breakout route.
Nishioka Kiichi and his men had just rushed out of the village they were defending, trying to use the cover of night to break out. However, they did not expect that the breakout troops he led would be caught in a dense fire net, and one after another in the sky.
A rising flare illuminated his breakout route in white.
Although at this time, the howitzers and rocket launchers deployed by the Anti-Japanese Alliance at a depth of more than 100 mm were basically unable to provide effective fire support. However, the team-affiliated artillery of each unit, guided by the use of signal flares by the infantry, played a considerable role.
Great effect. Various small and medium-caliber artillery built a tight fire net on his breakout route.
In particular, the three German-made LG 18 infantry guns transferred from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei participating troops, with the cooperation of the mortars and the guidance of the signal flares fired by the attacking troops in front, fired at a rate of more than ten rounds per minute.
The swarms of artillery shells hit the Japanese troops who broke through.
At the same time, almost all the light and heavy machine guns that fired, with the help of the illumination provided by the flares, knocked down Nishioka Takahiro and his men in pieces. The entire battalion that was thrown in also had all their bayonets fixed, and the artillery and machine gun firepower behind them
Under cover, they rushed forward to meet the Japanese breakout troops.
In this night battle, the battalion of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops that came out from the flank played a very critical role. Cooperating with the front, under the cover of half-track armored vehicles, the anti-union pursuit troops were pursuing the enemy from the front.
It was observed that the ten-kilometer route of the Qingliang River had turned into a cemetery for the burial of Japanese soldiers.
After receiving reports that the Japanese troops on the front line of Encha had forcibly broken through and that the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops were trying their best to intercept, Hou Guozhong responded quickly and immediately mobilized a rocket launcher battery and two howitzer batteries to launch full-scale firepower against the Japanese troops on the south bank of the Qingliang River in front of Encha.
suppress.
The troops who have now completed the encirclement and suppression of the 155th Regiment and have forcibly crossed the Qingliang River on the Sanlang South front are ordered to immediately use no less than one reinforced battalion and two tank companies to forcibly penetrate the Raoyangdian front line, completely
Disrupting the deployment of the Japanese troops on the south bank of the Qingliang River. Supporting the troops in the north of the Yangtze River, encircling and annihilating the 134th Regiment.
After receiving Hou Guozhong's order, the artillery deployed deep in the battlefield of Encha and those that had crossed the river south quickly opened fire to suppress the Japanese positions on the south bank of the Qingliang River, especially the artillery positions. In order to assist the troops on the north bank, the artillery moved toward
The Japanese army's position on the south bank of the Qingliang River also fired 200 rounds of incendiary bombs. The fire lit up the entire Qingliang River and illuminated it red.
At this time, in the melee of Encha battlefield, the large-caliber artillery had lost its effect. However, it was still able to suppress the supporting firepower of the Japanese troops on the south bank of the Qingliang River. Under the superior artillery attack of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the people who were originally here were
In just a few days of fighting, the Japanese artillerymen on the south bank of the Qingliang River suffered heavy losses and quickly shut up.
When the dawn once again illuminated the north bank of the Qingliang River, the 134th Regiment, as an organic unit of the Japanese army, had ceased to exist. Nishioka Kiichi and his men were ultimately unable to cross the last ten kilometers.
The fire net escaped and ascended to the sky. It is now the dry season in spring, and the Qingliang River, which has a small amount of water, has become a life-or-death line for the 134th Regiment.
Colonel Nishioka Takahiro, who can be considered quite tough, was intercepted by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops rushing up from the flanks during the breakout process. After a small-scale night melee, relying on a small force,
The captain of the regiment who resisted in the ditch, and half of the regiment that was cut off with him, were beaten into pieces by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops.
And the half of the Regiment Headquarters he rushed over was not able to escape into the sky in the end. The machine gun mounted on the Anti-Union half-track armored vehicle that was pursued was crushed into a pile of meat by the collision. The 134th Regiment Headquarters
The annihilation also indicates that the last resistance of the regiment has collapsed.
When the battle reached five o'clock in the morning, when the last gunshot was fired on the north bank of the Qingliang River, except for a very small number of scattered Japanese remnants that had not yet had time to clear up, there were no longer any organized Japanese troops on the north bank of the Qingliang River. From Encha
From the front line to the north bank of the Qingliang River, there were mutilated corpses of Japanese soldiers everywhere.
After the 134th Regiment was completely eliminated, Hou Guozhong left a regiment from Shanxi, Chahar and Hebei to eliminate the remaining enemies on the spot without leaving any hidden dangers. He ordered the remaining troops that had completed their respective combat missions to perform their duties regardless of fatigue and casualties.
With the spirit of the enemy, they immediately crossed the Qingliang River to the south and cooperated with the two wing troops who were carrying out the centripetal attack to complete the encirclement and annihilation of the remaining troops of the 72nd Division.
On the battlefield on both wings, the 118th Division has completed its turn and is desperately attacking on the left wing, trying to solve the encircled 72nd Division. The Japanese 100th Division on the right wing is already under the cover of tanks and heavy artillery.
As they advanced to En County, the Japanese troops on both sides were already encircling them.
Hou Guozhong, who knew that he was running out of time, concentrated his superior troops and firepower, and invested one-third of the troops assigned to his tank unit to step up the attack on the remaining tanks of the 72nd Division from Qingliang River to Qingliang River.
The 152nd Regiment arrived at the canal line and launched an attack. On the one hand, they fought tenaciously for every inch of ground on both wings, striving to eliminate the remnants of the 72nd Division before the Japanese army's follow-up reinforcements arrived.