After hearing this, the two artillery regiment commanders thought about it carefully for a while, and after discussing with each other, they said: "In this way, we will equip each of the two regiments with the best mountain artillery battery, and carry 70% of the artillery shells on hand. They penetrated deeply into the Japanese army, so that the intersecting troops could reduce the need for firepower in the rear."
"In addition, the field artillery battalion with more shells remaining is equipped with nine 105 field guns to form three artillery groups. As the main long-range firepower, it carries out fire strikes on the Japanese army in depth. At the same time, it uses 100 and 105 mm field guns. Howitzers form a suppressive artillery group, mainly against Japanese armor and artillery."
"After receiving the request from the front, these artillery will carry out small-scale fire coverage on the targets proposed by the observers in front. However, we cannot afford barrage fire now, and can only carry out fixed-point strikes by small artillery groups. Brigadier, you still It is necessary to request column artillery fire support."
Regarding the suggestions of the two regiment commanders, Mu Changqiu hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said: "I will do as you said. I will report to the commander immediately and request artillery support from the column. But you must be careful, little one." Although the Japanese did not fire this round of artillery shells during the day, they may be playing some trick. Just be careful and don't shoot out all the artillery for me at once."
After explaining to the two artillery regiment commanders, Mu Changqiu turned to the two infantry regiment commanders and said: "It is eight o'clock in the evening. I will give you two hours to adjust your deployment. At ten o'clock in the evening, launch a counterattack across the board, and there will be Take out all the flares, we won’t survive today.”
Wang Guangyu agreed to Mu Changqiu's request for artillery support without saying a word, and adjusted the artillery deployment in the shortest possible time based on the deployment reported by Mu Changqiu. In addition to re-adjusting the deployment according to the needs of the first brigade, In addition to the artillery deployment, he also directly allocated the 107th Rocket Artillery Regiment directly under the column to two battalions of the 1st Brigade and one battalion of the 155th Howitzer.
Direct field telephone lines were set up between the first brigade artillery, the artillery directly under the column, and the artillery groups of the military region artillery. Not every artillery group was equipped with a two-watt walkie-talkie, so that the columns, military regions, and a group of artillery could be quickly communicated. The brigade artillery formed a complete firepower network under the unified command of Wu Ting, deputy commander of the column's artillery officer, who rushed to the first brigade headquarters to take charge.
After receiving target instructions from the 1st Brigade, each artillery group carried out fire suppression on various Japanese strongholds as needed. At Mu Changqiu's request, before the 1st Brigade's attack was launched, and after the firepower was covered, column artillery was used to hit the Japanese army five times in depth. Hundreds of rounds of incendiary bombs are provided to assist the first brigade in attacking to solve the problem of insufficient number of illumination bombs in the first brigade.
Although the number of artillery shells in stock of the column artillery is really low, especially the 122 rocket shells with the longest range and the most lethality, there are less than 300 rounds left, which is not enough to fire a salvo, but Wang Guangyu wanted to To support the first brigade in combat, the order was issued not to spare artillery shells.
The offensive was fierce during the day. With the support of tanks, the Sixth Division not only blocked the offensive of the First Brigade, but also forced the First Brigade to switch to defense. However, after dark, the Sixth Division, which had no stamina, could only He stopped all actions and honestly switched to defense on the spot.
Before the first brigade launched the attack, the sound of gunfire that had been ringing all day since early morning suddenly subsided. The entire southern Yilan area showed a rare tranquility. Mu Changqiu was nervously adjusting his deployment and preparing. The final attack, but for the Sixth Division, it was really unable to attack at this time. It was licking its wounds and trying to find ways to supplement its strength.
In fact, after a day of fierce fighting, the casualties of the Sixth Division were much higher than Mu Changqiu estimated. The entire Sixth Division still had a lot of artillery left, but after the fierce artillery battle in the early morning, There are only a few hundred rounds of artillery shells left in the entire division.
Most of the inventory stored in depth was destroyed by the opponent's stormy attack in the early morning, and the remaining bits had already been consumed in the daytime battle. In order to ensure his depth and room for maneuver, Machijiri Ryouki After a day of fighting with the opponent, it can be said that it hurts the foundation.
Even with the protection troops on both wings, several squadrons attached to the 14th Division, and the artillery that has fired all the shells, the number of troops that the Sixth Division can still hold guns is only a little over 4,000. That's all, this is still counting those lightly injured who could not get out of the line of fire.
A skillful woman cannot make a meal without rice. No matter how good Ren Dingjiri is, no matter how capable he is, he is almost helpless in the face of the situation at hand. He sent several messages to the eastward troops to urge them to quickly return reinforcements. However, a reinforced unit of the eastward troops was He tried his best, but could not get rid of his opponent's entanglement. After a day of hard fighting, he could not even save himself, let alone return reinforcements.
Faced with the opponent's ten-thousand-strong entanglement, the Eastward Detachment suffered heavy casualties and huge equipment losses. When the Eastward Detachment was blocked and was preparing to cooperate with the attack, an entire tank regiment encountered an accurate and precise attack from the opponent. A fierce fire ambush caused an entire tank regiment to be lost in the assembly area without firing a single shot.
The Heavy Artillery Regiment, on the other hand, disappeared inexplicably, and all its artillery and equipment were reissued. No matter how hard Colonel Tsuboda Fumihei, the captain of the 13th Regiment heading east for reinforcements, searched, he could not be found.
As soon as the battle started, the eastward detachment lost more than half of its heavy firepower and all its tanks. It had no choice but to rely on the existing firepower to fight the opponent. With an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength, although it was still fierce, it continued to attack. Unable to reverse the passive situation.
It’s not that Colonel Tsuboshima Bunpei, who was in charge of commanding the Eastward Detachment, didn’t try his best, nor was it that the officers and soldiers of the Eastward Detachment didn’t fight hard. It was just that after receiving the telegram from the division commander to immediately return reinforcements, he immediately wanted to shrink the troops and retreat. However, Colonel Tsuboshima Fumio found that after most of the day's fierce fighting, his troops were already entangled with their opponents. It was very difficult for his troops to coordinate with each other, let alone gather their troops.
The eastward advancing troops, which accounted for nearly half of the Sixth Division, could not be withdrawn, and most of the effective forces at hand were exhausted. In desperation, Machijiri Yuuki knew that if he stopped counterattacking now, the current situation would probably be even worse for him. Unfavorable, but with very few troops left on hand, he could only terminate all operations after nightfall, switch to defense on the spot, and then sent a telegram to Namada Shigeichi asking for help.
Machijiri Yuuki knew that his opponent would not give up on him, who was currently weak. He was probably already deploying troops and generals to give him a fatal blow. What he regretted most now was why he fought in the mainland of China in order to protect the Sixth Division. , the glorious tradition of fighting alone several times and turning the battle situation into safety, wasting a whole day without asking for help.
Machijiri Yuki, who now has a serious shortage of troops, finally understood the meaning of the Chinese saying that you have to save face and suffer the consequences. After the day's fighting was over, when the casualties were tallied, in the face of the shelling in the early morning, the total loss With half of the troops and the fact that except for a small amount of infantry artillery, almost all the artillery shells were used up, Machijiri Yuuki wanted to give himself a few big mouths.
I'm so fucking confused. Even if I can't save face and don't ask for reinforcements, I should still apply for some replenishment of artillery shells. Even if the artillery shells stored on the front line in the previous stage lose embers, the Kwantung Army, in order to ensure the success of this battle, will In the Weihe River behind, Muling also stocked a large amount of military supplies, especially ammunition.
In order to ensure front-line transportation, thousands of vehicles from two car regiments were specially deployed. If I opened my mouth, with air cover during the day, at least my artillery would be able to get enough artillery shells, so why would I have to sing here? What an empty city strategy, replacing toothless artillery with infantry is really a huge waste.
At present, the eastward detachment is tightly entangled by the opponent and is trapped in a situation where it cannot advance or retreat, and cannot protect itself. The connection between the Western Front and the 14th Division has been completely separated by the opponent with a powerful force. In fact, Machijiri Ryouki understood that the current main force of the Sixth Division was completely isolated and helpless.
What is now before the Sixth Division is to either get rid of the entanglement with the opponent, or to move all the way eastward to join the 13th Regiment. The other is to either desperately move westward to get closer to the 14th Division, or to move all the way south. Withdraw and abandon the southern area of Yilan, but these three options undoubtedly require the approval of the army commander.
In fact, for Machijiri Yuki, from the bottom of his heart he still wants to retreat south, because as a lieutenant general division commander, relying on the 14th Division is tantamount to asking for someone's protection. It's a loss of dignity, and Xiangdong's opponent may have already taken precautions.
For Machijiri Ryouki, the best option is to retreat southward to the Wei River and join forces with the 29th Division that has moved to the Muling line to form a new line of defense.
And it was precisely this choice that he was most afraid to make without the approval of the military headquarters, because this choice would undoubtedly mean giving up the eastward detachment that was fighting hard, and it would also mean that the entire right wing of the 14th Division would be taken. exposed to opponents.
Knowing that reality is not optimistic about him, Machijiri Yuuki no longer cares about upholding the glorious tradition of the Sixth Division being good at fighting alone. If he doesn't ask for help, let alone maintain the current front, it will be difficult for the Sixth Division to see tomorrow. The moon was still hard to tell at night, so at nine o'clock in the evening, a long message for help was sent to Lieutenant General Shigeichi Namada, the commander of the Fifth Army.
In the telegram, Machijiri Yuki, who was so anxious that he couldn't care less about finding any fig leaf at this time, told Juichi Namada directly and clearly: "If the Sixth Division is not added to the strength of at least one regiment within twelve or fourteen hours, The Sixth Division, which currently has very few manpower left, is in danger of collapsing across the board. Either a regiment of troops will be added to the Sixth Division, or the Sixth Division will be allowed to abandon its current position and withdraw southward to Weihe for rest. "
Before the anxious Machijiri Rangki received a call back from the army commander, at exactly 10 p.m., the mountainous area in southern Yilan, which had only been quiet for a few hours, once again heard overwhelming gunfire and deafening shouts of killing, accompanied by gunfire and gunfire. There were loud noises and shouts of death, as well as bright flares that continued to rise, illuminating the night sky in the mountains south of Yilan.