The Japanese patrol team first discovered the movement on the lake. Although Ye Zhao and the others did not use flashlights or anything else to borrow light, the noise on the water was unavoidable. The Gao family and the Dong family were both old fishermen on Panyang Lake, so they were very interested in Pan Yang. They are very familiar with the Yanghu waterway. They can easily identify the direction even at night. After receiving the order from the rice field, the Japanese patrol team paid special attention to the movement on Panyang Lake. When they heard the sound of water, they opened fire. Shooting, as soon as the gunshot rang out, Ye Zhao knew that his side had been exposed, but he was not afraid of it. The intelligence sent by Feng Xuehai and others in the afternoon said that the Japanese army in Ma Tou Bay was no more than a squadron, and the Japanese in a squadron could only have two heavy weapons. Mortars, only about ten light and heavy machine guns, are not at the same level as the heavy firepower ratio of the 36th Brigade, so Ye Zhao is not worried at all.
"Fight back." He said calmly. The three general-purpose machine guns mounted on the bows of the three slightly more spacious fishing boats at the front opened fire at the same time. Wherever the bullets hit, the Japanese on the shore fell down one after another. Some Japanese shouted : "Enemy attack, enemy attack, notify the squadron leader immediately." The patrol immediately organized a resistance, but as Ye Zhao expected, because heavy firepower did not dominate, their resistance was very weak.
Ye Zhao and the others heard the gunshots on the shore and sped up their journey. When a gunfight broke out in their area, the scouts at Feng Xuehai breathed a sigh of relief. The main force arrived, and their mission was completed. Now, As long as we can delay it as much as possible, when the large force comes ashore, it will be the end of this squadron of devils.
The sound of gunfire rang out by the lake, and the gunfire was so intensive that Paddy was frightened when he heard it. He thought that the Xuebing Army would launch a sneak attack, but he didn't expect it to come so fast. He calculated the time and found that the soldiers sent to report the message must not have arrived yet. Xingzi County camp, then if you give up resistance, the Xuebing army will take advantage of the opportunity to cover up the camp, and the camp will be attacked. "I don’t know how many people came. If it is only one or two regiments, even if it is a surprise attack, Our army's strength in Xingzi County can also resist it, but if a brigade comes, then..." He didn't dare to think about it anymore, and decided to check it out in person first. He ordered a small team to continue fighting Feng Xuehai and the others, and he He led the people back, then abandoned the station, and directly led the remaining soldiers and horses in the station towards the lake where the gunshots were heard.
The battles in Hukou and Xingzi County were only part of the Battle of Madang. On the same night, around seven o'clock, in the direction of Xiaogushan, the battle report from the Zhongdao Qingcun quilt strategy was transmitted to Yamada Castle 2 He heard that after the 112th Division lost another brigade and still could not attack the Xiaogushan first-line position, he immediately gave up the three-sided combat plan, and instead removed some baffles from the military cards, preparing to learn from the 106th Division to block the attack. With the support of the board, they launched a strong attack on Xiaogushan.
Okamura Neiji's order to Yamada was to capture Xiaogushan before dark and direct troops to Penglangji. But now that it was dark, the 112th Division was still unable to advance at the foot of Xiaogushan. Yamada felt very embarrassed. , after being scolded by Okamura Neiji, he held back his anger and finally vented it on Takahashi, the Japanese commander who was commanding the frontline operations.
"Takahashi-kun, my patience has its limit. Now I will allocate another brigade to you. If you can't occupy Xiaogushan before nine o'clock, then please commit suicide."
This battle was fought in vain. It was clear that our side had a great advantage, but it could not be reflected during the battle. What was especially abominable was that every time the cannon sounded, everyone on the opposite Xuebingjun position seemed to be dead. , but as soon as the sound of the artillery stopped, just when he ordered the charge, those Chinese people sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. The battle lasted for more than six hours. Fortunately, a large group of imperial troops fell so helplessly. In front of the Xuebing Army's first position, Takahashi adopted a relatively old-fashioned and conservative tactics. He originally wanted to use time and strength advantages to consume the ammunition of the defenders on the mountain. However, he could win without a fight. However, so far, the defenders on the mountain have not been able to win. However, the army seemed to have endless ammunition, maintaining intensive firepower from beginning to end, and was able to withstand the imperial army's tidal attack. Before the in-depth contact with the student army, all the Japanese officers were almost of the same character. They believed that compared with the Xuebing Army, the Imperial Army had an overall advantage in terms of soldier quality and weapons. However, after fighting and even suffering losses, they discovered that the enemy's weapons and equipment were actually more advanced and easier to use than the Imperial Army's. , and when they have to admit this, the methods they can take are very limited.
The method that Yamada learned from Nakajima to offset the weapons advantage of the cadet army did not catch Takahashi's eyes. He fought with the cadet army for a long time. Takahashi became more frightened and frightened the more the cadets fought. The battle between the cadets The willpower and tactical literacy far exceeded the Chinese troops he encountered when he entered China. Of course, these can be obtained through training. It is not surprising. What made him feel uneasy was the strange positions and marksmanship of the trainees. , this kind of embodiment of combat consciousness is often the most deadly. Many times, in a position that he thought was very safe, suddenly a gunshot rang out, and the soldier standing in that position was shot in a vital part. The Chinese gunman had a strange presence. , so that the soldiers participating in the attack are often out of control, and they do not dare to face the front during the attack, but have to look left and right, which affects the advancement speed of the troops. The thickness of the military card baffle can play a certain defensive role. , However, if the soldiers really want to be absolutely safe, they must completely hide behind the baffle, which makes the soldiers' field of vision even narrower. Then, the detection of those students who are in strange positions will naturally be even worse. Takahashi was very worried. Even if the soldiers relied on the defense of the baffles to rush to the defenders' position, it would be a problem for how many people to arrive in the end because of the presence of those strange gunmen.
The terrain of Xiaogushan is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack. There is only one way to attack from the front, and up to three or five people can pass through at a time. If a dense column formation is adopted, then the mortars and grenadiers from the opposite side will be able to use their capabilities. Chances are, even if the opponent accurately throws a grenade, it can explode a large area. Yamada suddenly gave Takahashi a death order. Takahashi was filled with hatred, but he could only accept it unconditionally.
Takahashi didn't want to die, at least he didn't want to die in such a useless battle. Dozens of baffles were quickly delivered. After the baffles were delivered, he did not immediately go into battle. Instead, he organized several staff members to make serious plans. Finally, while having dinner, he happened to see an armored vehicle at the division headquarters. He came up with the wonderful idea of using baffles to build a movable tank. Takahashi's movable tank required a total of eight yuan. There are two baffles in the front, top, left and right, and only the back is empty; there are four soldiers in the front, three on the left and three in the middle, two light machine gunners in the middle, and the ten soldiers on the front and left are only responsible for advancing the baffle. , and the two light machine gunners mounted the machine guns between the two front baffles. They were also the only firepower output of the mobile tank as it moved forward.
The construction of the mobile chariot is very convenient. The only troublesome thing is the link between the two baffles and the opening between the two front blocks. After the baffles were connected, Takahashi personally directed the actual combat.
In the battle that lasted for more than six hours, the 307th Regiment also suffered certain casualties, but compared with the number of Japanese they annihilated, these casualties were nothing. Therefore, although the Japanese troops at the foot of the mountain were still densely packed, the soldiers did not Not nervous, many soldiers without combat missions actually still have time to listen to storytelling or stories around company and battalion instructors.
The soldiers had no fear and were able to maintain a relaxed attitude. However, the regiment commander, Lian Changjiang, and the chief of staff, Geng Shu, did not dare to be idle. The war had been going on for such a long time, and what worried them most was the supply of ammunition. At the beginning of the 307th regiment's climb up the mountain, they learned from the Ninth Brigade. Brigadier Xiang Zhengyong took precautions and asked the Logistics Department to pre-allocate fifteen bases of ammunition to Company Changjiang. Fifteen bases of ammunition would normally be enough for them for half a year, but in this case, it only took six hours. In the past, ten bases of ammunition were gone. Lian Changjiang knew that the reason why our regiment defended Xiaogushan with relatively small casualties was because of the sufficient ammunition. The results they have achieved now do not mean that the 307th Regiment is more capable. Fighting, but because they can unscrupulously take advantage of their weapons and firepower. When he discussed this matter with Geng Shu, he said: "I originally thought that the little devils would detour if they couldn't take Xiaogushan, but at least they would wisely choose to encircle and not Attack, but now it seems that we have miscalculated. With this little devil’s attitude, we will not give up until we take Xiaogushan.”
Geng Shu nodded: "We must control the firepower output. If we continue to fight like before, we will run out of ammunition at most tomorrow morning. I asked, should we make a surprise attack at night? The little devil's bullets We don’t need them, so more grenades would be good.”
"No, there are too many little devils. I think we should think of other ways."
"What's the best way?"
"Stones, there are a lot of rocks on Xiaogushan. How about we try to build two trebuchets? It doesn't need to be complicated, as long as it can be used as a surprise weapon at critical moments."
"Well, it's a good idea. There is only one route for the Japanese army to attack on a large scale. Once this trebuchet is used, it will be a good obstacle to the little devils."
Lian Changjiang and Geng Shu's original intention of coming up with the trebuchet tactic was just to alleviate the ammunition crisis. To their surprise, their tactic was the nemesis of Takahashi's "mobile tank" tactic.
There are a lot of stones and suitable trees on Xiaogu Mountain. Lian Changjiang personally led people to do it. However, it took more than an hour to set up two catapults at the bend of the mountain road behind the first position. Each of these two catapults was It requires five people to operate and can throw about fifty kilograms of stones. Stones of about fifty kilograms are not very dangerous in normal times, but after the trebuchet is accelerated and the natural terrain (condescending), it can The role it plays cannot be underestimated.
The contest between the movable chariot and the ancient trebuchet began under the careful consideration of the commanders of both sides.