Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1016
The artillery fire of the Japanese army was well prepared, and the power of the salvo of 24 75 mountain artillery made the 1800-meter-long defense line on the north bank of the Zhuozhang River, which turned around, be shrouded in thick gunpowder.

In half an hour, 24 mountain cannons poured more than 772 shells on the position of the 1200 regiment. This kind of artillery preparation is extremely rare even in the Japanese army.

Moreover, the position area chosen by the Japanese artillery is also extremely tricky. They are around a small hill about 1000 meters behind Zhaozhuang, a stronghold on the rear wing. Where exactly was the Japanese artillery placed?

And its infantry began to deploy defense lines 600 meters away from the artillery positions. They didn't need a ring, as long as they faced a semi-circle of mountains 1500 meters away, they could already stop all enemies who dared to rush out of the mountains.

Even if the supplementary regiment of the 683 Brigade can see a large amount of gunpowder smoke rising 2000 meters away from the mountain peak, and holds several mortars in their hands, it can only be in vain!After all, the current 683 Brigade is not yet so luxurious that it can retaliate against the Japanese artillery positions aimlessly and by luck.

Therefore, the Japanese artillery fought very comfortably, and the Japanese forward infantry also began to attack the Zhuozhang River at the infantry squad level under the cover of their gradually thinning artillery fire. More than 8 Type 94 armored vehicles rushed to the forefront.

Of course, the Type 94 armored vehicles are not cannon fodder to send heads before it is found out whether the Chinese army has anti-aircraft guns. According to the order of the front-line headquarters, the armored vehicles dispatched by the tank squadron must stay in the Zhuozhang River Before 200 meters, don't rush into it easily.

Armored vehicles cannot be used as cannon fodder, and the cannon fodder must be the first infantry to advance.

Although it was cannon fodder, it was not casually lost cannon fodder. 1200 rounds of shells paved the way for them, 8 Type 94 tanks served as cover for them, and there were as many as 16 heavy machine guns on the flanks as fire support for them.

A total of more than 300 Japanese infantrymen bent their waists and trotted forward, and a total of 8 infantry squads attacked on the left and right river banks.

The first wave of Japanese infantrymen who went into the attack were actually almost cowered. The battles of the previous few days had let them know that the Chinese in the Taihang Mountains were completely different from the Chinese who were defeated in one blow on the North China Plain.

Regardless of how many times the bombers have bombed, the imperial artillery has come to wash the ground again, but the Chinese must not be dead, and they will definitely stay in the trenches, just wait for them to get closer, and get closer.

But the more timid the Japanese infantrymen were, the less the imaginary hail of bullets would come, even if they had rushed to a position less than 100 meters away from the river.

This made Lai Gu Yoshio, who personally arrived in the trench 700 meters away to supervise the battle, look cloudy and uncertain. Based on his understanding of the Chinese army that lacks heavy firearms, the Chinese rarely shoot to suppress the attacking troops at a distance of 200 meters, but they never It will not easily let the opponent step over the 100-meter life-and-death line.

At a distance of 100 meters, if a fully armed soldier charges, it only takes about 16 seconds. Once a strong enough firepower network cannot be formed, it is easy to be rushed to the 30-meter position by the imperial infantry, which is also the attack area of ​​the melon grenade. When you get there, countless melon grenades are thrown in the past, basically the probability of rushing into the trench is greater than 70.00%.

But the Chinese positions were still quiet, as if they had fallen asleep collectively. Could it be that the Chinese were all swallowed up by the raging artillery fire?
This kind of good wish is fleeting in Yoshio Laigu's mind. As a mature soldier, he knows very well that the fierce artillery fire may inflict heavy damage on the opponent, but if he pins all the hopes of annihilating the enemy For cannonballs, that is extremely stupid.

In the history of combat between the empire and the Chinese army, there has never been a case where all the Chinese were killed by artillery.

The ultimate solution to the battlefield depends on the infantry's muzzles and bayonets.

When something goes wrong, there must be a demon. Looking through the binoculars, his own infantry is getting closer and closer to the Zhuozhang River, which is more than [-] meters wide. Yoshio Laigu feels more and more disturbed. flashed in my mind.

In the water, the flexibility is bound to be limited, and there is no way to lie down quickly to avoid it. The death rate in battle is far higher than that on flat ground. Yoshio Raigu can almost predict that the casualty rate of his subordinates rushing into the river must exceed one-third.

But as a commander, what can he do?He has to know how deep the river is, how fast the water is flowing, and the layout of the opponent's heavy firepower.All of these need to use bloody life as bait to find out.

"To order the tank squadron in front to fight the tanks, we must ensure that the enemy's firepower is suppressed and the infantry is covered by the strongest firepower." Yoshio Laigu ordered with a serious face.

This is the greatest support he can give to his subordinates.

As a result, a shocking scene appeared. Even though the vanguard of the Japanese infantry had stepped into the icy river, as they moved forward, the river was already waist-deep, and the other side was still quiet.

What the hell are the Chinese doing?This question has been the voice of almost all Japanese soldiers on the battlefield.

The strange silence from the opponent made every Japanese soldier watching this scene hold his breath involuntarily. If it weren't for the artillery fire of the 75 mountain artillery that was still extending forward, and the smoke was billowing three to 400 meters away, the Japanese army would even involuntarily There is an illusion: there is actually no one else on this battlefield except them, and the Chinese have already been blown away by imperial fighter planes and cannons.

But obviously, this is also just a good hope.

Not to mention that criss-cross trenches have already been dug on the north bank of the Zhuozhang River. There are more than 772 anti-battery holes alone. When the Japanese artillery fire began to test fire, the 3 infantry battalions of the [-]nd Regiment used platoons as units to pass through the traffic trenches. Withdrew to the bomb defense hole designated earlier, and two infantry companies were left in the trench as a security force.

The Japanese artillery fire was strong enough, and it also caused some losses to the two infantry companies left in the trenches. But to say that all the more than 1800 Chinese officers and soldiers scattered in the 200-meter trench were killed, the Japanese artillery fire was at least multiplied. Take 5.

When the Japanese artillery fire gradually thinned out and extended [-] meters from the river, each battalion sent two infantry platoons out of the artillery holes to support the front line through the communication trenches.

Although not all the main forces of the 772 regiment are currently on the front line, there are as many as 4 infantry companies with nearly 540 people, which is more powerful than the Japanese army.

Not only that, some of the heavy machine guns and mortars of the respective fire support companies of the 3rd Battalion also entered their respective positions at the risk of being shelled, and they could shoot at any time if they wanted to fight.

But Battalion Commander Xiao Ding, who was the front-line commander, did not give the order to fight back. Even if the captain and company commander who followed him sweatingly asked twice in a row, he shook his head firmly.

"Wait, let everyone wait!" Battalion Commander Xiao Ding lay behind the sandbags in the trench, cautiously looking at the Japanese soldiers who were struggling on the river through the specially prepared gap. "The little devil is just waiting for our machine guns to fire! Gou Ri's grenadier soldiers and infantry artillery should have been ready long ago. I don't want to use machine guns this time as I wish."

Just as he was talking, the eight Type 94 tanks on the opposite bank began to fire wildly, and the machine gun bullets hit the soil in front of the position like raindrops, making a puffing sound!

"The devils are about to start crossing the river on a large scale." Battalion Commander Xiao Ding leaned his back against the trench wall, his face still calm. "Tell the commanders and fighters that according to the original plan, half of them will use guns and the other half will be responsible for dropping bombs. If we don't use machine guns this time, we will still be able to kill the devils."

Before the words fell, a dozen meters in front of the position, 'Boom boom boom! 'A piece of gunpowder smoke exploded, it was a melon grenade from the Japanese army.

The reason why the melon grenade is basically thrown in front of the position is because the trenches were dug along the river, but not next to the river. The farthest distance is 50 meters from the river, and the closest one is also about 40 meters away. The Japanese army wanted to throw grenades into the trenches, it was a dream.

And the reason why the Japanese army started throwing grenades as soon as they crossed the river instead of continuing to move forward was that they really didn't want to move forward, but they couldn't.

The terrain on the north bank of the river is relatively high. Perhaps because of the perennial erosion of the river, a ridge was naturally formed, with a height of more than 2 meters.

After crossing the river, part of the Japanese army couldn't help being a little dumbfounded. If they want to climb this hurdle, they have to build a ladder
In the past, one person made the ladder, and the other ran all the way with the gun, and it was over by jumping up with the momentum and the shoulders of the companion.

But now, they have exhausted a lot of physical strength trudging through the mud, and crossing the Dao River, half of their physical strength has already been lost. With such strong agility, but with a height of less than 1.6 meters to cross a ridge of more than 2 meters, that is really too strong!

But it's not a problem to stay here all the time, and when there are more and more colleagues crossing the river, it's dangerous to be crowded here.

Not having enough sense of space on the battlefield is the most worrying thing for soldiers.

As a result, many Japanese soldiers who had already arrived at the ditch chose to throw grenades outside the ditch, which can be regarded as giving themselves a strong momentum. What if the Chinese are killed?
As everyone knows, this sent a signal to Battalion Commander Xiaoding in the trench. Based on the density of the grenade explosion, he judged that the Japanese army had reached at least one-third of the way.

"Fire!" Battalion Commander Xiao Ding held his shell gun and shot out along the cracks in the sandbags.

All of a sudden, gunshots sounded like popping beans on the battlefield.

This is not a aimed shot at all, but a wave shot.

Because the gunpowder smoke from the explosion of the grenade made it impossible to see the front clearly in the trenches, and the bullets were fired purely to tell the Japanese army that even if they crossed that hurdle, they had to lie on their stomachs. die.

The 772 regiment had all been equipped with Japanese weapons before the war. Facing such a big battle, Brigadier Cheng Da naturally did not dare to hide it. Not only the two main regiments were all equipped with Japanese weapons, but even the supplementary regiment was half equipped. Jin made firearms, and even carried all the ammunition in stock.

In his words, if this battle is lost, the Taihang Mountains will not be able to stay any longer. We have fed the dogs the vows we made when we crossed the Yellow River, so why do we need guns and ammunition?On average, each soldier carries up to 100 bullets.

Of course, the grenade is still an imitation German-made long wooden handle grenade, which is much more powerful than the Japanese melon grenade, and the 683 brigade will not lack that for the time being.

Therefore, this wave can be regarded as Japanese weapons versus Japanese weapons. In terms of light firepower, the two sides are almost the same, except for grenades.

Several of the Japanese soldiers who had just emerged from a dozen places fell down in an instant. The Japanese soldiers who were lucky enough not to be hit by the bullets either lay dead on the ground or rolled down the ditch.

"Drop the bomb!" Battalion Commander Xiao Ding ordered again.

As the infantry company beside him threw sixty or seventy grenades and exploded by the river, the rest of the infantry companies also began to throw grenades frantically one after another.

This was a tactic formulated long before the war. The first wave of Japanese trials did not expose the firepower of heavy machine guns unless it was absolutely necessary.

But we can't let these cannon fodder Japanese troops just run back, a lot of damage is certain.

Neither rifles nor light machine guns can achieve this goal, so only grenades can be used.

And the timing of using this grenade is also very important. It must wait until the Japanese army has crossed the river and gathered under the natural ditch.

At a distance of 40 meters, the melon grenade cannot be thrown, but the wooden handle grenade equipped by the Chinese army can.

Four infantry companies, even if only half of them threw bombs, there are still more than 200 grenades, and even if only half of them crossed the ditch and exploded under the ditch, there would have to be nearly 200 grenades in 4 waves. Bar!
The river bank is nearly 2000 meters long, with an average density of 3 meters. A grenade explodes. The key is that there is nowhere to hide. Even if you lie on the gravel by the river, there is a high chance that you will be hit by a grenade emitting blue smoke. , do you think there is still a way out?
Nearly 150 Japanese soldiers were gathered under the ditch, and they were blown up to the point of howling ghosts and wolves!The scene of broken limbs and flesh and blood directly stunned the Japanese soldiers who were still trudging in the river.

A Japanese soldier felt his face was slapped hard. After looking around, he found that his closest companion was still 10 meters away. He instinctively reached out to touch it, but pulled a piece of flesh with curly hair off his face. .

The flesh and blood can no longer show the Japanese infantryman which part of the human body it belongs to through any specific characteristics, but it definitely belongs to the colleague.

The Japanese infantry stared at the bloody flesh on their hands in horror. After staying for nearly five seconds, they let out a strange cry and ran back. At least seven or eight Japanese infantry followed suit and moved frantically along with the deserter. Short legs run backwards.

"Baga!" A Japanese officer with the rank of second lieutenant held a Nanfang [-]-style pistol and was about to shoot at the subordinates who fled first.

But with a burst of clear gunshots, the Japanese officer's arm hangs down weakly, and the bastard box also falls into the surging river, becoming a real "bastard".

The light machine guns on the Chinese side began to take advantage of this opportunity to shoot towards the river through the shooting holes made by the sandbags.

The pistol in the hands of the Japanese officer was too obvious, and was spotted by a Chinese machine gunner, and a swarm of bullets was directed at him. Therefore, he was not the first Japanese second lieutenant captain killed in battle on this battlefield, but he was definitely the first. A small captain who feeds the fish.

With this body fat, the fish in the Zhuozhang River have to eat for many days.

As the saying goes: No matter how fast you run, you can't run away from bullets!What's more, in the water, although the Japanese Type 94 armored vehicles have tried their best to provide fire cover, and there are also Japanese grenadiers not far away. Feel free to kill the Japanese army who started to flee back in the river!
According to post-war statistics, in this first wave, 8 of the 4 infantry squads were declared out of formation, and more than 200 Japanese soldiers stayed in the river and the riverside ditches, but there were surprisingly few wounded soldiers. No more than 20 people in total.

Because, being injured in the river and losing the ability to walk, they will basically be swallowed by the surging river soon, and those who can survive are basically the chosen ones.

"Baga!" Yoshio Lai watched helplessly as his soldiers were ruthlessly harvested by the Chinese, and it was extremely rare for them to take the initiative to retreat, and this was the result of the Chinese side not using heavy machine guns. One can imagine the annoyance in his heart.

"Bastard! Send me an order to Yoshio Raigu. The artillery will continue to bombard the Chinese position in 5 minutes. The firepower preparation time is 15 minutes.

During these 15 minutes, he immediately organized a second wave of attack. This time the tank squadron can follow his infantry forward, and the engineers will also carry enough equipment to accompany the infantry forward. Tell him, I don’t want any more difficult terrain, China Excuses such as fierce firepower! "When Shan Xiawen learned from the phone that the front was frustrated but failed to achieve even the most basic tactics, he was also very angry.

At this moment, there was a thunderous 'bang' sound in the distance, and the eyes of Yamashita, who was already annoyed, gleamed fiercely. He knew that the movement could only be caused by artillery groups, and he did not order the artillery brigade to fire. .

How could the artillery battalion bypass his command and provide artillery support for the rear wing?Even if the military situation is urgent, it is against the order.

That is to say, the artillery brigade was still two kilometers away from him, otherwise, Shan Xiaxia, who was in a rage, might have just a few big mouths.

But Yamashita obviously didn't know that the artillery captain, who was inexplicably blamed, opened his mouth wide and looked into the distance.

Although the 24 mountain cannons under his command are still emitting green smoke from their muzzles, this is the heat dissipation phenomenon of the previous firing, and has nothing to do with the rumbling sound of the cannons.

Moreover, listening to that movement was not something that could be caused by his 24 mountain cannons.

That belongs to the Chinese, and the number of artillery pieces may not be less than that of his artillery brigade. The heart of the Japanese artillery brigade is slowly sinking.

The experience of the old artilleryman is quite correct.

This time, 6 150mm heavy pressure guns and 16 75mm mountain guns were fired this time, for a total of 22 artillery pieces, roughly the same number as the Japanese artillery brigade.

However, the 150-weight artillery shell weighs 18 kilograms, which is almost three times that of the 6.5-kg mountain artillery shell, and its power is obvious.

In the first round of bombardment alone, the Japanese troops in the Zhaozhuang area were beaten to the point of crying. The captain of the infantry brigade asked Yamashita for reinforcements after being bombarded for 3 minutes.

If the Chinese artillery were allowed to fight like this, before it got dark, his already somewhat incomplete infantry brigade would be blasted into hemiplegia, and its combat effectiveness would be less than half of what it was before.

One aspect is the great power of Chinese artillery. What's worse is that his soldiers don't have decent trenches to protect them.

The Major, who had been staying in the village, did not dare to stay any longer. He had reason to suspect that the Chinese would open fire on the village.

The rich combat experience saved the Japanese army major. Within 5 minutes, the Chinese artillery group who found the coordinates of the village extended their artillery fire to the village, and the whole village was reduced to powder 5 minutes later.

According to the captured Japanese battle reports after the war, the infantry brigade lost 166 people in the first wave of shelling, which is almost an infantry squadron.

Facts have proved that not only Chinese soldiers cannot resist artillery, but neither can Japanese.

"What? The Chinese have as many artillery groups as ours?" Shan Xiaxia, who received the telegram, was pale and sat down on a chair in the small courtyard, silent for a long time.

As an army general, he knew all too well the destructive power of artillery.

Without enough shelter, his rear wing army is the meat on the chopping board of the Chinese, and they can cut it how they want.

"Order to Lieutenant Yin Teng in the rear, the artillery brigade will give him the greatest support, so that he will drag him until the sun goes down anyway, and then do his best to build the fortifications overnight, and tell the brigade officers and soldiers that this is a time of life and death for the entire brigade. If you don't work hard, you will die!" Yamashita tried his best to calm himself down.

When to break through the Zhuozhang River is not so important, what is important is that the rear wing must not be broken, otherwise, the entire army will be wiped out.

Perhaps, if he survived this night and waited until the Army Aviation fighter planes found and destroyed the enemy artillery positions tomorrow, even if he was trapped, he could hold out for a few more days.

This is the only countermeasure the Japanese general can think of so far.

But the major general of the Japanese army who was at the end may not have thought about a question, why did the Chinese dare to expose their artillery and strength with such a big fanfare?

Or maybe, Yamashita thought of it, but now he is drinking poison to quench his thirst. No matter what tricks the Chinese have, the hope of his second mixed brigade's survival lies with the Imperial Army Aviation.

Captain Sasaki, who was hundreds of miles away, felt a slight chill in his vest!
(End of this chapter)