Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1369 Move forward! forward!

The siege of Colonel Shigenobu Yoshigu and more than 503 imperial officers and soldiers of the 2000rd Infantry Regiment was actually far less of a blow to Saburo Okabe than the defeat on another battlefield.

Compared with the counterattack of Zishan's three fronts and four regiments, which will not invest more than 5000 troops, the battle that really determines the fate of the 3st Division on the evening of March 16 actually depends on the confrontation between China and Japan on the northwest plain. Two armies.

Compared to the three battlefields in Zishan that were already in full swing, on the plain about 6 kilometers away from Zishan, before 16 o'clock in the evening on the 12th, everything was basically quiet, not to mention silent.

But this kind of calmness, for the Chinese and Japanese officers and soldiers in the trenches, they all know that it is only temporary, and no one knows when this false tranquility will be broken.

Hattori Akitaro has not slept for two days. As the supreme commander of the First Division here, he is very aware of the importance of this line of defense. Only if he holds this line of defense, the Chinese army will not be able to attack 2 people. The rear wing of the division's main force was outflanking, but this devoted Japanese Army Major General knew that because of his importance, he could not leave before the main force of Zishan evacuated. He and his army must become the last force of the entire division to evacuate. .

The evacuation time given to him by Division Commander Okabe Saburo was after 16 o'clock on the evening of the 11th!

Hattori Akitaro did not fully follow Saburo Okabe's military orders. The Chinese completely stopped the excavation operation that originally lasted for three days and nights at 9 o'clock after dark. This abnormal signal made Hattori Akitaro feel extremely uncomfortable. A good hunch, maybe the Chinese general attack will be tonight.

Therefore, after entering 11 o'clock, Hattori Xiaotaro did not follow the original evacuation plan and only ordered an infantry brigade to withdraw from the position and join a baggage squadron staying behind the position to evacuate backwards.

There are still 4 infantry brigades and a tank squadron on the position, as well as all infantry artillery squadrons and mountain artillery squadrons.

If the Chinese launch an attack in the early morning, more than 4000 elite imperial officers and soldiers will definitely crush their ambitions. Looking at the flashes of fire and thunder-like explosions coming from the Purple Mountain battlefield a few kilometers away, Hattori Xiaotaro secretly felt cruel in his heart.

It has to be said that Hattori Akitaro is indeed a veteran with rich battlefield experience. Just from the signal to stop digging trenches, he can basically judge that China is brewing a big move. He will not hesitate to give up the perfect time to withdraw the main force, but also keep the main force in the battlefield. It dealt a heavy blow to China on the battlefield.

Indeed, in the trenches that were no more than 180 meters away from the Japanese trenches, the Chinese soldiers all had grenades on their waists, and the ammo belts hung diagonally were filled with yellow-orange bullets. Except for a few, they were lying in their fighting positions and staring. There were observation posts in front and a few infantrymen chatting in low voices. Most of the soldiers were resting against the inner wall of the trench with their rifles in their arms.

The 16 infantry companies located in the frontline trenches all received the regimental military order from the signal corps: suspend excavation, the entire army rests, and wait for the general attack order!

Although at 11 pm each person had already had dinner with two white flour steamed buns and a bowl of broth, at pm, the cooking teams of each company once again brought each person a steamed bun filled with fat and a boiled egg. It’s considered a snack in the evening.

"Hurry up and go to bed. The general attack won't be so early!" An experienced veteran picked up the steamed buns and killed them three times, five by two, and reminded the recruits around him of the eggs. At the same time, he conveniently put the boiled eggs in his pocket. He smiled with satisfaction and said: "This is a rare thing. It can just fill your belly after the battle."

"Brother, how did you know?" the recruit asked curiously. Except for the brigade headquarters, no one knew when the general attack on the Japanese position in front of them was going to be.

"Stupid! If the general attack is launched in two hours, then there is no need to give us extra food! Just this big steamed bun and two big pieces of fat, it will take at least 4 hours. If the Japanese want to escape, they will definitely We have to run in batches at night. In order to reduce our casualties, the leaders deliberately gave the Japanese more time to leave the position first. We can capture this position with minimal casualties." The veteran glared because the battle was imminent. The recruit, who was excited and nervous and couldn't sleep, finally patiently explained to him.

"Then didn't we let go of a lot of Japanese for nothing?" The recruit was still a little confused.

"Run? Let me ask you, who can outrun our 683rd brigade with just their feet? I'll let him run for three hours to see if they can outrun us, if they can't bear the scraps of metal." The veteran was confident. answer.

"Understood!" The recruit nodded.

"If you understand, then go to sleep. Only when you have enough energy can you fight the Japanese." The veteran closed his eyes and snored slightly in less than a minute.

Although the new recruits were still nervous and excited, with the veteran's calm performance, his heart gradually calmed down. In addition, it was really hard to dig out the earth these past few days, so he fell asleep not long after closing his eyes.

Ten percent were veterans who had experienced a large-scale transfer of thousands of miles, 683% were four-year soldiers and three-year soldiers, and the remaining 683% were said to be new recruits, but in fact, it ranged from half a year to two years. , the extremely reasonable personnel composition is very similar to the composition of the Japanese divisions that entered the Chinese battlefield in the early days. This is the main reason why the Brigade can be called the strongest infantry brigade of the Eighty Group Army. Coupled with a full set of German weapons and equipment, the Brigade If you are not strong enough, God will not agree to it.

"Chief, I think the little devils are already ready to retreat. I don't know how far they will run. Otherwise, if we advance the time of the general attack by half an hour, I guarantee that we will catch them until they run out of breath." From the Japanese position In an underground command post less than 400 meters away, Wang Xiaoqiang anxiously reassured Brigadier Cheng who was facing the darkness.

"Do you really think the Japanese on the other side will run away?" Brigadier Cheng turned his head and looked at Wang Xiaoqiang, who was eager to fight, with a dull expression.

"The little devil commander opposite is a powerful character." Wang Xiaoqiang shook his head. "It's not good, he has the whole army in full formation and is waiting for us!"

"Oh? Then you, Madman Wang, have realized this, so why are you still thinking of launching a general attack half an hour in advance?" Brigadier Cheng asked with a smile.

"Hehe! In the past, the little devil's equipment was still the same, but now! We have already replaced our guns with cannons. We can't stop our charge with just a three-eight-piece cover and a pheasant neck. Even if he has thousands of small The Japanese are guarding the trenches with wide eyes, and all the commanders and fighters of the 772nd Regiment and I are confident that we can break through the defense line in front of us within 20 minutes and kill him with blood!" Wang Xiaoqiang replied proudly.

"Okay! It's a good thing to have confidence and determination. It's not in vain that I ordered you, Madman Wang, to make the 772nd regiment the main attack group of the brigade." Brigadier Cheng was obviously very satisfied with Wang Xiaoqiang's statement.

Even though it's all a battle, whether or not the enemy's possible deployment is fully understood is a completely different matter. The lunatic warrior takes into account the possibility that the opponent's entire army is ready, but still maintains a determination to win. That's both self-confidence and confidence. It's determination.

This is why Brigadier Cheng's five infantry regiment commanders each have their own strengths in combat, but whenever there is a critical moment, he will not hesitate to choose the mad warrior to be his vanguard.

It’s a preference and an affirmation!

Wang Xiaoqiang is like a sword, and he can dance with it when he is showing off his skills, but if he is needed to clear a bloody path for the entire army, then he will definitely move forward.

As the saying goes, the commander will lead the troops. After the 772 regiment lost their commander Ye, who was both civil and military, two years ago, the strength has not declined but has increased. In the past two years, the record has been ahead of the 771 regiment, which was once on par with them. And the 511th Regiment, the first main regiment of the 686th Division.

"However, you are now the leader of a regiment, and the leader of a large regiment with nearly ten thousand people. If you were placed under that person, you would have to be a major general-level division commander. Don't think about it when thinking about the problem. Just think about the battlefield in front of you, then think about why the brigade headquarters set the time for the general attack to 3: in the morning, and then answer me after thinking about it." Brigadier Cheng smiled and asked Wang Xiaoqiang a difficult question.

Wang Xiaoqiang had no problem with tactics. No matter what time it was, the Japanese defense line had to be fought. It was just a matter of risking one's life.

But this time is the best time for Brigadier Cheng to get stuck after going through nearly ten deductions and communicating with Tang Dao several times.

After being silent for a while and smoking two cigarettes, Wang Xiaoqiang finally gave his answer: "The reason why the brigade headquarters set this time is, firstly, because this is the time when the human body is most likely to become sleepy, especially because the Japanese army suspected me The army will launch an attack at any time, and there is no way to enter such a state of deep sleep;

Two: The Japanese army may have been lucky. After 12 o'clock, they still saw no movement from our army, so they deployed some of their main forces to retreat quietly. This also virtually reduced the attack pressure on our army and reduced casualties!

Three: Give our officers and soldiers more ample rest time to recover their physical strength!

That's probably all. Brigadier, there are so many twists and turns in your head that I really can't think of them. "

"You are dishonest. Since you became the regiment commander, you have made more twists and turns than when I first met you! Why, you are afraid that you will become bald all of a sudden, which will make me look like a brigade commander. This level of skill can be seen right away by you, the captain, right?" Brigadier Cheng looked at Wang Xiaoqiang with a half-smile on his face.

"Conscience of heaven and earth, chief, I swear to God, I don't have the connections like Lao Xu and others. I really can't flatter you." Wang Xiaoqiang argued with a grimace.

The brigade chief of staff on the side was having a hard time holding back his laughter. Wang Xiaoqiang is really a living treasure. If you swear, swear, why did you take Commander Xu and other senior commanders out to block the gun? Believe it or not, Madman Wang, that’s it. If the words reach the ears of those regimental commanders, they will collectively tear down the door of your 772 regiment headquarters.

"It's not that you, Madman Wang, can't take the photo, it's that you don't want to take the photo! Hurry up, I'll give you a chance to flatter me, and tell me the most important reason. What's on your mind like a monkey, I can still I don’t know.” Brigadier Cheng turned his head and looked into the darkness, the corners of his mouth raised slightly. What he was happy about was not that he was being flattered by his first general, but that he was finally relieved to let his proud subordinate go.

The 921 Division Headquarters has made a decision that after the Zishan Battle, the Japanese army will not launch a large-scale attack in southern Hebei for a long time. In view of the good development trend in southern Hebei, the 921 Division will learn from the Si Xing Regiment. Promote the Jinan model to other base areas.

The 683rd Brigade will be stationed in Taiyue Mountain to establish the Taiyue Military Region. The military region will be centered on Taiyue Mountain. The base area will be the triangle between Tongpu Road, Baijin Road, and Lintun Highway, and will govern a total of 32 counties.

By then, the 772nd Regiment headed by this madman general will become the patron saint of hundreds of thousands of people in 12 counties. With the ability he has shown now, it is completely enough.

"Hey, I don't know if what I said is right. I think the biggest reason why you are stuck at this time, Chief, is to make the little devil commander opposite you uncomfortable and unable to sleep. This guy will make mistakes if he doesn't rest his brain! Confused, you must not make a mistake if you are confused!" Wang Xiaoqiang said with a chuckle.

"How's it going? Chief of Staff, I mean Madman Wang is Zhang Fei who can embroider, right? Otherwise, you would think that Tang Tuanzuo, who is the commander of the 683rd Brigade and is as smart as a ghost, has the closest relationship with him. That's because like attracts each other!" Brigadier Cheng looked at the chief of staff with a smile.

The chief of staff gave Wang Xiaoqiang a thumbs up!

"The more intense the fight is on the Si Xing Group, the quieter our side is. The longer the delay, the less our opponents can figure out our rhythm. If we make our opponents anxious, they will make mistakes when they are anxious!" This is what Brigadier Cheng said at night. A concluding speech was made after setting this time point at a brigade headquarters operational meeting.

Hattori Akitaro was in such torment. From 11 o'clock until 2: in the morning, the opposite position was still silent, with no intention of launching an attack.

Finally, Hattori Akitaro, who could no longer wait any longer, made the decision to dispatch another infantry brigade to evacuate. If the Chinese had not moved by 4 o'clock, Hattori Akitaro would personally lead another infantry brigade to evacuate the battlefield.

The last group to leave the battlefield will be after 5:30. At that time, all the heavy weapons and equipment have been moved away, and more than a thousand people, all composed of light infantry, will see if the marching speed is fast enough.

Hattori Akitaro's wishful thinking at least looked good at that moment, but by 3: in the morning, Major General Hattori Akitaro, who had packed up and was about to leave the frontline headquarters to join the infantry brigade that had begun to leave the trenches, suddenly heard to the shrill scream coming from the air.

The pale Japanese Army Major General looked up and saw dots of meteors twinkling in the sky, like a beautiful meteor shower!

But that does not make people wish, but brings death!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Amid the brilliant fire and the shocking sound of explosions, Hattori Akatsuki was stunned.

In this psychological duel, he lost completely!

The Chinese were extremely cunning in using time to make him make mistakes. On the position where he once again mobilized 3000 people to evacuate, there were less than 4 infantry. What's more, what's terrible is that an hour ago, he also evacuated 2 infantry artillery squads and heavy machine gun squadrons.

This is because he knows that heavy equipment can slow down the march during retreat, but he is reluctant to discard these heavy equipment, so he can only evacuate early.

This means that the two infantry brigades still on the position and the infantry brigade that has just left the position and intends to assemble only have 2 heavy machine guns and 12 infantry cannons to provide fire support for them.

好在还有一个战车中队还没有走，6辆97中型坦克的57毫米榴弹炮和40挺7.7毫米重机枪多少也能给步兵些支援。

Without these, Hattori Xiaotaro would really want to die.

But Hattori Akitaro still underestimated his opponent. This time, the 683 brigade actually used its heavy firepower, including 12 150mm mortars, 12 Type 75 12 mountain guns, and 75 82mm Bo The Foss Mountain artillery, plus the 80 mortars equipped by each regiment, and 'flying thunder cannons' quietly constructed in the front-line trenches.

It's far from the legendary 10,000-gun salvo, but it's definitely over a hundred!

Especially the 80 flying thunder cannons on the front line. Although the range is very short and the furthest can only be thrown 250 meters away, that is enough.

The job of the 5 kilogram explosive package is to destroy the forward fortifications and the infantry in the first-line trenches.

After more than 10 minutes of artillery preparation, not to mention mortars and mountain cannons, just the special explosive packs for thunder cannons, the "crazy" gunners of the 683 Brigade fired 800 of them. That was 4000 kilograms of explosives. The 683 Brigade I bought a little bit of money from the Sixings Regiment Military Factory in January, and it took me a whole year to save up, but it was all wiped out in 10 minutes.

Even a leader like Wang Xiaoqiang, who has seen a lot of things in the world, was so distressed that his subordinates were pouring out ammunition for free, and their cheeks were shaking with distress!

how to say! This is good, so that these bastards can survive being scolded by me. I can't scold them to death after the war, but Wang Xiaoqiang can comfort himself.

Hattori Xiaotaro underestimated his opponents and overestimated his own people.

Hundreds of cannons were smashed in at once, and the torrential waves of hot air, not to mention the infantry on the front line, even the tanks of all types that were semi-surrounded by the fortifications were shaking violently. The armored soldiers of the Japanese tank squadron were not idiots. Seeing this The artillery fire judged that the front-line infantry must not be able to hold the trenches.

If the infantry cannot hold on, it means that the Chinese will soon approach their tanks, which are used as fixed firepower points 400 meters away. A few days ago, the 1st Tank Squadron was lit alive by the Chinese with crude incendiary bottles. The scene is still vivid in my mind, they are still waiting here, what is that if they are not super idiots?

"Each tank will immediately break away from the fortifications after the artillery fire stops, and maneuver to support the imperial infantry fighting the Chinese in various areas!" The squadron leader of the tank gave the military order with a livid face.

For mobile support and fighting the Chinese, the two key points seem to be fine. Those who understand understand it, and those who don't understand it, then go to hell!

Therefore, the 2 tanks of the 22nd Tank Squadron, which Hattori Akatsuki had high hopes for, had already lost their fighting spirit during an artillery battle that started on the battlefield.

How can 3000 light infantry resist the charge of 6000 Chinese elite infantry who have been recuperating all night? Can they take the lead?

At 4:10 in the morning, Hattori Akitaro desperately sent a farewell message to Saburo Okabe that the defense line in the northwest plain was broken and the entire army was shattered!

At that time, only 40 minutes had passed since China fired the first artillery shell!

. . . . . . . . . . .

By dawn, only gray military uniforms were cleaning the battlefield. The battlefield was littered with shit-yellow corpses, among which gray military uniforms occasionally fell to the ground.

The recruit knelt in front of his squad leader. When he broke through the defense line, the veteran fired twice and killed two Japanese soldiers in the trench. However, several machine gun bullets from 100 meters away also hit his chest. The recruit could not stop the charge. Until the end of the battle, he returned to the battlefield and found the squad leader who had done a simple bandage.

The recruit took out the crushed boiled egg from the veteran's purse and put the crushed yolk into his mouth. The veteran smacked his lips tremblingly a few times and made an inaudible sound: "It smells good!"

The recruit's face was darkened by gunpowder smoke, with two white marks washed out all over it. He struggled to carry his breathless squad leader on his back.

On the battlefield filled with gunpowder smoke, the recruits' desolate and solemn roars rang out: "Forward! Forward! Our team moves forward!"

That was the first military song he learned from the squad leader when he entered the army!