Bright Sword's Bloody War of Resistance

Chapter 716

At 1942:4 a.m. on April 1, [-], less than half an hour before the general offensive, Zhou Weihan became a little nervous. Battle map on the wall.

"Has the flight team set off yet?" Zhou Weihan asked in as calm a tone as possible.

"Commander, you just asked, the flight team has already set off!" The combat staff officer replied.

"Why haven't we arrived yet, the sky is already bright, so we won't lose our way?"

In the trenches, the supplementary regiment of the first echelon was at the forefront, followed by the assault regiment of the second echelon and the 22nd regiment, and the two regiments of the New Tenth Brigade were deployed as reserve teams on the offensive position to prevent the battle from going badly. The enemy suddenly counterattacked.

The artillery positions are divided into two places. All field artillery and command posts are set up on the top of Yunpan Mountain, and all mountain artillery are located at the foot of the mountain. In this battle, Zhou Weihan’s attack direction has 34 Japanese-style and Jin orogenic artillery pieces, and 12 field artillery pieces. There are 18 American-style mountain guns organized into 11 gun batteries, and another 15 Type [-] infantry guns provide direct-pointing firepower directly on the front line.

Artillery is the decisive force in this battle. Before the battle, Zhou Weihan deliberately considered the issue of the commander of the artillery unit. The commander of the artillery unit was Guan Xinguang, the political commissar of the artillery regiment at the headquarters. I have studied in the academy, but I have a professional background in artillery.

"Each artillery company reports the situation of each artillery position!" Guan Xinguang held a walkie-talkie in his hand and asked about the situation at the scene.

"Everything in the company is normal, and all artillery positions are ready!"

"Everything in the second company is normal, and all artillery positions are ready!"

"Okay, wait for the order!" Guan Xinguang turned off the walkie-talkie and looked at the battalion commander Xiong Renshan of the American Mountain Artillery Battalion: "Comrade Renshan, to be honest, this is the first time I have commanded an artillery group of this size in actual combat. I'm still a little nervous, thanks to the guidance of the brother troops!"

"Political Commissar Guan, you are an old senior. I am playing a big knife in front of Guan Gong and making a fool of myself!" Xiong Renshan said embarrassingly.

"Hey, those who have mastered it first, no matter how many theories, it also needs to be practiced in actual combat!"

In this battle, Guan Xinguang was the commander-in-chief of the artillery, and Xiong Renshan was in charge of the artillery reconnaissance station, reporting the position parameters at all times through the walkie-talkie.

Not long after, the roar of the plane's engine suddenly came from the sky. Xiong Renshan looked up and saw that the plane was circling in the sky in a long snake formation.

"It's our plane!"

Upon hearing this, Guan Xinguang immediately turned on the walkie-talkie: "Commander, the flight team has arrived, do you want to launch an attack in advance?"

"Attack immediately!" Zhou Weihan's voice came from the walkie-talkie.

After receiving Zhou Weihan's clear order, the eighteen mountain cannons belonging to the American mountain cannon battalion at the foot of the mountain began to guide the ground, and a red smoke bomb was fired at the predetermined attack position.

Under the guidance of the troops on the ground, the flying team changed their formation and formed two rows. In a swooping posture, the flight altitude was slightly lowered, and the aerial bombs fell on the fortifications in front of the outer city ditch and the inner city ditch.

Since Shimen is an important town of the Japanese army, anti-aircraft machine guns must be deployed for air defense, so Zhou Weihan instructed in advance that the flight team should not descend too low and not bomb areas outside the guidance range.

In a blink of an eye, the Japanese camp on the opposite side was shrouded in flames soaring into the sky. Nearly forty Japanese bunkers within the explosion range collapsed in the explosion, and the Japanese and puppet troops inside were buried in the ruins before they could react.

After the flying team completed the bombing mission, they did not continue to hover over the sky. The planes in the two queues turned their noses to the outside and flew towards Yanwang Mountain.

At the same time, the 64 mountain cannons on the artillery formation fired in unison, and the shells fell on the enemy's position one after another. A burst of explosions shook the earth and resounded through the sky.

The artillery fire reflected the sky red, and the sound of artillery and machine guns intertwined together, ringing the bell of death for the enemy army on the opposite side.

The West Barracks in the western suburbs of Shimen was the primary target of the attack. The attacking positions of the two regiments of the New Tenth Brigade were only less than 800 meters away from Shimen Waishigou.

Under the deliberate attack of our army's artillery fire, the Shimen Waishi Ditch, which was 10 meters wide, was blasted into two gaps about [-] meters wide, and the ditch was basically filled with collapsed loess.

The traffic trench where the supplementary regiment is located, and the regiment headquarters are located in an observation post.

The guard said excitedly: "Commander, the power of this plane's aerial bomb is really too great. I saw just now that the bunker of the little devil on the opposite side is like paper, and it will be broken as soon as you touch it!"

"Hey, the communists said before the war that the bombing must be concentrated, just to open a breakthrough for our regiment. Let's see, how is the situation ahead?" Zhang Hao said

Taking advantage of the bright light from the sky, the guard poked his head out of the traffic trench and observed the situation ahead: "Regimental Commander, the deep ditch of the little devil right in front has been flattened, and we can launch an attack!"

"Trumpeter, blow the charge!" Zhang Hao, head of the supplementary regiment, ordered immediately.

The resounding charge horn sounded, and the soldiers of the first battalion of the supplementary regiment bravely went up, filed out from the hidden tunnel, and under the cover of the smoke screen produced by the explosion of machine guns and shells, they crossed the Waishi ditch in one fell swoop, and waited for the first battalion to reach the enemy. At the time of the position, a long and narrow position in the east-west direction seemed to be in ruins.

After the first battalion of the supplementary regiment successfully broke through the West Barracks, the second and third battalions approached Waishigou again along the traffic trench, and the soldiers of the last two battalions quickly expanded the breakthrough to the two wings.

"I am the [-]st Battalion of the Supplementary Regiment. Our troops have already occupied Point [-]. Please extend the artillery fire to Point [-] immediately to cover our advance!" The battalion commander communicated with the Artillery Observation Post in time with a walkie-talkie.

Immediately, the artillery fire that had just stopped began to cover the intended target again.

The enemy at this time was completely stunned, and the Eighth Route Army smashed the Waishigou position outside Shimen City like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

Just when the supplementary regiment all broke into the outer city ditch, the second echelon assault regiment and the 22nd regiment, which were still in the traffic trench, moved after hearing the news. According to the established combat plan, the assault regiment advanced rapidly along the path of the supplementary regiment, and the 22nd regiment was the escort On both sides of the assault regiment, block the Japanese and puppet troops on the north side of the second and third battalions of the supplementary regiment.

The two regiments needed to pass through the Waishi ditch at the same time. In order to meet the first battalion of the supplementary regiment, more than 1000 soldiers of the assault regiment passed through the filled passage, and the soldiers of the 22nd regiment passed through the trenches on both sides.

The soldiers of the 22nd regiment quickly stretched the ladder to the inner edge of the ditch, and it was about to be built. Suddenly, with a snap, the ladder fell into the ditch, which was seven or eight meters deep.

Plop, plop, without the slightest hesitation, the two soldiers jumped into the ditch seven or eight meters deep. The two quickly raised the ladder, and the other soldiers took it and put it on the edge of the ditch. They rushed through the outer city ditch like a flood.

The soldiers of the blasting team raised the big iron scissors and quickly cut the power grid, and the soldiers rushed forward.

The Japanese defenders in Waishigou were dominated by the puppet security forces, with only a small number of Japanese troops supervising the battle. Although the combat effectiveness of this group of puppet troops was not weak, due to the threat of artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army, the speed of the Japanese puppet troops who came to reinforce them on both sides of the breakthrough was far slower. As quickly as imagined.

In a blink of an eye, the Assault Regiment, the 22nd Regiment and the Supplementary Regiment joined up.

"Quickly, expand the breakthrough, find a favorable bunker, and stop the enemy!" Liu Tianming, the head of the 22nd regiment who came to the front line to command the battle, shouted.

Under Liu Tianming's command, soldiers from the 22nd Regiment used infantry artillery to occupy Xijiao Village and Xili Village successively. An armored train.

Then the Assault Regiment and the Supplementary Regiment marched north and south side by side, attacking Zhentou Town in front of them.

"Grenades made in the border area, hurry up and throw more!" Liu Yuzhu of the 22nd Regiment's third company, second row, and fifth squad shouted loudly.

Immediately, a few hand grenades made in the border area were thrown towards the enemy's machine gun position in front. The power was not great, but the smoke produced was not small. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Yuzhu rushed to the enemy's machine gun bunker in two or three steps from the side In front of him, he grabbed a machine gun that was firing randomly into the air.

The puppet machine gunner who was manipulating was taken aback for a moment, and the two looked at each other. The puppet machine gunner said in panic, "What are you doing?"

It turned out that the machine gunners of the puppet army saw the artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army constantly exploding near the fortresses behind them, and they were so frightened that they didn't raise their heads when they fired.

"What are you doing, bring it here, and squat down, and be careful that I will suddenly attack you!" Liu Yuzhu snatched the machine gun forcefully while talking, then immediately turned the gun, lay down on the bunker, and pointed at the gun in front of him. The bunker was fired upon.

At the same time, seeing Liu Yuzhu succeed, the entire third company, second row, and fifth squad quickly pressed up.

Big Lu, the squad leader of the second platoon and fifth squad, scolded: "See if you can get it, you don't need a mortar, you have to be a personal hero, you are not made with iron, be careful and throw your life here!"

"Machine gunners suppress the enemy's firepower, and mortars use grenades to block the enemy's sight in the bunker!" Big Lu picked up a pack of explosives and was about to rush towards a bunker in front of him.

"Squad leader, let me go. I have a small target, and the enemy is not easy to find!" Liu Yuzhu grabbed the squad leader, the big man Lu.

"Go away, what's the matter with me and you? Machine gun cover!"

"Yes!" Liu Yuzhu replied helplessly, then squeezed the trigger, and continuously designed the bullets into the shooting holes of the bunker, and the grenades exploded near the enemy's bunker at the same time. Although they could not kill them, they gave enough deterrence to the enemy.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Big Lu bent his waist and slipped out of the bunker, then crawled towards the bunker. The enemies in the bunker were busy fighting back, and no one noticed that someone was quietly approaching the bunker.

The distance between the two sides was not far at all, and when they were less than 20 meters away, Big Lu tore off the pull ring and threw it at the shooting hole of the bunker, and the smoking explosive package just fell into the bunker.

With the sound of an explosion, the bunker rose to the sky together with the enemies inside.

With the cooperation of the artillery firepower, the artillery was responsible for pulling out the bunkers that had broken through the encirclement, while the infantry was responsible for removing the bunkers that were half buried in the soil.It only took more than half an hour from the start of the attack. The seven or eight-meter-deep outer city ditch, the power grid, and hundreds of volt bunkers and stone bunkers were wiped out by the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army. The door opened.

"Members, the Waishigou in the direction of attack on the west side of Shimen, as well as the subsequent strongholds and bunkers have all been removed!"

Zhou Weihan clenched the walkie-talkie, and said loudly: "Okay, all the attacking troops are looking for bunkers on the spot, suspending the attack, and don't rush to attack the Neishigou. The blocking troops can extend to the north and south sides with the cooperation of artillery fire!"

Afterwards, Zhou Weihan ordered the two regiments of the New First Brigade serving as the reserve team, as well as the militia and the people to transfer to the terrain and advance to the inner city ditch according to the tight timing.

"Comrade Uyghur, our battle is surprisingly smooth. How long did it take? The heavily defended Waishi Ditch in Shimen was captured by us?" Wu ** said in surprise. .

"The hard nuts to crack are still behind. You have heard the news gathered from the front just now. There are mostly puppet troops in Waishigou, and there are only a few real little devils. In addition, our army is focusing on breakthroughs. With their cooperation, they caught the enemy by surprise!" Zhou Weihan said in a deep voice.

"However, the little devils in the city should be eager to ask for help from above. This time, the little devils should withdraw their troops. If we don't withdraw, we will really break into Shimen!"

"Should I send a telegram to the division headquarters to announce the good news?" Mrs. Wu suggested.

"Send the report to make the leaders happy!" Zhou Weihan said.

With the fall of Waishigou, the Japanese army in the city could no longer sit still.

"Baga, how could the Eighth Route Army break through so quickly!" Yamanakamo cursed furiously.

"Your Excellency, the Eighth Route Army broke through too quickly under the cover of aircraft and cannons, and the security forces on both sides were too lazy to reinforce, which gave the Eighth Route Army an opportunity!" the adjutant explained.

"Baga, the work of the trash of the public security army is dead. Is the supplementary force in the west in place?"

"Hey, it has been enriched in various bunkers. The bunkers are dominated by imperial troops and expatriates, and the security forces are deployed in the trenches connecting the bunkers!"

"How is the battle in the south?" Yamanaka Asaichi asked again.

"The Eighth Route Army in the south is also advancing very fast, but due to the lack of bombing by planes, the public security army is performing well and is resisting the Eighth Route Army!"

Before Waishigou fell, Yamanaka knew very well that the natural moat surrounding Shimen was related to life and death.

Therefore, Yamanaka Choichi did not hesitate to order the reserve team to take back Waishigou before the Eighth Route Army had a firm foothold there. Unexpectedly, the artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army kept covering the advance route of the little devil's reinforcements, causing the little devil to lose his hold in Waishigou It has never been to the battlefield before.

In this battle, the artillery unit played a decisive role, but when the main force of the 110th Division went out to mop up, they took the entire artillery wing away. The Eighth Route Army threatened.

(End of this chapter)