Bright Sword's Bloody War of Resistance

Chapter 883: Penetrating Deep into the Japanese Army

That night, dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and the weather seemed even more gloomy.

Behind the 13th Brigade's position, on a small hillside slope, several bonfires were lit around. About officers and soldiers of the commando team gathered here, with several baskets of bowls and unopened wine jars placed next to them.

After Zhou Weihan issued the order to eliminate the Japanese army's small division, Jing Dagang immediately began to prepare. The advantage of the 13th Brigade was that its strength was twice that of the enemy.

The 1st Regiment, which was the first to engage in battle with the Japanese Army, withdrew to rest, while the 2nd and 3rd Regiments relied on their positions to block the Japanese Army and continuously pull it away from the railway line.

The firelight made the face of Jing Dagang, commander of the 13th Brigade, red. What he had to do now was to ignite the fire of war in the hearts of the soldiers. Although Jing Dagang looked big and strong, he also had his own way of leading troops.

"Are you all full?"

"We're full!" the soldiers responded in unison.

"It's better to eat well. Only when you are full can you have the strength to fight the devils!"

"After this day's battle, everyone can see that the enemy is quite strong, but my 13th Brigade is the face of the th Column, and we are fighting against the elite of the enemy. I really don't think highly of the ordinary enemy!"

"The 16th Brigade's brother troops are holding back the main force of the Japanese army in Shangqiu. The enemy in front of us is just a small division. The members are waiting for news of victory, and the folks in the base are waiting for our triumphant return!"

"What we have to do is to completely destroy the enemy in front of us and let the little devils know how powerful we are. I have only one request, you must attack wherever the shells hit!"

"Pour wine!"

The commandos held their full wine bowls in their hands and looked at Jing Dagang in unison. Jing Dagang smiled and said, "We in the Eighth Route Army value discipline, but we value comradeship and brotherhood even more!"

"** asked me to toast to the brothers on his behalf. Cheers!"

The situation of the 14th Brigade south of the Longhai Railway was roughly the same. They also selected a -man assault team, each equipped with a submachine gun, six grenades, and a machete.

The 13th and 14th Brigades would launch raids on the enemy in front of them at the same time at 11 o'clock at night, so the two brigades kept in touch.

Jing Dagang came up with the idea of ​​using the tactic of using troop strength to tire out the enemy, and Wu Qin also came up with a clever idea, which was to bombard the Japanese positions for ten minutes every hour after dark in order to paralyze the Japanese troops.

The first movement was made in the direction of Shangqiu. After dark, Li Yunlong, following Zhou Weihan's orders, launched another artillery attack on the Japanese positions.

However, the artillery shells did not cause many casualties. Only a small number of Japanese troops were left on the front line to serve as guards, while the main force was dispersed on the second line.

"Commander, you are so wise. The Eighth Route Army really took advantage of the night to launch an artillery attack on our army!"

"Search Daisinai!" Yamashita Tomoyuki smiled. This guy was famous for his cunning and wisdom in the Japanese army. He once beat the British to a pulp in Malay Island.

Although the Japanese army suffered losses in the daytime fighting, they did not gain nothing. From the artillery fire of the 16th Brigade, they keenly realized that the artillery used by the Eighth Route Army was the M1 American mountain cannon.

"Commander, you are wise. Under your command, we will be able to make a major breakthrough tomorrow!" The commander of the 57th Division, Okayama Nobuhiro, flattered.

"The Eighth Route Army has wasted artillery shells in vain. Now they are trapped in an isolated city. The number of artillery shells will only gradually decrease!"

Yamashita Fengwen shook his head and said: "Gentlemen, you only know one side of the story, but not the other. The Eighth Route Army should not be underestimated, otherwise you will suffer losses!"

"The Eighth Route Army has the advantage of being at home in this battle. Judging from the layout of its artillery positions and the tactics it uses, it shows that it already has a relatively complete combat system!"

"Isn't it enough to show how terrifying the Eighth Route Army's artillery can accurately hit our artillery positions underground?"

"Perhaps, the Eighth Route Army's artillery also marked the firing parameters at our current location!"

The Japanese officers present were shocked when they heard this: "What? If what the commander said is true, as long as it is within the shooting range, doesn't that mean there is no safe place around Shangqiu?"

"Don't panic!" Yamashita Fengwen stood up suddenly after hearing this: "Although we can't find the specific location of the Eighth Route Army's artillery at present, the performance of the mountain artillery they use is already known to our army!"

"Once the Eighth Route Army on the other side finds that the artillery bombardment does not have the expected effect, if he dares to move his artillery forward to the front-line positions, our artillery can cover his front-line positions with artillery fire!"

In Shangqiu city.

"Brigade Commander, the command clearly stated in the telegram that our troops must not attack blindly!" Xin Tiebing persuaded.

"Chief of Staff Xin, can you explain to me what a blind attack means? The telegram from the headquarters also pointed out that we need to create momentum to attract the main force of the Japanese army!"

"Just bombarding with artillery fire is just a lot of noise but little action. What the hell is the use of it?"

Li Yunlong, the secretary and political commissar of the 16th Brigade, did it all by himself. Xin Tiebing, as the chief of staff, could only make suggestions, and no one else dared to challenge Li Yunlong.

Not long after, the phone at the brigade headquarters rang, and Xin Tiebing picked up the receiver: "Hello, this is Xin Tiebing, what do you say?"

"What? There are only scattered Japanese troops. OK, I understand. Wait for the next order!"

Xin Tiebing put down the microphone and immediately reported to Li Yunlong: "Brigade Commander, the 11th Regiment reports that the Japanese army has not deployed many troops in the frontier positions adjacent to our army!"

"I guess the Japanese army may be worried that our army will bombard after dark, so they only deployed a small number of troops at the front line!"

Li Yunlong's face turned ugly after hearing this. In fact, he was worried about the artillery shells. Trapped in Shangqiu without supplies, every shell he fired meant one less.

Originally, according to his idea, as long as the Japanese army did not move at night, the 16th Brigade would rest and prepare for tomorrow's battle. However, Zhou Weihan had given the order, so it had to be carried out. "What do you think if we move the artillery position forward and extend the firing range?"

"Brigade Commander, doing this will put the artillery battalion in danger. When we built the fortifications, we mainly focused on building the second-line positions. Although the first-line positions where the 11th Regiment is located have tunnels, they are not perfect!"

"Once the artillery battalion reaches the front-line position, the Japanese army can easily infer the location of the artillery battalion based on the shooting distance. At that time..."

"Damn it, the Japs have become smarter!" Li Yunlong cursed.

What people fear most is not suffering losses, but knowing that they can take advantage but failing to do so in the end. This is human nature.

Yamashita Tomoyuki was well aware of human nature, so he was just waiting for Li Yunlong to fall into his trap and then the artillery would retaliate.

"I've suffered a huge loss this time. The shelling continues and don't disturb my rest unless necessary!" Li Yunlong simply became a hands-off boss.

As time passed, the situation between the two sides fell into a strange state. The Japanese army changed its normal practice of actively attacking during the day and chose to retreat at night, while the Eighth Route Army chose intermittent artillery bombardment.

"Brigade Commander, the artillery battalion reports that the fourth artillery attack will be carried out in fifteen minutes!" The brigade's combat staff reported to Jing Dagang.

"Pass my order, each regiment and battalion must immediately execute the established combat plan!" Jing Dagang said.

When the pointer reached 11 o'clock, the two artillery battalions equipped by the 13th and 14th Brigades began to bombard the Japanese positions again. The flames produced by the exploding shells were particularly obvious at night.

At the same time, the commandos were in the first echelon of the attack as the spearhead, followed closely by the 13st Regiment, the main force of the 1th Brigade, and the 2nd and 3rd Regiments jumped out of their positions to be responsible for outflanking from both wings.

The noise caused by the explosion concealed the Eighth Route Army's stealth movements, and the Japanese army still believed that this shelling was the same as the previous ones and was just a simple harassment.

When the commandos quietly approached within 300 meters of the Japanese front line, their actions suddenly stopped.

"The commandos request to extend the fire, request to extend the fire!"

"The artillery battalion has arrived. We will begin shelling the secondary targets in one minute!"

The commando leader looked at the time on his watch and saw that only thirty seconds had passed. He immediately led the commandos to rush towards the Japanese position.

At this time, when the Japanese soldiers on the position realized that the shelling had ended, they couldn't help but relax their vigilance, and some even slumped down in the trenches, unaware that the Eighth Route Army was approaching them.

"The Chinese here are so cunning that they can't even rest at night!"

The Japanese soldier beside him shook his head: "Mr. Yamaguchi, have you noticed that the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side has extremely high combat quality? Although they were repeatedly chased by the Imperial Army during the daytime battle, they were still able to maintain their formation in the retreat!"

"I even suspect that they are retreating in an organized manner, rather than being routed as the commander said. This is a Chinese armed force with considerable combat effectiveness!"

In an instant, gunfire rang out around the position, and the flames after the explosion served as illumination. The 300-man commando team dispersed in an instant, with three people in each combat team.

Two of them held submachine guns and fired at the place where the figure was swaying. They did not aim to hit the target, but to suppress the fire. The other one threw the six grenades he carried with him towards the Japanese position.

Although the Japanese troops on the front line did not suffer many casualties in the recent artillery attack, they were all dizzy and dazed by the explosions. Faced with the fierce offensive of the commandos, the Japanese troops in front of them were unable to form an effective resistance.

Relying on powerful firepower, the commandos quickly tore a hole of more than 300 meters in the Japanese front-line positions. Without any lingering fight, they went straight into the depths of the Japanese army.

The commandos' mission is to tear open a gap. The commandos will hit wherever the shells hit, and the shells are their guide.

The artillery fire started again, this time targeting a section of the Japanese second-line positions.

"Comrades, follow me and kill the Japanese!" The commando leader was like an arrow shot from a bow, firing and charging as he did so, bringing the firepower of his submachine gun to its maximum.

The Japanese troops in the second-line position reacted quickly and immediately organized a counterattack. Commandos continued to arrive along the way, and the remaining team members quickly formed new three-person combat teams, thus continuing to suppress the Japanese army with firepower.

The Japanese army was about to encircle the commandos when the hole in the front-line position was torn open, but unexpectedly a large number of soldiers from the 16th Brigade poured in through the hole.

The role of Jing Dagang's arrangements during the day was concretely demonstrated at this time. The 2nd and 3rd Regiments not only exhausted the Japanese army during the daytime fighting, but also stretched their formations to both sides, making their forces dispersed.

Fighting during the day can give a clear insight into the battlefield situation, and the Japanese commander can send reserve reinforcements at any time, but the current situation is simply a mess.

A location in the second-line position was on the verge of a breakthrough due to artillery bombardment and the commandos' fierce offensive. The 1st Regiment widened the gap in the first-line position as the commandos advanced, while the 2nd and 3rd Regiments engaged in a melee with the Japanese troops on both sides of the first-line position.

Because the battle broke out too suddenly, the Japanese command system was temporarily out of function. Many Japanese soldiers could judge from the sound of gunfire alone that the vanguard of the Eighth Route Army had penetrated very deeply.

The Japanese soldiers are also human beings, and as human beings they will feel fear. The Japanese soldiers on the front line were the most panicked at this time.

"Sir, I think we should withdraw our forces immediately, otherwise our squadron will be wiped out by the Chinese!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Japanese soldier who made a suggestion to his superior was slapped in the face.

"Baga, you are a coward, you must withstand the attack of the Chinese!"

However, not all Japanese troops were so determined to resist. Multiple gaps appeared in the front-line positions one after another, leading to the Japanese army's defeat. The 2nd and 3rd Regiments took advantage of the situation and pursued the defeated Japanese troops to the second-line positions.