The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 134 Position Crisis
After the battle, He Wei looked at the tragic scenes around him. The open ground around him was filled with the corpses of Japanese cavalry and war horses. Dozens of horses that had lost their owners were scattered across the open ground, either strolling or just standing there. While eating grass, not a single horse ran around, showing good discipline.

Obviously, these tall and strong thoroughbred Japanese horses were well trained by the Japanese army. Of course, there were also some corpses of national soldiers. The seventh company of the third battalion, which was responsible for the main force of the third battalion, suffered a lot of casualties. Pan Qi told He Wei that the seventh company Nearly thirty brothers in the company were killed in the exchange of fire with the Japanese cavalry. Including the casualties in hand-to-hand combat, the entire platoon suffered nearly 40 casualties.

On the battlefield, He Wei stood side by side with Pan Qi holding a Type [-] cavalry rifle. The soldiers of the seventh company were cleaning the battlefield. Tao Heiwa, the messenger, carried five or six Type [-] cavalry rifles on his back. A pile of goggles were removed from the corpse, and after a short rest, a violent explosion was heard, and several more large-caliber heavy artillery shells hit the wall of Yanzhuang.

At this time, the Japanese bombardment was still continuing, and Yanzhuang had turned into a sea of ​​fire. All the houses were annihilated in the bombardment, and countless gaps were opened in the walls, and even entire sections collapsed.

There were obviously a lot of arson bombs among the artillery shells fired by the Japanese army. The houses of Chinese people contained a lot of wood. In addition, there were many firewood stacks and haystacks in Zhuangzi, as well as various kinds of fuel used for heating in the winter. , these things are the best flammable materials, they can be ignited at once, and after several rounds of artillery fire, there are not only the flames in the sky above Zhuangzi, but also the billowing thick smoke. The thick smoke is blown everywhere by the wind. .

The Japanese artillery bombardment also caused big trouble for itself to some extent. The thick smoke floating everywhere not only obscured the area where the Japanese cavalry and the [-]rd Battalion were fighting, it even obscured the artillery position behind the [-]th Company's position. All in all, this unintentionally helped the Chinese army a big favor.

Upon seeing this, He Wei said to Pan Qi: "Company Commander Pan, please simply clean the battlefield and try to take away all the living soldiers and horses. Just watch and take the firearms, ammunition and equipment from the Japanese corpses. Don't be greedy for more. There will be at most 5 more." Minutes, you must evacuate.”

"Okay, I'll take the people out right away."

Pan Qi said with a solemn expression.

He Wei added: "Don't go to the main position of the Sixth Company. There can't be so many people there. You take the trophies to the artillery position. The artillery should like these horses very much. When you get to the place, you immediately build a position and move the artillery positions. Now that we have taken on the cover mission, we can also take a break."

After saying that, he told Chen Xinsheng to return to the army as soon as possible with the anti-aircraft artillery. He Wei pulled a thoroughbred Japanese horse and called Tao Heiwa. The two rode on the same horse and galloped back to the headquarters of the Sixth Company. position. ． ． ． ． ．

After withdrawing to the main position, He Wei first saw Chen Zhen and Zhang Yongbin. The two infantry companies and mortar platoon of the third battalion that had withdrawn were all crowded in the trenches. Some were cleaning their guns and some were resting, but He Wei was nowhere to be seen. The shadows of machine gun companies and mules and horse baggage ammunition suggested that Chen Zhen and Zhang Yongbin had adopted their suggestions and sent them to the artillery position. When they saw He Wei coming back, Chen Zhen and Zhang Yongbin hurriedly went up to inquire about the situation. When they learned that they had already After completely annihilating the Japanese cavalry, both of them were overjoyed.

"He Wei, is there any position that should be handed over to our third battalion for defense? Although, according to your method, I have sent all the heavy machine gun companies, as well as the ammunition and baggage and communication platoon attached to the regiment to the artillery. position"

At this time, Zhang Yongbin patted his chest and said to He Wei, obviously, the result of annihilating a Japanese cavalry squadron had mobilized the major officer's fighting will. It seemed that he wanted to continue fighting the Japanese army, but He Wei gave him a slap in the face. A basin of cold water.

"Sir, these two companies in your battalion are not needed for the time being. What I want to do is to let the brothers go into the hiding place to hide as a reserve team."

"I see there's no one in your position. Why don't you let Battalion Commander Zhang's two companies attack?"

Chen Zhen also said.

He Wei explained patiently: "Sir, the Japanese army's firepower is too fierce. The backbone of our company's firepower is still in the bunkers. Now the main infantry of our company are actually in the hidden department. What I mean is not to expand the defensive front, but to Concentrate as much firepower as possible on the narrowest defensive front. There are many hidden parts in our company's second and third line defensive positions, which are enough for two infantry companies. I think it is better to hide them first to preserve our strength to facilitate long-term operations. "

Seeing He Wei's persistence, Chen Zhen and Zhang Yongbin no longer insisted on participating in the battle, so they organized their troops to hide behind them. Just when the two infantry companies had just withdrawn, suddenly, a loud noise came from the Sixth Company's troops. In front of the position, several large-caliber heavy artillery shells suddenly fell. A large crater would appear at the impact point of each shell after the explosion.

He Wei rushed to the front of the trench and raised his binoculars to look out. Although there were not many artillery shells fired by the Japanese army, the shooting was very systematic. They fired from left to right. The fierce firepower first completely destroyed the sixth shell. They even laid obstacles in front of the position, and then frantically swept the open space in front of the sixth company. Looking at the huge crater, He Wei dared to conclude that the caliber of the artillery being fired would definitely not be less than 120 mm.

This was also part of the attack plan of the No. 16 Regiment. The Japanese cavalry unexpectedly launched a long-distance raid in an attempt to detour back to the flanks of the Chinese army's position for a surprise attack. The marching distance was quite long. Yes, thanks to the help of a battalion of Bofors Mountain Artillery, these hundreds of Japanese cavalry have been wiped out.

The commanders of the No. 16 Regiment did not know the fact that all their own cavalry had been annihilated. This was because the Japanese cavalry units were engaged in interspersed operations and were too close to be observed within visual distance. The only thing that showed about the battle situation was the high-rise school launch balloon, but the Japanese artillery fired shells frantically at Yanzhuang. The shooting was very satisfying, but the black smoke rising into the sky also obscured the Japanese military's view of the school launch balloon. The cavalry's The Japanese observers on the balloon knew nothing about the combat situation.

As a result, the No. 16 Wing's combat plan went to the next step smoothly. The Type 75 16mm mountain cannon and the Type 16 [-]mm howitzer of the temporary artillery group continued to fire at Yanzhuang, while the two Type [-] The heavy cannon changed its shooting target and instead fired in the open area in front of the [-]th company's position. This was also part of the Japanese plan. In the first attack of the No. [-] Regiment, it was the Chinese army that caused the failure of the No. [-] Regiment's attack. The Japanese army was quite afraid of the landmines.

The first means of demining was still artillery bombardment. The two Type 150 heavy cannons were replaced with explosive grenades equipped with delay fuses, and began to plow the open space in front of the sixth company, firing violently at the delay fuses. Generally used to attack fortifications, the artillery shells will not explode immediately after contacting the target, but will detonate when the shells are submerged half or one-third of the length of the target. Therefore, a large number of [-] mm fell in front of the sixth company. in the open ground, drilled into the ground, and then exploded, creating craters one after another.

He Wei didn't know the intention of the Japanese army at this time. He just thought it was a routine pre-attack shelling. After watching it for a few minutes, he immediately got into the command post and took cover. At the same time, he ordered all the open-air sentries in the trenches to go into cover. He himself was sitting in the command post, playing with the trophies he brought back with Tao Heiwa.

He is not a god, and it is impossible for him to predict the purpose of every tactical action of the Japanese army.He Wei rubbed the Type [-] rifle in his hand. This rifle was short and lean. It was really a very good rifle. It was better than the [-]-type rifle in terms of polishing and workmanship. It was a very good rifle for him. Gun, he is a commander, but he is also a front-line combatant, so he carries a variety of guns with him. This gun is shorter than the formal gun, which is suitable for his own use. And the Chinese gun that has been following He Wei since time travel The formal rifle has since fallen out of favor, and Tao Heiwa also likes this gun very much. He is short and thin, and the recoil of the formal rifle is enough for him. This Japanese army rifle is actually his best choice.

Just as He Wei was playing with the new toys he had captured, the Japanese army launched a new deployment. After about 10 minutes of fierce shelling in front of the position, the open space in front of the Sixth Company's position had been sieved by artillery shells, and there were shells everywhere. Dense craters.

When the shelling slowly slowed down, the Japanese Engineer Second Regiment, which had been lurking for a long time, began demining operations. In order to conceal the action, the Second Engineer Regiment carried out soil work with the cooperation of the Infantry No. 16 Regiment, and began Many concealed communication trenches were dug, and the crazy Japanese engineers even risked being ambushed by fire to connect these communication trenches to the anti-tank trenches of the Sixth Company.

After the heavy artillery fire began to weaken and extend, the [-]nd Engineer Regiment immediately began their mine clearance operations.

"Start demining, start demining."

A Japanese engineer captain lurking in the anti-tank trench ordered that the Second Engineer Regiment, like the Second Cavalry Regiment, implemented the dissatisfied peacetime organization, with only one engineer squadron, and then about a small group of engineers. Jumped out of the trench, formed a unit of troops, and began their mine clearing operations.

Under the leadership of the squad leader, this small group of engineers crawled to a position about 400 meters away from the main position of the sixth company. The Japanese 150mm cannon did not cease fire, but continued to extend its firepower and fire in order to provide cover for the engineering operations.

Then, the Japanese engineers took out their engineering shovels and simple mine detectors. While digging carefully, they used the probes to test whether there were any mines. It must be said that Jiro Harada was very sharp-eyed. He guessed that this area , which happens to be the area where He Wei laid mines.

After about 10 minutes of digging and detection, an engineer sergeant soon discovered a black mine.

"Captain, there are mines here."

The Japanese squad leader crawled over and carefully dug away the floating soil around the mine. What came into view was a mine weighing at least fifty kilograms, with a rough shape, and five tightened match ropes attached to the outside. After seeing the long-handled grenade, the engineer team leader couldn't help but feel a chill in his back. This was the first time he had seen such a large landmine, and there were several grenades on it. If he was not careful, it would explode.

"Excavate laterally immediately. Be careful. There are grenades on the enemy's mines."

The engineer squad leader said softly. Then, the entire engineer squad began horizontal detection according to the location of the first mine. Sure enough, one mine after another was discovered. After spending nearly half an hour, the engineer squad finally After completing the detection operation of this minefield, there were actually as many as fifty of the same mines!
"Place the explosives quickly, hurry up, hurry up."

The Japanese engineers fearfully took out the explosives and blasting tubes they had carried on their backs, and carefully laid them along the minefield. Arranging explosives was much faster than clearing mines. The blasting tubes, section after section, were connected to each other along the minefield. Explosives were laid next to it, and 10 minutes later, the Japanese engineers completed the preparations for blasting.

After the layout was completed, the Japanese engineer team pulled the long electric explosion wire back all the way to the anti-tank trench. The squadron leader of the Japanese engineer squadron immediately notified the infantry in the rear by phone. Then, with a detonation command, the Japanese engineer team pressed The detonator was activated, and an arc of electric current passed through the detonating wire, detonating the explosives, explosives, and landmines in the minefield. A big explosion occurred in the blasting tube in an instant. After an earth-shaking violent explosion, all fifty landmines in the entire minefield were detonated. , under the impact of the violent explosion and shock wave, the minefield suddenly turned into a ravine half a meter deep and spreading nearly [-] meters in length and width.

"Sir, our mines exploded. They all exploded."

In the command post, the quartermaster sergeant pointed at the dust and smoke in front of him and shouted with horror. He Wei lay on the firing port and looked at the front of the formation. Today's Japanese army is really abnormal. They have large-caliber heavy artillery and cavalry. Now that they had destroyed the mines they had laid, He Wei estimated that the Japanese army used the cover of artillery fire to lurk near the minefields, and then used explosives to carry out blasting operations. It was really a big battle.

"Take over the artillery position."

Foreboding that the Japanese attack was different from the past, He Wei immediately rang the phone at the artillery position and told Cao Huiguo to prepare to shoot in front of the formation. Knowing that the Japanese army was about to launch an attack, Cao Huiguo also immediately made preparations. The Foss Mountain artillery changed its firing direction and began to prepare to block the firing from the infantry.

He Wei's first instinct told him that it would be very difficult to resist with infantry alone. This time, artillery support might be necessary.

Whoosh

In front of the position, three red flares flew into the sky.

(End of this chapter)