The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 194 Just give up when you’re ready

At the end of the battle, the wilderness was littered with corpses. After this battle, the Secret Service Battalion and the 956th Regiment wiped out more than a thousand people from the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the 9th Regiment of the 16th Division of the RB Army. The cheers of the officers and soldiers resounded through the sky, and the soldiers They took off their helmets, threw their helmets and military caps into the air, and raised their rifles high into the sky.

The 90 steel helmets and the small sun flags hung under the 38th cover abandoned by the Japanese army became the best playthings of the officers and soldiers. More than a dozen small sun flags were stepped on by the officers and soldiers and thrown into the mud. The 90 steel helmets were stabbed with bayonets. Picking it up and throwing it around, both the officers and soldiers of the special agent battalion and the 956th Regiment cheered and celebrated this hard-won victory with joy. Some junior officers of the Cantonese army even shed tears of excitement.

The scale of the battle is not small, but it cannot be called huge, but the significance of this battle is far-reaching. Especially He Wei, as a time traveler, does he know what it means to eat a complete Japanese infantry brigade alive in the field? What are you wearing?

In the original timeline, throughout the entire period of the Anti-Japanese War, an infantry brigade of the Japanese army on the Chinese battlefield could often confront an infantry division of the Chinese army. In field battles, the Chinese army could severely damage an infantry brigade. It was extremely difficult, and there was no example of annihilating an infantry brigade in He Wei's memory.

This battle was also of great significance to He Wei. In fact, he had already severely damaged the 16th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army at Xinkou, but the battle at that time was a firmly defended field position, not a mobile field battle.

Moreover, although the Sixteenth Regiment was beaten as badly as the Third Sunzi by him, the highest-level unit that was eaten up by his entire organization was the infantry squadron level. Those at the brigade level were severely damaged at most. In today's battle, however, It actually killed an infantry brigade in the field. Needless to say, it was valuable.

During the entire battle, He Wei's commanding ability was also greatly improved. In fact, most of the tactical actions of the 956th Regiment were under his command. At Xinkou, the one he commanded was only a few hundred people. To strengthen the company-level battle group, the troops commanded by He Wei today are more than enough to make up an infantry regiment, and it is also of great significance to him.

He Wei was breathing heavily, holding the saber he had snatched from Takeshi Noda. Under his butt was a Japanese second lieutenant who was hacked to death by him. The officers and soldiers around him, whether they were from the 956th Regiment or the Special Agent Battalion, They all cheered loudly in celebration. Tao Heiwa was also sitting next to He Wei, holding a large handful of toffees and canned fruits found from the corpses of Japanese soldiers, and was eating happily with his head down.

The cheers of the officers and soldiers could not be dispersed for a long time, and the corners of He Wei's lips were raised. Chinese soldiers and Chinese people need victory so much. Even a partial victory can make these tough men celebrate it. , cheer for it, cry for it.

Although Cai Rubai, the leader of the 956th Regiment, was the leader, he kept shouting excitedly. He grabbed He Wei's hand and said excitedly: "Brother, we won the battle. This is a fucking infantry brigade. You were eaten by us, this battle is all thanks to you, brother, I am convinced."

He Wei naturally smiled back at Cai Rubai, but then brought him back to reality from his excitement and happiness: "Captain Cai, this battle is a victory, but we'd better retreat as soon as possible. I'm afraid the main force of the Japanese army behind us We will arrive soon, so we should just give it up, clean the battlefield as soon as possible, and withdraw to the main position, the real tough battle is still to come."

As soon as He Wei said this, it seemed to be echoing He Wei. Violent gunfire suddenly came from the direction of Chunhua. Cai Rubai suddenly thought deeply, then nodded to He Wei, turned around and walked back to the command post. Starting to gather the troops, He Wei also sheathed his sword and began to gather the officers and soldiers of the secret service battalion to clean the battlefield.

An infantry regiment plus a reinforcement battalion cleaned up the mess very quickly. It took more than half an hour to clean up the battlefield. Statistics showed that there were more than 1,200 Japanese corpses. The secret service battalion suffered few casualties. Three The infantry company and the special agent platoon suffered more than 30 casualties in total.

Only two tank soldiers in the tank company were slightly injured, and the reasons for the injuries of these two tank soldiers were somewhat amusing.

One of them was stabbed in the forearm by a Japanese bayonet during the battle. He Wei was stunned after hearing Zhao Huzhen's report. How could this tank soldier be stabbed by a bayonet? Later, after Zhao Huzhen explained it, we learned that when the Japanese co-authors organized close-range blasts, although most of them were killed by machine guns and did not rush over, there were a few that slipped through the net, and the Japanese soldier who stabbed this tank soldier was among them. one.

After approaching, the Japanese soldier threw a grenade at the tank, but the Japanese soldier's Type 91 grenade hit the tank's machine gun barrel and was knocked away. The Japanese soldier saw the grenade thrown. Failure actually picked up his rifle and thrust it through the observation window. The tank soldier was unprepared and was stabbed in the forearm. Of course, the next second, the Japanese soldier was crushed into a pulp by the tank, while the other soldier was stabbed in the arm. One tank soldier was injured because the anti-collision tank helmet he was wearing during the assault accidentally fell off due to excessive speed and hit his head.

Otherwise, there were no casualties in the tank company.

The main casualties in this battle came from the 956th Regiment. The 956th Regiment paid the price of more than 230 officers and soldiers killed and more than 150 officers and soldiers injured.

In terms of battle damage ratio, the Secret Service Battalion and the 956th Regiment still have a big advantage, but where is the combat quality of the Japanese army, and the 956th Regiment added a large number of new soldiers before the war, the Japanese were at the last moment They also went crazy, went crazy, and risked their lives in order to find a way out. Naturally, the 956th Regiment paid a considerable price.

After burying the bodies of their fallen brothers, in order to evacuate the battlefield as quickly as possible, He Wei and Cai Rubai did not let the troops carefully clean up the loot. They only took away the Japanese weapons and equipment, weapons, and firearms that were in good condition, and did not take away any damaged ones. They just left them where they were, including ammunition. First of all, you can take what is packed in the box. You can take as many bullets, grenades, and grenades that the Japanese soldiers carry. You can take as many as you can. Those that cannot be taken away or are missing are not required.

In short, what we are looking for is to be quick. This battle can be regarded as a cool blow. The Japanese forwards have been killed. Behind them is the main force of the Japanese army. The main force of the Japanese army was completely blind when they bit it.

Stop as soon as you see fit, playing fast and releasing quickly is the best way.

After quickly cleaning the battlefield, He Wei immediately sent a telegram to the automobile troops on standby in the rear, asking the two automobile companies assigned to the Secret Service Battalion to come and pick up his troops. Finally, the Secret Service Battalion and the 956th Regiment stayed behind. After leaving the mess and corpses everywhere, they quickly left the battlefield in more than two hundred trucks.

In the car, He Wei made a rough estimate of the outcome of the battle and sent telegram briefings about the battle to the 66th Army, the Nanjing Garrison Headquarters and the Military Police Headquarters.

"On December 4, the Ministry of Staff led the special agent battalion of the headquarters to advance by car to the vicinity of Lizili outside Jurong. They encountered the 7th Squadron of the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 16th Division of the enemy. Our troops used an ambush to destroy them. We planned to annihilate a squad of more than 200 people from the 7th Infantry Squadron of the enemy's 9th Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Machine Gun Squadron, which also focused on machine guns. During the battle, we learned the communication request signal from the enemy's 7th Squadron and the main force of its brigade." The special agent platoon of the battalion advanced forward and encountered the forward scouts of the third battalion of the enemy's seventh infantry squadron. They used the received signal to lure the enemy deeper and mobilized the tank company of the Army Armored Corps and the artillery of the 66th Army attached to the headquarters. One company of the battalion and the 956th Regiment of the 478th Brigade of the 160th Division set up an ambush in the original fighting position, and launched an attack after the enemy's main force arrived. The battle lasted for nearly two hours. The 3rd Brigade of the 9th Infantry Regiment wiped out more than 1,200 people. Now the headquarters and the 956th Regiment have retreated to the main position of the 160th Division. The specific battle conditions and losses and captures of each unit will be reported later. "

Just as the victory message sent by He Wei was conveyed to everyone, the main force of the Japanese infantry 9th Regiment in the rear was still marching leisurely. Although the commander of the regiment, Katagiri Goruro, was a little worried about the situation of the 3rd Battalion, other Inferring from common sense, I did not imagine how serious the situation was. After all, it was a reinforced infantry brigade. It did not say how to make progress, but self-protection was still no problem. Based on the combat experience in the North China and Songhu battlefields, a reinforced infantry brigade The infantry brigade with the artillery firepower of Paoshan is more than enough to deal with an infantry brigade or even most of the infantry division of the Chinese army.

But Katagiri Gorō never imagined that the Third Infantry Battalion would have been completely wiped out by the Chinese army that he looked down upon.

But just as the Ninth Infantry Regiment was advancing step by step and before arriving on the battlefield, the Japanese air power was one step ahead of the army and flew to the outskirts of Jurong.

The assault rescue operation of the Third Battalion had previously been reported to the commander of the 16th Division, Nakajima Jingo. In order to understand the specific combat situation of this forward group, Nakajima Jingo specially sent a request to the Navy. , hoping that they can send air power to conduct reconnaissance.

Although the relationship between RB's navy and army has always been unfriendly, Nakajima Kanago's request was only for reconnaissance, not a large-scale bombing support operation. Therefore, the navy agreed to Nakajima Kanago's request.

Currently, in East China, all the Japanese air power comes from the First United Air Force of the RB Naval Air Force. The First United Air Force dispatches a large number of bombers every day to bombard the Chinese army positions in Nanjing and the outskirts of Nanjing. Explosion, so-called reconnaissance, actually just allows the pilots to lower their altitude after dropping the bombs and take a look at the situation on the ground. That's it. It is just a convenient thing for the RB naval aviation.

So, about an hour after the special agent battalion and the 956th Regiment withdrew, the roar of aircraft appeared over the ambush battlefield just now. More than twenty Type 95 land attack aircraft of the RB Naval Aviation First Combined Air Force The mission of bombing and bombing the Chinese army positions in the direction of Chunhua has just been completed.

After the bombing mission ended, all the remaining aircraft except for one detachment's three Type 95 land attack aircraft returned, and these three Type 95 land attack sorties diverted and flew towards Jurong.

The three Type 95 land attack aircraft lowered their altitude and searched along the march route of the 16th Division. In the cockpit of the captain of the Azi squadron, a captain pilot was searching and flying forward according to the flight map.

In the aircraft, the seven auxiliary flight personnel, including the co-pilot, telecommunications operator, launch operator, maintenance officer, and scout, each performed their duties. As the plane flew over the road in the wilderness, the scout's eyes never left the ground, and he was always alert. Scouting the situation from the ground everywhere.

Suddenly, through the telescope, the scout sergeant vaguely saw a trace of fire flashing on the horizon. As the plane moved forward rapidly, the trace of fire turned into several columns of smoke, and thick black smoke rose straight into the sky.

When the Type 95 land attack plane accelerated and flew to the place where the smoke was billowing, looking down from the plane, you could see that the road was full of twisted corpses, burning baggage trucks, and damaged weapons. Ammunition and blown-up limbs and broken arms, and the corpses of Japanese infantry were everywhere on both sides of the road.

The scouts on the plane looked around with eyes wide open in disbelief, and then hurriedly reported to the pilot: "Squad leader, we found it, we found the army unit. They are all corpses down there, there may be thousands of them."

At this time, the captain pilot in the cockpit had already seen the tragic scene on the ground. He was also shocked and speechless. Such a miserable scene had never been seen even during the battle in Songhu. Looking at the billowing smoke below, although the captain was in the cabin, he seemed to be able to feel the billowing heat mixed with the breath of death on the ground. The cabin suddenly fell into silence, and almost all the crew members were shocked by the tragic scene below.

Several 95 land attack planes circled over the battlefield for several times. Finally, the captain pilot ordered the telegraph operator: "Send a telegram to the base, report our position, and tell them that we have discovered more than a thousand Army troops here." The corpses and the advancing Army troops are all suspected to be in pieces, and we will write some communication tubes and drop them to the Army when we return."

Immediately, the three 95 Land Attackers began to return, but on the road a few kilometers away, the main force of the 9th Infantry Regiment was still marching swaggering, completely unaware of the destruction of the 3rd Brigade, while the 9th Infantry Regiment's The commander of the regiment, Colonel Katagiri Goro, rode a tall horse to advance with the team.

He also cast a blind eye on the fighting situation of the Third Battalion, and also concluded from past combat experience that the Third Battalion was at best blocked by the Chinese army. How could he have thought that the Third Battalion had been completely wiped out? In other words, in the minds of many Japanese officers, Japanese troops at the brigade level and above are not in danger of being annihilated when fighting the Chinese army.

Suddenly, there was a huge roar in the sky. Several planes passed through the clouds and slowly lowered their altitude. The officers and soldiers of the Japanese Ninth Regiment were still marching as usual. Now the air supremacy in East China has completely fallen to the Japanese army. In their hands, these Japanese officers and soldiers knew that it was a Navy aircraft without having to think too much. Some Japanese soldiers even cheered and waved their rifles at the aircraft. Then they saw an aircraft gradually lowering its altitude, and then like an old hen laying eggs. Several communication tubes were also left behind.

The communication tube is a steel circular tube with a strong structure. It is a piece of equipment used by the Japanese army for ground-to-air communication. Its principle is also very simple and crude. It is to put telegrams, letters, etc. in the communication tube and seal them. It is then air-dropped to the ground at low altitude by an aircraft, and then picked up and received by ground troops. It is the most primitive way of ground-to-air communication.

After the plane dropped several communication tubes, it quickly raised its altitude and flew away. Those communication tubes were also collected by the officers of the Ninth Wing Wing Headquarters and handed over to Wing Commander Katagiri Gurō. When Katagiri Gorō saw the contents of the notes in the communication tube, his eyes suddenly darkened, cold sweat broke out from his back, and he almost fell off his horse.

The notes in the communication tube contained just a few lines: The remains of at least a thousand army officers and soldiers were found in the front, and the infantry brigade in front of your department was suspected to be all broken into pieces.

(End of this chapter)