The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 57 The Fog of War
Yongxing Village, Di Detachment Command Post
Through the artillery mirror, Tsubujiaki saw dead bodies in a pool of blood, destroyed tanks, and scattered backpacks. In fact, the losses of this attack had already been calculated. The attacking infantry squadron 54 was responsible for An infantry squad of 60 people in the assault forward, all from the squad leader on down, were killed. Half of the attached heavy machine gun squad was also killed, and one heavy machine gun was lost. In total, more than [-] infantrymen were killed, and many were injured.

The tank unit suffered its biggest loss since entering China. Four tanks were destroyed and left on the battlefield. All the crew members were killed, and two other tanks were wounded.

The mere number of casualties presented in the report did not actually have that big of an impact. However, when he saw the tragic scenes on the battlefield through the artillery mirror, Tsubujiagui was deeply shocked. Since entering China, He had never suffered such a huge loss, and what was even more unbelievable to him was that after paying such heavy casualties, what did he gain?
Got nothing!

The assaulting infantry did not even open a main attack path in the obstacle area of ​​the Chinese army!
Silent, behind Tsubasa Ki was the embarrassed Captain Ryokuo of the [-]st Squadron and Major Hyakutake Toshiyoshi, the captain of the [-]nd Squadron of the [-]th Tank Battalion. Both of them were disgraced, Ryokuo's face was hit by a mortar. The shrapnel left a thin trail of blood, a look of resentment and unwillingness on his face.

The two of them had just reported the entire attack process to Tsubuzaki, and they seemed to be still immersed in the tragic scenes on the battlefield. Tsubuzagui savored the whole process of the battle over and over again. After a moment, he hammered hard. The trench cliff of the command post.

"You underestimated the enemy! You underestimated the enemy!"

After analysis, it can be determined that the Chinese army in front of them has a considerable number of heavy firearms. The only things that can be determined are tank defense artillery that can severely damage tank troops, 82mm mortars that can bombard infantry, and tank defense cannons. There was definitely more than one cannon. After the Chinese defenders opened fire, a crossfire net of heavy machine gun salvos appeared in front of the position, including both light and heavy machine guns, as well as combat defense artillery and mortars.

The firepower of the Chinese army in front of them is not weak.It can be said that the infantry and artillery firepower is complete, and the shooting discipline of this Chinese army is also very good. In the past positional battles with the Chinese army, it often happened that the attacking troops had not yet deployed, or were even in the stage of engaging the enemy. The distance between the two sides was several hundred At [-]:[-] a.m., the Chinese army took the lead in opening fire, often firing indiscriminately.

Today's Chinese army not only does not fire guns indiscriminately or shoot in advance, but also fires various firearms in a very orderly manner. The light and heavy machine guns are designed to target infantry, and the [-] mortars wait until the end before firing. The firepower of machine guns The output methods are mostly short bursts and long bursts, and there is no random shooting or concentrated shooting.

What shocked Tsubujiaki even more was the construction of the Chinese army. A large anti-tank trench was laid out in front of the position to target tanks, and hidden anti-tank pits were arranged in an extremely clever way on the outer layer. Multiple trenches were set up to target infantry. The infantry squadron that destroyed the first squadron detonated the booby traps on the Luzhai while destroying the barbed wire fence, causing the assault to be severely frustrated.

Overnight, the Chinese defenders, who were in disarray and were attacked by their own tanks yesterday, built such fortifications!
After replaying the battle over and over again in his mind, he looked at his two disgraced subordinates, Tsubuzaki sighed, thinking that he had underestimated the enemy after all.

"Liao Jun, Bai Wujun, I think we still underestimated the enemy. Based on your reports and my overall view of the battle, I think the reasons for the failure of this assault are as follows. First: we underestimated the enemy. After all, the enemy army is the Central Army of Chiang Kai-shek's Nanjing government, which has a larger organization and better equipment among the Chinese army. It is not the Shanxi Local Army and the North China Song Zheyuan Army that we have fought before."

"Second point, also due to underestimating the enemy, we ignored the artillery preparations for the enemy's position. The enemy's level of construction of fortifications was very high. A large number of barbed wire fences and deer villages were deployed in front of the position overnight as obstacles. If we used mountain artillery The field artillery fires according to the normal attack rhythm, which can actually destroy the obstacles laid by the enemy."

"The third point is that this attack directly uses combat vehicles to cooperate with the infantry. It is not a mistake. However, the enemy has built anti-tank trenches and concealed anti-tank traps, which will pose a great threat to the combat vehicles. If the infantry does not break through first , the tank can only provide fire cover and cannot fully attack the enemy's trenches." Tebujiagui talked about his blood-earned experience, showing extremely high tactical literacy, which Tebujiagui could not have guessed. If it weren't for the arrival of someone who broke the timeline, he would have easily captured Yanzhuang. The failure of this attack was certainly the result of He Wei's sophisticated defense, but it was also the result of the arrogance of his troops and his underestimation of the enemy. , just a three-point summary, each of which talks about the main points and vital points.

"For the next attack, I am determined not to use tanks for the time being. I will attack first with infantry, clear peripheral obstacles and concealed anti-tank traps, fill up the anti-tank traps, and then open a path for tanks. If the infantry can break in independently, then the battle will The vehicle does not need to go out, but only provides fire cover for the infantry when necessary. If the infantry cannot break in, the tank will be sent out again, and I will apply for a mountain artillery squadron from the brigade to come to support!"

Toshikichi Hyakutake surrendered to Tsutsubasaki. The anti-tank fortifications built by He Wei were extremely disgusting. The concealed anti-tank traps were concealed and looked no different from ordinary ground. Anti-tank The trenches are far larger than the size of Japanese tanks. If the infantry does not detect these hidden anti-tank traps and fill the anti-tank trenches, the tanks will not be able to drive through them at all.

Even if he rushes over forcefully, he will be called out by the anti-tank guns one by one. As the commander of the infantry unit, Tsubuzaki took the initiative to propose such a battle order to take care of the tank unit. Hyakutake Shukichi was naturally quite moved.

Lia Jiuxiong, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly had bloodshot eyes and said loudly: "Your Excellency, detachment leader, please continue to hand over the attack mission to my squadron. I will definitely avenge the shame and avenge the warriors of Yushang!"

Tsubukkaki said: "One of the squadrons in your squadron has been completely destroyed. I will remove a squadron from the second squadron and strengthen it for you. I will also apply to the brigade for a batch of engineer equipment to strengthen your obstacle breaking capabilities."

Ryokuo was about to bow to express his thanks when suddenly, the detachment adjutant Uno Shuichi pointed in the direction of Yanzhuang.

"There's smoke!"

In the direction of Yanzhuang, several thick white smoke rose up and spread with the wind, covering the front positions of Yanzhuang. The strange waves of smoke spread in all directions with the wind, not only covering the front positions of Yanzhuang, but also several people in the command post. There was a hint of gloom in their hearts, and several people felt a hint of ominousness in unison.

If the embankment is not covered with gold, I feel vaguely that Yanzhuang is not easy to fight.

(End of this chapter)