Independence Corps

Chapter 24 Head-to-head confrontation (5)
The front was fighting fiercely, and the enemy troops on the two flanks surged up again. The first battalion commander, Wang Xiaonan, immediately led his brothers to fight on the left flank.Machine guns swept wildly, box guns and short guns also came in handy, grenades flew out of the trenches from time to time, smoke and dust billowed from the battlefield.

Compared with Ma'anpo, the battle on Liu Ji's side was another scene.The Sixth and Seventh Wings of the Japanese Army also adopted the same method. First, they stormed with artillery. The shells crossed the slope east of Liuji and exploded on Huanghuagang, which is less than one kilometer away from Liuji.The 12th Brigade and the 158nd Brigade of the 162th Division deployed in Huanghuagang. These two brigades were the most effective under Tan Weiming's command, so they were deployed in Huanghuagang to prevent the Japanese army from making a breakthrough from the front.

When the intensive artillery bombarded Huanghuagang, the brothers of the 158th and 162nd brigades did not make any counterattacks.Although Huanghuagang is a small hill, under the hill is a large depression that has been formed for many years. In front of the depression is a lake called Taiping Lake by the locals.Although the lake is not very big, it is enough to resist the unimpeded attack of the Japanese army from the front.

Last night Tan Weiming had already issued a death order, demanding that the 158th and 162nd brigades must wipe out the enemy in Taiping Lake, and the devils must not be allowed to step over the lake, let alone the devils' artillery regiment.Because as long as the artillery regiment passes Taiping Lake, the shells can fall directly to Liu Ji.

"Swear to defend Liu Ji to the death until the whole division dies!" This is the oath that Tan Weiming made at the emergency mobilization meeting last night.In order to cooperate with the 158th and 162nd brigades, Tan Weiming urgently mobilized the two regiments originally deployed in the center of Liuji, including Hou Si's 117th regiment, to supplement them on the hills on both sides of Huanghuagang to prevent the enemy from attacking from the flanks.

After the Japanese army bombarded them violently, they tried to rush forward. Just as the little devil touched the grass in the middle of the two sides of Taiping Lake, the rumbling sound of cannons rang out.The artillery sound was not from the 13th Division, but from the Fifth Artillery Battalion behind Huanghua Gang.This battle seemed to have been calculated. The howling shells passed over Huanghuagang and landed in the middle of the Japanese army impartially.The Japanese army did not expect the sound of cannons to sound at this time, and before they understood it, they were blown into pieces by the violent artillery fire.There are also those who want to survive, holding guns and jumping into the lake.The bottom of Taiping Lake was covered with aquatic plants, and the devil struggled a few times in the water before his legs were entangled by clumps of aquatic plants.The brothers on the hill seemed to be shooting each other, one shot at a time.Within 10 minutes, the Japanese army was defeated in the first attack, and hundreds of corpses were scattered on the grass on both sides.When the Japanese army saw that the attack was blocked, the artillery fire that had just been extinguished rang again, and Huanghuagang was immediately blown up into dust.The enemy seemed to be vengeful, dense shells rained down on the front of the trench, and the flying shrapnel and dust almost filled the trench. Zhong Beishan, commander of the 158th brigade, saw that something was wrong, and ordered the Fifth Artillery Battalion behind to adjust their targets and open fire on the little devil's artillery.

Five minutes later, the artillery of the enemy and our side met.The artillery used by the Fifth Artillery Battalion was developed by the Daba Apparatus Factory itself. At first, the gunners were not used to it. The shells were either left or right, and they could not be aimed at the position of the Japanese artillery.Zhong Beishan swears a few bad words, runs over himself, and kicks the gunner in front of him away: "You raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while. The guns developed by the old commander are even inferior to small post guns in your hands."

Zhong Beishan was originally an artilleryman. When the old commander Tu Zhucheng developed this kind of artillery with a super long barrel, he specially invited him to go there and worked in the appliance factory for two months.The lethality of this kind of gun is far stronger than the light mountain gun equipped by the regular army, and it is not much worse than the 70mm Type [-] infantry gun of the Yamashita Japanese Army, but the targeting system is relatively rough.While fiddling, Zhong Beishan yelled at the other gunners roughly, telling them to do as he said.The artillerymen of the Fifth Artillery Battalion were specially trained by Zhong Beishan. It should be said that the combat level is not bad, but there has been no war in these years, and the actual combat experience is pitiful.Just now they fought against the grass on both sides of Taiping Lake, and they could still make up. Anyway, as long as the shells landed on the grass, it would be more difficult to target the Japanese artillery regiment this time.Fortunately, after Zhong Beishan repeatedly reprimanded and demonstrated, their feeling came back, and when they hit again, the target was much more accurate than before.

The artillery of the two sides fought each other for more than ten minutes, and the Japanese artillery fire was obviously weakened. Zhong Beishan was very happy. He believed that the Japanese artillery regiment would not have too many Type [-] infantry artillery, and as long as five of them could be destroyed, it would be a victory.

Another 20 minutes later, the Japanese stopped fire first.Zhong Beishan laughed wildly: "Haha, the little devil finally let us suppress it. Listen to me, save some cannonballs, if the cannonballs run out, they will all die!"

Zhong Beishan didn't know that the Japanese artillery regiment suffered heavy damage in the confrontation just now.In the impression of the Japanese army, the artillery capability of the Chinese army is very weak, and the equipment is even more pitiful. A division only has about ten mountain artillery pieces and a small amount of mortars.The quality of artillery is even worse.Therefore, wherever they went, it was customary to first bombard the opponent's fortifications with strong artillery fire, and then launch a positional attack under the cover of artillery fire.Unexpectedly, this time in Miliang City, they unexpectedly encountered powerful artillery fire from the Chinese army.The Fifth Artillery Battalion repelled the Japanese attack for the first time, and Commander Itata Dazuo was so angry that he yelled: "Baga, Chinese people, Shanpao!" When he came to the hidden hill and smashed his artillery positions without missing a beat, Colonel Itada's eyes were crooked.Bantian never expected that the Chinese army had such strong firepower, let alone that the 158th Brigade on the mountain would suddenly attack him, and he fell into the miserable situation of being passively beaten.Bantian yelled: "Hide, hide!" and waved his saber: "Fight back, fight back!"

But no matter how hard Bantian struggled, the Japanese artillery regiment still did not escape. They were unprepared, and even in the belief that they would win, the Fifth Artillery Battalion on the mountain was beaten to pieces.Of the 20 [-]-type infantry artillery deployed at the foot of the mountain, seven of them had their barrels broken, and the other two were so blown up that they couldn't be found.The ammunition box caught fire, rolled up the artillery, flew into the air, and when it landed again, it was set off again by the shells of the [-]th Artillery Battalion.There was a sea of ​​flames on the artillery position, half of which was blown up by the Fifth Artillery Battalion, and half of it came from the little devil's own ammunition box.

"Baga, Baga!" Itata was completely insane. The battle had just begun, and the Imperial Japanese Army's prestige had not yet been displayed, and the artillery regiment humiliated him. How could he bear such humiliation?Bantian waved his saber wildly, and wanted to chop off the head of the artillery regiment commander in a frenzy!
The artillery captain became even more furious, covered his blood-splattered head, and roared like a furious lion: "General, I've been fooled, the information is wrong, the artillery fire of the Chinese people is completely beyond imagination."

A squadron leader dragged his injured leg and ran to ask him for instructions: "The firepower is too strong. If we continue to fight, the artillery brigade will suffer even worse!"

Bantian took out his gun, and without further ado, he ended the squadron leader who was afraid of fighting with one shot.But this could not save his face. As a last resort, Ban Tian ordered the fire to be turned off, and the artillery regiment was quickly transferred.

The artillery fire blocking battle that took place in Huanghuagang entered Tu Lanlong's field of vision without missing a scene.When the battle started, Tu Lanlong took Ruan Xiaoliu and the others up to the high rockery in Yunshuijian, holding a high-powered telescope in his hand, and staring at the front without moving.When the Japanese artillery bombarded Huanghuagang, Tu Lanlong's hands were shaking, and the expression on his face became uglier and uglier.When the Fifth Artillery Battalion on the hill struggled to fight back against the little devil, his twitching shoulders gradually calmed down. Soon, his shoulders began to tremble again. It was a trembling of excitement and joy.After the war completely subsided, Tu Lanlong put away his binoculars, and looked at Huang Shaoyong next to him with unsatisfied interest.

Huang Shaoyong, the deputy director of the Military Aircraft Division, was holding binoculars all the time. The blocking battle across Guhe made his blood boil. Although the sky was a little chilly, his head and face were dripping with sweat.

"It was a good fight, and it was fun! It is said that the 11th Army is enjoying peace, but I think they are enjoying peace." Huang Shaoyong wiped his sweat and stared at Tu Lanlong excitedly.

Tu Lanlong didn't say anything, he didn't want Huang Shaoyong to appear here, but Huang Shaoyong insisted on coming, so he nodded in agreement.Think about it, since Zhao Shiming left Miliang City and returned to Datong, Huang Shaoyong has been nesting in the plum garden, never leaving the gate, facing the battle map all day long, taking a pen to paint and draw on it, maybe he It's also boring.But Tu Lanlong didn't seem interested in Huang Shaoyong's emotion.Everyone was still eagerly looking at Huanghua Gang, but he had already walked down the rockery and headed for Hall No. [-] of Yunshuijian.Huang Shaoyong and Ruan Xiaoliu looked at each other, and hurriedly followed.

Hall No. 30 of Yunshuijian was full of people. In addition to the ten division commanders who came to Meiyuan, many new faces were invited today, among them was the newly appointed Artillery Independent Brigade Commander Zuo Xiangwei.This person is less than 23 years old, with a square face, two thick eyebrows, a typical handsome face, but there is a sense of rigidity between the eyebrows.Choosing him as the commander of the artillery brigade was also well thought out by Tu Lanlong.First, he had studied in the Artillery School and knew a lot of professional knowledge.Secondly, this person used to serve as the deputy battalion commander of the artillery battalion in the 129rd Route Army of the National Army. Later, he was injured in a battle and was dumped by the large army.After he recuperated from his injuries in a small town, he happened to meet Tu Zhucheng going north, and relying on his own stubbornness, he wrapped Tu Zhucheng into his team.There is another layer of relationship. This person is an old friend with Zhao Shiming, the brigade commander of the [-]th brigade, and they have been lying in the same trench.Based on these points, Tu Lanlong finally decided that he would be the commander of the artillery brigade.Judging from his performance these days, Tu Lanlong's decision was correct.That night, Ruan Xiaoliu took ten division heads to see the newly formed artillery brigade.This is Tu Lanlong's sudden idea: "Let them go and see what I, Tu Lanlong, are doing." After watching the exercise of the artillery brigade, the ten division heads all gave their thumbs up: "It's amazing, with this artillery Brigade, we feel more secure."

But Tu Lanlong was uneasy!
The Japanese army has just arrived with a division, less than 3 people, and the real large force is still behind.Moreover, until now, Commander Miyata has not revealed his combat goal. On the surface, Lieutenant General Okamoto and his 13th Division are here for Miliang City, as if they want to swallow Miliang City in one go, but Why did Sasaki's task force go to Shen Mengzi's side instead of directly attacking Miliang City?Also, why didn't the 25th Division quickly follow up, but stationed in Gucheng, it doesn't look like they want to swallow Miliang City in one go!
If Commander Miyata just used a road to pass through Miliang Mountain, should the 11th Army besiege it with all its strength?This possibility is small, but not impossible.General Fu's words echoed in his ears again: "As a military officer, the first task is to keep one side safe. I don't want to see Miliang City fall into the flames of war, and eventually become cannon fodder, causing the lives of ordinary people to die. will!"

But Miliang City is peaceful, what about other places?Once the Japanese iron hooves step over the rice grain mountain, it is likely to be unimpeded. At that time, will the little devil turn around and encircle both sides, and the tragedy of Maihe will repeat itself?
A series of problems plagued Tu Lanlong, leaving him in a difficult situation.It's not that he doesn't want to fight, but how to fight this battle, how can we ensure the safety of the people and wipe out the little devils in Miliangshan?Also, once the fire is fully fired, what is the possibility of support from Chief Yan's side?

Others don't need to think about it, but Tu Lanlong can't!What he bears on his shoulders is not only the life and death of the 11th Army, but also the safety of millions of people in Miliangshan!

The important reason why he repeatedly summoned the junior officers and Meng Bingliang was that he did not have full confidence in this team.If he continued to be in the 24th Division, he would have fired the first shot without hesitation, but this is Miliang City, the site of his foster father!
Hall No. [-] of Yunshuijian was quiet, and all the officers had the same color on their faces. This color was dyed by the artillery fire just now. Although the officers did not go to the rockery to see the artillery fire just now with their own eyes, everyone With ears, the roaring cannons have already blown their hearts.

"Let's talk about it, how should we fight this battle?" Tu Lanlong endured for a while, and finally said what he didn't want to say.

Unexpectedly, on this day, except for Zuo Xiangwei, the commander of the artillery brigade, who made an impassioned speech, all the other officers chose to remain silent.How can you be silent?Tu Lanlong couldn't figure it out, really couldn't figure it out.At the end of the silence, Fan Ziyi, the head of the 182 regiment, who Tu Lanlong had no hope for, fired a cold shot: "What's wrong, are you all scared? I, Fan Ziyi, are not afraid, and the 182 regiment is not afraid. Commander, give me an order. My surname is Fan." My hands are already itching!"

Tu Lanlong's eyes repeatedly swept the faces of the ten division heads and Fan Ziyi, until he finally disappointed himself, really disappointed.

After the meeting, when he returned to the headquarters, Huang Shaoyong asked him, "You are so preoccupied, what is it for?"

Tu Lanlong smiled bitterly: "What else can it be for?"

"Not so pessimistic, young commander?" Huang Shaoyong reassured him as if understanding, but there seemed to be some doubts in this sentence.

"I'm afraid it's more pessimistic than this."

Huang Shaoyong shook his head: "No, you overcomplicate the problem, listen to me, at this time, the simpler the better."

The simpler the better?Tu Lanlong pondered over this sentence silently, and finally said solemnly: "Maybe."

(End of this chapter)