NCCnovel Chapter 222: Both of you keep your mouth shut. I don’t want the brigade commander to come and take a
Chapter 222: Both of you keep your mouth shut. I don’t want the brigade commander to come and take a
Colonel Miyata's idea of sacrificing the artillery regiment was dissuaded by Adjutant Noda. Once the imperial infantry lost their artillery support, they would suffer heavy casualties if they wanted to take the position of the independent regiment.
It was because of this that Colonel Miyata convinced himself, and this also made him determined. He gave the order in a serious tone: "Noda, immediately arrange for the artillery to evacuate, and all the shells will be discarded. As for the heavy artillery squadron, it is not under our jurisdiction for the time being, so let's leave it to Brigade Commander Katayama to deal with it!"
After giving the order, Colonel Miyata finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the safety of the artillery could be guaranteed, it would not affect subsequent operations. The third batch of ammunition that the headquarters had promised would arrive soon.
After receiving the order from Colonel Miyata, Adjutant Noda immediately arranged for the artillery regiment to begin evacuating. He originally wanted to destroy the shells before leaving, but he thought that the violent noise of the explosion would definitely attract the attention of the independent regiment. In desperation, he could only use these shells as bait, hoping to delay more time.
"The Colonel has ordered us to evacuate the battlefield immediately, abandon all non-essential combat supplies, and evacuate with only artillery. Anyone who dares to block our way will be killed without mercy!"
Under the protection of an infantry squadron, the artillery regiment began its difficult retreat. The Type 75 infantry gun and mortar were easier to evacuate as they were lighter and easier to assemble and disassemble. However, the mm mountain gun was more difficult to evacuate and could only be pulled forward by the artillery. It was not that they had not thought about using trucks, but the current situation was too chaotic. Once the lights on the trucks were turned on, they would become sitting ducks for the artillery. They had no choice but to rely on manpower for transportation.
As for packhorse transportation, Adjutant Noda also used it. After traveling for a distance, the packhorses could no longer hold on and fell to the ground because they inhaled poison gas. This made the artillery regiment's withdrawal work more difficult. Fortunately, they met Chief of Staff Junichiro Hatoyama later. With his help, the artillery regiment was arranged to evacuate first, and even the remaining dozen trucks were allocated to them. They advanced in the dark without turning on the lights. Except for six 75mm mountain cannons that were abandoned, the remaining artillery of the artillery regiment arrived safely near Heiyun Village six hours later. After arriving here, they were finally safe.
In order to protect the remaining eight heavy artillery pieces, Kawashima Shota directly ordered the artillerymen to mount the heavy artillery on the back of the truck. He did not care that there were Japanese infantry blocking the road ahead. He directly ordered the soldiers to drive the trucks and ram them, thus carving out a bloody path.
During this process, four trucks were hit by shells fired by Sanwazi's anti-aircraft guns and were stranded on the road. Kawashima Shota was very decisive and directly abandoned the four heavy artillery. In the end, he even arrived at the foot of Heiyunzhai Mountain half an hour earlier than Colonel Miyata.
After learning that Kawashima Shota had rushed out four 105mm heavy artillery pieces, Colonel Miyata couldn't help but exclaimed: "Kawashima-kun, you are indeed more decisive than me. If it were me, I would have missed the best opportunity. It's just that our poison gas attack was not successful. Otherwise, our counterattack tonight would definitely have achieved great results! Just because we were half an hour later than the Chinese army, we became their sitting ducks. Even our poison gas bombs became the Chinese's weapon against us. This battle was really frustrating!"
Time goes back to six hours ago. Shen Quan led the assault battalion, reaping the lives of the Japanese and puppet soldiers like reaping wheat. Seeing the enemies fall one after another, Shen Quan's face was full of smiles under the gas mask. Especially when he saw the Japanese soldiers curled up on the ground with their hands covering their necks, he knew that they were attacked by poison gas. Seeing the Japanese soldiers suffer the consequences of their own actions made Shen Quan feel vented in his heart.
"Brothers, don't take off your gas masks. No matter how hot it is, you have to bear it. The Japanese have been attacked by their own poison gas. We can't be stupid! While the Japanese are in chaos, brothers, continue to follow me and fight forward. As long as the commander doesn't order us to stop chasing, we will keep chasing!"
The reserve force of more than a thousand people following the assault battalion also rushed up with guns in hand. The mortar company was not slow either. After they found the gun positions, they set up the mortars. Dozens of mortar shells poured into the Japanese camp. Continuous explosions sounded. After firing six rounds of shells in succession, the soldiers of the mortar company picked up the mortars again and continued to look for a suitable position to provide artillery support to the attacking forces again.
Li Yunlong did not send other troops to support. It was not because Li Yunlong did not want to send troops, but because he had used up all the gas masks. All the soldiers equipped with gas masks were sent up by him. This was already the maximum offensive force that the independent regiment could currently mobilize!
"I never thought that the counterattack tonight would be so smooth. If we hadn't arrived half an hour earlier, the situation between us and the devils would have been completely reversed. The devils suffered a big setback tonight. I just heard from Xiao Shanzi that the puppet army actually fought with the devils in order to survive, which caused the chaos in the devil camp!"
"This little Japanese is really stupid. Those damn puppet soldiers are all cowards, but the little Japanese want them to risk their lives to attack our positions, leaving them no chance of survival. If it were daytime, the little Japanese would have more people and more power, so the puppet soldiers would have no choice but to accept it. But now it's night, if the puppet soldiers shoot from behind, the little Japanese may not be able to find out who did it!"
"In addition, the puppet army suffered heavy losses in the battle this morning. They were used as cannon fodder by the Japanese and had long been dissatisfied. In addition, the powerful firepower of our independent regiment also scared these puppet troops and let these cowardly dogs fight us to death. Even a pig would not give such a stupid order, but the Japanese did just that. It really makes me puzzled!" Li Yunlong complained with an incredible look on his face.
Lin Zhenhua picked up the mung bean soup beside him and drank a bowl. He felt very comfortable. In addition, the good news from the messenger made him feel much less hot. He smiled and replied, "Lao Li, Katayama Ichiro wanted to use the puppet army as cannon fodder to buy time for their retreat. However, Katayama Ichiro did not expect that we deployed more than 200 artillery pieces tonight, and heavy artillery accounted for more than half of them. Such a strong firepower delivery directly stunned Katayama Ichiro. I guess he may not have seen such a strong artillery attack!"
"The Japanese have always had air superiority on the battlefield. Even if we have artillery, it can't play a big role on weekdays. Most of the time, we can only rely on hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese to avoid the firepower attacks of the Japanese fighter planes!"
"To be honest, the intensity of our current bombardment is equivalent to the firepower of three artillery regiments of the devils. We have used up most of our resources. When I traded with the Third Reich before, my requirements for artillery were very high. In the end, General Bella specially sent us two more artillery battalions, which means that we have the firepower of two artillery regiments plus an anti-aircraft regiment. In fact, it is equipped with German weapons, but this division is also a heavy armored division!"
"Before, you asked me why there were no small anti-aircraft guns and why all of them were 88mm anti-aircraft guns. Now you finally understand what I meant!"
Li Yunlong gave Lin Zhenhua a thumbs up and praised him with a smile on his face: "College student, we brought back a division of equipment. I still haven't received a detailed list of supplies, but after your explanation, I finally understand that you are really foresighted. I said you are a talent before, and now it seems that I was right about you!"
"To be honest, this is the first time I've seen such high-intensity artillery support. Our independent regiment has become a local tycoon now. We can fire artillery without blinking an eye. We must not let the brigade commander know about this. If he knows, we won't be able to protect all our heavy artillery. You guys better keep your mouth shut and don't let the news leak out!"
"Especially you, Old Zhao. You like to tell tales. You have to be honest this time. You must not disclose this news to the brigade commander. Our independent regiment has finally become wealthy. You can't let the brigade commander come to take advantage of us!"
Zhao Gang rolled his eyes in annoyance, but what he said gave Li Yunlong peace of mind.
"Lao Li, I, Zhao Gang, am not confused about this matter. Without the protection of these big guys, we have no way to defend the base. If we can't defend the base, the machine tools we have worked so hard to obtain will very likely fall into the hands of the devils, and our arsenal will be gone forever. I, Zhao Gang, am never vague about major issues!"
"Leaving these heavy artillery pieces in our independent regiment will allow them to play a greater role. Besides, it is inconvenient to move the heavy artillery pieces. I guess even if the brigade commander knew about this, he would not leave. Instead, he would stay in our independent regiment. I think you are worrying too much!"
Li Yunlong curled his lips and said disdainfully: "Old Zhao, our independent regiment has coal-to-oil equipment and can already produce fuel oil independently. After we have fuel oil, the brigade commander will directly take us all away, including fuel trucks and heavy artillery. If you don't believe me, let's wait and see! I, Li Yunlong, have followed the brigade commander for so many years, how can I not understand his temper? I learned all my bad habits from him!"
Lin Zhenhua immediately wrote down what Li Yunlong said with a pencil. He planned to let the brigade commander take a good look at it next time he came. Li Yunlong saw that the pencil in Lin Zhenhua's hand was writing non-stop, and he looked over curiously. When he saw what was written on it, he directly snatched the pencil and paper from Lin Zhenhua's hand and cursed viciously: "College student, you are a bad boy who has no martial ethics. I just praised you a few words, and you stabbed me behind my back. It seems that if I don't beat you up, you will hardly remember it. When did you learn to tell tales from Lao Zhao? This makes me despise you very much!"
Zhao Gang quickly persuaded him, "Old Li, please stop talking. You were the one who started the conversation just now. I didn't expect you to deny it now! When the brigade commander comes back next time, I will have a good talk with him. I have to cure your bad habit of bragging!"