Age of Conquest Reborn

"Boom - boom!" Groups of artillery shells, with a harsh scream, flew across the river and landed on the other side. Clusters of mushrooms suddenly surged up and suddenly turned into pillars of earth, accompanied by

Groups of firelight and huge explosions echoed across the wilderness, blowing away bushes and turning the lush grassland into mottled black pits. The morning sunshine in the central part of the Liaodong Peninsula was shrouded in a layer of gunpowder smoke.

.

The Japanese artillery bombardment was fierce and intensive. The broken wooden bridge on the river was the correction point for the bombardment target. The place where an infantry brigade of the Xinqiao Regiment was completely annihilated was the target of the Japanese artillery bombardment. The shells of the large-caliber artillery roared.

They kept flying in, as if venting the anger of the Japanese commander.

Major General Kono, commander of the 21st Brigade of the 107th Division, is indeed full of anger. As the main brigade of the division, he is responsible for occupying Zhuanghe County and opening the passage to Lushunkou for the division.

, as a result, in the small Hebei

On the other side of the river, they were attacked by the independent division. One regiment suffered almost half casualties. Therefore, after Major General Kono arrived on the north bank of the river, the first thing he did was to remove the disgraced Colonel Shimbashi from his post and send him to the baggage force.

A captain.

The grumpy Major General Kono punished Colonel Shimbashi in this way, which was unexpectedly lenient. Officers who are familiar with the brigade commander all know that Major General Kono is naturally bloodthirsty and has a bad temper. On the battlefield in the Southwest Pacific, he used his saber.

, he personally cut off the head of a captain of the Colonel Corps who was unfavorable in the battle. Therefore, the fate of Colonel Shimbashi should also be miserable, but the result surprised the officers. He was only sent to the baggage unit.

This ending shocked the officers of the 21st Brigade, but Major General Kono had no intention of paying attention to the officers' thoughts. He had his own plan. This guy Shimbashi was his most capable commander, and he was a personal friend.

It's also very good. When he was on the Southwest Pacific battlefield, this guy used a regiment to defeat an Allied American and Philippine division. He killed thousands of people. For such a general, Major General Kono was reluctant to chop off his head.

.

In Major General Kono's opinion, the loss of the Shinbashi Regiment was the result of the lack of heavy fire support. If during the assault on the Hemu Bridge, there would have been dozens of field guns to provide fire support and cover. Those independent division positions on the other side,

It has fallen apart a long time ago. In the final analysis, it is not because of Xinqiao’s incompetence.

Therefore, the second thing Major General Kono did was to order the field artillery regiment to which the brigade belonged. To completely clear the ambush area of ​​the Independent Division with artillery shells. The 21st Brigade was the number one main force of the 107th Division.

, the firepower is also very fierce. The artillery equipped by one brigade is more than double that of other brigades. In addition to a field artillery regiment, there is also a mountain artillery regiment. With such strong artillery firepower, Major General Kono

Full of confidence!

The advancing front of the 21st Brigade is not only in the direction of Wulu Town on the south bank of the river, but also in the direction of Xuling to the north of Wulu Town. Under normal circumstances, the troops advance in both directions and advance hand in hand, regardless of which route the troops cross.

Crossing that river can be considered as getting closer to Zhuanghe County.

But Major General Kono held his breath in his heart and took Wulu Town on the south bank of the river as the main assault target. Wouldn't the New Bridge Regiment lose troops here if it doesn't? Well, just cross the river from here and attack the independent division on the other side.

The defenders were wiped out, not just that

The Heqiao bridgehead and even the small town not far away had to be destroyed. Therefore, he ordered the troops in the direction of Xuling Town to suspend their advance and rest on the spot, and concentrated all artillery firepower here.

We must cross the river with a strong attitude!

Major General Kono's decision was opposed by almost all the officers in the brigade and regiment headquarters. Such an order was both incomprehensible and unnecessary. If the independent division's blocking force only existed in the direction of Wulu Town, then Xu Ling

Troops heading towards the town, temporarily

Stopping the advance is a waste of time. Moreover, after the troops cross the river, they can go around. The independent division garrison in the direction of Wulu Town still cannot escape the fate of being surrounded and annihilated. So why waste a large number of troops in one direction?

Where are the troops and ammunition?

Faced with the disapproval, Major General Kono fully showed his arbitrary side and shouted angrily: "That's enough! Shut up! The dignity of the Imperial Army of Japan is not allowed to be offended. Shimbashi United

The team was ambushed by the Chinese army here, which is a shame for our 21st Brigade. This is how I want to tell those Chinese people that the advance of the Imperial Army is unstoppable!"

As a matter of fact, the enraged brigade commander will kill people. All the Japanese officers collectively shut up and remained silent. Therefore, on the front line more than ten kilometers wide from Wulu Town to Xuling Town, only Wu

In the direction of Luzhen, artillery fire was raging, the ground was shaking, and it was a lively fight!

Major General Chen Mengqiao, commander of the 1st Marine Corps Brigade at the Third Regiment Command Post in Xuling Town, listened to the continuous sound of artillery fire from the direction of Wulu Town, and then looked at the Japanese soldiers on the other side of the river, resting in place and eating rice dumplings.

I was puzzled, "It's strange, why did the little devils in this direction stop advancing and start fighting in the direction of Wulu Town? Could it be that Wulu Town was used as a breakthrough?"

Chen Mengqiao thought for a while and felt uneasy. He picked up the phone and prepared to talk to Meng Jianzhu to find out the situation. But after picking up the phone, he put it down again. He felt that when the Japanese troops were discovered on all the defense lines of the First Brigade, only

The Wulu Town position was attacked. It was most likely that the Japanese army retaliated after killing an infantry brigade of the Little Devils. Another possibility is that the Japanese army had not yet discovered the First Brigade troops in other directions.

"Since the command of the first and second regiments has been handed over to Meng Jianzhu, don't interfere with him!" Chen Mengqiao thought like this and put down the phone. He just listened anxiously to the fierce artillery fire coming from the direction of Wulu Town.

Voice.

"Good fellow Brigadier Meng, the little Japs are quite ruthless. This formation has at least used a heavy artillery regiment with dozens of heavy artillery pieces. It's enough to look down on us!" Colonel Sun Zhiyuan, commander of the first regiment, patted the dirt off his body and said to

Meng Jianzhu said.

Meng Jianzhu withdrew his gaze to observe the Japanese shelling and said: "Commander Sun, our fortifications near the Nahe bridgehead must have been destroyed. Brigadier Chen's decision is brilliant. I think that if the little devils concentrate their firepower, they will definitely destroy it."

This is regarded as a breakthrough point, and there is no movement at all from the direction of Xuling Town, so the pressure on us is great!"

"This battle needs to be fought in a different way. When the Japs start to cross the river to attack, they need to adjust their counterattack deployment. The heavy artillery battalion attached to the brigade headquarters cannot show up for the time being. It is better to use mortars to fight back and wait for the Japs' artillery fire to extend.

At that time, the mortars were moved to the Nahe bridgehead area to catch them by surprise. We didn’t expect that we would dare to enter the area after the Japs’ shelling. Then, the mortars quickly retreated, otherwise we would definitely be bombed!”

Sun Zhiyuan's eyes lit up and he said: "Fight halfway across the border! Okay, Brigadier Meng, this move is high, it is easy for the mortar to set up positions, and it is also convenient for movement. If you kill him, we will run away immediately. I will give the order immediately!"

"

Sun Zhiyuan went to make a phone call excitedly. Meng Jianzhu said to a staff officer: "Has the order been issued to the 1st Regiment of the Directly Affiliated Brigade?"

The staff officer replied: "Report to Brigadier Meng that the order has been issued. The first regiment and the people in Wulu Town have withdrawn to the surrounding areas to hide!"

Meng Jianzhu was relieved. Wulu Town was the only way to Zhuanghe County after crossing the river. The Japanese commander would not let this town pass by. He was very familiar with the range of Japanese artillery.

Meng Jianzhu knew that the range of the Japanese field artillery shelling could completely cover Wulu Town. The first regiment of the direct brigade there and the people in the town would probably be covered by Japanese artillery fire if they were not moved out!

A Japanese field artillery regiment and dozens of large-caliber artillery bombarded for more than 40 minutes. Tens of thousands of artillery shells were poured into the area around the Nahe Bridgehead. Major General Kono held up his telescope and looked at the effect of the bombardment with satisfaction.

No matter how strong it is

Solid fortifications would be completely destroyed under such a violent bombardment. "The fierce artillery fire began to extend, completely covering Wulu Town on the south bank of the river. I don't want to see an intact building!" He said in a calm tone.

The order arrives.

The road leading to Zhuanghe County must pass through Wulu Town. Such a key point will not fail to be sent by the commander of the independent division to defend it. If Wulu Town cannot become a key point to block the imperial army, the only way is to completely

Wipe it off the map, destroy a town that may become an obstacle, and also eliminate the independent division troops in the town. It kills two birds with one stone. Major General Kono is very happy to issue such an order!

As the Japanese artillery fire extended, artillery shells fell like raindrops in Wulu Town on the south bank of the river. Houses collapsed and they were immediately plunged into smoke. The Japanese infantry on the north bank of the river began to move towards the river. Meng Jianzhu looked through the telescope

When they arrived, the Japanese soldiers dragged various tools that could be used to cross the river and huddled together in a hurry, preparing to start crossing the river.

Although the water in the river is not deep, it can go above the heads of the short Japanese soldiers. Otherwise, Major General Kono would have ordered the troops to wade across the river. In the eyes of the Japanese soldiers, such a fierce bombardment by the Imperial Artillery

Come on, there is no threat on the south bank of the river!

"The little devil spent a lot of money. At least two regiments of troops were dispatched!" Meng Jianzhu said to himself. At the same time, he also saw teams carrying mortars along the traffic trenches that were blown beyond recognition.

, a group of soldiers carrying boxes of artillery shells, using the cover of the traffic ditch as much as possible, quickly approached the forward position, their movements brisk and agile.

On the north bank of the river, the Japanese soldiers began to cross the river using various tools. The dozens of meters wide river was filled with piles of Japanese soldiers. Fortunately, the water flow in the river was not fast. Otherwise, the Japanese soldiers would have used various tools to cross the river.

With no tools to cross the river, at least one-third of the people will be washed into the North Yellow Sea!

(To be continued)