Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

At half past five in the morning on August 21st, the sun had just risen.

A whole night passed, and the main peak of Shi Nao Mountain seemed to be shorter. Smoke shrouded the position, and craters could be seen everywhere covering the mountain.

The reason for all this was that Shotarō Katayama commanded the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade and launched seven attacks against the positions defended by the 385th Brigade.

Although the Japanese had a clear advantage in heavy firepower, they even dispatched two waves of aircraft.

But within nine hours, the Japs had not achieved anything, not even the outermost reaches. Every time they attacked, they failed. The tenacious 769th Regiment and the 14th Regiment always stood firm.

After a night of tactical games, the old devil Shotaro Katayama had to admit one thing.

That is, the opponent's commander is much better than you, and you are completely defeated in both micro-management and overall perspective.

Although he didn't know how many casualties the Eighth Route Army in Shi Nao Mountain had suffered, only half of the 2,000 people he had managed to gather were now left.

If we throw away those seriously injured soldiers, we will basically be back to before liberation overnight.

Just when the old devil was about to withdraw his troops and return to Yangquan County to prepare troops, a phone call completely shattered his illusions.

"Katayama-kun, I heard that you seem to have encountered some trouble. It seems that the enemy is very strong, and he actually needs Lu Hang's help."

Yoshio Shinozuka's voice instantly gave the major general a chill in his heart.

The other party's tone was extremely cold, which made him couldn't help but wonder how much his immediate boss knew.

But Shotaro Katayama's silence obviously completely angered the commander of the First Army in Taiyuan. The phone was put down temporarily, and then there was the sound of smashing things from the other end.

"I don't care who the enemy you encounter is! I don't care about the casualties of your brigade! All I want is that the battle must end this morning, otherwise you will commit seppuku."

As the phone was hung up, the atmosphere in the temporary command room became extremely oppressive. Several staff members did not dare to move, for fear of following in the footsteps of their colleagues.

Fortunately, a major came in at this time, and he brought some good news to Katayama Shoutaro.

Another group of infantry gathered from several surrounding strongholds have arrived in Yangquan, giving the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade the capital to launch a new round of attack.

Several staff officers quickly seized the opportunity to hold their own opinions. They were all afraid of being sent to the battlefield because they did not provide good advice.

After a few minutes of discussion, they decided to launch the attack at six o'clock in the morning, which was the most likely time to get sleepy after staying up late.

Although the attack lasted all night, it caused great physical and psychological pressure on the soldiers.

But both sides agree on this point. Although their own side is very tired, the Eighth Route Army's condition is definitely worse than theirs.

After all, these enemies who lacked heavy weapons were bombarded by mountain artillery all night and were harassed twice by aircraft.

Hearing this, Katayama Shotaro decided to play some new tricks. He wanted to change his style of play and make the Eighth Route Army, accustomed to those previous tactics, pay a bloody price.

In the old devil's mind, the seven attacks last night put a lot of pressure on the enemy's frontal position. If another massive feint attack is launched, the opponent will definitely be able to mobilize its flanking forces.

After all, people have habitual thinking.

The Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade has been reckless all night, and a sudden dose of colorful intestines will most likely have a miraculous effect.

If we can open a hole from the side and cooperate with the attack of mountain artillery and aircraft, we might be able to capture the enemy in one go.

Thinking of this, he immediately selected two unlucky staff officers and called the artillery battalion captain. The two majors who had high hopes yesterday had died in the previous attack.

After everyone arrived, the old devil looked struggling as if he was making a difficult decision.

"Ikeda-kun, we will launch the final attack next."

"In order to win this battle, I hope you can draw a hundred warriors from the artillery brigade and add them to the infantry group in the frontal feint attack."

This sentence shocked everyone in the command post.

Artillery is different from infantry. The time and money costs required to train an artillery are not low at all.

In the eyes of Yuto Ikeda, compared with technical arms like them, the infantry are just wild dogs with some intelligence.

And the most important thing is that the training focus of the two is different. This is simply like sending scientists to the battlefield, which is simply unreasonable.

As if seeing some reluctance among his men, Katayama Shoutaro stared at him with red eyes.

If it were before, he might still be sensible and brainwash the other party with emotion. After all, we will have to lead troops in the future, and it will not do if people's hearts are scattered.

But now there is no time. In order to keep his position as a major general and to strive for future promotion space, he must win this battle by any means necessary.

The old devil looked ferocious and said with gritted teeth:

"Lieutenant General Shinozuka already knew what the Eighth Route Army was doing on the Shotai Line. He gave me an ultimatum that we must capture Shi Nao Mountain today, open up the road from Yangquan to Yuci, and launch rescue on the entire line."

"I'm telling you! Not only your artillery, but also the medical and baggage troops have to support me! If it weren't for the fact that the mountain artillery needs to be operated, I would have wished your entire brigade had charged!"

"You can choose someone yourself. The time has come to be loyal to the Locust."

The next time is to arrange specific tactics. The original soldiers were in poor condition, and now they can only be responsible for feigning attacks on the frontal positions.

These people have been struggling all night. Both their morale and spirit have reached the limit of what they can bear, and they are simply unfit for use.

Logically speaking, these soldiers should be replaced and go back to rest, but they already have all the cards in Katayama Shoutaro's hand, so they can only rush to the shelves.

Use the stock of offensive friends to squeeze out the last of their potential.

The task of bypassing the side was naturally handed over to the new troops who came to support them. These one thousand infantry were composed of multiple squadrons, and an officer needed to be temporarily assigned to them.

——————————

In the temporary command post of the 385th Brigade in Shi Nao Mountain, looking at the two regimental commanders who were physically and mentally exhausted, Brigadier Chen comforted them:

"Thank you for your hard work, you two. The Japanese will definitely not attack with this intensity in the next few days. The enemy has already finished swinging three axes."

"And I sent a few correspondents last night to ask for help along the Shota Line in the direction of Yuci. Maybe friendly forces will come to support today."

The Japanese casualties were not small, but the casualties of the 385th Brigade were not light either.

After a whole night of fierce fighting, the 769th Regiment lost more than 400 people. The west side of the main peak they were responsible for has always been the target of Japanese attacks.

The soldiers have to deal with a steady stream of attacks every hour. Even if they are high up and the firepower is fierce, casualties cannot be avoided.

The situation of the 14th Regiment is relatively better. Only more than 200 of them have lost their combat effectiveness.

The battlefield medical kits produced by Huanghe saved many people, and many soldiers who might have died survived strong.

The ammunition reserves are also in good condition. Although the troops are now richer in light weapons, many soldiers still retain the good habit of thrift.

What's more, in the preparation stage of the attack plan, Brigadier Chen ordered the soldiers to carry as much ammunition as possible.

Just as a few people were preparing to discuss the next defensive arrangements, the enemy's Japanese artillery position two kilometers away suddenly launched another attack.

This sudden shelling interrupted their meeting, and they could only temporarily return to the artillery fortifications.

At the same time, under the constant urging of the grassroots officers, the Japs on the front continued to flow towards the front position again.

When the artillery fire ended, these drugged Japs immediately launched a surprise attack.

Among these people, only the temporarily deployed artillerymen still subconsciously maintained the skirmish line. This artillery brigade in Yangquan still has rich combat experience.

This is because the Japanese artillery shells are always abundant, and the artillerymen staying in the rear have almost no chance to go to the front line.

In addition, the Republic of China troops fighting them had almost no conditions to launch an artillery battle, so the casualty rate has always been very low.

Even if Yuto Ikeda is playing the last-place elimination system, these Japs are all veterans with at least three years of combat experience.

However, the efficiency of their offense is very impressive, a bit like thunder but little rain.

In the past, when encountering difficult fire points, the Japanese would try their best to destroy them. But now I can only fire a few symbolic shots, and use a grenade to explode a few times.

This style of play made the soldiers of the 769th Regiment extremely puzzled, as if they had been punched on cotton.

However, they soon learned the cause of the matter. Not far away from the position in charge of the 14th Regiment, fierce gunfire suddenly rang out.

As Shotaro Katayama guessed, the 14th Regiment only had two companies of soldiers deployed on the side for defense. Facing this sudden enemy force, the soldiers were caught off guard.

The Japanese infantry who were originally responsible for the frontal feint attack immediately launched a suicidal charge after seeing that their major general's plan was bearing fruit.

These days of taking medicine, they used their own lives to hold back the Eighth Route Army in the front, leaving them no time to divide their troops to support the relatively weakly defended side of Shinao Mountain.

At the same time, the artillery position a little more than two kilometers away fired again. During the previous attack, Katayama Shoutaro, an old devil, was still worried about his own infantry.

After all, guns have no eyes, and the limit that artillery can do is to fire at a position a few hundred meters in front of the infantry, and the terrain of Shinao Mountain can easily injure one's own people.

But now Shotaro Katayama can't care about so much. Under the pressure from his superiors, he is like a gambler who is red-eyed after losing, and he plays all his chips in order to get his money back at once.

Facts have proved that this trick is very effective. Although dozens of Japanese soldiers died under their own artillery shells, most of the soldiers of the 769th Regiment and the 14th Regiment were dragged to the position.

In this dangerous situation, the two regiment commanders and the political commissar of the 385th Brigade even personally brought a guard company to support.

At this critical moment, the Eighth Route Army of about a thousand people suddenly appeared from the direction of Yuci. This unit, which was like a timely rain, was the new second regiment led by Captain Li Da.

In order to support the brother troops in Shinao Mountain as soon as possible, their regiment even took on the momentum of flying to seize the Luding Bridge, which once led to non-combat attrition of the troops.

Fortunately, these several hours of forced march were not in vain. The New Second Regiment arrived at the battlefield when the 385th Brigade was in the most danger.

Seeing the Japanese attacking on the mountainside, Li Yunlong's eyes widened. He pulled out his shell gun and shouted to the tired soldiers behind him:

"Attack! All attack! Eat these Japs in one go! Artillery blast these sons of bitches for me! Commandos charge at me!"

After hearing the order from their captain, everyone steeled themselves and launched a charge.

With the new second regiment joining the battlefield, the situation on the side of Lion Brain Mountain was reversed, and the original hunters became prey.

Although the New Second Regiment, which was eager to support, had not yet had time to deploy its attack formation, it did not even set up its heavy machine gun.

However, Li Yunlong's offensive momentum was too strong, and coupled with the three companies of defenders on the original position, these thousand Japanese soldiers were forced to make dumplings.

In order to prevent Katayama Shotarō from jumping over the wall again, Political Commissar Xie immediately used the portable phone in his hand to call the artillery position.

After all, that old devil had ordered the artillery bombardment of the combat zone in the past in order to cooperate with the feint attack troops to hold back the Eighth Route Army on the front battlefield.

After receiving the order, the artillerymen of the 385th Brigade immediately took out their hidden trump card, which were four Civilian Type 20 82mm mortars.

The reason why these four cannons were not used in the previous battles was because those battles took place at night, and the artillerymen who lacked observation equipment were not sure to hit anything of strategic significance.

For example, the headquarters or artillery position of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade.

But things are different now. Katayama Shoutaro, whose life was not in danger all night, finally relaxed his vigilance. Both the headquarters and the artillery positions have advanced some distance.

The distance between Yangquan and Shinao Mountain is only four kilometers, and this journey is one of the few plains in Jin Province, with no obstacles at all in the middle.

Under the observation of the telescope, the Japanese artillery position was almost spacious and exposed to the nose of the artillery of the 385th Brigade.

According to the company commander's estimate, the enemy's position was approximately 2,500 meters away from them. Although it is a bit far away, it does not exceed the range of the Min-20 82mm mortar.

There are some differences between using mortars in the mountains and on the plains, but this is not a problem for a veteran who has been in the army for almost ten years. The reason why he is still a company commander is because there are only so many cannons in the army.

As long as you can capture enough cannons and shells, being a battalion commander is a bit humiliating.

After a round of test firing, the artillery company immediately adjusted the mortar parameters based on the firing results.

"One minute of rapid fire!"

Following the company commander's order, the crisp sound of artillery firing echoed across the battlefield. Four mortars blasted toward the Japanese artillery position at a rate of 16 rounds per minute.

In fact, Yuuto Ikeda sensed the danger when the Eighth Route Army mortars were tested, but within half a minute the second phase of shelling followed.

In this situation, if you are a decisive person, you will immediately abandon your position and run away.

But these mountain cannons are simply more important to Ikeda Yuuto than his wife. The presence of cannons is no joke.

But it is difficult to say that these half-ton mountain artillery can be moved. Grenades symbolizing death fell from the sky and landed within the range of the Japanese artillery position.

One grenade hit the ammunition box, and the power of the explosion was even greater than that of a mortar.

After a minute passed, Katayama Shoutaro's trump card was completely destroyed by the 385th Brigade. In that area, except for acquaintances and scraps of meat, no one could move.

Send first and change later!