Rise From Eight Hundred

Although there are concerns, there is really no other suitable location in this area, so after struggling for a while, Lai Gu Yi Nan still chose Changle Village as the location of his front-line headquarters.

Of course, Changle Village has a permanent population of 500 to 600 people, and the scale of the village is still not small. Let alone mortars, even if they use mountain artillery cluster bombing, it is not necessarily a problem to use the small courtyard in the east of the village as a temporary headquarters.

Moreover, the small courtyard with a screen is considered a wealthy household in the village. The courtyard walls and houses are built with blue bricks. The structure of the house is solid, and the surrounding windows are covered with wet wool felt, which can prevent both bullets and shrapnel. Unless you are very unlucky, the people in the house are still very safe.

After arriving, Yamamoto still praised Lai Gu Yi Nan for this.

Changle Village is no longer the headquarters of the First Infantry Battalion of the Second Mixed Brigade, but the front-line headquarters of the entire Second Mixed Brigade.

Because the 2nd Mixed Brigade gradually arrived at the Zhuozhang River area with more than 4,000 troops, including two infantry battalions, one engineering squadron, one baggage battalion, one tank squadron, and two cavalry squadrons.

Of course, apart from these conventional arms, what gave Yamamoto the confidence to break the current Chinese defense line was the artillery battalion directly under the brigade.

The artillery battalion of the 2nd Mixed Brigade is not an ordinary artillery battalion. One artillery battalion has 24 75 mountain guns, which is twice the artillery equipped by ordinary artillery battalions.

Yamamoto did not believe that what kind of Chinese could stop his 24 mountain guns and the impact of more than 14 Type 94 armored vehicles.

Theoretically, if there is no strong city and strong walls, and no enough anti-armor weapons, the Chinese army will definitely not be able to stop it.

This point has long been proved by the repeated defeats of more than 200,000 troops on the battlefield in North China.

The Japanese army in the North China battlefield even used an infantry battalion to attack the defense line of a Chinese infantry regiment that was hastily deployed. This infantry regiment only lasted less than half an hour before it was completely defeated.

And that was when the Japanese army did not deploy armored vehicles and aircraft. They only used mountain artillery and infantry artillery to destroy all the heavy firepower points of the Chinese.

Therefore, even though he knew that the Chinese had used mortars to hang the imperial infantry digging trenches, Yamamoto still swaggered into Changle Village under the escort of cavalry, and began to issue military orders in that small courtyard.

Yamamoto made full preparations, using the two most elite infantry battalions as his sharpest spears, gathering 14 of the 18 94 armored vehicles carried by his command, and a baggage brigade of nearly 1,000 people as assistance. The barrels of 24 75 mountain guns were already raised high and aimed at the other side of the Zhuozhang River.

Yamamoto was also very careful about the security of the artillery battalion. One of the two cavalry squadrons dismounted and served as the guard of the artillery battalion. He even sent the most trusted and elite escort squadron around him.

As the last line of defense of the brigade, the escort squadron had more than 350 people, and was equipped with 7 heavy machine guns alone. It was one of the few Japanese troops equipped with heavy machine guns at the squad level.

Even with this 450-man defense line, the Chinese would have basically no worries if they had not had more than one infantry regiment to attack them.

Moreover, there were still three understaffed infantry battalions and half a baggage battalion on the rear wing of the entire vanguard army. The straight-line distance between the vanguard and the rear wing was about 4 kilometers, which also ensured that the 24 75 mountain guns could provide fire support to friendly forces in both directions at any time.

Yamamoto was very smart. Before arriving, he was prepared in case he could not defeat the Chinese defense line of Zhuozhang River in the shortest time. After all, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon after a 7-hour march from 9 am to 4:30 pm.

It was dark at the end of May, but he still didn't have much time.

So, although he put on an attitude of desperate attack, Yamamoto still left himself a lot of tactical maneuvering space. The positions surrounded by the two armies on the front and rear wings were as high as more than ten square kilometers.

If the Chinese wanted to surround them, they would have to have a longer attack line, and inevitably, they would be weak in one or even many places.

"Yamamoto, very powerful!" Brigade Commander Cheng, who was lying in a bunker in the mountains, looked at the Japanese army's mobilization with a telescope and sighed with a serious look.

"Brigade Commander, the Japanese army doesn't seem to pay much attention to the protection of the flank! They have concentrated a large number of troops on the Zhuozhang River line. Aren't they afraid that we will rush out of the mountains and cut off their retreat?" A young staff officer following Brigade Commander Cheng asked subconsciously.

The expression of a mature and steady major beside him changed slightly, but soon returned to normal.

Brigade Commander Cheng did not answer, but turned back to glance at the several young staff officers following him, handed the telescope to the major, and said in a calm tone: "Xiao Zhou, take a look and then tell me your opinion."

Wang Xiaoqiang of the 772nd Regiment was thick-skinned after all, and grabbed the task of defending the Zhuozhang River, which was considered the main attack. In order to ensure that the Japanese army's escape route to the north was blocked, the brigade even assigned most of the guard battalion to them;

The 771st Regiment deployed defenses on the high ground on the mountain flank of Changle Village, firstly to be ready to attack the Japanese army from the flank at any time, and secondly to prevent the Japanese army from jumping over the wall and entering the mountains from here; the supplementary regiment deployed defenses on the farther flank, also with the idea of ​​threatening the Japanese army's flank at any time.

In order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of each regiment and better coordinate the heavy fire support, the deputy brigade commander, chief of staff, and director of the political training department of the 683 brigade were all sent to the headquarters of the three regiments to cooperate with the three regiment commanders in commanding operations.

As the top commander of the 683rd Brigade, Brigadier Cheng seems to be the most idle person on the entire battlefield. Brigadier Cheng is very similar to Tang Dao in that he will not just watch his subordinates fight on the front line, but he is Sitting in the rear field headquarters, he relied on telephones and radios to direct operations. He had to go to the front line to personally observe the deployment of Japanese troops.

Wherever the top officer is, there is the brigade headquarters. Naturally, several staff officers in the headquarters followed Brigadier Cheng with the radio.

Don't think that the staff officer is a sinecure. In the 683 brigade, everyone knows the temper of the brigade leader. Only officers he likes are qualified to be members of his staff. Once the time is right, they will be delegated to important positions.

Let them express their opinions according to the battlefield situation, which is basically an assessment of them again and again.

In other words, these young officers following Brigadier Cheng are the reserve cadres of the 683 Brigade.

However, Brigadier Cheng asked the major officer to speak first, but the others were not too surprised.

On the one hand, this man is the chief of the operations section of the staff department. On the other hand, they all know that the brigade chief appreciates him.

"Brigadier Commander, the Japanese don't seem to have a tight defense on the flanks. Look, here and here, there is a 4-kilometer-long defense line. They only deployed a few hundred people on the defense line. It seems that we only need to attack from the flanks. You can block their main force, and even if it doesn't work, you can cut the hundreds of people on their flanks into pieces and eat them in one bite." Colonel Zhou stared at the blurry figure of the Japanese army hundreds or even kilometers away. , but his eyes were somewhat solemn.

"However, I have reason to suspect that this was done deliberately by Yamashita."

"Oh? How do you say that?" Brigadier Cheng asked with a faint smile.

"If our brigade and friendly forces surrounded an infantry regiment, and the strength ratio was as high as 10 to 1, then the Japanese army would undoubtedly poke their necks into our bayonets.

Unfortunately, not now. There are thousands of Japanese troops in the Changle Village area. If we use the infantry battalion as a unit to rush out of the mountains in an attempt to intercept the Japanese army, then the Japanese army in the Changle Village area will most likely counterattack our troops with superior strength, or even, The Japanese troops who are still staying behind to guard against our friendly forces will also gather their forces and come.

The troops from our brigade are likely to evolve into fighting more with less. At that time, will the 772 regiment on the Zhuozhang River defense line watch the friendly troops being besieged while they can only stay in the trenches, or will they survive the siege? Will the Zhuozhang River save the friendly troops from fire and water?

Perhaps that is what Yamashita wants most. It may take time for him to conquer the defense line composed of rivers and trenches, and it will cost a lot of casualties, but in this kind of field battle without fortifications, the Japanese army is extremely confident.

What's even more frightening is that if the flank troops are missing because of accidentally stepping into this trap, I'm sure that Yamashita will organize his main force and no longer take the Zhuozhang River as the main target. Instead, he will occupy the high ground here first and then deploy others behind him. The wing troops will supplement the Japanese troops attacking our Zhuozhang River, thus forming a battlefield stalemate within a few days even if our defense line cannot be broken. "Although Major Zhou is young, he answered the brigade commander's questions with great confidence.

The young staff officer who just asked the question blushed slightly. He used to follow the heads of the headquarters. He was sent from the headquarters two months ago. In layman's terms, he came down to be gilded. He originally thought that he had gained a lot of knowledge after following the heads of the heads for a long time. In addition to being familiar with a few The leaders of the brigade and regiment looked down upon him, but the rest of them looked down upon him.

Especially the young commander of the combat unit, who is not two years older than him, but already holds the rank of major, and is usually valued by the brigade commander.

As a result, after this analysis, anyone with a little bit of brains will know that what they said may be the truth.

They are targeting the Japanese, but the Japanese are not easy to mess with. They have also dug a hole for them to jump into.

This is the battlefield. It does not mean that you can be sure of victory if you form an encirclement. It depends on whether you are surrounding a sheep or a wolf.

There is no doubt that the Japanese are more ferocious than jackals, tigers and leopards, and they must not be ignored until the last moment.

"Okay! What you said is very good, Xiao Zhou. Although I can't guess all of Zhongshan Shimo's thoughts, it should not be far away! It seems that our small combat unit can no longer accommodate a giant Buddha like you!" Cheng Lu The commander laughed, patted the young and experienced chief of the combat unit, encouraged him and even joked. "Fortunately, that guy Tang Dao called your name and I rejected it. Otherwise, I would regret it to death?"

‘Even that Tang Tuanzuo knows about him (himself)? ’ Including the staff officer surnamed Zhou, all the staff members looked at each other in shock at the brigade commander’s joke.

Although the staff officers are all close confidants of the leaders at the brigade and regiment levels, and they follow the leaders anytime and anywhere. To put it bluntly, they are probably the wives of the leaders, and they probably don't meet the leaders as much as they do.

But they are not as outstanding as the front-line officers. What is the most important thing for soldiers? In addition to military exploits, the most important thing is military exploits!

These are not things that the chiefs at all levels can give them. After all, they are just the auxiliaries of the chiefs at all levels. The battle is won because the chiefs command well and the frontline soldiers are brave. They really don't have much to do with them.

Unexpectedly, Tang Dao, who had openly cornered the 683rd brigade by sending weapons, actually knew about this young staff officer. That was really strange!

Brigade Commander Cheng looked at the staff's reaction, laughed and didn't say anything in detail, he was mainly afraid of scaring these young people.

You know, Tang Dao wanted to use 2 anti-tank guns and 6 heavy machine guns to poach him, which was higher than the price of those main battalion commanders, and promised to let this person be the deputy chief of staff of his Fourth Regiment. He was almost tempted at the time. Anyway, he even gave a main regiment commander, what was there to be dissatisfied with for a small combat section chief in exchange for so much heavy firepower?

Besides, when the Fourth Regiment completely changed its flag and joined the 80th Group Army in the future, he could find a way to transfer it back, right?

However, Brigade Commander Cheng, who was very smart, finally resisted such a huge temptation. Tang Dao has always had a sharp eye. The higher the price he paid, the greater the profit in the later stage.

What's more, he was very optimistic about the combat section chief next to him and wanted to use him for a long time. Tang Dao said that, maybe he had not yet tapped all his potential.

Now it seems that he was right to be more cautious. Major Zhou almost said everything he wanted to say, and even explained Shan Wenwen's final plan clearly. What a strong battlefield insight!

The analysis of Brigade Commander Cheng and the major staff officer was exactly right. After arriving at Changle Village, Shan Wenwen decisively modified his previous battle plan after observing the battlefield.

Breaking the enemy by force is still the first choice of tactics, but in order to ensure absolute safety, he will pay attention to the high ground on the flank of the battlefield.

A strong attack is definitely not possible. The battle of pulling out nails two days ago has made him feel like losing his parents. It is better to show the enemy weakness and then lure the snake out of the hole, so that he has a chance to conquer those high ground on the flank at the lowest cost.

With those high ground as cover, even if he cannot break through the Zhuozhang River defense line in a short time, resulting in more and more Chinese troops surrounding him, he can ensure that the position will not be broken within a few days.

The 108th Division in Liaoxian and Licheng still has 20,000 people. He doesn't believe that those idiots can't arrive here to rescue him in a few days. Once the 20,000 troops arrive, I'm afraid the Chinese will not think about besieging his Second Mixed Brigade, but how to escape.

It must be said that Yamamoto is indeed a very good army general. He never sticks to his own opinions, but responds to the battlefield situation at any time. This is actually the best solution he can make when he is in trouble.

It is very dangerous to put all your hopes on one road.

It's a pity that he met one of the best students trained in China's highest military academy, and next to him, there is a young soldier who is very dazzling among the bright stars of China in the future.

Yes, others may not know, but Tang Dao knows that this seemingly ordinary major will be assigned by Brigade Commander Cheng to the supplementary regiment as deputy chief of staff in a short time. After having the space to show his talents, this deputy chief of staff, who seems to be just a gilded deputy chief of staff, has won victory after victory. In just half a year, he was directly transferred back to the brigade headquarters by Brigade Commander Cheng to serve as deputy chief of staff of the 683 Brigade with convincing results, and is only one step away from the head of the brigade.

In half a year, he was promoted from a small section chief to deputy chief of staff, which can be called a rocket-like promotion, but this person used victory after victory to repay the old leader who promoted him. Even the one who heard about this in the northwest praised Brigade Commander Cheng, saying that he had a keen eye for talent.

In the future, his military position will be on par with the current two main regiments of the 683 Brigade.

However, Tang Dao's unsuccessful poaching was a "bad thing". Section Chief Zhou, who should have been sent out two months ago, was kept by Brigade Commander Cheng for another two months until the end of the Southeast Shanxi Campaign.

Of course, this time he was not sent out as the deputy chief of staff of the supplementary regiment, but as the chief of staff of the newly established independent regiment that had not yet formed combat effectiveness.

It is unknown what kind of brilliant light Chief of Staff Zhou will burst out after gaining a wider space in this time and space. This is not something Tang Dao can know.

Destiny is a casual stroke of the Creator. No one can guess. The only thing that can be determined is that gold will shine wherever it is.

On the battlefield, the sound of artillery has already rumbled!

The first wave of the Japanese army's tentative attack on the Zhuozhang River defense line officially started at 5:40.

At this time, there was still an hour and a half before dark.

The vanguard of the Four-Line Regiment was less than 4 kilometers away from the rear wing of the Japanese army.

Tang Dao had successfully joined the regiment four hours ago.

"Don't give the Japanese a break. Order the artillery battalion to speed up the march and find a suitable position. I will make Yamamoto despair at dusk. Don't even think about sleeping well at night!" After receiving the telegram from the 683rd Brigade that the Japanese attack had begun, Tang Dao's eyes were like lightning, and he issued a combat order firmly and coldly.

The artillery battalion of the Four-line Regiment now has heavy mortars and more than 20 mountain cannons of no less than the Japanese army.

This time, Tang Dao did not play any surprise victory. He came up with a simple and rough big stick to serve the little flowers left by Yamamoto to block the enemy.

This group of Japanese soldiers who had already been lying in a simple trench less than 70 cm deep were stabbed so unreasonably by Tang Tuanzuo that they really wanted to die of ecstasy.