Rise From Eight Hundred

On the ground, two valleys and several peaks were blown up by bombs dropped by Japanese planes, causing flames to rise into the sky and thick smoke to rise.

Even Yamamoto, who was several kilometers away, could see the thick black smoke through the telescope.

But Yamamoto and the Japanese troops on the ground were not happy at all, because the huge fleet of aircraft that was originally hovering in the sky was visibly sparse.

Like a group of birds mourning their companions, they did not even dare to approach the area where their companions' corpses were. After circling in the sky several kilometers away from the battlefield and at an altitude of at least 2,000 meters, they turned around and left.

"The Army Aviation is not trustworthy, and the 108th Division is not trustworthy. The future of the Second Mixed Brigade must rely on you gentlemen present." Yamamoto, who looked a little ugly, did not curse loudly. He gently put down the telescope in his hand and cast his eyes on the young leftists around him.

Although his tone was calm, the Japanese officers who observed more carefully at the scene could still judge from his slightly trembling hands holding the telescope that their own major general brigade commander was definitely not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

In fact, the guys in the Army Aviation were too stupid. It would be fine if they didn't destroy the Chinese artillery positions, but the key point was that they were kicked by the Chinese right under the eyes of thousands of imperial officers and soldiers. Half of the 24 fighter planes were killed in an instant. How much of a blow did this have to the morale that was already low enough? Do those idiots know?

Morale is a mysterious thing, but it really exists. When morale is high enough, one person can do the work of two people, and a cat can roar like a tiger, but when morale is low, it's good to have 50% of the previous combat power.

Seeing that the last hope was beaten by the opponent, it was almost inevitable that the morale of the Japanese infantry, who were trapped and failed in the attack yesterday evening, would fall again. What's more, the Chinese also showed their fangs and teeth in this battle.

As for the anti-aircraft artillery they showed, let alone ordinary Japanese soldiers, even these senior officers couldn't help but be terrified.

If the Chinese moved these anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns to the front battlefield, what kind of destructive power would it have?

What is a crow brain?

By the afternoon, a Japanese young leftist really wanted to ram his head into the shell box.

What they thought was true, the Chinese actually brought such a terrifying thing as machine guns to the front battlefield.

Moreover, before entering the front battlefield, they also built strong enough fortifications that even infantry guns could not blow open.

What's more, the Chinese secretly moved the heavy mortar forward, because after the infantry guns that wanted to kill the opponent exposed their position, they were bombarded by five or six consecutive shells.

The heavy gun body of the 220-kilogram 92 infantry gun usually needs three pack horses to carry it, but in front of the projectiles fired by the large-caliber mortar, it is like a small bamboo pole.

The Japanese young leftist watched a 92-inch infantry gun being lifted up by the air wave to a height of five or six meters, and then smashed into a trench, turning five imperial artillerymen who were curled up to avoid the shells into pulp.

Of course, the reason why the Chinese moved the anti-aircraft guns to the flat ground was because the army aviation of the front, which had suffered a heavy blow, tried to make a final effort.

It is true that if the imperial officers and soldiers of up to 8,000 were eaten by the Chinese, it would cause a heavy blow to the honor of the front and even the entire imperial army.

The Battle of Taierzhuang lost 20,000 imperial officers and soldiers. It was a large-scale battle with more than 800,000 troops on both sides. The data of 20,000 people compared to the nearly one million troops could at least get the people who didn't know the inside story over.

But in the battle of southeastern Shanxi, both sides invested at most 200,000 troops, but it was just a small battle. Even a complete brigade was eaten up by others in one bite. Even a fool couldn't help it.

The last twelve fighter planes in Yuancheng were reloaded with bombs after a brief repair and flew to the battlefield. They did not dare to look for the so-called artillery positions easily, so they took out their anger on the infantry on the flat ground below.

But the problem came again. The Chinese seemed to have expected this move long ago, and actually deployed anti-aircraft guns on the field positions. The twelve fighter planes were originally frightened birds. After being hit by anti-aircraft guns with a range of up to 2,500 meters, they dared not enter the 2,000-meter airspace, and dropped bombs in the 2,300-meter airspace.

After most of the day's digging fortifications, the position of the Four-Line Regiment was actually only 100 meters away from the Japanese position at the closest point, and 400 meters at the farthest. From the high altitude, it looked almost like you were next to me and I was sticking to you, just like a man and a woman in love who wanted to merge into each other.

Even the artillery did not dare to guarantee whether their shells would have a 200-meter error, let alone the bombs dropped from the air.

Now, the bombs were dropped without any care, but neither the Chinese nor the Japanese, who were very close, suffered a good loss. The Chinese side suffered two-thirds of the casualties, while the Japanese side suffered one-third of the casualties.

If the Japanese infantry had not used this half day to dig trenches tirelessly, digging the trenches to a depth of nearly two meters, really, the dozens or even hundreds of pounds of bombs dropped by their own people could have caused many of them to lose their ability to speak and have various unspeakable incidents with the female families of the Japanese Army Air Force pilots.

To put it bluntly, the Japanese Army Air Force was hitting a seven-injury punch, hurting others and themselves!

However, if we really talk about the casualties, the Four-Line Regiment, whose main force was mainly hiding in the mountains, was much less than the Japanese army whose main force was all on the front-line battlefield. If there were more waves, it is estimated that the Four-Line Regiment would not have to attack with all its strength, and the Japanese would have blown themselves to pieces.

For the whole day, the Four-Line Regiment was not only fighting machine guns, but also digging trenches, digging trenches, and continuing to dig trenches!

In addition, they used the anti-aircraft machine guns hidden in the bunkers to attack all suspected targets in their field of vision.

The machine guns that were fired horizontally were so powerful that even at a distance of 1,000 meters, the heavy machine gun fortifications piled with two layers of sandbags could be penetrated with one shot. Not to mention the cigar-thick bullets with sufficient kinetic energy that could still smash people, the sand and soil that were blown away by the shells made a banging sound when hitting the helmets.

The field fortifications that the Japanese army had finally built up died before they were officially put into use. How could the Japanese commanders tolerate this?

So, the 92 infantry guns were mobilized to deal with this terrible machine gun.

The weather in June was already scorching hot. At that time, the situation on the battlefield was that the soldiers of both China and Japan took off their military uniforms and dug various trenches with bare arms and sweat, including anti-gun holes that could defend against mountain artillery and mortars, but the sound of artillery on the battlefield never stopped.

The Chinese machine guns hit the various heavy firepower fortifications of the Japanese army on the raised ground, and the Japanese army immediately retaliated with 92 infantry guns to hit the Chinese machine gun fortifications and field fortifications that could be seen. Then various Chinese mortars joined the battle. How could the Japanese army, who suffered a loss, give up, so they called their own artillery battalion.

The final outcome was that the mountain artillery firepower groups of both sides jumped out and fired fiercely at each other's positions.

After fighting back and forth, the infantry of both sides still bore all the pain.

However, the Chinese side was well prepared. When Bai Sheng's engineering company came, they brought a lot of supporting materials such as steel plates and steel columns. Whether it was the machine gun fortifications or the anti-gun holes of the infantry platoon, they were all supported by steel bars. The fortifications were much stronger than the earth-made field fortifications of the Japanese army, which had lost a lot of baggage and relied entirely on the structural strength of the earth and stone itself.

This can be regarded as the first battle in the battlefield of North China, in which the Chinese side surpassed the Japanese side in all aspects, whether in terms of light and heavy firepower or the solidity of fortifications.

On this day, apart from artillery battles and digging various tunnels, the infantry of China and Japan did not actually have much contact.

Including the 683rd Brigade, which blocked the Japanese army in the Changle Village area, except for a burst of mortar shells on the flank of the battlefield in the morning, and then heavy machine guns fired and blew the charge horn for a long time, which scared the Japanese infantry into a tight face, there was actually no real scene of soldiers charging.

The 772nd Regiment, which was blocking the front, seemed to have the mentality of "If you dare to come, I will fight you, if you don't come, I won't ask for anything". In addition to deepening and raising their trenches, they did not send a single soldier across the river to attack the Japanese army.

Blocking in front and pressing in the rear, this strategy of the Chinese side is in line with the current battlefield situation, but Yamamoto had learned the numbers of the two Chinese armies that appeared in front of him through the intelligence department of the front army during the day.

One is the Four-Line Regiment, which is registered in the front army headquarters, and the other is the elite infantry brigade under the 80th Group Army, which is also famous in southeastern Shanxi. The military resumes of the two chief officers amazed even the proud Yamamoto.

The famous Chinese major general brigadier general came from the highest military academy in China. Except for a two-year blank period, he fought on the front line for more than ten years in his military career. His rich battlefield experience completely surpassed that of Yamamoto, who was over fifty years old.

It would be fine if he had rich combat experience, but the problem was that he was in his 30s, in the prime of his life, both mentally and physically. Who would dare to ignore such a general?

Another army colonel named Tang Dao was only in his 20s, even younger than Yamamoto's eldest son. However, who would dare to regard him as a young man in his 20s, a commander who could lead his troops out of the encirclement of hundreds of thousands of troops and repeatedly inflicted heavy casualties on the pursuers behind him? Just the list of his killings of army officers above the rank of junior left had to be turned over a page?

Compared with the two, Yamamoto was even more afraid of Tang Dao.

He, who had passed the age of knowing his destiny, understood the difference between young people and middle-aged people too well.

Being young meant more flexible thinking and less adherence to conventions. They would even do things that middle-aged people found incredible.

Years have endowed middle-aged people with the qualities of maturity and calmness, but they have also worn away their sharpness and sufficient adventurous spirit.

How wonderful is youth? If mature and calm middle-aged people are allowed to choose, they will often easily give up everything they have worked hard for decades and choose a youthful age with nothing.

Because youth means too many possibilities.

Maybe Tang Dao, a young commander who has already bitten a lot of fat in the Imperial Japanese Army, is plotting against the Second Mixed Brigade.

Everything now is just an illusion to paralyze the opponent.

Yamamoto has reason to believe that with Tang Dao and the brigadier general, they will not know that the 20,000 troops of the 108th Division are on the way to support the Second Mixed Brigade, and they will put their so-called confidence in the Central Army Infantry Division.

The Central Army sounds famous, but the Japanese North China Front Army, which has competed with the Central Army, has an extremely fair evaluation of it. The equipment of this army belongs to the upper middle level in the Chinese army, and the fighting will is also medium, but most of its commanders have a nearly pathological mentality of preserving strength, which leads to its combat effectiveness not being able to play half of what it should be, and even far inferior to those Northwest Army and Sichuan Army, which are called miscellaneous armies in the Chinese army.

No matter how weak the 108th Division was, with 20,000 against 50,000, two days was enough to break through the defense line.

So, after studying his two opponents for an afternoon, Yamamoto, who had been studying them hard, issued an order to raise the alert level to the highest level in the evening when the artillery fire gradually stopped.

He judged that the Chinese would definitely take action this evening. This is also what the Four-Line Regiment and the 683rd Brigade love to do most.

The battle report about the Four-Line Regiment clearly shows that they are extremely good at night attacks. Whether it is the Four-Line Regiment's night attack on the Sixth Heavy Artillery or the battle on Mouse Mountain to stop the Kunisaki Detachment, they have brought the essence of night attacks to the extreme.

The biggest reason why the Kunisaki Detachment was sent back to North China by the East China Front Army was not that an infantry regiment was lost in the mountains of Guangde, but that all its heavy firepower was destroyed by the Four-Line Regiment, and it basically lost its ability to attack. If it was forced to stay on the East China front, the East China Front Army would have to draw artillery support for it, a typical drag!

Late at night, originally a time to effectively repair the body and mind after a day of fatigue, but because of the highest alert order issued by Yamamoto, the tragic Japanese army had to stay in the trenches with rifles in a half-awake and half-asleep position, ready to be deployed at any time.

Severe lack of sleep, the coldness of the trenches, and the crisp mountain wind were all straws that pushed the Japanese army's spirit and physical strength to the brink of collapse.

A few kilometers away, Tang Dao, who was convening a meeting of the three major infantry battalion commanders and the deputy battalion commanders and deputy instructors of the artillery battalion, special service battalion and other direct battalions, issued a completely opposite military order.

"Except for the necessary guards to prevent the Japanese from attacking, all other personnel in each battalion must take time to rest and get up at 6 o'clock tomorrow to prepare for a decisive battle with the enemy! Oh, yes, the engineering company cannot rest for the time being, and that important work still needs you to complete. Whether we can successfully break through the current Japanese defense line tomorrow depends on you."

"Sir, do you think we should send the brothers of the reconnaissance company to sneak into the battlefield to deal with the Japanese artillery battalion? The 24 mountain guns are too threatening to the infantry. If the three battalions break through the Japanese positions, they will destroy everything together, and our losses will be too great." Leng Feng hesitated for a while, and finally stood up and suggested.

"The reconnaissance company is not a god. Don't look at the dark and quiet Japanese positions now. Believe it or not, if there is any movement, flares will be fired into the sky like they are free. Moreover, they have sufficient troops now, so there is no need to let the reconnaissance company take such a big risk.

The 24 mountain guns are a big threat to us, but do you think that Pang Dahai's shelling this day is just for fun? Come on, Captain Dahai, explain to Captain Leng, so that he won't sleep well at night." Tang Dao smiled slightly and cast his eyes on the deputy commander of the artillery battalion.

"Hehe, Captain Leng, you can sleep well. The territory occupied by the Japanese is only so big. After this day, combined with the information sent by the brothers of the reconnaissance company who sneaked into the mountains over there, my artillery battalion has basically estimated their approximate position. When the general attack is launched tomorrow, my artillery battalion will not open the way for the infantry brothers. Let's test the sword on them first." Pang Dahai grinned and answered Leng Feng confidently.

"Really?"

Not only Leng Feng's eyes suddenly lit up.

The three infantry battalion commanders looked at each other, and their faces showed joy.

Although the Japanese infantry used the day to desperately deepen and raise the trenches, it was nothing for the three infantry battalion commanders who had fought many tough battles.

The only thing that made them feel uncomfortable was the 24 mountain cannons. Five minutes of concentrated fire at a time meant more than 500 shells. If they were in the trenches, it would be fine, but once the troops entered the charge state, there would be no trenches on the ground. The flying shrapnel and overflowing air waves would be a disaster for the infantry exposed on the surface.

Now Pang Dahai vowed that he could lock the general area of ​​the Japanese artillery and suppress it with artillery before the infantry charged. How could the three infantry battalion commanders not be happy?

"If the Japanese artillery group can concentrate fire on our regiment's infantry when the general attack is launched tomorrow, then I, Pang Dahai, will cut off this fat meat for you three brothers to refine oil. Oh, yes, I will also give you Lao Cheng's head as a ball to kick!" Pang Dahai patted his chest, and the fat meat hidden under his military uniform swayed.

"Hey, hey, you, Deputy Battalion Commander Pang, just swear, why do you have to take me with you?" Cheng Tieshou

"You are my brother and partner! Brothers share happiness and hardships. I have refined this fat meat into oil, and you, Lao Cheng, can't just watch with a smile, right?" Pang Dahai's reason is irrefutable.

"If I have a choice, I would rather your fat head be a ball and I refine oil!" Cheng Tieshou rolled his eyes.

"Is there a difference between the two?"

"No, but I think your head is suitable for a ball, so what."

"According to what you said, I can refine oil and be suitable for a ball."

"Forget it, I can't let you bear all the burdens, who makes us partners!"

Listening to the bickering between the second and third figures of the artillery battalion, everyone laughed,

especially the two who just finished bickering, and smiled at each other.

The slight gap between the two a few days ago because of who was the deputy battalion commander and who was the deputy instructor disappeared because of the mutual recognition of partners and brothers!

Tang Dao smiled.

The army is hierarchical and precise like a machine, but it is also made up of people, and it is also a world of martial arts!

It is a world of martial arts, there are disputes, some win and some lose.

There is only one position, and there will always be someone who can't get it, and it is normal to have emotions.

Just like Pang Dahai and Cheng Tieshou, the two had similar status from the beginning, and their military exploits were equally matched, but Tang Dao finally chose Pang Dahai as the deputy battalion commander of the artillery battalion, and he was also the acting chief officer designated by the military order, ranking above Cheng Tieshou, so Cheng Tieshou was certainly unhappy.

Tang Dao had good reasons. Pang Dahai was responsible for directly commanding the mountain artillery company and the heavy mortar company, and his support for the infantry was obviously more important. Relatively speaking, Cheng Tieshou's air defense company function was slightly weaker.

However, Tang Dao believed in his brothers, and the battlefield could make him understand that the lives of his brothers were much more important than the so-called status in the secular world.

Sure enough, Cheng Tieshou did not let him down.

Looking up at the sky, the sky was full of twinkling stars, and tomorrow would definitely be a good day.

As the saying goes: The sun is scorching, the mountain wind is blowing, it is a good time to kill the devils!