Rise From Eight Hundred

Niangzi Pass has existed since the Warring States Period and has played an extremely important role in the thousands of years of Chinese history.

It is this pass built on the slopes of the Taihang Mountains that has guarded the North China Plain from being harassed by nomadic peoples for thousands of years!

A year ago, it was also this pass that blocked the Japanese invaders from entering Shanxi from the North China Plain!

Only when Tang Dao, who has lived two lives, personally stepped on this pass, did he know why this pass has written so many rich and colorful stories in Chinese history.

The terrain of Niangzi Pass is really special!

The only road from Jingxing to Shanxi Province must pass through the pass. There is a cliff under the west wing of the pass, and under the cliff is a Tao River. The east wing of the pass extends to a wall leading to the cliff. If people and materials want to pass here, they must pass through the pass.

Moreover, standing on the slope of the pass, there is an excellent view, and the activities of people outside the pass can be seen clearly.

However, the battlefield still emitting smoke everywhere may be the result of the horrific bombardment three hours ago, or the heavy artillery bombardment of the Japanese army a year ago. The bluestone brick walls of the past have long been reduced to nothing, replaced by broken bunkers and sandbag fortifications and soldier caves dug under the rocks.

Niangzi Pass was captured by Lei Xiong and the first battalion.

The reason why the Japanese army, which had the advantage of terrain and was already on high alert, only persisted for three hours before being attacked by the first battalion on the top of the mountain was not because the artillery fire of the Fourth Regiment was too fierce.

Although for this offensive, the mountain artillery company and heavy mortar company of the Fourth Regiment Artillery Battalion and the first battalion's own three 80mm howitzers all participated in the artillery preparation.

12 Bofors mountain guns, 12 150-caliber heavy mortars and 3 80mm howitzers fired for nearly 40 minutes, throwing more than 1,000 shells, and the casualties caused on the pass position with a radius of only 10,000 square meters were dazzling.

However, the Japanese troops of the two infantry squadrons had five hiding caves at the pass. Because they were dug under the rock surface, their anti-artillery capabilities could even resist 105-caliber howitzers.

It was impossible to completely destroy them with artillery power alone.

The most important reason was that the first row of the engineering company marching with the same battalion put their own developed "poison gas bombs" into actual combat for the first time.

That was the inspiration of the engineering company commander Bai Sheng during a company-wide "thunder bomb" artillery actual combat training.

Since the Japanese can make poison gas bombs, why can't they?

So, with the strong support of Tang Dao, the engineering company brainstormed and experimented continuously, and finally made their own "poison gas bombs".

Unlike the chemical weapons such as mustard gas used by the Japanese, the engineering company used pure biological raw materials.

All irritating substances such as peppers and peppercorns were tested, and finally a millet pepper produced in the Taihang Mountains was successfully selected.

This kind of chili pepper, which is only as thick as a baby's finger, is known as "a mouthful of fire" in the mountains, which means that eating a mouthful is like swallowing a ball of fire. Some people who are not very resistant to capsaicin will have swollen lips after eating a mouthful. Even the few Hunan officers and soldiers in the engineering company can only eat one or two at most.

The red "a mouthful of fire" is dried with fire, then ground into chili powder, and then mixed with a part of medicine powder that irritates the mouth and nose, and it becomes part of the homemade "poison gas bomb" of the engineering company.

Because the other part is explosives!

A 5-kilogram explosive pack, 2.5 kilograms is explosives, and 2.5 kilograms is chili powder that can kill people.

No one knows what the human body of nearly 100 square meters covered by chili powder feels like at the beginning of the explosion. After all, no one is stupid enough to do live ammunition surveys. But a minute later, Captain Bai bravely walked into the center of the explosion.

Then, the brave Captain Bai almost coughed up his lungs, and his black face, which was washed by tears, was red. He soaked in cold water for an unknown period of time before he could get rid of the burning feeling.

But three days later, there were still many places on his face that were peeling, as if he had been sunburned!

The strong capsaicin may not kill people, but the stress damage caused in a short period of time is no less than that of real chemical poison gas.

And Tang Dao knew that this was definitely not a fantasy.

In the past, the 80th Army used this kind of mortar shell mixed with chili powder to attack the Japanese artillery tower, and the effect was very good. The Japanese and puppet troops knew that there was a hail of bullets outside, but they still ran out with tears and died.

Because it was the first time to use this kind of "pure natural poison gas bomb", the engineering platoon was afraid that the effect was not enough. Using the cover of artillery fire, they quietly moved three "thunder bombs" to the hillside 300 meters to the left front of the Niangziguan position, and fired 15 explosive packs in one breath.

Although due to the problem of accuracy, only 8 large and small explosive packs fell on the Japanese positions in the end, the terrible air wave caused by the Japanese positions swept the remaining fortifications, and more than 20 kilograms of chili powder also spread throughout the Japanese positions with the air wave.

The Japanese soldiers hiding in the fortifications or gun holes were almost choked to death by the small chili peppers from the depths of Taihang Mountains. Many people shouted "The Chinese used poison gas" and ran out of the bunkers, and then were torn to pieces by the ruthless artillery fire.

Even if the Japanese soldiers who were still hiding in the depths of the bunkers and almost coughed out lung slices, their combat effectiveness in the battlefield after the entire bombardment was at least 50%.

The officers and soldiers of the first company of the first battalion who were ordered to attack from three directions crawled to the area where they could throw grenades, and they could also hear coughs coming from the Japanese positions.

Therefore, after two consecutive attacks were frustrated, 30 mortar shells also filled with chili powder fell from the sky, continuing to make the Japanese infantry "irritable".

The artillery fire, the rain of bullets, and the additional damage from Xiaomi Spicy finally allowed nearly 500 Japanese troops to be wiped out before they could hold on for three hours!

Of course, this kind of 'poison gas bomb' does not mean that it will be very effective at all times. It must be placed on the open ground and exploded when the opponent's position is not that wide and the weather is good and the wind is low. When the wind blows, it does not take ten seconds. It dissipated in a few seconds and was of some use but not much.

It happened that the weather was fine today, and the Japanese army detected the arrival of a large number of Chinese troops yesterday, so they adopted a shrinking defense and abandoned the hills and highlands on both sides of the pass in an attempt to take advantage of the superior terrain of Niangzi Pass to wait for reinforcements.

This resulted in the area of ​​its position being only over 10,000 square meters, which was just suitable for artillery and 'poison gas bombs' to maximize their power.

This is why the Japanese army did not expect that the artillery fire of the Chinese army in front of them would be so fierce, otherwise they would not have made such a stupid choice.

"Sir, should we immediately take advantage of the victory and attack Jingxing County?" Lei Xiong, who won a great victory in the first battle, suggested to Tang Dao with high spirits.

"It's better to ask the frontline headquarters first. Send a message to the frontline headquarters to ask where the other divisions have arrived." Tang Daoyao looked ahead and chose to be cautious.

In the week since the counterattack was launched, except for the 921st Division, which was surrounded and intercepted by reinforcements sent by the 20th Division, and finally successfully defeated one of its infantry regiments, the other four divisions and one regiment, including the four-line regiment that was latently advancing, were considered smooth. .

In other words, the battle plan for the first seven days was basically realized.

But the smoother the war went, the more cautious Tang Dao became.

The battlefield is constantly changing, so why is there such a thing as everything going well?

Even after conquering Niangzi Pass, the number of Japanese troops who were able to escape into the mountains on the entire battlefield can only be described as single digits. More than 500 Japanese defenders laid their bodies on the ground. Tang Dao who walked up to Niangzi Pass still did not cheer for victory with steel guns held high. The subordinates cheered for joy.

Anyone can cheer for victory, but he, the leader, cannot.

Because, like them, when fighting deep into enemy-occupied areas, any negligence could lead to the annihilation of the entire army. He must remain calm enough not to be dazzled by the temporary victory.

Seeing that Tang Dao did not directly approve his battle plan, Lei Xiong grinned and did not say much. Instead, he waved his hand and asked Xia Dayu to go to the regimental communications company to generate electricity.

Just as Tang Dao understood him, he also understood Tang Dao. He knew that Tang Dao was always decisive on the battlefield, but before the war started he was calm and clear-headed, and would never make a decision easily without sufficient assurance.

"Brother Lei, do you feel that our war progress is a little too smooth?" Tang Dao took out a cigarette, gave Lei Xiong one, lit one for himself, and asked softly.

"Based on the reaction of the enemy at Niangziguan, at least three groups of top soldiers sent by them were discovered and killed by our scouts in succession. After finally detecting the enemy's situation, they immediately reduced their defenses. Jingxing also showed signs of sending troops to assist. All reactions It's all normal." Lei Xiong frowned slightly, carefully recalling the battle process and the opponent's reaction before engaging the enemy.

"Furthermore, according to the inside information of the 921st Division on the Shimen side, the 20th Division was very nervous about our army's sudden arrival in eastern Shanxi. A curfew was imposed on Shimen last night, and Chinese residents were not allowed to enter or exit the city gate. The city defense has been dispatched The double patrol team patrolled, which fully demonstrated that the 20th Division did not clearly foresee our army's sudden sword attack on Jindong and Niangziguan.

This morning, there was also a call from Brigadier Cheng. The first unit of the 20th Division, which was originally chasing them, suddenly changed its marching route, probably because it wanted to return to Shimen to aid.

If the 20th Division had really predicted that we would be so bold and that it was Shimen's idea, then they would not be in such a hurry. "

"The reaction of the 20th Division is normal, but it does not mean that the entire Japanese North China Front is normal. With our current strength of five divisions and one regiment, not to mention the 20th Division, just one or two more divisions, in such high mountains and ridges I'm not afraid of them in battle, but what if the North China Front mobilizes heavy troops?" Tang Dao knew that what Lei Xiong said was true, but he still shook his head slightly.

"Tuanzuo, you mean to say that this is a big net laid by the Japanese, just waiting for us to get through. In order not to leak the information, they even concealed it from the division-level troops? And they even did not hesitate to annihilate several of them by us. Thousands of people?

Then the Japanese are too patient! If we don't come to Niangziguan, wouldn't their people be killed by us in vain? I don't think the arrogant Japanese can do this kind of business that is losing money. "Lei Xiong shook his head and took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Besides, what if the Japanese come? This is what I came here to do. At worst, I will fight with them."

Tang Dao knew well that Lei Xiong had a generous temper and was fearless even if he encountered difficulties. Otherwise, he would not have chosen to stay with him in Sihang Warehouse with more than a hundred people until the end. He smiled slightly at the moment: "Brother Lei The last sentence is quite true. If the Japanese really spend so much money to lure me into taking the bait, then it’s better to make it clear that we have fought against them.”

Yes, although Tang Dao's intuition is somewhat abnormal, as a commander, he cannot just rely on intuition to make judgments, but must rely on reconnaissance and intelligence.

For this operation, not only did the Second War Zone request intelligence from the military command, but the Eightyth Army also used its under-the-radar intelligence system, requesting intelligence personnel lurking in the cities of Pingjin and Tianjin, as well as in Shimen, Licheng, Lucheng and other cities. It is necessary to monitor Japanese military movements more closely and provide timely feedback.

Although many of them did not have radio stations, resulting in time differences, they were basically able to give the frontline headquarters some judgment on the movements of the Japanese troops.

As for the Si Xing Regiment, they had already dispatched their own reconnaissance company before dispatching troops at the end of August. They were divided into nearly 10 groups, each with 4 people and a radio station.

Moreover, the reconnaissance company's reconnaissance direction is not only Shandong in the tactical plan, but the west of Shandong, Xingtai, and HD are all within its reconnaissance scope.

The farthest reconnaissance group was even more than a hundred kilometers away from the main force of the Four Lines Regiment.

It is never better to rely on yourself than to ask for help. Tang Dao understands this truth well!

These ten groups of scouts are like his eyes, allowing him to know the Japanese army's movements and changes in troop strength, so as to determine what the Japanese army's intentions are.

So far, apart from being a little confused, the Japanese army doesn't seem to have changed much.

"There is a call from the frontline headquarters. The Japanese troops in Changzhi have made some changes. The Japanese troops are gathering in Lucheng, Licheng, Shecheng and other places! Commander Liu, the commander-in-chief of the frontline headquarters, asked the regiment to go to the headquarters in person." Xia Dayu ran quickly. come over.

"Is there any change between the 108th Division and the 109th Division?" Tang Dao looked sharply.

"This shows that the Japanese North China Front Army Headquarters responded very quickly! Are they planning to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao?" Lei Xiong's eyes also turned cold. "However, relying on these two frightened divisions, they really think too much."

"Maybe, it's more than that!" Tang Dao looked up at the sky. "With Master Liu's personality, he would never ask me to go to the headquarters dozens of kilometers away in person just because the little devil used these few troops. He may have discovered something!"

"Brother Lei, order the whole regiment to build field fortifications on the spot with the Niangziguan position as the core. No one can slack off, otherwise military law will be imposed.

In addition, there are only a few hundred little Japs left in Jingxing. If they are left alone for a day, they won't grow many flowers. Let's leave them for now until I come back from the frontline headquarters. "Tang Dao ordered decisively.

"Okay!" Lei Xiong nodded. "However, this place is already a battlefield. Take a cavalry company with you when you leave!"

"No, I will try to return before 12 o'clock at night, let Niu Er, Mingxin, Shen Laoliu, and Lao Lu join me, and let Lu Sanjiang lead a cavalry squad. Heavy rain will be waiting at the regiment headquarters." Tang Dao strode away, leaving a few words from afar.

"Regiment deputy, what should we do?" Xia Dayu looked at Lei Xiong with a bitter face.

Before sending troops, Tantai Mingyue had told him in private that whenever Tang Dao left the army, he must be persuaded to bring at least one platoon for protection.

This is good, he is bringing at most ten people with him, and if Tantai Mingyue finds out, he, as a personal servant, will definitely be criticized. The most important thing is, what to do if he encounters danger?

"It's not like your son doesn't know Tuan Zuo's temper? But with Niu Er and the four of them plus Lu Sanjiang and a cavalry squad, it won't be a problem even if dozens of Japanese troops come. Maybe Tuan Zuo is still eager to They're here to catch a few alive."

Lei Xiong smiled wryly and shook his head, waving to Xia Dayu, meaning to tell him to hurry up and prepare Tang Dao's belongings, and just follow orders for the rest.

Soon, Tang Dao and his party of 14 people and 28 horses ran along the mountain road to the frontline headquarters located 35 kilometers away. The empty horses carried mortars, MG34 machine guns and ammunition boxes on their backs.

Obviously, Tang Tuanzuo is not blindly confident. He has also made full preparations for encountering the enemy. If he really encounters an enemy who cannot open his eyes, he can defend it if there are many people. Although the cavalry battalion of the Sixings Regiment is not yet full, within more than an hour, Reaching the two cavalry companies was no problem.

If there are few people, it is natural that Qian Teliang will be the best. Who can Tang Tuanzuo and his gang of old men beat?

As for the Sixings Regiment, as the military order was issued, the three infantry battalions stopped advancing and began to build various field fortifications along the mountains in the mountainous area around Niangziguan.

The remaining battalions and companies also deployed their positions according to field standards in the valley behind. Although the military order was for field positions, the Four Lines Regiment had fought through blood and fire. Knowing that no matter what the reason was, the whole regiment did not continue to move towards 35 as planned. The superiors must have reason for advancing to Jingxing, kilometers away, but staying here. Fortifications are for life-saving purposes. The stronger they are, the more people they can survive, and one of them may be himself.

So, they all worked very hard!

The heavy machine gun fortifications that could have been surrounded by sandbags were asked by the infantry to remove the steel plates from the engineering platoon and build semi-permanent fortifications that could at least withstand infantry artillery levels.

The officers and soldiers who had just transferred from the special training camp were a little confused. Didn't you just stop and repair for a long time or overnight? You repaired the machine gun fortifications so that they can block artillery shells, so what?

What stunned them was yet to come, because this area was mostly made up of stone mountains, and the soil layer was very shallow. The trenches could not be dug too deep before encountering the hard rock layer. The engineer platoon did not need to greet the infantry company commanders at all, and directly started explosive blasting... ...

Even non-combat organizations like the health company, which is behind the protection of the infantry battalion, have dug trenches around the slopes where they are located and built defensive firepower points. In addition to doctors and other personnel, including female nurses, who are busy setting up digitally disguised field tents, Inside, they are all invested in the construction of fortifications.

Fortification construction is not only integrated into the blood of all officers and soldiers of the Four-Line Regiment, but also one of the most important training subjects, covering all arms of the Four-Line Regiment.

It won't be long before those officers and soldiers who lament that their comrades are making a fuss about nothing will know the role of desperately building fortifications.

When the shells fell, shrapnel splashed and the air wave swept everything, you would even think that you should have gone without food and sleep to dig a little deeper, even if it was five centimeters?

At the moment when the Four-Line Regiment began to build fortifications, they could not see it. On the North China Plain dozens of kilometers away, two divisions of tens of thousands of Japanese troops were gradually completing their assembly. With the delivery of trains, it would not take too long for them to rush here.

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ps: Today is the 15th anniversary of the 5.12 earthquake. I mourn for my compatriots who died in that disaster!