Rise From Eight Hundred

Major Yonekura Ken'o never slept well after all.

The poor Japanese Army Major stood almost naked in the cold night in northwest China, looking at his previously peaceful garrison in a daze.

At this time, the garrison was like hell on earth, with fierce flames everywhere, people howling because of great pain, pack horses screaming because of fear, and bullets and shells stored in the baggage team exploding from time to time due to burning.

How did the Chinese do all this? Major Yonekura Ken'o, who had been completely dazed, could not find the answer at all.

The reason was the super-large cannon barrel that Tang Tuanzuo personally carried to 300 meters away from the baggage squadron.

The cannon barrel, which was made by hollowing out a whole log, was hooped with iron wire five times on the outside, and the whole weight was 120 kilograms, comparable to the weight of an infantry gun.

That is, including Mingxin and Longyan, no one believed that this simple thing could throw a 50-kilogram explosive pack tied to a combustion pot 300 meters away.

To be honest, as a carrier of explosive packs, Longyan was not a big deal for carrying more than 40 kilograms of explosive packs, it was just a little heavy and tiring, but there were two military water bottles filled with super incendiary agents prepared by Tang Tuanzuo hanging around his waist, which really scared the usually daring Longyan to the point of almost going limp.

He had seen the power of that thing with his own eyes. Don’t look at it as two small military water bottles. Once it exploded, the blue flames that could burn all the way to the bones would burn his more than 100 pounds into ashes without any problem.

Really, when Longyan thought about running 10 miles of mountain roads with this demon-level liquid that could easily burn a rock, he was full of energy.

Lieutenant Long had no bad intentions, but he just wanted to reach the destination as soon as possible so that he could throw these things on the Japanese heads.

Then, the Japanese Army Major, who was still secretly thankful that the Chinese did not throw large explosive devices, had his bad mouth fulfilled.

A 50-kilogram explosive incendiary bomb exploded somewhere in the camp of the Third Division's baggage squadron, which had 400 pack horses, 30 trucks, and 50 carts.

The huge air wave instantly swept away more than 30 baggage soldiers and more than 20 pack horses who were still sleeping. This was only the first wave of the disaster. The scattered flames covering an area of ​​thousands of square meters were the most deadly.

Not to mention that field tents, wooden carriages, and trucks would be ignited, even if they fell on people and the soil, the blue flames would burn for a long time until all the fuel was lost.

The awakened Japanese soldiers waved their uniforms in an attempt to extinguish the flames from hell, but it was obviously futile. The waving uniforms would even bring up the sticky flames, which would then drift onto human bodies or horses. The sizzling sound of burning was like the grim smile of the god of death, making Ken'ao Yonekura, who was watching all this, feel even colder than standing naked in the cold wind of northwest China.

Finally, the second violent explosion came, and the bodies of more than 20 brave Japanese baggage soldiers were instantly engulfed by the flames.

And nearly 100 baggage soldiers who were still rescuing supplies in the flames were hit hard by the air wave!

It was a truck loaded with 92 infantry artillery shells that exploded!

Fortunately for Ken'ao Yonekura, who finally regained some sanity, his baggage squadron was only responsible for transporting infantry artillery shells and grenades used by grenade launchers. If it was like the 6th baggage squadron transporting 280MM heavy artillery shells, then no one present today would survive.

"Everyone, hide in the trenches temporarily, don't worry about the baggage, and wait for friendly support!" Yonekura Ken'ao may have made the most wise decision in his life.

The baggage company had nearly 500 soldiers, and at least 180 of them died in the two waves of explosions just now. In the dilemma of saving people or materials, the Japanese Army Major rarely gave up.

The remaining more than 300 baggage soldiers dragged their injured companions and hid in the field trenches on one side of the garrison, watching the usually docile pack horses ignite and run around wildly, and then successfully ignited the trucks full of supplies that were still intact, either burning into a big pile of fire or causing another round of explosions!

If it weren't for Yonekura Ken'ao's calm orders, they would either be trampled to death by the already crazy pack horses, or burned to death in the unstoppable fire, or swept by the blast wave, and the mortality rate was almost 100%.

Even so, more than a dozen of the more than 300 Japanese soldiers hiding in the trenches were severely disabled by heavy objects falling from the sky, and several unlucky children were crushed to death by the packhorses that ran wildly in a panic.

Afterwards, the casualty rate of the first baggage squadron reached 55%, and the material loss was as high as 86%. To put it bluntly, there were only some leftovers.

As the highest commander, the unlucky Major Ken'ao Yonekura, although his military order saved the lives of more than half of the baggage soldiers in time, someone had to be responsible for the huge losses, and seppuku became his only choice to apologize.

At the moment when the sun rose, the unlucky Japanese major smoked the last cigarette of his life, cut open his tender belly with his own hands, and screamed in pain for more than an hour before dying.

On the other side, after seeing several large fireballs rising into the sky, Brigade Commander Hu patted his orderly on the shoulder excitedly and said, "Yo! Give me two steamed buns and a pot of wine. Fujita, that bastard, will definitely not be able to sleep, but I enjoy everything I eat. I'm going to piss him off to death!"

"Sir, your Japanese language is really bad!" The orderly joked with his superior, which was rare, and then took out an oil paper bag from his pocket with a smile. "I secretly hid a pig's trotter for you as a snack. Isn't it more delicious than steamed buns?"

"Haha! You are the one who knows how to feel sorry for me. I didn't misjudge you. I don't blame you for saying that I am not good at learning Japanese language." The major general brigade commander laughed, snatched the already cold pig's trotter, hummed a little song and hid in the underground bunker again.

Although the Tang sword gave him a big scare, it also brought a lot of surprises. He is really a man that makes people hate and love!

Thinking of this, the major general brigade commander originally poured a bowl of wine for Tang Tuanzuo who was far away on the other side. Suddenly, he thought that this was too unlucky, so he quickly took a sip and drank it himself, and then ate a pig's trotter happily.

This is because Tang Tuanzuo didn't see it, otherwise he would definitely regret his previous promise to him 30 machine guns.

There is nothing wrong with toasting from afar. The key is that you are here to eat pig's trotters, while I and dozens of brothers can only eat cold pancakes in the mountains, even if there is meat.

The pancakes were not brought by Tang Tuanzuo from the Tongguan position, but five days ago when the Japanese army and the Third Army of the Central Army fought fiercely, Tang Dao took the telegram from the Second War Zone and quietly sneaked to the rear of the infantry brigade position and met the stunned Deputy Division Commander Cun.

The two can be regarded as old friends. In the counterattack in eastern Shanxi in September, this was the main brigade sent by the Third Army to eastern Shanxi. In the battle in eastern Shanxi, this brave fighter was promoted from major general brigade commander to deputy division commander and brigade commander, and it is just around the corner for him to become the head of a division.

However, after conquering Shimen, the two just met and said goodbye to each other without having time to talk in depth. Unexpectedly, the second meeting was still on the battlefield, but the Taihang Mountains in southeastern Shanxi changed to Zhongtiao Mountains in southern Shanxi!

Obviously, it was a top secret that Tang Dao led the Sichuan Army's new recruits to reinforce Tongguan, and Deputy Division Commander Cun didn't know it. If it weren't for Tang Dao's tall and strong figure that left a deep impression on him, he would have almost thought that the Japanese would play the legendary disguise.

When old friends meet, everything becomes much simpler, not to mention that Tang Dao's requirements are not many, no guns and ammunition, just some food supplies.

Deputy Division Commander Cun naturally satisfied everything. According to Tang Dao's requirements, he took the few soybeans and rice in the army and ground them into powder and added a small amount of salt. In addition, he hurried to bake 500 pancakes, which were also filled with rare lean meat in this era.

The nutritious soybean rice flour is enough to ensure the nutrients needed by the human body. The pancakes and meat can be stored for about ten days in winter without spoiling. Tang Dao and dozens of officers and soldiers have no problem filling their stomachs and maintaining nutrition, but because they can't make a fire to stay hidden, the taste is hard to describe.

In contrast, Brigade Commander Hu is eating cold pig's trotters with wine at this time, which is absolutely delicious!

The 28th Division drank, but the 3rd Division was in a terrible mood.

When the rescue Japanese infantry arrived, the garrison of the 1st baggage company had become a large bonfire scene, and the scorching heat wave could be felt even if standing a hundred meters away.

This was perhaps the warmest night that the infantry company had felt on the surface in the 20 days since arriving at Fenglingdu, but their hearts were chilled to the bone.

The burning of the huge mountain of baggage was only one of the reasons. More importantly, the Chinese who made all this could do it the first time and the second time.

Who would be their next target?

This was probably the first time in the past few days that the Japanese army did not send infantry to hunt down the attackers, even though the blazing fire had illuminated the entire col.

There was no need for that, including a Japanese infantry regiment commander who arrived panting under the protection of an infantry squad and looked at the scene. After a long silence, he just ordered to find the baggage soldiers who were still alive, as if he had completely forgotten the culprit who caused all this.

As time went on, the Japanese army, from the infantry regiment commander to the private, was almost desperate to hunt down the attacker.

They had realized that the enemy who was spying on them and attacking them was a powerful enemy they had never encountered since they set foot on this land.

That powerful enemy was simply a monster, with the cunning of a fox, the ferocity of a wolf, and the strength of a tiger, and he liked to escape thousands of miles away with just one blow.

Until now, they didn't know what the enemy looked like, let alone the name of the opponent.

No one knew how long this damn situation would last.

The final harvest of the Japanese army was to search the mountain after dawn and find a pile of almost burned wood residues in the bushes.

Obviously, that was the device made by the Chinese to delay the throwing of explosive packs, but it was hard for them to imagine how the Chinese could throw huge explosive packs with such primitive materials.

"That should be a device similar to the ancient Western mortar!" This was the conclusion drawn by a major of the Sixth Engineer Regiment after a careful survey of the area where the wood residue was found.

The Japanese army also had mortars, which were powerful, but the range was too limited, the accuracy was extremely poor, and the gun body was extremely heavy, which caused great difficulties in logistics and transportation, so the Japanese army divisions did not like this kind of gun.

Who would have thought that the Chinese could make it with wood? This is simply incredible. Aren't they afraid of exploding?

The Japanese army, with all kinds of doubts, reported this information to Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu, who had a headache. Hearing about the backward artillery such as the mortar, he threw it directly into the trash can.

What he cares about now is how to wipe out this group of Chinese people who are like ghosts, rather than researching low-level artillery that is hundreds of years behind the times.

"To resist foreign aggression, we must first stabilize the country!" Fujita Jin, who was also at a loss, miraculously came up with this sentence in his mind.

At this moment, he finally understood why the highest ruler of China said this sentence at the beginning. It was simply the truth of life!

In order to comfortably accumulate strength and break through the great northwest pass of China on the other side, he must first kill this annoying mosquito, otherwise he doesn't know how much blood he will suck.

Two days ago, the commander of the corps, Itagaki Shiro, heard about the frequent harassment of the Third Division and called to ask about the effectiveness of the suppression.

But what made Fujita Jin's head hurt was that his base was too large. The entire division base was more than 8,000 meters in width and 2,000 meters in length, occupying more than 16 square kilometers of land.

The Chinese are so familiar with the terrain in this area that even in the dark, it is as easy as crossing a big road in the morning.

Is there no way to deal with these small flies and mosquitoes?

Fujita Jin finally convened a meeting of senior officers at the level of infantry battalion commander on the fifth day of the Tang Dao's continuous attack on the Third Division. The theme of the meeting was no longer the second assault on Tongguan half a month later, but how to deal with this small force that was like a maggot on the tarsal bone.

To put it bluntly, it is to brainstorm and call on everyone to come up with ideas together.

"I personally think that we should send multiple search teams to conduct a large-scale investigation of Zhongtiao Mountain, otherwise my division will never have peace!" A Japanese colonel was the first to express his opinion.

In other words, Japanese middle-aged men don't have the habit of rolling their eyes, otherwise they would definitely throw out a table of big white eyes to smash this guy to death.

You don't need to say this, what can be done has been done long ago. The current biggest strategic goal of the division is Tongguan opposite, not to risk a decisive battle with the Chinese army deep in Zhongtiao Mountain.

There are seven infantry armies with more than 200,000 people. Once the Chinese think that they are going to launch the main attack from here and mobilize troops here, the strategic intention of the westward corps will be completely ruined. If Itagaki, the commander of the corps, blames him, Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu will have to bear huge pressure.

Fujita Susumu couldn't help but look at this guy with a squeezed forehead, but there was not much expression on his face. Perhaps this is the first brick thrown out in the legendary "throwing a brick to attract jade"!

"I think that the use of large-scale infantry to search the mountains has been proven to be a failure. We must make a tactic against this group of Chinese!" Katayama Satoshi, who was still wrapped in a bandage on his head, suddenly stood up and said.

Being bluntly told by a lieutenant colonel-level deputy commander that his tactics were a failure, the Japanese army colonel who spoke first naturally had a gloomy face: "Katayama-kun is so smart and tolerant. After encountering several failures, he can still come up with a strategy to defeat the enemy. It is really a blessing for the division! Please quickly tell us the correct tactics for our reference."

As soon as this was said, the venue fell into silence.

Yes, if the war is not going well, the lieutenant colonel deputy commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment is the biggest loser. A strong infantry regiment has now become an infantry battalion under his command.

Just like this, you still have the face to say that others are not good?

If he was not a trusted subordinate of Fujita Susumu before he became famous, let alone sitting here, his body might have been stiff ten days ago.

But Fujita Susumu is not all-powerful in the 3rd Division. There are also many power divisions within the 3rd Division. For example, the army colonel who dared to make sarcastic remarks on such an occasion is said to have a very close relationship with the royal prince faction, otherwise how dare he slap Katayama Satoshi in the face in public.

"I think that the Chinese can come and go freely in this mountainous area, and there must be Chinese locals who are familiar with the terrain to lead the way for them. These Chinese people must pay the price for their stupid behavior." Katayama Satoshi said loudly with a red face and suppressed anger.

"Katayama-kun, you mean to kill those Chinese who dare to go against the empire, and then..." A Japanese army colonel who had a good relationship with Katayama Satoshi continued his words.

"That's right, every day in a village, the Chinese either watched those Chinese who had helped them being killed, or came out to stop them, even though they knew that those poor Chinese were just bait!" Katayama Satoshi's eyes were full of ferocity.

If it were said that the one who hated the Tang sword the most was not Fujita Jin, but this army lieutenant colonel. If it weren't for those Chinese, how could he have fallen to the point of being openly ridiculed by others?

"Yoshi! This is an open conspiracy, an open conspiracy that forced the Chinese to get out of their rat holes!" Fujita Jin's eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his face.

"Since this strategy was proposed by you, Mr. Katayama, your 6th Infantry Regiment will be responsible for its execution. I will give you three days to kill these annoying flies. I will hang all of them on the bank of the Yellow River, including those Chinese who dare to help them, regardless of gender, age or young!"

"Hi! I will live up to the trust of the division commander!" Katayama Satoshi bowed his head heavily.

He knew that this was a chance for Fujita Susumu to turn things around. As long as he could lure out the small group of Chinese soldiers hiding in the mountains by slaughtering the villagers, the previous defeats would be wiped out.

There is no general who always wins. All the right to interpretation belongs to the final winner. He also has the opportunity to be promoted to the commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment.

Just when the Third Division was forced to play the game of "three cobblers are better than Zhuge Liang", 20 kilometers away, a train was spewing black smoke and rushing towards Tongguan.

The gears of fate turned slightly, and a blind box was opened for this Japanese army lieutenant colonel who was eager to turn over!