Rise From Eight Hundred

One week after returning from the Martyrs' Cemetery.

The entire regiment of the Four-Line Regiment was basically working hard.

However, they were not fighting, but all of them turned into construction workers. Each battalion and company performed their duties, some were responsible for internal construction, and some were building fortifications everywhere.

The 1,000 recruits, except for morning exercises to practice military posture and formations, spent the rest of the time like veterans, picking up tools such as shovels, hoes, and saws, either building wooden houses, digging trenches, or building fortifications.

According to the estimates of the Four-Line Regiment such as Tang Dao, although the Japanese army was beaten in eastern Shanxi, their eyes were still mainly on the big city where the current war zone headquarters was located. They felt that these Chinese troops hiding in the mountains were just a minor problem. As long as the main force of the Chinese army in Shanxi Province was dealt with, those small fish and shrimps could be wiped out at any time.

In the short term, the Japanese army will not launch a large-scale attack on the Taihang Mountain area with heavy troops.

In fact, the Japanese army also made such a choice in the past.

However, it was not that the Japanese felt that the Chinese troops hiding in the mountains posed no threat to them. After all, there were tens of thousands of them. From time to time, they would attack, smash, and rob the Japanese transport teams active on the transportation lines. The Japanese in North China were also overwhelmed.

That was because their strategy had been determined. They must occupy Shanxi Province in an all-round way and use it as a springboard to attack Shaanxi Province, which was already considered the hinterland of China. Once Shaanxi Province was occupied, the Japanese army could use the Guanzhong Plain as a garrison, advance to the Hetao area to the west, threaten Sichuan Province to the southwest, and meet the two lakes through the northwestern Hubei and East China Front Army to the south.

The Japanese Army Headquarters had a good plan. According to their plan, at most in another year, the entire territory of China could be taken over by them.

Tactics must serve strategy. It was under this general policy that the main force of the Japanese army had been focusing on the main force of the Second War Zone, and temporarily selectively ignored the tens of thousands of troops in the mountains.

By the time the 921st Division developed rapidly, even had its own military factory, and had already walked out of Taihang and entered the plains of Hebei Province to launch frequent attacks on the Japanese army, the Japanese army came to their senses, but it was too late.

At that time, they wanted to enter Taihang Mountain again, not to mention the infantry battalion level, even the infantry brigade level was not very effective.

The famous "Dakouzidong Defense War" was not that the Japanese army used more than 5,000 troops to enter the mountain, and took advantage of the absence of the main force of the 921st Division.

What was the result? More than 5,000 Japanese troops had to hit a head before retreating, and one-tenth of them died in the battle.

The 80th Army's troops in Dakouzidong at that time had only one defense regiment with a strength of no more than 2,000 people, and less than 100 of them died in the battle, which was considered a classic mountain defense battle.

Therefore, the Tang Dao did not have too high requirements for these various types of fortifications built in the early stage, as long as they could defend against the bombardment of heavy machine guns and grenade launchers.

Tang Dao planned to wait until the lime plant was built before rebuilding all kinds of fortifications. They were basically reinforced concrete structures. Not to mention heavy machine guns and grenade launchers, even 70mm infantry guns and 75mm mountain guns could not break through them.

As for heavy bombs and large-caliber shells, except for a few limited key positions, Tang Dao could not turn the entire Dakouzidong area into a copper wall, right? If the Japanese had the ability, they would carry a 2,000-kilogram 105 howitzer into the mountain and blow me to death.

Of course, Tang Dao still put forward strict requirements for air-raid shelters, requiring each infantry company to have its own air-raid shelter.

Because the terrain of Dakouzidong is unique, the mountains are almost straight, and there are very few flat lands. Basically, the garrisons of each company are in the valley. If a valley is hit by a 500-pound large bomb, the power of the air wave forced by the mountains on both sides will be multiplied compared to the plain.

Only air-raid shelters are the best place to avoid air waves.

To deal with air raids, there is only air-raid shelters, which is naturally the worst option, but Tang Dao can only use this method at present.

If you want to defend against air raids, the best tactic is of course air-to-air, but it is unrealistic to think about it with your heels. Up to now, China has completely lost air superiority, let alone the north. Even in a large-scale battle like the Battle of Xuzhou, Chinese fighter planes have hardly appeared.

The middle strategy is to deploy a large number of anti-aircraft guns, but the Four-line Regiment does not have this capability for a long time at present or in the future.

At present, Cheng Tieshou's Artillery 2 Company has only two 20mm machine guns, and the rest are all anti-aircraft machine guns. Once the Japanese planes hide at an altitude of 1,200 meters to drop bombs, no matter how many anti-aircraft machine guns there are, they are just decorations.

In the future, the military factory led by Teacher Xiao He will be able to produce pistols, rifles, submachine guns, machine guns and even small-caliber artillery after having equipment, which is already rare.

Tang Dao is just a special forces soldier. He is familiar with various individual equipment, but it does not mean that he can still have design drawings of anti-aircraft guns or self-propelled howitzers in his head.

Moreover, even if there is, can it be made with the simple machine tools and steel materials of this era?

Everything must conform to the characteristics of this era.

Tang Dao certainly knows that the best anti-aircraft gun of this era is that kind, but even if you have money, there is no place to buy that thing! It is in the hands of the Germans.

The lack of air defense force is also the most troublesome point of Tang Dao's entire defense system for Dakouzidong. Therefore, before there is any clue, simply order all company-level troops to use stupid methods to dig deep holes!

If the Japanese planes really come and can't hit them, can't I hide?

Houses and supplies can be rebuilt and taken back from the Japanese infantry, but people are gone.

Fortunately, the mountain of Dakouzidong is really hard. The caves blasted and dug with explosives can be used as air-raid shelters without much preparation. Unless the Japanese army has super incendiary bombs like the future US, there is really nothing they can do with these stone caves hidden under the rocks.

Tang Dao has a hunch that the Japanese army may not make a big move and use infantry to attack on a large scale during this period, but with the next attack on the Japanese transportation line, the Japanese North China Front Command, which has been holding back its anger, will inevitably use bombers to retaliate.

Especially the indoor shroud guy, who was originally waiting for promotion happily! The direct casualties in the battle of Jindong exceeded 4,000, and the Japanese army leaders who disliked him at least turned over.

What's more, there is the Taierzhuang Defense War that is in full swing!

Commander Wu sent a telegram to Tang Dao yesterday, saying that the battle in Taierzhuang was too hard. An infantry division of more than 10,000 people suffered nearly half of their casualties in just three days.

The commander of the Northwest Army Infantry Division, who placed his headquarters in the village, couldn't help crying and asking his superiors for reinforcements.

In fact, in the past three days, the frontline positions in the village have changed hands five times. The Japanese army occupied it during the day, and at night, a battalion commander-level officer would lead a death squad to retake it, and the defeated Japanese army would quickly cover it with artillery shells.

If you are not an eyewitness, you can't know the tragic situation.

In the past, Tang Dao only knew from the information that after a bloody battle, the village was full of corpses, and the bodies of Chinese and Japanese officers and soldiers were staggered on the battlefield, and no one collected their bodies.

It's not that I don't want to, but that I don't need it!

Because the next covering artillery bombardment will arrive soon.

The corpses were blown into bloody powder, which scattered on the loess wall of this big village in northern Jiangsu, gradually turning yellow into red.

Just as a Japanese pilot who flew over Taierzhuang described in his diary: From the sky, the battlefield looks like an oil painting composed of two main colors, yellow and black!

Yellow, I know it is loess, and most of the houses of Chinese rural people are built with this. But I was confused for a while, what is black? Is it the trace of gunpowder smoke after the artillery fire? If that's the case, the Chinese inside should have died long ago, so why would the Imperial Army Air Force take action?

Later, I learned from Sang Mujun that in just three days, the Imperial Infantry lost 3,000 people there, and based on the Imperial Infantry's loss ratio to the Chinese, the Chinese's loss was naturally more than 3,000 people.

Nearly 10,000 lives were lost in this manor with an area of ​​only 0.5 square kilometers.

At that moment, I was chilled to the bone when I knew so much about the black!

To ​​be honest, that was one of the answers I least wanted to know in my life!

Commander Wu, who received the Northwest Army's request for help, could no longer hold back and planned to send an infantry regiment for reinforcement.

Although he knew that the battle of Taierzhuang would be bloody again, Tang Dao knew that the general in the village would definitely hold on.

The Japanese army, which had suffered heavy losses, was like a madman at this time. They would not retreat until they completely killed their opponents, which would also stimulate the Chinese defenders in the village to burst out with more powerful energy.

At this time, the Chinese and Japanese armies in the Taierzhuang battlefield were like two boxers in a boxing ring, ignoring their own injuries and punching their opponents hard, just wanting to kill them first.

At this time, whoever suddenly appeared to participate in this battle and changed the current bloody and crazy balance might cause one of the opposing sides to suddenly wake up.

It was useless for the Chinese infantry division to wake up. Behind them was the Xuzhou base camp. There was no way to retreat and they could only hold on.

However, the Japanese generals of the two infantry brigades were very likely to have the intention to retreat. They still had more than 10,000 people. If they wanted to run, they had aircraft protection above and artillery below. The 30,000 or 40,000 people of the 63rd and 59th armies alone might not be able to surround and kill them.

They must continue to fight to the death in Taierzhuang, the meat grinder, and wear down their strength to the minimum. Only in this way can they complete the final encirclement of them and eat them before the Japanese reinforcements arrive.

"It's just that this is too much for Division Commander Chi and his men." Commander Wu's telegram was not fully expressed.

But Tang Dao already knew that his old superior finally accepted his suggestion.

Cruel? If this group of Japanese troops escaped, it would be cruel to the Northwest Army soldiers who had defended Taierzhuang for several days.

In the past, they used a 1:1 battle loss ratio to cripple these two infantry brigades, creating the most brilliant record on the Chinese battlefield since the Battle of Songhu, and pushing the Chinese people's anti-war sentiment to the highest point in one fell swoop.

This time, it will definitely go to the next level. As long as they are still as tenacious as before, they only need to hold on for another five days. When the Japanese army has been consumed to the last drop of blood, the 30,000 troops will rush over and will not give them any chance at all.

The cannons on the ground, which had run out of shells, could not save them, and the planes in the sky could not save them either. All that awaited them was death.

Two infantry armies and one infantry division, swallowing up two infantry brigades with a total strength of 20,000 people, this record will definitely arouse the anti-war sentiment of the people across the country, and the surrenderists and fence-sitters will all be speechless!

As one of the commanders of the battle, the guy in the indoor shroud should not even think about whether he will be promoted or not. Whether he can keep his current position is another matter.

If the Four-Line Regiment makes a move on the traffic line at this time, it will undoubtedly be like handing a Playboy to an old bachelor who has been single for 30 years. He will scream!

Moreover, through the intelligence from the 921st Division, the Japanese intelligence personnel are not vegetarians. The senior officials of the Japanese North China Front Army have already known that the Four-Line Regiment has arrived in Taihang Mountain, and even know the approximate area of ​​the station.

However, during this period, no reconnaissance planes flew over the Dakouzidong area! Either the Japanese North China Front Army Headquarters still did not take an infantry regiment seriously; or the battle of Xuzhou was in full swing, and its army aviation force could not spare any manpower.

Tang Tuanzuo, who has always been prepared for a rainy day, is more inclined to the latter.

In fact, a certain general commander who was being speculated by Tang Dao read the information of the Four-Line Regiment on his desk at least twice, and specially called a colonel of the General Staff to order him to pay special attention to the Four-Line Regiment from the military and intelligence perspectives.

A commander at the theater level paid so much attention to a small Chinese infantry regiment, which was already a piece of news that surprised many officers of the Japanese North China Front Command.

Of course, this small infantry regiment that surprised the Japanese North China Front Command will come into their sight again in the near future.

But by then, the commander-in-chief, who was already quite far-sighted, had already gloriously rolled up his bedding and left.

The North China battlefield, which was originally advancing triumphantly and had a good situation, was full of poison spots after only half a year.

Especially in the Army Aviation, the loss of fighter planes was even more than that of the Southeast battlefield. The key point was that the Chinese did not have a single fighter plane in North China.

As the highest commander of the North China Front, who would leave if this guy didn't leave?

The so-called capable person occupies the position, and those who have no ability but connections want to occupy it more. There are many people waiting to sit in this position.

Of course, this is all later.

At this time, the Tang Dao and the Four-Line Regiment were focused on construction.

However, this time, it was not just the original 3,000 people of the Four-Line Corps, but Licheng also transferred more than 6,000 people.

The Four-Line Corps did not throw more than 6,000 people into the mountains and villages to fight for the limited land, but settled them in a small town in the mountains.

Instead of building formal houses for everyone, they sent an engineering company to help them build triangular wooden sheds in the way of field camps, which quickly solved the problem of sheltering everyone from the wind and rain and sleeping.

As for meals, except for the first two days of building wooden sheds, which were free, later, they announced that they would exchange work for food or money.

To put it bluntly, it was to let the people work to fight for living supplies.

People who have experienced wars cherish the hard-won stability, and no one dares to jump out and sing the opposite tune and say that the Four-Line Corps exploited their labor.

The reason is very simple. Apart from working for the Four-Line Corps, they have no way to survive in this mountainous area. Survival is their first priority.

Moreover, the remuneration offered by the Four-Line Corps was not low, and was even higher than that in the county town. Not only was food provided for each person, but the daily wages were one pound of grain, equivalent to about 0.1 silver dollars in current currency, and an adult working there was enough to support a family of two.

Except for children under 12 years old and the elderly over 60 years old, there were about 5,000 people working for the Four-Line Corps.

The generous remuneration offered by the Four-Line Corps also attracted farmers from surrounding villages to work for a few days to earn some food to supplement their family income. At the peak, the total number of people working in the various garrisons of the Four-Line Corps reached more than 13,000.

The originally extremely simple garrison gradually took shape in the depths of the Taihang Mountains with the hard work of more than 10,000 people!

Not counting the temporary barracks, the total length of the field trenches dug around the garrison alone reached 20,000 meters, with 23 air-raid shelters that could accommodate 200 people, 35 semi-permanent fortifications located at the throat of the main road, and more than 40 tunnels up to 2 meters deep for soldiers to use for transportation between the fortifications!

With these, the Four-Line Regiment has initially acquired the ability to resist the attack of Japanese infantry at the level of an infantry brigade, and has also initially acquired the ability to "avoid the air", at least it will not face a medium-sized bomber group composed of more than a dozen aircraft and can only watch the bombing.

In other words, even if the Japanese North China Front Army wanted to attack him and the 921st Division at this time, if only a fool like the 108th Division came, it would be a gift.

At this point, Tang Dao's heart was completely at ease.

His eyes were already on northern Jiangsu.

As long as the war was over as he wished, he would have to go to the old man in Shanxi to fool something!