Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 186 Attacked
Sano Tadayoshi stepped forward and ordered sternly, "You must immediately go to the front line to find out the situation, and report back to me within 20 minutes!"

After sending the staff officer away, he walked up to Kenji Doihara.

"General, this happened too suddenly. In my opinion, the garrison troops in Lanfeng City and the 71st Army may have already prepared for the battle!"

Kenji Doihara felt a chill in his heart and exclaimed, "How could they react so quickly?"

"This is simply impossible!"

Sano Tadayoshi lowered his head, he also felt that this was unlikely.

It had been less than half an hour since the order was issued, and normally there would be a delay in the transmission of messages by telegram.

He had previously vowed that the Chinese would definitely not have enough time to react, but in the blink of an eye he was severely slapped in the face.

The last bit of supplies were destroyed. Even if the troops were urgently mobilized to the city of Lanfeng, there was not enough strength to attack.

In this bet, our side has already shown signs of failure.

Sano Tadayoshi suggested cautiously: "General, how about we ..."

Doihara Kenji stared at the large poster on the wall and asked, "Breakout?"

"From which direction should we break out?"

Sano Tadayoshi was speechless for a moment, and stammered, "This..."

At this time, the encirclement was slowly shrinking, and the numerical advantage of the Henan East Corps began to emerge.

More than 100,000 Chinese soldiers surrounded the 14th Division in a small area of ten kilometers.

There are enemies all around.

There is no chance of breaking through at all.

Kenji Doihara said grimly: "We still have a chance!"

"Order the 2nd and 50th Regiments to speed up their march."

Sano Tadayoshi said anxiously: "General, if we don't break out now, it will be even more difficult to get out once the Chinese army completes the encirclement!"

Kenji Doihara was very conflicted.

At this point in the battle, the hope of victory was very slim, and Terauchi Juichi had already abandoned the 14th Division.

Apart from routine supplies, no further support will be provided.

It was obvious that the 14th Division was to be used as bait to consume the Chinese army's strength in Lanfeng and buy time for the Japanese troops rushing from Xuzhou in the direction of Dangshan.

"Withdraw!"

"Has the order just now been issued?"

Sano Tadayoshi shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Kenji Doihara said decisively: "Modify the order and notify each regiment to find their own opportunity to break out. The division command post will go to Heze for rest and recuperation."

Seeing that his persuasion had worked, Sano Tadayoshi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly responded, "Yay!"

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Wang Feng returned to reality from his bird's-eye view and asked in confusion, "Why aren't the devils moving?"

"Is there any news from the front?"

Zhao Fangyuan was sorting out intelligence nearby. After hearing Wang Feng's words, he immediately turned around and replied, "Not yet. Zhang Hu has already led people to stop the enemy."

Wang Feng stroked his chin and muttered softly: "How strange..."

"Send a telegram to Zhang Hu, asking about the situation on the battlefield!"

"Yes!" Zhao Fangyuan agreed, and then asked doubtfully, "Sir, is there any problem at the front line?"

Wang Feng casually said, "I suspect the Japanese army has changed its marching route."

Although he expressed his doubt, from his bird's-eye view, he clearly saw that the Japanese army, which should have reached Lanfeng quickly, suddenly stopped.

Zhao Fangyuan looked down at his watch and said, "More than 20 minutes have passed. Lanfeng City is not big, and the Japanese army is close, and they are traveling by car. Logically, they should have been encountered..."

"Sir, let me make a phone call and ask!"

Wang Feng switched his perspective back to the bird's-eye view and replied nonchalantly, "Go!"

After getting permission, Zhao Fangyuan quickly walked to the table, picked up the microphone and said, "Hello!"

"Help me connect to the First Column Command Post!"

After a brief busy tone, Zhang Hu's voice came from the phone.

Zhao Fangyuan asked directly: "Have you encountered any Japanese troops?"

On the phone, Zhang Hu replied: "No!"

"We are building our positions and waiting for the Japanese to attack!"

Zhao Fangyuan frowned and just as he said the words "Your department...", Wang Feng took over the microphone and asked, "Zhang Hu, where are you now?"

Upon hearing Wang Feng's voice, Zhang Hu immediately stood at attention and replied: "Report to the commander, we have five infantry battalions, one battalion is the general reserve, and the remaining four battalions have been deployed on the east and west sides of Lanfeng City!"

Wang Feng said, "Okay!"

"I'm telling you now, the invading Japanese troops have changed direction and are showing signs of breaking out."

"Catch up with him immediately! Do you understand?"

Zhang Hu answered firmly: "Yes!"

After hanging up the phone, Wang Feng looked at the large poster on the wall.

If the 14th Division wants to break out, it will definitely look for the weak points in the encirclement.

There is no doubt that they will break out from the front line of the Henan East Corps.

Zhao Fangyuan said anxiously: "Sir, what should we do?"

"We can't just watch the devils get away!"

Wang Feng thought to himself: "The 14th Division is a mechanized unit with a lot of supplies and weapons. It will not be easy to withdraw."

"And judging from the current situation, the Japanese army's breakout was a temporary decision. Apart from anything else, just the dozen or so large-caliber heavy artillery pieces alone will not be able to be moved in a short period of time!"

Zhao Fangyuan said excitedly: "Heavy artillery?"

"Sir, do you want to send someone to grab them?"

There are more than a dozen large-caliber heavy artillery pieces, the smallest of which are 105 mm. If we can seize them and equip the troops, the strength of the artillery column will definitely be greatly enhanced.

Wang Feng frowned and said, "Grab it?"

"If the Japs retreat, they will definitely blow them up in advance!"

The Japanese army has become smarter now, and is not as stupid as it was at the beginning of the war. Key areas such as artillery positions and logistics supplies are heavily guarded.

Compared with before, the military strength has increased by at least two to three times.

For example, large-caliber artillery pieces are mostly deployed in a dispersed manner, and it is rare to see more than a dozen artillery pieces concentrated together.

And once they find that the battle situation is not good, the artillery will give priority to blowing up the artillery.

It is extremely difficult to seize these artillery pieces.

"boom--!"

As the two were talking, a muffled sound was heard, and ripples appeared in the teacup on the wooden table.

The ceiling shook violently, and small pieces of sand and gravel fell down.

Zhao Fangyuan immediately stepped forward to protect Wang Feng.

"It was the Japanese artillery fire!"

"Someone come quickly!"

"Protect the commander!"

Wang Feng coughed a few times, ignoring the shouts of the guards around him, and switched to the bird's-eye view.

Following the instructions on the military badge, he quickly found the Japanese heavy artillery position that was firing.

In sight, the Japanese army raised a huge observation balloon.

There is also a Type 91 howitzer on the ground.

"Damn it, how did the Japanese find this place?" Wang Feng frowned, feeling puzzled.

This is so abnormal!
The Japanese heavy artillery position was at least five kilometers away from his command post.

In the bird's-eye view, there are no "red dots" representing enemies nearby.

Logically speaking, the coordinates of the command post should not be exposed.

Zhao Fangyuan said anxiously, "Sir, this place is no longer safe. Please retreat!"

Wang Feng nodded and said, "Move the command post immediately."

He took two steps toward the door, turned around and said, "Take the phone with you!"

Zhao Fangyuan was stunned for a moment, then grabbed the phone on the table.

The guard picked up the telephone wire that was laid on the ground, and the group hurried out.

From a bird's-eye view, the Japanese artillery is preparing for a second round of shooting.

Zooming in and looking carefully, we can see that the Japanese artillerymen all look excited, and their loading movements are much more efficient than usual.

The guard brought a white horse and said, "Sir, get on the horse!"

The surrounding roads are muddy, and although riding in a jeep is more comfortable, the speed is far slower than riding a horse.

Wang Feng tightened the reins and said to Zhao Fangyuan, "This is too strange. Ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to check what went wrong!"

Zhao Fangyuan nodded and said, "Yes!"

"boom--!"

While the two were talking, the Japanese artillery bombardment continued. This shell missed the target and landed 200 meters east of the command center.

A strong shock wave hit him in the face, and Wang Feng became much more sober.

To ensure safety, the communications unit, staff headquarters and field hospital are at least three hundred meters away from the command post.

Although this arrangement is safe, it also has great disadvantages.

There is a certain delay in transmitting messages by telegraph, and the need for staff officers to travel back and forth further increases the delay, resulting in a large lag in the commander's control of battlefield changes.

In contrast, the Japanese army and other nationalist troops combined communications and command.

The sound of telegraph machines beeping could often be heard in the command post.

But Wang Feng didn't care about these.

As long as he wants, he can control the battlefield situation with zero delay.

Zhao Fangyuan and the guards mounted their horses, and the engineer held the telephone line. They galloped on their horses and immediately moved towards the artillery position.

They had just walked forward a hundred or two hundred meters when the third grenade flew over.

After the previous two test firings, this time the shell landed accurately on the wall of the command post. Wang Feng was sitting on horseback, looking back, and heard a loud bang, and the original civilian house was covered with smoke.

------

On a high ground in the artillery column, Zheng Zhenzhong was looking down at the battlefield below with a telescope.

The messenger came running and reported, "Sir!"

"The Commander and Chief of Staff Zhao are here!"

Zheng Zhenzhong turned his head and asked doubtfully, "Commander?"

"Are you sure you read that correctly?"

The messenger shook his head.

Zheng Zhenzhong immediately put down the telescope and asked, "Where are they?"

The messenger replied hastily: "After they arrived at the position, they went directly to the first battalion!"

Zheng Zhenzhong said: "Take me there quickly!"

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In the First Heavy Artillery Battalion, Wang Feng took over the command as soon as he arrived and said angrily: "Northeast direction... elevation angle..."

After fighting for so long, he has always been the one bombing the Japanese, and has never been bombed by the Japanese.

The battalion commander stood aside in an orderly manner, like a recruit in training.

"One salvo, load them all with high-explosive bombs!" Wang Feng put his hands on his hips. Now he didn't want to care about the coordinates being leaked, he just wanted to destroy the Japanese heavy artillery position.

After receiving the order, the artillerymen immediately adjusted the shooting parameters.

"three!"

"two!"

"one!"

"One high-explosive round!"

"preparation!"

"put!"

A loud shout of a soldier giving orders came from afar.

"boom--!"

Four Type 105 mm howitzers fired at the same time. Zhao Fangyuan, who was standing nearby, subconsciously covered his ears.

Wang Feng switched to a bird's-eye view and watched the shells streak across the sky with his own eyes.

The shells landed heavily on the Japanese artillery position.

"boom--!"

Four 105mm high-explosive grenades exploded, and smoke and dust instantly enveloped the Japanese artillery positions.

After the smoke cleared, the heavy artillery that had been standing on the ground had been blown into a pile of parts.

The twisted gun mount fell to the ground. The barrel was still intact, but the paint on it had been scratched by shrapnel.

As for the Japanese soldiers, they had long disappeared, leaving only some incomplete limbs.
(End of this chapter)