Bright Sword: Leading the Special Operations Squadron to Fight the Japs

Under the cover of fighter planes, bombers from the 1th, 3th and 110th Air Divisions of the Independent Column launched high-intensity air strikes on the st Division, the rd Tank Division and the th Division respectively.

Fortunately, when the Japanese saw the independent column's planes begin to retreat, they made sufficient air defense preparations, thus avoiding more serious casualties.

By dark, the casualties of the three Japanese divisions were close to one-tenth.

When it got dark, the three Japanese divisions began to lick their wounds.

As soon as the 110th Division's engineering regiment had completed building the pontoon bridge, they immediately reported it to Hayashi Yoshitaro.

"Your Excellency, the division commander, three pontoon bridges have been built. We can cross the river at any time!"

"Very good, it's six o'clock in the afternoon now. Let the infantry regiment rest first, and then cross the river immediately around ten o'clock in the evening to avoid the planes and heavy artillery of the independent column!"

"Yes!"

Lin Fangtaro's plan was working perfectly, he wanted to secretly cross the river under the cover of night, but he didn't expect that Luoyang was already the territory of the Independent Column, and they knew the place very well.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Hayashi Yoshitaro decided to cross the river and launch a surprise attack on Luoyang from the south.

"Order the troops to cross the river!"

At this time, the Yi River is in its dry season, and the water is only up to the chest in some shallow places.

The Japanese infantry waded across the river from the shallow water, while weapons and equipment were carried on the temporary pontoon bridge.

The vanguard of the 110th Division crossed the Yellow River and immediately built a temporary position on the river bank to protect the subsequent large troops from crossing the river.

However, contrary to what Hayashi Yoshitaro had expected, all the horse-drawn carriages transporting supplies were blocked on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Cars, horse-drawn carriages, Japanese soldiers and weapons and equipment were all mixed together, making a mess.

"What's going on? Why are the troops crossing the river so slowly?"

"Report to the division commander, a large number of trenches have appeared on the main traffic routes on the north bank of the Yellow River, and the light and heavy troops have been blocked. The fair engineers are dealing with it!"

"Baga, it's very dangerous to be stuck on the north bank of the Yellow River. If the independent column suddenly launches artillery fire or aircraft bombing, it will be dangerous! Order all troops to implement a blackout and disperse immediately!"

"Hayi!"

Hayashi Yoshitaro also hoped that he was just being overly sensitive and making a big deal out of nothing, but the trenches that suddenly appeared always made him feel uncomfortable. After all, who would dig so many trenches on the road for no reason?

However, when something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.

"Shhhhhh!"

Three flares were launched into the sky, illuminating the north bank assembly area where the 110th Division was crossing the river as bright as day.

Hayashi Yoshitaro thought to himself that this was terrible. These three flares must have been in preparation for artillery fire or bombing. It couldn't be that the independent column was afraid that they couldn't see, so they fired flares specifically to illuminate them, right?

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

More than a dozen large-caliber artillery shells fired as a prelude, blowing the Japanese soldiers and horses to pieces.

Then came a self-propelled rocket artillery regiment, with a total of 640 "Chang'e" self-propelled artillery vehicles. Within five minutes, rockets fell on the Japanese river crossing area, turning the two-kilometer-long and -meter-wide area into a sea of ​​fire.

That’s not all, artillery of other calibers continued to bombard the assembly area.

When Hayashi Yoshitaro, who was on the south bank of the Yellow River, heard the continuous sound of artillery fire, his heart sank.

They never expected that the independent column's artillery power was so great that it could completely cover this large area within five minutes.

"Immediately order the infantry to disperse and regroup in the southern part of Luoyang City! Find out the location of the enemy artillery and launch a counterattack!"

The independent column's artillery fire gradually became sparse, and finally disappeared.

"It seems that the artillery of the independent column has been transferred. Order all troops to cross the river quickly and launch an attack on the Erlang Temple position immediately after assembly!"

Hayashi Yoshitaro couldn't imagine what the scene would be like when the planes of the independent column joined the bombing sequence after dawn.

Erlang Temple is located in the southeast corner of Luoyang and is considered a plain. Because the Central Army had built a position in Erlang Temple before, the 124th Infantry Brigade of the Eighth Army of the Fourth Army Group took over and reinforced this place as the main position to block the Japanese invaders in the southeast direction.

The Erlangmiao position is five kilometers long and is in the shape of an inverted arc, facing the river crossing point of the 110th Division.

Although the 110th Division received special attention from the Army Artillery Division and the Army Artillery Brigade, their combat effectiveness was still there. The total number of Japanese soldiers on all sides was more than .

The 124th Infantry Brigade was slightly at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, with only over men.

The Japanese 110th Division had almost twice the strength of the 124th Infantry Brigade.

Although the army artillery division and the army artillery brigade provided sufficient support to the 124th Infantry Brigade, Li Jiayu was still worried.

However, the 1st Division had already begun its attack from Anle Village, and the 3rd Tank Division was also crossing the Lion Bridge to prepare for an assault.

Except for one armored infantry regiment each as a reserve, all the remaining forces of the 122nd Armored Division and the 123rd Armored Division were sent forward, and the pressure on each division was really great.

Especially the 122nd Armored Division, after deducting an armored infantry regiment, only had more than 1 troops. Although the Japanese st Division suffered heavy losses in the battle to attack Jiyuan, the main losses were heavy weapons, and the vitality of the infantry brigade was not greatly damaged.

The First Brigade did not suffer much loss when retreating from Zhengxianping to Yanshi, and currently has more than 20,000 troops.

The ratio between the enemy and us is still close to two to one.

Therefore, the goals of both sides are very clear:

The goal of the independent column was to hold out until morning, with the Air Force providing fire support and defeating the Japanese.

The Japanese goal was to break through Luoyang before dawn, enter the city, and destroy the independent column's pontoon bridge across the river.

As a result, both sides put in their best efforts, and the artillery fired shells at all costs, launching fierce bombardments against the enemy's artillery groups and infantry.

The independent column struggled to hold on relying on powerful firepower and fortifications.

At the shelter in the western suburbs of Luoyang, countless Central Army soldiers were sweating for fear of the defeated soldiers. When they heard that the Japanese had twice the number of troops as the independent column, they all sighed with regret.

Although they had just received the favor of the Independent Column, in the face of absolute strength, people's subjective initiative would sometimes be greatly restricted.

"Oh, this is terrible! Looks like we have to keep running west!"

"That's right. The Central Army can't defeat the Japanese with three times the force. The Independent Column has only half the force of the Japanese. Isn't this courting death?"

"I thought we were hugging a big thigh, but I didn't expect the thigh to be broken!"

At this time, a burly man about 1.9 meters tall stood up and said in a strong northeastern accent:

"Don't talk nonsense. If you are a soldier, come with me, ask the independent column for a gun, and go up to fight the devils!"