Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

After the 102nd Division of the First Army entered the battlefield westward from Huaqing Town south of Zhongxiang County, it successfully blocked the Mitsui Division, which was constantly pursuing the remnants of the Third Army. After two hours of fierce fighting between the two sides, the 102nd Division began to withdraw to the south.

Because the soldiers of the 102nd Division deliberately changed into the uniforms of the Northeast Army, although their combat effectiveness was extremely fierce, they had not yet attracted the attention of the Mitsui Division. However, on the official road on the south side of Huaqing Town, the First Army had prepared a feast of mines for the Mitsui Division.

Before the First Army crossed the grassland, Su Zhengyang spent more than 200,000 points from the system mall to exchange for a large number of mines from the later World War II, with a total of more than 80,000 mines, most of which were the German S-type mines.

After the S35 jumping mine is triggered, the firing pin hits the primer, and the flame is transmitted to the projectile charge through the tube. The projectile charge detonates, throwing the mine body into the air. When the projectile charge explodes, it also triggers the delay charge of the detonator. At this time, the outer shell of the S mine is equivalent to the barrel of the mortar, and the mine body of the S mine is equivalent to a mortar shell.

This jumping steel ball fragmentation mine caused a large number of casualties throughout World War II and was also called a battlefield nightmare.

In addition to this type of bouncing mine, there are a large number of anti-infantry and anti-armored unit mines of various types in the huge minefield that is two kilometers wide and three kilometers long. Most of these mines are pressure-activated mines. Unlike loose-release mines, they basically do not give the enemy any reaction time without any preparation.

After the 102nd Division safely crossed the minefield according to the established route, the Mitsui Division following closely behind began to enter the minefield prepared for them by the First Army.

A Fuso soldier walking at the front of the team stepped on an S35 jumping mine. After a short delay, the inner casing containing about 360 steel balls was projected several feet into the air and detonated in the air. A large number of shrapnel flew in all directions, with an effective killing radius of ten meters, instantly turning a large number of nearby Fuso infantry into sieves. The soldier who stepped on the mine was the first to be hit. He was blown away by the huge shock wave, and then a flying steel ball pierced through the helmet on his head, bringing out a bloody flower mixed with brain matter.

This sudden change immediately caused the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Mitsui Division to panic. Explosions continued to sound one after another, causing them to stay where they were and not dare to advance any further.

According to rough estimates, the hundreds of mines that exploded directly caused more than a thousand casualties to the Mitsui Division.

A large number of Fuso soldiers were sacrificed without even seeing the shadow of the enemy, which made Mitsui Tokumitsu furious. He immediately sent out an engineering regiment to start mine clearance at the front. However, what made Mitsui Tokumitsu uncomfortable was that a large number of mines buried by the First Army were equipped with a large number of remote detonation devices in addition to the pressure-activated explosion method. Even a small number of mines among them were wooden and glass structures specially manufactured by the German army in 42 to deal with the Allied electronic detectors. The Fuso engineers could not detect them at all and were frequently hit by them.

The huge losses that followed made Mitsui Tokumitsu almost crazy, and Suzuki Yoshiaki, the commander-in-chief of the three major divisions' coalition forces, realized at this time that perhaps they had fallen into the trap of the Northwestern Revolutionary Army.

"Send a telegram to Mitsui immediately and have him lead his troops to retreat immediately, enter Zhongxiang County, set up defenses, and be ready to respond to enemy surprise attacks at any time."

At this time, the Mitsui Division, which was struggling in the minefield, finally breathed a sigh of relief from top to bottom after receiving the order to evacuate. In this kind of minefield where you never know when an explosion will go off around you and take away a group of lives, the spirits of the Fuso soldiers have been stretched to the limit.

Unfortunately, before their frontline troops could withdraw from the minefield, a large number of mines that had been equipped with remote detonators in advance exploded one after another, causing heavy damage to the Mitsui Division again. The 1st Infantry Regiment suffered casualties of up to 2,000 people from mines without engaging in any fire with the enemy, and most were directly disabled by the impact. The Engineer Regiment also suffered widespread grief and countless casualties.

Before they could completely leave the minefield, the artillery positions of the 102nd Division Artillery Brigade launched an indiscriminate bombing at the location of the main force of the Mitsui Division. 120 105MM howitzers, 48 ​​150MM heavy artillery, and 12 powerful Thor's hammers made earth-shaking roars, and thousands of artillery shells whizzed in and landed in the area where the Mitsui Division's troops were densely packed.

Under such circumstances, the Mitsui Division troops, which had just been trapped in the minefield, had no time to make any response or counterattack. The artillery regiment was under fire and was about to launch a counterattack when the specific coordinates were spotted by the observers of the First Army. Then, another large number of shells fell from the sky.

Today, as the First Army, the first main force of the Northwest Revolutionary Army, the artillery unit rarely deploys 75MM mountain cannons in large-scale battles. Instead, it is equipped with a large number of 105,150 and caliber howitzers, with maximum range and power.

The battlefield was littered with huge shell craters with charred marks, and the ground was littered with the remains of Fuso soldiers.

The Fuso soldiers whose arms and legs were broken by the explosion collapsed to the ground, emitting creepy wailing and screaming sounds. An extremely panic-stricken mood spread across the battlefield.

After nearly half an hour of artillery fire, the Mitsui Division's artillery regiment was almost wiped out, with only one in ten remaining. The four infantry regiments were even more completely routed, with several regiment commanders being engulfed alive in the smoke and gunfire.

From the entire Mitsui Division, only the highly mobile cavalry regiment was left, which managed to retain 50% of its strength and successfully evacuate from the battlefield. The plains on the edge of the minefield were filled with frightened Fuso soldiers who were fleeing in panic.

The extremely unlucky division commander, Army Major General Mitsui Tokumitsu, was killed directly by a giant Thor's Hammer shell, along with the truck he was riding in.

On the battlefield, the charge horn sounded, and the two infantry regiments of the 102nd Division, which were ambushed in the mountains and forests on the west and northeast sides, rushed into the battlefield at the sound of the horn like a tiger descending from the mountain, and began to reap the lives of the Fuso fleeing soldiers.

This was a classic battle that will go down in history. Liu Chengxu, the supreme commander of the First Army, used his overall view of the battlefield and his control over details to directly swallow up the Mitsui Division, which had a total of nearly 30,000 people including non-combat personnel on the western battlefield, with almost zero casualties.

However, Liu Chengxu's goal was far more than that. The remaining Suzuki Division and the Hokkaido Division could not escape the fate of being treated as prey and brutally hunted by the First Army.