Bright Sword: Follow Kong's fun and build the strongest military industry

Chapter 573: Encircling Three Gates and One Battle Method

Currently, the independent regiment has 120 people, and all of them are equipped with Ma Sihuan rifles. As for bullets, each soldier carries 80 rounds, and the logistics and transport troops carry rounds, which is enough to fight several battles.

An infantry squad has a Czech light machine gun and a grenade launcher, while an infantry company has a machine gun platoon equipped with two mortars and four Maxim heavy machine guns.

By the way, the independent regiment was also equipped with 400 assault rifles and 100 Type 40 light machine guns, which was unique in the entire Eighth Route Army.

This is completely in line with the standards of the Japanese field troops. If a real fight breaks out, the independent regiment will have a great advantage with the same number of people.

Ding Wei's New 1st Regiment was also a veteran force, with about 7,000 people. All of their rifles were Mausoleum-type, their light machine guns were Czech-type, and their heavy machine guns were a mixture of Maxim and the Japanese Type 92.

Kong Jie's New Second Regiment should not be underestimated. Its number of personnel has reached more than 5,000, and its weapons and equipment are similar. The only difference is that its artillery is slightly inferior to that of the New First Regiment, and it does not have mountain artillery.

At the same time, all soldiers are equipped with combat helmets produced by our arsenal, and their protective capabilities are greatly enhanced.

The three regiments together have more than 22,000 people. Not to mention a regiment of the Japanese, even a brigade would be no problem for them to fight against.

After discussion, Kong Jie's New Second Regiment was finally responsible for containing the Shuibian League in Ping'an County, and the independent regiment and the artillery battalion of the New First Regiment were temporarily loaned to the New Second Regiment, in order to hurt the Japanese as soon as possible and make the enemies in the city send a distress telegram.

Attract the nearby Sakai Brigade to come to the rescue, so that the Independent Regiment and the New 1st Regiment can use the well-built mountain fortifications to destroy a large number of enemy manpower. At least the nearby enemies will be severely damaged and will not be able to threaten the security of our base for several months.

After the plan was discussed, everyone returned to their respective units and took action separately.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the soldiers of the New Second Regiment had a delicious meal of canned meat and compressed biscuits, and then quickly set out to the outskirts of Ping'an County.

Kong Jie's regiment alone consumed 5,000 cans of food and 5,000 packs of compressed biscuits at one time. If it weren't for the large amount of prey that emerged in our base every day, we really couldn't afford such a huge consumption.

There are now seven or eight canning factories in the base, which are designed to can and store the emerging wild animals as soon as possible. This is the foundation of an army.

The soldiers ate meat regularly, so their physical fitness improved. After they were full and satisfied, they worked faster.

However, Kong Jie did not rush to attack the outer positions of Ping'an County. Instead, he specifically mobilized his troops at the East Gate, North Gate and South Gate, leaving only the West Gate. Then he ordered the troops to frantically build fortifications in order to meet the attack of the enemy's large forces later.

The Japanese have always been arrogant, and we want to take advantage of this weakness of the enemy and teach them a good lesson.

In fact, when the main force of the New Second Regiment arrived near Ping'an County, the investigators of the Shuibian League had already sent back relevant information. After all, even a blind man could notice such a large-scale mobilization.

However, Captain Shuitian did not take it seriously. He thought that it was okay to transfer the troops. It was not like they had never been transferred before. As long as it was not an attack on Ping'an County, it would be fine.

As our strength grew stronger, especially after a large number of weapons were distributed to the militia guerrillas, the Japanese garrisons nearby became increasingly unable to cope.

Just three days ago, four large strongholds belonging to the Shuitian Regiment that were transporting supplies were attacked at the same time, resulting in the loss of nearly 120 soldiers and a large amount of supplies.

This immediately reduced the strength of the outer strongholds to the lowest point, even though the Japanese immediately dispatched a squadron-level force to transport a large amount of supplies, and also issued a clear order that no one would be allowed to pursue even if they encountered an attack.

But unexpectedly, the guerrillas also changed their tactics and buried mines directly on the road. There were quite a lot of them, so the transport troops would pay a heavy price for every step forward.

Among them, there are two types of mines that are the most annoying. According to special reports from soldiers who came back, one type will bounce onto their chests once they step on it, and then spray a large number of steel balls. As long as you are within the attack range of the mine, there is nowhere to hide, and it is useless even if you lie down.

Often, triggering one of these mines could cause heavy losses to an infantry squad, which made many Japanese soldiers shudder at the thought of it.

Another type of mine is even more vicious. Once detonated, a large number of marbles will directly cover the marching team. Often one mine of this type can kill seven or eight soldiers.

In response to this situation, Lieutenant Commander Shuitian immediately passed the information to his superiors via the radio, but it was not until this morning that he received a reply from the division commander.

This kind of thing is not only happening in Ping'an County, but also in other places. After multiple investigations and analyses, we finally reached a conclusion.

The first type of mine is called an anti-personnel jumping mine, which is specifically used to kill infantry on the march. Once triggered, whether or not one can survive within the killing range of the mine depends entirely on luck.

At the same time, the telegram specifically mentioned that this type of mine was invented by their ally Sandezi. As for why the guerrillas were able to equip it in large quantities, no one knew the specific reason.

As for the second type of mine, which can fire steel balls from one direction, we don’t know its specific name yet. We hope that the Shuitian Unit can find a way to get a few samples for research.

Then at the end of the telegram, there were instructions on how to defend against bouncing mines.

Because the Japanese also imported a small number of jumping mines from Sandezi, and after testing they understood their viciousness. It was just that they were in an offensive posture before, and their artillery strength was particularly strong, so they simply disdained to use defensive weapons such as mines.

Now that they are being hit hard by various new types of landmines, they have learned their lesson and are trying to find ways to crack them.

This afternoon, Captain Shuitian was discussing the next combat plan with the Chief of Staff.

"Mr. Okabe, regarding the recent large-scale deployment of two new types of mines by the Eighth Route Army guerrillas, which has caused great losses to our troops, what countermeasures do you have for this?"

"Sir, the situation is getting a bit troublesome now. With the emergence of these two weapons, the balance of power between the enemy and us will be greatly changed."

"In the past, the guerrillas used firearms and land mines. Although this caused us some trouble, it was completely controllable, and our losses each month were not large."

"But now it's completely different. The guerrillas are using the Hanyang rifles and our standard Type 38 rifles, as well as these two types of terrifyingly powerful landmines. Oh, and there's also a type of grenade with incredible explosive power."

"Guerrillas usually operate in small units and are elusive. They attack our small units when our main forces are not paying attention. Moreover, we have paid a huge price but still cannot catch the whereabouts of these attackers. It is really depressing."

"In just the past half month, our regiment has lost almost two squadrons of troops, which is more than the previous six months. If this continues, our strength will become weaker and weaker."

After hearing this, Captain Shuitian's brows were furrowed. This killing plan against them was really hard to break. If they were not careful, they would suffer heavy casualties.