Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

According to Duan Peng's report, about a regiment of Japanese soldiers, carrying various heavy weapons, were approaching a row of bases.

Not only infantry came this time, but also a battalion of puppet cavalry.

At the current marching speed of the Japanese, they will be within the range of the howitzers around noon tomorrow.

If it were two days ago, Lin Qiang would still be worried about the defense of Xiaowangzhuang, whether it could withstand several Japanese attacks, and how many soldiers would be lost.

But now, the only thing he needs to worry about is how to kill more devils.

There are currently more than 3,300 people in the first row, and with the defensive forces prepared by the base, the total strength has reached 3,754 people.

This does not include the civilians in the base who can participate in the war. There are at least three or four hundred people in total.

There are many civilians in the base who are able to fight but have not yet joined the army. They know clearly that their parents do not have much time left to live, and they want to accompany their parents on their final journey.

But this does not mean that they have no combat capability.

Not only these civilians, but also many women did the same, and they all participated in the training of new recruits.

Lin Qiang did this not to require them to fight, but to give them a certain degree of self-protection ability. At least when they have guns in their hands, they know how to kill the enemy in front of them.

With a team of nearly 4,000 people and a defensive position that had been carefully arranged for a long time, Lin Qiang was confident that as long as the Japanese did not send out bombers, even if they sent tanks, they would not be able to break through the Xiaowangzhuang defensive position.

A 150mm caliber howitzer is enough to stop the attack of a Japanese tank formation.

Not to mention that Lin Qiang also prepared 10 M2A1 105mm caliber howitzers, with a total of five tons of shells. If all of them were fired, they could plow the land!

Lin Qiang used all the Type 92 infantry guns and mortars he had, and there were enough shells. In short, Lin Qiang had only one requirement: he would never let his soldiers take risks if the enemy could be killed by shells.

"Go, call everyone else back!"

"Yes!"

Qiangzi also heard the news and did not dare to delay. He turned around and ran out quickly.

After a while, they returned again.

The room was big enough and no one felt crowded this time. Hu Zi looked around and smiled with great satisfaction.

A map was spread out on the table. Lin Qiang used a pencil to mark the enemy's marching route that he had learned from Duan Peng. Pointing at the map, he said, "Duan Peng has reliable intelligence that a regiment of Japanese troops is approaching our base and will arrive around noon tomorrow. I called you here to hear if you have any suggestions."

After waiting for a while, they realized that Zhang Yuntian was not there.

So Hu Zi was the first to speak up: "Platoon leader, I think we can use guerrilla warfare to wear down the enemy halfway. We don't need to cause too many casualties, as long as we can tire the Japanese out."

The Xiaowangzhuang position has been targeted and improved in all aspects, and there is no need to resort to the previous ambushes. This time, Lin Qiang plans to engage the Japanese in a head-on attack and defense battle.

This battle was not only to inflict pain on the Japanese, but also to prevent them from having any further thoughts about the First Row base.

But after Duan Peng completed the mission, he couldn't really make the Japanese angry.

You have to coax him into beating.

Fighting guerrilla warfare halfway is a good choice. With such a large team, the Japanese can't chase a guerrilla team with all their strength, right?

Moreover, the Japanese also knew that it would take a lot of time to encircle a guerrilla force in the mountains, and they might not succeed in the end.

Lin Qiang nodded and said, "That's a good idea. I'll leave this to you. After you contact the guerrillas, tell them that the purpose is to harass them and they must not fight to the death!"

"Yes!"

There is more than one guerrilla force around the county town. Although these guerrilla forces have not joined the first-line base, they have been fighting guerrilla warfare outside.

However, after negotiation, these guerrillas have been incorporated into the organization of the first platoon and are a team of the first platoon. Their weapons, ammunition, equipment and supplies are all provided by the first platoon.

The main purpose of these guerrillas was to collect intelligence and recruit new soldiers, with the main goal being to surrender the puppet army.

The guerrillas were distributed between Anhua County and Laiyuan County, and had fixed contact points with the first row, so they were not worried about losing contact.

Lin Qiang plotted the maximum range of the 105mm howitzer on the map and said, "This time, the Japanese have assembled a temporary force, consisting of only one puppet cavalry battalion. Furthermore, Duan Peng also gave accurate data on their artillery: they only have 12 Type infantry guns, with a range of less than three kilometers, so they pose no danger to us."

Feng Deshun was excited when he heard this. He stood up and said, "Platoon Leader, leave this puppet army cavalry battalion to me. I promise..."

"What are you promising?"

Lin Qiang interrupted directly, "When I, Lin Qiang, fight, I never let my soldiers rush in front of the bullets. You cavalrymen should wait obediently at the back. No one is allowed to move without my order!"

Before the howitzer had the strike capability, Lin Qiang had high hopes for the cavalry and wanted to form a powerful cavalry team.

Since he got the howitzer, Lin Qiang gave up this idea.

The horses and equipment of this puppet army's cavalry battalion were recently transported here, and Lin Qiang had received the news a long time ago. The reason why he did not intend to take this batch of supplies was because he believed that at this stage of the war, the era of cavalry group charges had come to an end.

People change.

In the past, Lin Qiang really wanted a cavalry team that could play a huge role on the battlefield.

But now he didn't think about it anymore. Just as he said, he would not let his soldiers rush in front of the bullets.

As a time traveler who has been influenced by modern culture, Lin Qiang has a very serious fear of insufficient firepower.

During this period, the arsenal never stopped for a moment, and worked in three shifts to produce weapons and ammunition.

The monk formed his own guard team, consisting of 78 men, all equipped with assault rifles.

One-third of the soldiers in each team were equipped with Garand semi-automatic rifles, and it would not be long before the entire platoon of soldiers could use Garands.

After thinking it over again and again, Lin Qiang finally said what Feng Deshun was most reluctant to hear: "After this battle, the cavalry will be converted to infantry, and we will replenish your troops at that time."

"Yes!"

Feng Deshun was extremely reluctant, but he also knew that it was the trend of the times and he had to accept the rectification.

The range and power of howitzers far exceed those of infantry guns, or the Japanese artillery would not have the opportunity to fire at all, so artillery battles would not be a problem to worry about.

In general, there is basically no need to worry about anything in this battle. We have long-range howitzers, and even if the Japanese enter the range, they are still about two kilometers away from the Xiaowangzhuang position.

Even if the Japanese rushed to a close point, there were still infantry guns and mortars in the position to provide strong artillery defense. In addition, Xiaowangzhuang was an open area, and the firepower network formed by light and heavy machine guns would not give the Japanese any chance to advance.

Hu Zi asked the question he was worried about: "Platoon leader, this time, do we have to commit all our troops to the battle?"

If all troops are deployed to fight, Xiaowangzhuang's defensive position will need to be further expanded to both sides.

A team of 3,000 people could not be held in Xiaowangzhuang alone, let alone the artillery positions.

Lin Qiang had certainly considered this question and replied, "Of course we want all of them, but half of them won't fight the devils head-on."

"Wu Zhe, Wang Qiang, Xu Lang."

"To!"

The three of them answered in unison.

"You three are tasked with outflanking the enemy along both sides after the battle begins. But remember, the distance must be kept within three kilometers. Any further away and the howitzers won't be able to reach them."

Lin Qiang raised his head and said to the three of them, "How many devils we can kill in this battle depends mainly on how long you three can hold them off."

"You may use all the supplies in the platoon. No matter what method you use, while ensuring the safety of your personnel, delay the enemy's retreat as much as possible."