Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

Just as Lin Qiang was about to fight, the monk came running over, stopped in front of him, and reported: "Report, I found the leader."

"Where is the captain?"

"On top of the tank."

Through the monk's narration, Lin Qiang learned that after Li Yunlong left, he originally planned to assist Kong Jie's new Second Regiment. However, after seeing the T-34 tanks and armored vehicles parked behind the command post, he could not move and insisted on getting one back.

He even said shamelessly that this was Lin Qiang's return gift to his mother's family.

The war was imminent, and Lin Qiang was too lazy to care about him. He just asked the monk to convey a message to the tank team.

"Tell the tank squad to move immediately upon receiving the order. If the regimental commander is unwilling to leave, put him in the armored vehicle and I will take care of the rest."

"Yes!"

After the monk left, Lin Qiang used the walkie-talkie to issue combat orders to each unit, and then waited for the Japanese army to enter the artillery range.

On the way to the attack, Kawashita Hide was actually unsure. He said that the Eighth Route Army no longer had howitzers and posed no threat to them.

But this was just his own opinion, and there was no solid evidence. The howitzer was like a sharp knife against his chest, which could kill him at any time and anywhere.

At this point, the arrow was on the string. In order to stabilize the morale of the troops, Kawashita Hide chose to advance with the third echelon team.

He thought this location was safe, and if anything went wrong, he could retreat to a safe place immediately.

Once the battle is won, they will be able to take the credit ahead of the 9th Brigade.

The team advanced about three kilometers and had already entered the range of the howitzers. So far, they had not been bombed, which made Kawashita Hide more certain of his guess.

So he called the messenger and gave the order: "Order the troops to speed up and try to have dinner at the Eighth Route Army base before dark!"

"Hi Yi!"

After the order was issued, Kawashita Hide called the radio operator and ordered him to telegraph the 9th Brigade: "Send a message to Ming Jingjun, telling him that the front battlefield is ready to start the battle. When he hears the gunfire, he will attack the flank of the Eighth Route Army with all his strength and cooperate with the main force to capture the Eighth Route Army's position in one fell swoop!"

"Hi Yi!"

As he followed the main force, Kawashita Hide was weighing the strength of both sides in his mind.

The Eighth Route Army had no howitzer support and was like a bunch of chickens in front of the two brigades, unable to withstand a single blow.

With the command of two brigades, he was far superior to the Eighth Route Army in terms of manpower and equipment.

So far, Kawashita Hide has not received any information that the New 1st and New 2nd Regiments are coming to assist.

On the one hand, it was because they did not expect such a possibility. On the other hand, the Japanese generally believed that even if two regiments came to assist in the defense, it would only be a matter of time before they were defeated.

It also indirectly proves that the Japanese had no spies inside the Eighth Route Army, otherwise they would not have been unaware of this information until now.

If he had known that two main regiments were coming, Kawashita Hide would definitely not attack like he is now, and would definitely think deeply about the suspicious aspects.

The information that Kawashita Hide did not obtain was instead known by the Japanese in the direction of Ping'an County. The news that the entire New 1st Regiment was dispatched was passed on to the ears of the Japanese by a traitor.

After receiving the intelligence, the Japanese immediately mobilized an infantry battalion to attack, attempting to take the opportunity to occupy the defense zone of the New 1st Regiment.

At the same time, the news was immediately passed on to the Japanese gendarmerie in Laiyuan County.

Yamamoto Ikki, who fled back to the county town after the surprise attack, temporarily took over the position of Ono Jiro's captain. Although his troops were less than one-tenth of his strength, Yamamoto Ikki easily got what he had always wanted in an instant.

In order to avoid huge losses for the attacking team, Yamamoto Ikki sent a telegram to Kawashita Hide as soon as he received the news.

The importance of the radio station was highlighted at this moment. After receiving the information, the radio soldier ran to Kawashita Hide in a panic and handed the telegram in his hand to him in horror.

"Nani!?"

Kawashita Hide couldn't believe it was true, because if the intelligence was true, then he and the entire team were now within the artillery range of the Eighth Route Army.

Hide Kawashita's first reaction was to retreat to a safe place and then confirm the authenticity of the information. It is not ruled out that the Eighth Route Army deliberately released this false information in order to delay time.

If the intelligence is really false, it is likely to lead to some accidents.

This is a difficult decision.

However, Lin Qiang is a helpful person. Perhaps he knew that Kawashita Hide was having a hard time making a decision, so he decided to be a good person and made the choice for him.

"Hey~"

A sharp sound pierced the sky. Many Japanese soldiers looked up at the sky and saw a black dot moving in an arc in the air. After reaching a certain height, it began to fall freely towards their heads.

The black spots grew larger and larger, and the sharp sounds of breaking through the air became more and more frequent.

"Bang bang bang!"

A loud noise was heard in the distance, and Kawashita Hide, who had been fighting for many years, instantly recognized that it was the sound of large-caliber heavy artillery.

"withdraw……"

Kawashita Hide's orders were drowned out by the sound of artillery explosions, followed by intensive howitzer bombardment.

Unlike small-caliber mortars and infantry guns, it is basically difficult to see any Japanese casualties after the howitzer explosion.

Hide Kawashita, who was in the third echelon, thought that this position was the safest. However, he didn't know that in order to prevent more Japanese soldiers from escaping, Lin Qiang specially ordered two 150mm howitzers to bombard the rear of the Japanese soldiers to prevent them from escaping.

As the bombardment intensified, Hide Kawashita was forced to flee forward for his life.

"idiot!"

The best way right now is to charge forward desperately. Only by reaching the front of the Eighth Route Army’s position will there be a chance of survival.

Under the blanket bombing of large-caliber heavy artillery, there is no possibility of survival if you hide in place.

The hillsides on both sides were also the main attack areas of the artillery fire, and there was no chance of survival at all.

Kawashita Hide is indeed a battle-hardened commander. Based on the way the artillery bombarded them, he could guess the intention of the Eighth Route Army and wanted to drive them all to the front of the position.

This happened to coincide with their idea, so Kawashita Hide gave the order to charge with all his strength.

Surprisingly, the faster the team advanced, the less artillery fire they received.

"Humph!"

"This is simply courting death!"

Although Kawashita Hide was covered in dirt and looked like a beggar on the street, he still expressed dissatisfaction with the Eighth Route Army's behavior.

If it were him, he would definitely carry out a blanket bombing and use artillery fire to destroy the enemy to the greatest extent possible.

On the battlefield.

After Ding Wei arranged everything, he returned to the command post, along with Li Yunlong and Kong Jie.

The four men stood side by side, performing the same action, using binoculars to check the artillery fire ahead.

The command post is the best viewing spot, Lin Qiang had told them that long before, so the three of them returned.

Li Yunlong drooled as he watched, saying enviously, "Damn, I've never seen such a scene in my life. When will our independent regiment be able to do the same?"

"Stop dreaming."

Ding Wei said, "Ren Linqiang is now directly under the brigade headquarters and has nothing to do with you, Li Yunlong."

"It's fun, it's fun!"

Kong Jie was more excited than anyone else. Looking at the exploding shells and the Japanese soldiers running away in panic, he felt indescribably happy.

"Now let the Japanese have a taste of what it's like to be bombed!"

After watching for a while, Kong Jie felt that it was still not exciting enough, so he said to Lin Qiang: "Why don't we just use the howitzer to resolve the battle? This is really exciting to watch!"

Unexpectedly, before Lin Qiang could answer, Li Yunlong firmly opposed it: "No, no, no, absolutely not!"