Bright Sword: Japs, times have changed

The forward position of the independent battalion.

The fast-running Japanese soldiers had already entered the heart of the position. After receiving the order, the soldiers pulled the bolt, pushed the bullet into the chamber, and killed one Japanese soldier with one bullet.

Then, one grenade after another flew towards the Japanese troops. Unlike the previous ones that caused explosive casualties, the grenades penetrated into the crowd of Japanese troops and only a muffled sound was heard. It was impossible to tell what damage was caused.

The experienced veteran saw the new recruit's confusion and took a moment to explain: "Are you confused? Give me a cigarette and I'll tell you."

"Do you know why grenades only make a noise but don't make any movement? That's because there are too many Japanese soldiers. The grenade explosion can't blow them away. Before they die, they fall down and are stepped on by the Japanese soldiers rushing up from behind. That's why it looks like there is no movement."

"Oh~"

The recruit nodded, unscrewed the lid, pulled out the fuse, and threw another grenade.

The vanguard of the Japanese army had already rushed into the Xiaowangzhuang position. The light and heavy machine guns on both sides formed a cross-fire network with no blind spots, ruthlessly slaughtering the Japanese pirates.

Less than ten minutes into the battle, Lin Qiang ordered the entire battalion's firepower to be reduced by half.

If the fighting continues like this, before the Japanese retreat, the light and heavy machine guns and howitzers will become unusable due to the high temperature.

This is just the beginning, the real show is yet to come.

Seeing that our firepower had weakened, the Japanese thought they had an opportunity and rushed forward even more frantically, but they didn't know that this was exactly what Lin Qiang wanted.

Lin Qiang commanded the Japanese troops on the flank and arranged snipers to occupy advantageous terrain. When the Japanese troops penetrated into the lower areas below the position, Lin Qiang gave an order and the mortar gunners who had been ambushed in advance quickly adjusted the angle and opened fire.

The shells landed accurately in the group of Japanese soldiers. Flames shot up into the sky and the Japanese soldiers were blown to pieces.

The soldiers on the flanks also launched attacks at the same time, forming a pincer attack with the remaining firepower in the front. The snipers specifically targeted Japanese officers. After several rounds of shooting, the Japanese lost their command and became a mess.

At this time, the light and heavy machine guns that had previously retained their firepower according to plan roared again, and dense bullets rained down on the enemy.

From beginning to end, Lin Qiang kept the Japanese in the middle of the position and prevented them from getting any closer.

This made things difficult for the teams on both sides of the command post. They had to watch every battle, but without Lin Qiang's order, they could not participate in the battle.

The devils rushing in the front were, as expected, from the 4th Brigade, but Harahira Koizumi was a major general and was able to stay in a safe place in the rear.

After all, Ningji Okamura didn't want to see the consecutive loss of two important combat commanders in the same place.

No one would think that Hide Kawashita's death was caused by his stupidity, especially after witnessing the horror of the Independence Battalion. It can only be said that Hide Kawashita was unlucky to face the cannibalistic Independence Battalion alone.

The best way to avoid machine gun fire on the battlefield is to lie down on the spot, which can greatly reduce the risk of being shot.

But on the battlefield of Xiaowangzhuang, lying down was tantamount to suicide. Even if you were not hit by bullets, you would be trampled to death by the Japanese soldiers who rushed up later.

Many Japanese soldiers in the middle did not die immediately, but there was still a chance to save them. However, after falling down, they could never stand up again.

In just ten minutes, the battlefield was littered with the corpses of the Japanese soldiers. The independent battalion also suffered casualties, most of whom were hit by stray bullets from the Japanese soldiers.

However, what all the soldiers of the independent battalion did not expect was that the purpose of the Japanese charge was simply to create an opportunity for grenade launchers and mortars.

Boom boom boom sounded. Under the premise of close range and no need for precise strikes, the Japanese almost used the mortar as a fully automatic mortar with a slower firing rate.

The blanket bombing caused heavy casualties in the independent battalion's front-line positions. In just a few breaths, several soldiers were killed and dozens were injured.

The artillery position behind the position captured the Japanese artillery and successfully shot down the Japanese who were attacking by surprise with a round of salvos.

However, the Japanese large-caliber artillery suddenly appeared at this time and launched an artillery attack almost the moment it appeared.

With the experience from the previous time, the Japanese artillery bombardment this time accurately hit the Xiaowangzhuang position, causing casualties among hundreds of soldiers, and the shelling continued.

The soldiers only needed to turn around and enter the cat ear cave to avoid the artillery fire, but no one did so.

Because they knew that once they hid in the cat ear cave, the Japanese would take the opportunity to rush forward and put the battalion commander in danger.

They also knew very well that the battalion commander would eliminate the Japanese artillery as soon as possible and avenge them with even more intense artillery fire.

This is also true.

The howitzer salvo successfully knocked out the Japanese artillery, but that was not the end. All the artillery of the independent battalion began to fire shells, carrying out a blanket saturation bombing on the Japanese troops.

Faced with such fierce artillery fire, the Japanese soldiers of the 4th Brigade also began to retreat and escape.

Yuan Ping Koizumi was terrified watching from the rear. He was extremely grateful that he was not on the battlefield, and at the same time he felt a little grateful to Lin Qiang.

He was grateful that Lin Qiang did not use such an attack method against him in the previous battle.

The independent battalion saw the Japanese retreating and did not pursue them. Lin Qiang knew very well that one should not pursue a desperate enemy. Moreover, the Japanese army was nearby, and blindly pursuing them would only lead to falling into a trap.

At this time, the battlefield was in a mess and the soldiers were busy treating the wounded.

Lin Qiang looked at the scene in front of him, his heart filled with grief and anger.

"Battalion Commander, we fought beautifully this time, but our brothers were also seriously injured." The monk walked up to Lin Qiang and said.

Lin Qiang clenched his fists and said, "Replenish supplies as quickly as possible and strengthen the fortifications. The Japanese will definitely not give up after suffering such a loss."

Sure enough, not long after, the Japanese regrouped their forces and dispatched tank units.

On the other hand, the independent battalion had already replenished its ammunition and upgraded its anti-tank guns, and was just waiting for the Japanese tanks to appear to test their power.

The previous battle had exposed the existence of anti-tank guns in the independent battalion. The Japanese tanks did not dare to advance rashly and could only surround the tanks with infantry and use 70mm mortars to provide fire cover from the rear.

The tank team immediately sent a request to Lin Qiang to go into battle, but was decisively rejected by Lin Qiang: "Now is not the time. Once you go out, the enemy artillery will target you."

The combat effectiveness of the T-34 medium tank is unquestionable, but if it is hit by concentrated fire from artillery larger than 100 mm, it will be difficult to retreat safely.

The Japanese artillery suffered only a small loss, and the battle had just officially begun. Lin Qiang did not want to cause huge losses because of his own stupidity.

"Order the artillery, four 150mm howitzers to launch a covering bombardment!"

After so much time has passed, after the production workshop was upgraded, the output of each item has been greatly improved, and the production cycle of the 150mm howitzer has been reduced from half a month to one week.

Under full production conditions, even five 5mm caliber howitzers can be produced in a month.

There were only four 4mm howitzers on the position. It was not that the independent battalion had only four, but that Lin Qiang only deployed four.