Traveling through 1937, starting from the Battle of Songhu

Chapter 459: Stirring Up the Storm

The Sixth Regiment's advantage did not last long, as the Japanese artillery battalion took action.

Of course, the commander of the Sixth Regiment's artillery battalion was not stupid. After the cluster artillery fire, he ordered the soldiers to go to the front battlefield separately.

Zhang Guofu knew in advance that the Japanese had dispatched an artillery battalion, so how could he not be prepared against the Japanese? Therefore, the Japanese targets at this time were almost all on the slopes on both sides.

The firepower points of the Sixth Regiment were constantly being destroyed by the Japanese, and the Japanese also suffered heavy casualties under the attack of rocket launchers. Both sides were bleeding, and it depended on who could hold on to the end.

More than 3,000 people from the Sixth Regiment ambushed 7,000 to 8,000 Japanese puppet troops. If it was a conventional offensive and defensive battle, the Sixth Regiment would not be afraid.

Unfortunately, they were in the wild and their fortifications were relatively simple, so it was inevitable that they would suffer heavy losses.

Fortunately, the puppet troops' fighting spirit was not high after the previous attack, otherwise the Sixth Regiment would be in big trouble.

Da da da!

Behind the Japanese convoy, the soldiers of the Third Battalion of the Sixth Regiment quickly rushed towards the Japanese artillery position and soon engaged in combat with the Japanese soldiers who were guarding them.

The Japs were not idlers either. With an important artillery position in the rear, they naturally could not be unprepared. It was impossible for the soldiers of the third battalion to take it down quickly.

As the sound of the exchange of fire from the rear reached Kasahara's ears, his expression changed instantly. Not only did the other party come prepared, but they also wanted to eat the artillery battalion...

"Bakayarō!" Kasahara cursed angrily before ordering, "Noguchi-kun, quickly send the Imperial Army to the rear for support!"

From the crisp sound of machine guns in the rear, based on his experience, there were no less than forty or fifty of them. He was afraid that the two squadrons guarding the area would not be able to withstand it.

However, given the current situation at the battlefield, he could not mobilize the Imperial Army at all, so he could only use the even more useless Imperial Auxiliary Army.

After more than a dozen puppet soldiers were shot dead on this battlefield, they no longer dared to slack off and began to join the battle one after another. The entire front line then began to enter a tense state.

Compared with the Sixth Regiment, the Fifth Regiment was in a much more comfortable situation. Facing two battalions and two thousand puppet troops, they killed four to five hundred people in the first time. Later, under the powerful attack of the Fifth Regiment's artillery battalion, the entire Kuwabara Regiment seemed in danger.

Seeing that the situation was not good, many of the puppet soldiers secretly ran back. By the time the Japanese reacted and wanted to break out, the entire encirclement had been formed. This is why Sangyuan kept asking for help.

The Kuwahara Regiment fought for more than an hour. Except for the fleeing puppet troops, they now have only more than a thousand Japanese soldiers and seven or eight hundred puppet troops left. Moreover, people fall down every second. If this continues, it will be no surprise that the Kuwahara Regiment will be doomed if it does not get any support.

"Sir, the Chinese are well prepared and their target should be us. The Mita Battalion has been destroyed, and the Kasahara Regiment has been delayed..."

Before the staff officer finished speaking, the Japanese signalman approached anxiously and said, "Report to His Excellency the regiment commander, the brigade headquarters has sent an order for us to break out."

These words made Sangyuan dumbfounded. If he could break through, he would have done so long ago. The problem was that he couldn't even do it.

"What does the brigade headquarters mean? Is there no support?"

The Japanese signalman looked at the telegram and said with difficulty: "The news from the brigade headquarters said that the strongholds along the railway were attacked by the Eighth Route Army. They have strong firepower, and now everyone is calling for help..."

Well, there is no hope at all. Kuwabara looked up at the tent with a pale face. His end has come.

The Japanese signalman glanced at Sangyuan, his face twitching slightly, and continued, "The brigade headquarters also said that many Chinese have infiltrated Dingxian County, and now the brigade is also in chaos."

Sangyuan understood that this was the enemy's killer move. They would first lure them out and then target the brigade headquarters. It had to be said that this was truly a decisive move.

Of course, Zhao Ziqing would not fight a battle without confidence. When they first stayed in Ding County, they knew that they would not be stationed there for a long time, so they dug a secret entrance in Ding County before leaving, which came in handy this time.

Two battalions and a large number of puppet troops were transferred to Ding County. Now is the time when the defense is weak, so it is the right time to take action.

Of course, Zhao Ziqing didn't necessarily want to kill the Japanese brigade commander, he just wanted to cause chaos in Ding County.

Obviously he succeeded. Dingxian was in chaos, and the Pinghan Railway was attacked. The Japanese 6th Division needed to support various strongholds and Dingxian first. Naturally, it could not transfer troops to Swabara and Kasahara, so it could only order them to break out.

The problem is that Kasahara has a chance to break through, but Kuwabara definitely doesn't, and Deng Wu is unlikely to let the duck in his mouth fly away.

At the headquarters of the Japanese Sixth Division, watching the flags of the strongholds on the sand table being pulled down one by one, Kanda Masakazu was going crazy. How did they manage to have so many Eighth Route Army soldiers appear overnight?

Masakazu Kanda couldn't understand it, but the soldiers of the 129th and 115th Divisions felt very comfortable.

A large number of militiamen, main regiments and detachments from the two divisions gathered together, using single-barrel rocket launchers or unscrupulous cannons, which was a great help in dealing with the Japanese artillery towers and strongholds.

Although the preparation time for this attack was a bit hasty, the result was indeed very good.

They were not picky and took anything that was usable, such as railroad tracks and bullet shells. With the cooperation of the militia and the people, they transported all of it to various bases of the Eighth Route Army.

As the night passed, the entire Pinghan Railway was in ruins, and it would take at least ten days or half a month to repair it.

At this time, the Sangyuan League was also at its end. Under Deng Wu's command, the soldiers launched a final general attack.

The remaining two hundred plus devils and one hundred plus puppet soldiers were forced to die together under the initial attack of the Fifth Regiment's artillery fire, and the entire battle ended.

Zhang Guofu's Sixth Regiment did not leave behind the Kasahara Regiment after all. After a desperate breakout, Kasahara successfully broke through with seven or eight hundred Japanese devils and more than two thousand puppet troops. Of course, their artillery battalion was also among them.

Compared with the Kuwahara Regiment, the loss of several squadrons and more than a thousand puppet soldiers was a result that the regiment commander Kasahara could barely accept. After all, there is hope as long as you are alive!

Beizhen, the headquarters of the Fifth Regiment.

Zhao Ziqing looked at the two regiment leaders and said directly, "Report the results of the battle. How much did you gain this time?"

It was almost noon, and the two regiments had counted their gains. Deng Wu was the first to speak: "We wiped out three battalions of Japanese soldiers and over 2,000 puppet troops, and brought back over 1,800 who surrendered."

"We seized over 70 light and heavy machine guns, over various long and short guns, six mm infantry guns, four mortars, and nearly grenade launchers,"

"As for the supplies and ammunition, they haven't been counted yet, but I don't think there will be any shortages. This is mainly because Xing Tang has made such a large harvest!"

As a garrison battalion, the Xingtang devils were equipped with four infantry guns and 36 50mm grenade launchers. Together with the gains from the puppet army, their haul was indeed quite rich.

After listening to this, Zhang Guofu pulled Deng Wu aside and said, "Old Deng, you have to give me half of this harvest. My Sixth Regiment suffered heavy casualties when facing the Japanese artillery battalion."

After saying that, he looked at Zhao Ziqing and said, "Deputy Brigade Commander, this time our Sixth Regiment wiped out over 673 Japanese puppet troops, seized over rifles, over light and heavy machine guns, and grenade launchers, and suffered casualties. You have to take charge of this for us!"

Deputy Zhang Guo's cry of poverty left Zhao Ziqing helpless. After a moment's thought, he said, "Talk this over with Captain Deng. We're all brothers, so we should divide the troops evenly."

"The war is about to begin. Don't transport them to Xianyaling. They will all be left to you. As for the surrendered puppet troops, follow the rules of our independent brigade."

As soon as he said this, the two of them nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the two had no objections, Zhao Ziqing continued, "The Eighth Route Army destroyed many of the Japanese strongholds last night. Your next mission will not only train new recruits, but also destroy the Japanese's defenses. How much you can gain depends on yourselves. The Brigade only wants results."

"Yes, Deputy Brigade Commander!" The two men said firmly. Then Zhang Guofu looked at Zhao Ziqing in embarrassment, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke:

"Deputy Brigade Commander, we've run out of 107mm rocket shells. Can we get the artillery battalion to support us with some heavy artillery? I realized yesterday that without heavy artillery, we're at a disadvantage against the Japanese artillery battalion!"

This was something that neither Gu Changfeng nor Zhao Ziqing had considered before. Without giving it much thought, Zhao Ziqing said directly, "I can loan you two guns each, but if a major war breaks out in Gaojia Town, you still have to return the heavy artillery to the artillery regiment."

At present, the artillery regiment is not very suitable for fighting. They still have to defend against the Japanese in Laiyuan. If the Japanese come out from here and attack Gaojia Town, it will be very troublesome for Gaojia Town’s defense force. This is why he did not mobilize the artillery regiment.