Traveling through 1937, starting from the Battle of Songhu

The main force of the 214th Regiment, which was responsible for the frontal attack, saw that the two sides had already started fighting at the foot of the mountain, and naturally followed suit unwilling to be outdone.

The 36th Division's headquarters, supply regiment, and field artillery regiment remained in place.

The battalion commander actually didn't have many people at the foot of the mountain, only one company. When the main force of the 214th Regiment caught up, the two sides fought again for about ten minutes, and then the soldiers withdrew.

Seeing the soldiers of the first battalion retreat, the Japanese also chased them in full force, especially the Japanese vanguard battalions on the two wings, which held on to the soldiers left behind in the first battalion from the front and back.

When they chased the Japanese to a slightly flat place halfway up the mountain, they were again ambushed by a battalion of soldiers. This time, more than a thousand soldiers from the battalion were ambushed halfway up the mountain.

Boom boom boom!

With the appearance of ten single-barrel rocket launchers, the hundreds of pursuing Japanese soldiers instantly lost their combat effectiveness.

Seeing this, the remaining Japanese soldiers wisely retreated and waited for the arrival of the main force.

More than ten minutes later, the Japanese troops attacking from both wings arrived one after another, and the 214th Regiment on the front also arrived two minutes later.

The terrain of Shi'an Mountain is not very steep. The main peak is about 1200 meters above sea level and covers an area of ​​about 2000 acres. This is mainly due to its geographical advantage of guarding the Zhengtai Railway.

Of course, by now the main force of the independent brigade has occupied various places near Pingding, and the Japanese railways here have almost been destroyed. The so-called control of the railways is of no importance to the Japanese.

After the two vanguard battalions of the Japanese army stabilized their position, two battalions of the 214th Regiment quickly launched an attack.

More than 1,600 Japanese soldiers formed six echelons, formed a standard skirmish line, and attacked the first battalion on the mountain road which was several hundred meters wide.

When the Japanese soldiers approached about 300 meters, the battalion commander directly gave the order to fire.

The artillery company's ten rocket launchers fired another round of artillery fire at the Japanese skirmishers, and ten shells whizzed towards the Japanese group.

Boom boom boom!

In an open area with little cover, the lethality of the cluster attack by rocket artillery can only be described as terrifying.

Ten shells exploded in the group of Japanese soldiers, and the iron fragments that were ejected were like flowers scattered by fairies. In an instant, the Japanese soldiers were killed all over the ground.

One round of shelling killed at least one-sixth of the Japanese soldiers. The other lucky Japanese soldiers, just like before, lay on the ground and began to avoid the shelling.

This was naturally noticed by the commander of the first battalion's artillery company. He narrowed his eyes and said jokingly, "The devils are courting death like this. Brothers, send them back to their homeland in Japan!"

Although the rocket launcher was only a single-barrel one and its originally designed firing range was not far, it could not withstand his 107-caliber shells.

This is all within the range of heavy firepower. The Japanese responded in this way, and it is obvious that experience is the real culprit.

Boom boom boom!

Another round of ten shells flew into the group of devils. The huge shock wave shook the devil lying on the ground and made him spit blood. It looked like he was going to die.

The casualties this time were obviously more serious than the previous time. The Japanese soldiers could not hold on any longer and retreated like a tide, leaving behind a field of corpses.

When the commander of the 214th Regiment, Matsumoto Hikojiro, saw this situation, he wanted to die. Two battalions went out, and after two rounds of artillery fire, one and a half squadrons were killed or injured. How could he fight?

On the contrary, the battalion commander saw the pile of feces-yellow corpses and couldn't help laughing: "The artillery company shot well, these damn Japanese devils deserve to be punished!"

There is no doubt that the Japanese's pain is their happiness. It would be strange if he was not happy.

After suffering a round of artillery fire, the Japanese finally became rational. They left one squadron to watch the direction of the battlefield, and the others retreated to the foot of the mountain and waited.

More than ten minutes later, the main forces of the Japanese 213th and 215th Regiments arrived one after another, and the Japanese troop strength increased sharply to over people.

In the following time, in addition to being on guard, the three regiment commanders began to discuss the attack plan and wait for their artillery battalion to arrive.

At present, the Japanese field artillery regiment will not be deployed. Wu Dannan, the division commander, knows very well that without the deterrent of mountain and field artillery, once the enemy's heavy artillery attacks, they can almost surrender. Fengmu's previous experience is right in front of them.

"Ikeda-kun, I have a feeling there's a conspiracy ahead. The 3rd Regiment of the Independent Brigade has placed about a thousand men here, but the area they're in is actually very open. Once the Imperial Army breaks through their blockade, they'll have no choice but to continue evacuating up the mountain."

Matsumoto Hikojiro said worriedly.

Ikeda Shunkichi carefully examined the map before speaking, "Matsumoto-kun, your concerns are correct. The independent brigade only has a thousand men, but according to intelligence, their main force is no less than three thousand."

"If I'm not mistaken, they should still have troops hiding in the mountainous area a few kilometers to the left."

The commander of the 215th Regiment, Takeo Ono, listened to what the two said and began to analyze the situation.

"The 3rd Regiment of the Independent Brigade hasn't built any fortifications in front of us. I guess they don't intend to hold on to the death, so if we attack them, they will definitely withdraw."

"Then they would lead the Imperial Army to the next ambush circle they designed and ambush the Imperial Army again."

Matsumoto nodded and praised, "Ono-kun is indeed a top student of the Imperial Army University. He saw through their intentions at a glance. I've learned a lesson, Matsumoto."

It was common practice for officers like them to flatter each other, so Ono didn't take it seriously. After thinking for a moment, he continued:

"The Eighth Route Army's mobile warfare was to use a small number of troops as bait, then lure the main force of the Imperial Army into the trap and ambush the Imperial Army."

"Obviously, this army has also learned the essence of it."

After saying this, he looked at Matsumoto and Ikeda and said solemnly, "We have to be careful. The independent brigade has strong firepower. I don't know if we can count the number of Imperial Army soldiers who died at their hands."

"Now that they've changed their tactics, maybe it will be even harder for us."

These two people looked at each other in surprise, but then they became alert.

The three old Japanese soldiers became serious and started discussing countermeasures one after another.

On the First Battalion side, seeing that the Japs were still not attacking, Battalion Commander Zhong Qingshan said to Wu Mazi, "Commander, what do the Japs mean? Are they not going to fight anymore?"

Wu Mazi glanced at him and said, "No hurry. Wait for news from the reconnaissance company. I want to see what the Japanese have prepared."

His current position was just a few hundred meters behind the first battalion's blocking position, and a few meters behind him were the third regiment's 107 rocket launchers, as well as more than forty mortars and infantry guns.

This place was excavated in advance by Wu Mazi's men, so you can't see anything when you look up from the bottom. He is planning to launch a big attack on the devils here.

He looked down on the small amount of troops the Japanese had deployed before, otherwise he would have taken action long ago.

"Report to the regiment commander, the soldiers of our reconnaissance company sent a telegram saying that a large number of Japanese troops have gathered within a few kilometers below the mountain."

This instantly excited Wu Mazi. Without thinking too much, he said, "Send a message to Liu Ze, who's in charge of the heavy artillery. Fire them to death and clear all the ammunition!"

He had no intention of hiding the heavy artillery. For him, this Shizhao Mountain was just a place to ambush the Japanese. It didn't matter whether he defended it or not. He just wanted the Japanese to die.