Canteen System Assistance Notes

However, the curse soon faded away, and someone took the phone call from Chief of Staff Liu Xingchang.

"Comrade Heo Hyung-sik, what are the losses of the 2nd Brigade? Almost nothing? Then don't listen. Execute the subsequent plan ahead of time and prepare to continue the attack! The 3rd Brigade will be responsible for the security of the rear. Let the reserves take prisoners and spoils. You won't be in trouble!"

Yang Jisheng's mood remained calm, and there was even a hint of teasing in his tone. "Oh—could it be that Commander Xu doesn't want to fight anymore and wants to report to me that the 2nd Brigade has applied to be a reserve force?"

"No!

"The 2nd Brigade would rather die than serve as a reserve force!"

A startled Heo Hyung-sik shouted into the intercom. Soon, as if receiving a sharp kick in the ass, the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Training Division of the Mobile Corps regrouped and headed north.

Even though the Suiyuan garrison had noticed the growing number of the Eighth Route Army in the Yili League, Lucheng itself was not a suitable city for deployment in the south. Once the natural barrier of the Yellow River approaching the city was breached, the terrain of mountains to the north and rivers to the south would inevitably shrink the entire Lucheng defense depth to almost nothing.

The 2nd Brigade, which had broken through the airport and train station and received a round of supplies, almost pushed its starting position to the south gate of Lucheng.

In this situation, Xu Hengzha relied on the current firepower advantage and decided to go all out. He simply did not organize a marching formation. Instead, he called on the 122mm artillery of the artillery column to prepare firepower, and directly deployed an offensive formation for urban warfare. The detailed topographic map of Lucheng had long been distributed to the troops below. Although it was not as detailed as the Japanese defense map, it was enough for the 2nd Brigade to be targeted in the next attack.

"Commander Yang said that we can capture this small Lucheng without any problem, but if we don't fight well, our 2nd Brigade will have to serve as a reserve force from now on!"

Accompanied by the brigade commander's roar, about 5 minutes later, the grenades fired by the 122mm artillery passed over their heads like falling stars.

Boom!

"First, second, and third battalions, coordinate with the tanks and engineers! Do you see the artillery?" Brigade Commander Xu personally went down to the troops, pointed at the sparks rising from the city wall, and sternly instructed them. "I won't say much else, but remember the key points of urban warfare. If you encounter tough opponents, bombard them with artillery and explosives. Blast them if you can!"

"Yes!"

Powerful firepower pounded the already crumbling classical city wall. These days, neglected, old-fashioned city walls can easily become a storage facility for building materials for city dwellers—Lucheng was no exception, with several sections of its walls already demolished.

Even if it had been fortunate enough to be preserved, the wall, built in the 1870s, was now more like a brick and stone embankment that was wider than it was high. After 15 minutes of bombardment, the embankment was almost reduced to a gentle slope, with brick and stone debris mixed with yellow dust and collapsed in several places.

At the same time, under the fierce bombardment, the cavalry regiment and cavalry group garrison in the city could not assemble smoothly and were in chaos - the artillery positions were covered, the defensive forces outside the city were wiped out, and the charging friendly forces were killed in pieces. This powerful and stimulating reality made some Japanese soldiers feel dazed and dreamy.

However, this overwhelmingly unfavorable situation made Lieutenant General Masao Baba, who had urgently taken over the command of the city defense, completely give up and calm down.

He wisely gave up on organizing his forces and launching a counterattack with a boarding charge, and instead began organizing his troops to defend the city. Under the command of the city's telephones, wired broadcasts, and messengers, the remaining approximately 200 Japanese troops in Lucheng were re-demarcated into defense zones and began to retreat to three relatively sturdy buildings.

The cavalry group also targeted a chaotic array of puppet troops, including the "Dahan Righteous Army," the Lucheng City Government Security Corps, the Yili League Office, and numerous Japanese-controlled companies. Under the sharp guns of the military police, these companies abandoned their separate defenses, surrendered their troops and escorts, and organized a force of approximately 1000 to participate in the battle.

According to Lieutenant General Baba's orders, these individuals would be deployed to positions surrounding several defensive buildings, acting as filler for the barricade defenses. "Army Mechanized Unit, 13th Cavalry Regiment, 14th Cavalry Regiment, and 26th Cavalry Regiment! All units will move out immediately and advance towards the Lucheng area!"

Masao Baba ordered the signalman to draft a telegram immediately, calling on all the surrounding cavalry regiments, mecha units and infantry units to set out immediately and rush to Lucheng for assistance.

"Gentlemen! Lucheng is surrounded by railroads, and the cavalry and mecha units are highly mobile! We'll be there in less than half a day!"

After all this was arranged, Lieutenant General Masao Baba drew his pistol and, while organizing his subordinates to distribute weapons to non-combatants, he also encouraged everyone's morale. "Gentlemen! Close combat will prevent the Communist Army from utilizing its firepower advantage; the complexity of urban combat will hinder the Communist Army's communications and disperse its forces!"

"As long as we hold on to the city's facilities and engage in street fighting with the Communists, the cavalry regiment will be able to cooperate with us from the inside and outside, and we will be able to surround and destroy the Communists! "The Imperial Japanese Army will surely win!"

Meanwhile, as the 122nd Artillery Corps completed its 15-minute fire preparation, a rare silence descended on the positions outside Lucheng. Heo Hyung-sik, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Training Division of the Mobile Corps, glanced at the electronic map at brigade headquarters. Around him, Commander Wang Jinglong of the 1st Training Brigade was leading his troops east of the city, while Qi Baotang of the 3rd Brigade, acting as a follow-up unit, crossed the river with the logistics unit.

Further west, the 11th Division of the Northwest Field Army in the border region had already crossed the Yellow River at Zhaojunfen Ferry. They easily defeated part of the 1st Division of the Puppet Mongolian Army responsible for river defense, then gathered their forces, leaving one regiment to block the Japanese cavalry reinforcements from the west, while leading the remaining troops eastward towards Lucheng.

"Don't think too much about it. Lucheng is just a tiny place!"

Chapter 473: Fighting in the Narrow Alleys

Lucheng, a "water and land port" city that developed because it is close to the Yellow River, connected to the northwest land camel trade route, and has a railway, even though it has a very good construction scale in Suiyuan Province at that time, its absolute size is still not that big.

It has a nearly circular earth and stone wall with a circumference of 8.5 kilometers, but the town is only more than 2 kilometers wide from east to west. The permanent population is less than 8, and most of them live outside the city. Compared with the huge settlements on the North China Plain, this kind of city is really small.

Therefore, to deal with it, we cannot yet use the large-scale urban warfare tactics developed by our army in another time and space, namely "dividing the area and defeating it piecemeal." We only need to strictly implement the street fighting principles of "breaking through walls and holes, and earthwork." Of course, in this time and space, the comrades of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division have an even simpler option:

Use armor to reduce casualties and exchange equivalent for combat effectiveness!

A major advantage of the motorized mixed brigade is its flexibility in handling multiple tasks. After the siege began, the three combat battalions of the entire 2nd Brigade were disbanded and reorganized with the remaining engineering, armored, artillery and communication units within the organization, forming three combat groups composed of multiple combat groups, and were able to launch a fierce offensive in one main direction and one secondary direction.

Faced with the current situation, the brigade armored company's 11 T26E tanks were divided into four groups and entered the cramped Lucheng urban area under the cover of infantry and combat engineers.

According to reconnaissance and deciphered telegrams, the Japanese troops within the city had already withdrawn towards the three core defensive areas: the Cavalry Group Headquarters, the "Greater East Asia" Military Club, and the East City Christian Church, adopting a defensive posture and actively calling for reinforcements. This was a wise move, not only reducing the waste caused by guerrilla resistance but also increasing the density of defense in the street fighting, thus prolonging the resistance.

But the damn Eighth Route Army these days just likes to knock on turtle shells like this!

Outside Lucheng, the brigade artillery deployed its own tractors to help its own equipment and the anti-aircraft company's M2 machine guns climb up to the gate tower. Soon, several artillery positions were deployed on the earthen walls, and the artillerymen began to suppress the city from above.

The 10mm, 75mm and .50mm ammunition belts quickly expanded the Eighth Route Army's fire control area to the entire Lucheng area. The cavalry group, which had been deprived of long-range artillery firepower, was simply unable to destroy our army's firepower points on the city walls and the high ground outside the city, and could only passively take the beating.

All Japanese firing points exposed on the skyline were first hit by a double blow of direct and indirect fire, followed by a barrage of machine gun fire. "The barricades made of sandbags and wood collapsed and disintegrated before the "machine guns" with tracer bullets, as fragile as paper; and even the brick-concrete walls and cement-roofed bunkers that could withstand 82 mortar shells would quickly attract orange or green smoke bombs, followed by fierce fire attacks.

The next second, the first thing that appeared at the end of the barricade was a Communist tank!

—―-―--―-

"Shoot!" The commanding Japanese officer swung his saber downwards, repeating the order uselessly as if to drive out his fear. "Shoot!"

Suddenly, the Japanese and puppet troops in the barricades fired a barrage of bullets, sending sparks flying at the inert tank. A high-explosive round from the only remaining Type 92 battalion gun struck the tank's turret, sending a cloud of orange smoke billowing.

The entire cavalry group's four 37mm anti-tank guns had been buried in the bunkers outside the city, and the other four 20mm anti-aircraft guns were destroyed or captured at the airport. At this point, the huge cavalry group had few anti-tank weapons left.

The Communist T26 in front of him was obviously not the T26 that Russia had seen in the identification manual. It was covered with pieces of additional armor like iron boxes, which made it a bit clumsy, but it had an aura of indestructibility - the 70mm infantry grenade only blew away a "leek box" and left an ugly black stain on the surface of the armor.

“Aa ...

Three unlucky souls jumped out of the barricade, shouting, grabbing a blasting tube and rushing towards the T26E.

The narrow streets limited their route of attack, but the collapsed, burning debris also limited the Communist army's vision. However, the crackling fuse gave these so-called "human bomb fighters" little time to think or evade. They could only charge forward, clutching their explosive tubes tightly, hoping to reach the tank and destroy it.

The tank did not move forward, but simply stopped, and in the slightly dispersed smoke, the unfortunate men saw some vague figures swaying in the distance.

Then, the tank turret that seemed to be turning towards them stopped turning.

The gun barrel was pointed at the outer barricade that was firing in the distance.

"Tanks, ignore those Japanese soldiers, attack the bunkers! Directly ahead, high-explosive bombs and enemy artillery fortifications!"

The squad leader behind the tank grabbed the phone receiver from the tank's rear end, yelled, and then blew the whistle, commanding the squad to counterattack the Japanese "close-in blast." "Machine gunners, suppress them, someone get on the tank!"

"Once the breakthrough team arrives, we'll push forward!"

The two light machine guns in the squad began to rhythmically suppress the three demolition soldiers who were advancing under the cover of fire from the rear. Another soldier put his rifle on his back, climbed behind the rear of the tank, and began to suppress the fire with a machine gun installed behind the turret.

The accompanying tank aimed at the barricade in the distance and fired a high-explosive bomb.

Bang!

A golden streak of fire extended from the barrel, splashing onto the Japanese roadblocks and barricades built of sandbags and stone bricks. The 92mm rifle's shield could block rifle bullets, but it was completely powerless against 45mm high-explosive shells. After a loud bang, the second shell that was about to be fired was suffocated in the barrel.

Immediately, a second round of follow-up shells struck, completely destroying the infantry gun and knocking away a nearby machine gun, completely crippling the entire barricade. "Zizizizizi... Breakthrough team has arrived... Repeat, breakthrough team has arrived, left side of the road, be careful of accidental injuries!"

"it is good!"

With a sharp whistle, these soldiers, who had fought through the jungles and villages of the White Mountains and Black Waters, accompanied by the reactivated tanks, launched a final assault on the Japanese barricade. The third high-explosive round blew the machine gun on one side of the barricade skyward, while on the other side, the seemingly sleepless house suddenly swelled up like a balloon.

A violent explosion enveloped the entire barricade, and the breakthrough group that had been moving along the main street finally emerged: they wore shrapnel-resistant suits, conical helmets, and carried submachine guns and TNT explosives. In the previous battle, they had been under the cover of the front-line troops, using explosives and demolition to move between buildings, making flanking maneuvers and ultimately launching a fierce attack from behind the Japanese.

Boom! Boom!

The Japanese and puppet troops who had just retreated from the barricade were immediately attacked from both sides, falling one after another without even having time to surrender. The barricade, equipped with machine guns, artillery, and barbed wire, could not hold the Eighth Route Army back for more than 10 minutes before it was completely penetrated, leaving a path open for the attack on the cavalry group headquarters.

However, the only interlude was the three Japanese soldiers holding blasting tubes. One of them suddenly stood up, shouted "Load!", and tried to throw the blasting tube at the tank; another pulled the fuse and rushed towards the tank; and the third was so scared that he trembled and could not move.

The only common ending for these three people was that they were beaten into bloody gourds by the automatic firepower of the Eighth Route Army on the chaotic and ever-changing battlefield.

Chapter 474: Capture Another Lieutenant General

Lucheng's defensive core consisted of three locations: the Cavalry Group Headquarters, the "Greater East Asia" Military Club, the East City Christian Church, and, if you must, a bathhouse within the city walls. This wasn't to say these locations were particularly sturdy defense bunkers or command posts, but simply that they were among the few remaining multi-story concrete structures within Lucheng.

These structures, constructed of concrete and brick, were much stronger than rammed earth or wooden houses. By piling sandbags around the windows, they could protect the defenders from direct hits from machine guns and rifles. Combined with surrounding support positions, they could form a solid defensive node.

So, to put it the other way around, when the positions around the defensive node are shattered by indirect fire, direct fire and close-range attacks, no matter how indestructible this defensive core is, it is just pork belly on the chopping board, waiting to be sliced ​​or chopped into pieces.

What's more, the Japanese cavalry group headquarters was not a solid bunker at all.

"Captain of the Second Company, Captain of the Second Company, why don't you fight anymore?"

After breaching two barricades, disarming two groups of Japanese and puppet troops, and defeating a group of armed Japanese residents, the commander of the 1st Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Brigade and his tanks finally reached their target. Just now, two combat teams from their company had successfully completed the task of clearing out strongholds within and outside the area, with less than 10 casualties, indicating that their combat effectiveness was at its peak.

"That's the Japanese headquarters inside. They say there's a high-ranking official there! The Japanese Communist Party comrades are calling out, let's see if we can capture him alive."

"oh....…"

The 1st Company Commander nodded in sudden realization. The lonely three-story concrete building in front of him was located in an open space in the city. The surrounding walls, garden trees and ancillary buildings had almost been cleared away, and a circle of trenches had been dug - but now the trenches were filled with smoke, with many bullet craters and dead bodies of Japanese soldiers. It was obvious that they had no resistance anymore.

In the distance, a tank was hiding behind the rubble, and a short Japanese Eighth Route Army member was holding an electric horn and shouting loudly in a rhythmic manner.

"General Baba! Colonel Saito! Your troops have collapsed under our artillery fire and are now in complete disarray! You are refusing to defend your position. Do you expect to wait for the mecha units in the north of the city and Sarachi's cavalry regiment to come to your rescue? You won't be able to wait!"

"Now, you have no other options, so don't kill any more Japanese people..."

"I say, will this work?"

Looking at the Japanese Eighth Route Army soldier who was diligently mumbling in Japanese, the 1st Company Commander expressed his doubts. Throughout the attack, he had seen many puppet Mongolian soldiers fleeing and surrendering, but few Japanese surrendered voluntarily. Even those armed Japanese residents in ill-fitting uniforms refused to surrender despite our army's calls, and even fired in resistance.

Whether it worked or not is another matter, but shouting something out was necessary. If shouting twice would have helped, we might as well have let that little... Japanese comrade shout more, saving two of our soldiers the lives of others. The chaotic street fighting had saturated the Eighth Route Army's already ample firepower, and the assault teams were unable to call upon large-caliber artillery for the time being.

The battalion staff officer and company instructor, who were organizing the combat engineers to support the battle, came over and cautiously poked their heads out to observe the situation on the scene. The commanders of the two companies met briefly and were about to discuss the next battle plan when the Japanese Eighth Route Army soldiers who were shouting over suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

"Gentlemen, stop giving away your lives to unjust wars...ah!"

A flash of fire appeared in a hole in the wall of the headquarters, and a "ding" sound came from the turret of the T26E. Although the bullet did not hit anyone, it still scared the Japanese comrade.

He jumped and rolled off the tank.

The next second, several machine guns blazed, sending shards flying through the wall and sandbags surrounding the window. The T26E, already barricaded, unleashed a grenade into the hole, sending up a reddish cloud of dust. "Fuck! A pig can't stop humming, and a dog can't stop eating shit!"

Seeing that the Japanese were still resisting stubbornly, the commander of the 2nd Company of the 3rd Battalion, who had organized the call, cursed angrily. He shouted, "Talk about bullshit! Prepare to attack!"

one-------

The 122mm guns of the artillery column outside the city were pounding the enemy barracks, the 100mm guns of the brigade were assisting the "Greater East Asia" military club, the 75mm mountain guns were supporting the troops attacking the church, and the 25-pounders were being withdrawn and transferred, temporarily unable to provide support. Looking at the ineffective 82mm and 60mm mortars, the relegated battalion staff officer borrowed the company-level digital radio and, expressionlessly, called for support from the other "direct-fire artillery."

"Large-caliber machine guns are also artillery! We've destroyed the enemy's airfields. It takes an hour to fly to the nearest Zhangyuan airport, not to mention the air force—don't save your bullets!"

As a soldier launched an orange smoke bomb onto the rooftop with a muzzle-mounted grenade, several thick chains of fire suddenly lashed out from the eastern wall. Several .50mm anti-aircraft machine guns fired at the brick and concrete building, blasting a whole box of ammunition. In an instant, bricks shattered, concrete exploded, and sandbags blocking the windows burst like water balloons. In addition, the accompanying mortars, tank guns, and light and heavy machine guns...

— and opened fire, and the Japs' cavalry group headquarters was once again engulfed in flames.

Shoot, thick smoke rises.

Under cover of artillery fire, two groups of combat engineers and one group of assault soldiers quickly approached the three-story "building." One group rushed to the main entrance and hid behind the Japanese bunkers; one group carried two newly assembled wooden ladders and approached the side of the small building; while another group, carrying serial blasting tubes, reached the windowless wall of the first floor. The combat engineers quickly kneaded TNT blocks and plastic explosives into shape, inserted detonators, and affixed them to the brick wall.

Immediately, the fire support stopped, and the assault team at the main gate threw a whole bundle of cluster grenades into the hallway. The assault team on the side rushed up to the second floor, and the assault team on the side wall also pressed the detonator. Unlike the machine guns chiseling the wall, the explosion of the shells hitting the ground rang out again in the building.

Accompanied by angry roars, the screams of the Japanese, and the crackling sound of submachine gunfire, the general attack on the cavalry group headquarters finally began!

Soldiers wearing anti-fragmentation suits and holding submachine guns entered the building. They turned on the flashlights tied to the muzzles of their guns and moved forward while searching.

The building was filled with a strong smell of blood and earth, strewn with bricks, rubble, and indescribable organic matter. The M2 machine guns on the walls, the tank guns, mortars, and other supporting fire outside the building had riddled the building's walls with holes, killing and wounding many of the Japanese soldiers who were holding out. Some were killed by the explosion, some were seriously injured by shrapnel and were only left with their last breath, and some were only left with parts of their bodies...

Even amidst this tragic scene, they could see sunlight streaming in through the cracks and bullet holes in the wall, casting wisps of light through the smoke and dust inside the building, like a golden cage. "These devils refuse to surrender and are even shooting at our Japanese comrades. Be careful!"

Unfortunately, no one had time to reflect; they had to focus on clearing the scene. The heavy steel shrapnel suits were enough to protect against grenade fragments and Japanese pistol fire at point-blank range, but not rifle fire. "—Building secure!"

“Two on the second floor!”

Two Japanese soldiers emerged from the second-floor stairwell. Soldiers climbing the stairs immediately opened fire, knocking one down and wounding another. The assault team attacking from the second-floor window returned fire from a different angle, killing the Japanese soldier in the hand. The grenade he hadn't even thrown had landed at his feet, thumping and severing his body.

The third floor of the house has almost collapsed due to mortar fire, and the second floor is now the highest floor!

The commandos on the first and second floors successfully met up. They took a glance at the Japanese guard wearing an officer's uniform and white gloves, and knew that the battle was basically over.

The signalman who was destroying the code book, the staff officer who was trying to make a desperate attack with a pistol, the orderly who was pretending to be a corpse and trying to escape... The commandos paid the price of 4 people being shot and 2 people being sacrificed, and quickly wiped out the desperate resistance of the cavalry group headquarters.

Soon, the soldiers rushed into the last office on this floor that had not been cleaned.

They kicked open the nearly shattered wooden door and found Masao Baba struggling in a pool of blood. The cavalry commander, unable to find anyone to intervene at the last moment, had resorted to self-seppuku. Perhaps due to his age and lack of strength, or perhaps simply a desire to die, Lieutenant General Baba's seppuku was only halfway done. He cut through the skin and a layer of muscle but didn't penetrate the peritoneum, which would have endangered his life. He simply rolled over in agony.

In the end, the unfortunate Masao Baba was tied tightly with yellow tape to a door panel stretcher and carried to the hospital in the rear. He gloriously followed in the footsteps of the monk Major General Miura Toshiji and became the second Japanese general captured alive by the Eighth Route Army.

Chapter 475: Blocking the Door and Preventing Reinforcements

Before the sun climbed to noon in the sky, the siege of Lucheng was basically over.

After all, in a sense, Lucheng was undefendable—it was the end of the Japanese supply line, and the cavalry group was already stretched to its limit with only four cavalry regiments, each numbering around a thousand men. The puppet Mongols, the primary defensive force, were the type that Fu Yisheng could defeat and persuade to surrender. Furthermore, the Eighth Route Army's offensive capabilities were far inferior to those of the past, and the cavalry group, which had hoped to replicate the Lucheng battle of December 1939, naturally couldn't make a dent.

But the battlefield of the Lucheng Battle was far more than just Lucheng.

Just as General Baba, who failed to commit seppuku, imagined: as subordinates of the Mongolian Army, the Japanese troops around Lucheng were all highly mobile cavalry and mecha units.

As long as they hold on for a while, these troops who received the telegram for help will be

The team must set out quickly and come to the rescue quickly.