mtl008 Chapter 363: Difficult to Solve
Chapter 363: Difficult to Solve
Ouyang Heng lit a cigarette and took two puffs, then said thoughtfully, "Yes, I hope the Japanese army will start the attack right away, so that the intensity of the battle will gradually increase, and the officers and soldiers of the army will gradually adapt."
"Don't worry, the Japanese are more anxious than us. Just wait, they may start attacking in the afternoon. The 16th Division in their encirclement was beaten badly, and they probably don't have much supplies and ammunition. After occupying Xinye, our troops seized all the supplies and ammunition stockpiled by the Japanese, and made a fortune." Zhang Wenwu put down the bowl, wiped his mouth and said slowly.
"Well, I'll let the troops in the front get ready. The Japanese might attack in the afternoon. We should not be caught off guard by them." Ouyang Heng thought about it and prepared to get up and walk around the position in the front.
"By the way, Brother Ouyang, if the Japanese army attacks, we should do as we did in our previous defensive battle in Yangcheng. Organize the sharpshooters and eliminate as many Japanese officers as possible. Without the command of officers, the strength of the Japanese attack will be greatly reduced." Zhang Wenwu also gave instructions to Ouyang Heng who was about to walk out of the tent.
Ouyang Heng waved his hand to show that he understood, and then walked out of the tent.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the artillery pieces on the Japanese rear artillery positions roared almost at the same time. For a moment, a series of artillery explosions were heard on the positions of the new 100th Division on the north side of the Xiangzao Highway.
"Division Commander, the Japanese reinforcements have arrived, and they seem to have heavy artillery." As soon as the Japanese artillery bombardment started, Ouyang Heng rushed to Zhang Wenwu who was chatting with the staff officer outside the tent and said.
"Well, the Japanese army has heavy artillery. The sound of the artillery explosion just now was obviously from the heavy artillery. It seems that the Japanese army has not prepared for so long in vain." Zhang Wenwu looked at the black smoke rising from the position in the distance and said as if talking to himself.
Zhang Wenwu knew that from now on, the Japanese army would launch a fierce attack on the defensive positions of his troops, and the subsequent battles would be very intense. Judging from the intensity of the Japanese artillery bombardment, the Japanese army should have concentrated the artillery of no less than one artillery regiment to be responsible for artillery support.
Among them are some rare heavy artillery, which shows how much the Japanese army values their defensive positions and is also a statement of their determination to win.
On the defensive position of the new 100th Division, the impact points of the Japanese artillery shells were now quite dense, which made the officers and soldiers hiding in the anti-artillery caves realize that the Japanese army had really started the attack this time. Some of the veterans also heard the sound of heavy artillery shells exploding in the sound of the Japanese artillery fire, which made the veterans feel a little worried.
You know, once the Japanese army uses heavy artillery in certain places, it means that the Japanese army attaches great importance to this operation and will invest a considerable amount of manpower to attack. This is not a good thing. In this defensive operation, the superiors did not specify how long to hold.
This means that this defensive operation may take a long time, and the Japanese army will launch a very fierce attack on the positions of our troops. It is hard to say whether we can survive such an intense and long battle.
After a long twenty-minute bombardment, the Japanese artillery units almost simultaneously stopped shelling the defensive positions of the New 100th Division. The officers and soldiers of the 100st Battalion of the th Regiment, under the command of the battalion commander, Major An Manqinyi, began a charge attack on the defensive positions of the New th Division.
Intermittent whistles were also sounded at the positions of the new 100th Division. All the officers and soldiers on the positions quickly rushed out of the anti-artillery holes. However, they were all covered in dust and dirt. But the officers and soldiers knew that their appearance was not important now, and the most important thing was to hold the position.
The battalion commander, Major An Manqinyi, also led the heavy machine gun unit to quickly set up a position behind the attacking force and began firing at the defensive positions of the new 100th Division to provide fire support for the attacking force.
When the first battalion's attacking force was two hundred meters ahead of the defensive position, fierce gunfire was heard from the defensive position of the new 100th Division, especially the shooting of the sharpshooters, which accurately knocked down a large number of Japanese officers.
The attacking troops that had lost some grassroots officers were suppressed in front of the position and were somewhat at a loss. They could not move forward or retreat, so they could only fight back on the spot and wait for the actions of other troops, and then follow the troops that still had officers.
The battalion commander, Major An Manqin, also discovered the problem with the attacking force in front. He immediately sent out a signalman to find the command post of the front force and asked him to adjust the troops and continue to attack.
Major An Manqinyi did not expect that the shooting accuracy of the new 22nd Army of the Chinese government was so high that they knocked down so many officers and soldiers at the very beginning. This made it seem that there was no room for the implementation of the combat plan he had previously formulated.
Colonel Naomitsu Takano, commander of the 18th Regiment, was also observing the attack of the 1st Battalion from behind. Before the war, he had made a sufficient estimate of the defensive strength of the Chinese government's new 22nd Army.
The commander of the regiment, Colonel Naomitsu Takano, felt that he had made all preparations in his mind, but when he saw the attack of the 1st Battalion, he was still a little shocked.
The Chinese government's new 22nd Army really lives up to its reputation. Its defense organization is so well-organized. No wonder so many divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army were defeated by its defense. It is really very powerful.
The officers and soldiers of the First Battalion also followed the Infantry Drill Manual during the attack and executed each tactical action very standardizedly. However, probably because the officers in the front suffered more casualties, the offensive rhythm of the attacking force is not smooth.
Some troops continued to advance, some troops were shooting on the spot, and some troops were always slow to react. They seemed to react only after the troops next to them attacked forward and followed suit. There was no coordination or cover between them at all.
When the regiment commander, Colonel Naomitsu Takano, saw this situation, he knew that there were a large number of casualties among the grassroots officers of the attacking forces in the front, which would cause the current situation of serious uncoordinated attack. This was something no one had expected before the war.
Now the commander of the regiment, Colonel Naomitsu Takano, has no other options and can only rely on the commander of the first battalion, Major Kinichi Yasumitsu, to solve the problem on the spot.
However, the commander of the regiment, Colonel Naomitsu Takano, knew very well that Major Kinichi Anman would not be able to resolve this situation unless he had a large number of reserve officers in reserve before the war and everyone was very familiar with the offensive plan.