mtl008 Chapter 356: Change of tactics?
Chapter 356: Change of tactics?
Colonel Fukushima Yoshitomo, commander of the 13th Division's Quartermaster Regiment, never imagined that his regiment would have to go head-on into the battlefield and conduct an attack this time. Even when the division commander, Lieutenant General Ogisu Rippei, explained to him the precautions in the battle, Colonel Fukushima Yoshitomo was still a little confused.
For Colonel Fukushima Yoshitoshi, the regiment commander, the current situation was simply out of the question. Since when did the Imperial Japanese Army's offensive operations have to be carried out by the quartermaster troops? If the quartermaster troops were capable of carrying out operations of this intensity, then why would his regiment still be a quartermaster troop? It would have been a main infantry regiment long ago.
After receiving pre-war instructions from the division commander, Lieutenant General Ogisu Rikuhei, Colonel Fukushima Yoshitomo returned to the assembled troops. He needed to lead his troops in attack formation and advance towards the Chinese army's defensive positions north of the highway.
His supply corps now has only more than 1,600 men, which is not fully staffed. Moreover, it does not even have any artillery support. This makes Colonel Fukushima Yoshitomo very unconfident about this attack.
Although it was carried out tentatively, according to the requirements of the division commander, his regiment needed to understand the firepower configuration and deployment of the Chinese army's defensive positions. This required his regiment to increase the intensity of the offensive operations and force the Chinese army to expose all its cards.
But in the current situation, Colonel Fukushima Yoshitoshi does not think that his regiment can complete this difficult task. If you want the Chinese army to expose all its firepower, you must at least configure a very strong offensive firepower. Are you going to rely on the rifles in the hands of more than a thousand baggage soldiers?
His regiment also had heavy machine guns, but there were only eight of them. This was just the heavy machine gun configuration of a normal infantry battalion. After all, under normal circumstances, the logistics soldiers did not need to carry heavy machine guns around. Their task was to ensure the smooth transportation of materials and ammunition, not to attack cities and plunder cities.
Colonel Fukushima Yoshitomo also knew that now only his regiment could complete the task assigned by the division commander. After all, his regiment still had more than a thousand people, while the 116th Regiment now had less than a thousand people in total, which was much smaller than his own regiment. It was already very good that they could hold their positions.
When the position on the north side of the highway appeared in Colonel Fukushima Yoshitoshi's telescope, all the officers and soldiers of the 13th Division's Quartermaster Corps were ready for the attack. Although the last time they made preparations for an attack was during the training of new recruits, these quartermaster soldiers still completed the preparations very skillfully and were only waiting for the order from the corps commander to launch the attack.
Colonel Fukushima Yoshitomo glanced at the quiet Chinese army defensive position opposite. He had already told the officers and soldiers everything he needed to say before, so there was no need to say anything more now. As for whether he could complete the task assigned by the division commander, that depended on God's will.
"The heavy machine guns start firing, and all troops launch the attack." Colonel Fukushima Yoshitoshi drew out his command knife, pointed it at the defensive position of the Chinese army opposite, and roared loudly.
Following an order from Colonel Fukushima Yoshitomo, the eight heavy machine guns of the Quartermaster Corps roared at the same time. More than a thousand soldiers of the Quartermaster Corps, led by their respective officers, began a charge attack on the Chinese army's defensive positions.
When the Japanese attack force arrived, the sentry posts on the new 100th Division's position had already discovered it. The commander on the position also ordered most of the officers and soldiers to hide in the anti-artillery holes that had been dug long ago, preparing to avoid the upcoming artillery coverage of the Japanese army.
This was also the routine before the Japanese army launched an attack. For the officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division who had fought with the Japanese army many times, the Japanese army's attack was so stereotyped: artillery bombardment, infantry charge, and after the infantry charge, artillery bombardment. It was an unchanging routine that never changed.
When the Japanese troops began to charge under the cover of heavy machine guns, the remaining observation sentries on the positions were stunned. Why didn't the Japanese army follow the previous routine? Why didn't they even have artillery support?
But after the sentries on the position realized what was happening, they quickly blew the whistle to enter the position. The whistles that filled the entire position also confused the officers and soldiers hiding in the anti-artillery caves. Where was the Japanese artillery coverage?
"Hurry, get into the position, hurry up, don't be dazed, I'm talking to you, why are you looking at me, hurry up and get to the position with your guns." The shouts of officers were heard everywhere on the position.
The officers are now filled with rage, feeling that they have been fooled by the Japanese army this time. This is really unacceptable to them. It has always been the New 100th Division that fooled the Japanese army, so why were they fooled by the Japanese army?
The officers and soldiers of the new 100th Division on the battlefield also quickly entered the firing positions on the battlefield, and officers at all levels were cursing and loudly encouraging.
"Fight hard for me later. Damn it. When has our new 100th Division ever suffered such a big loss? Cheer up. Whoever slacks off will have to wash the socks for the brothers for a month." A captain, the company commander, shouted loudly with a red face and thick neck.
When the Japanese assault troops arrived 300 meters in front of the defensive position, all the officers on the position stopped agitating and lay down in the trenches, closely watching the advance speed of the Japanese army.
The officers and soldiers of the Japanese Army's Quartermaster Corps also increased the speed of their charge a lot after entering a distance of 300 meters. They knew that the Chinese army would generally start shooting when the charging troops reached a distance of about 200 meters.
As the Japanese assault troops entered the 100-meter range of their positions, fierce gunfire rang out from the defensive positions of the New th Division, and a large number of Japanese soldiers in the front row fell down when the gunfire rang out.
The remaining Japanese officers and soldiers quickly lay on the ground and used their rifles and light machine guns to counterattack the defensive positions of the New 100th Division. However, their counterattack firepower was obviously unable to suppress the shooting intensity of the opposite defensive positions.
On the contrary, the firepower on the defensive position was extremely accurate and fierce, which pinned the attacking baggage regiment about 200 meters away and made them unable to move. As long as anyone dared to stand up and move, he would definitely be chased and attacked by a volley of accurate and fierce shooting until he was hit and fell to the ground.
The regiment commander, Colonel Fukushima Yoshitoshi, held a telescope and carefully watched the attack of his troops. Beside him were several staff officers sent by the division headquarters, who were using artillery telescopes to draw fire maps of the Chinese army's defensive positions.
This was the preliminary preparation for the subsequent formal large-scale offensive, but this time the reconnaissance mission was completed using the lives and blood of the soldiers.