Chapter 154: The Empty Prince Wang Chengzhu

Shoot the horse first when shooting a person, and capture the leader first when capturing a thief. This is a strategy that has been in place since ancient times. As long as there is war in the world, this rule will always apply.

So many military textbooks say one thing, that is, the command post must be built in the rear to prevent being hit by the enemy's long-range means.

After all, if the military chief is killed, the battle is basically half lost.

But in actual combat, commanding from the front can be said to be an unspoken rule.

Apart from the personal character and habits of the commander, this can make the command more timely. It is also convenient for the brain of a unit to grasp first-hand intelligence and correctly analyze the entire battlefield situation.

The devils attacking Lion's Head Mountain now are the last force that Katayama Shotaro can currently use.

In order to observe and command these soldiers, his command post is almost at the foot of the mountain, even ahead of the artillery positions in the rear.

The sudden artillery bombardment of the 385th Brigade scared the old devil into a cold sweat. He didn't expect the other commander to be so patient and still have a backhand after fighting until now.

The complete destruction of the mountain artillery battalion, in addition to the frustration that made Katayama Shotaro feel distressed, was more of a fear.

The Japanese major general did not even bother to ask whether the attack on the side of Lion's Head Mountain was going smoothly. At this moment, he was only thinking about his own safety.

Under the repeated urging of Chief of Staff Katsuto Kodera, Katayama Shotaro immediately ordered the command post to move back to Yangquan County.

At the same time, the group of isolated and helpless devils were almost killed and wounded.

After all, in the position of the mountainside, facing the righteous group fight of more than 2,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers, even if they were all replaced by Yamamoto Ikki, they would not be able to make any waves.

After a real fight, Li Yunlong became refreshed.

When the New Second Regiment arrived at Lion's Head Mountain, the side position was already in crisis. So Zhao Gang did not stop his partner, which gave Captain Li the opportunity to lead the assault team to charge.

After killing several devils with his own hands, the anger that had been suppressed for several months was finally released. However, as a veteran commander with rich combat experience, Li Yunlong knew that he had to fight as quickly as possible at this time.

He first took out a portable phone and told the friendly forces above that the New Second Regiment was preparing to launch a full charge.

Then he snatched an FM-24/29 from Hu Zi's hand and rushed towards the enemy with the pace of the assault team.

Looking at Li Yunlong's resolute back, Zhao Gang said to the bugler anxiously: "Blow the horn! Everyone follow me and kill those little devils!"

Accompanied by the loud charge horn, the soldiers quickly killed the enemy in front of them, and the remaining remnants had no spare power to resist.

After the battle, the comrades immediately began to clean up the battlefield efficiently.

Since Zhao Gang came to the New Second Regiment, Li Yunlong didn't have to worry about many details. At this time, he was holding a large blade and looking for the devils who had not died on the entire battlefield.

Suddenly, Lao Li vaguely saw a convoy preparing to set off. It seemed to be heading out of Lion Head Mountain to Yangquan.

To make sure it wasn't his eyes, he wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve, then picked up the telescope hanging around his neck and observed carefully.

This look really yielded an unexpected reward, there was actually a rare jeep in the Japanese convoy.

If it was Li Yunlong a few months ago, he might not have known the model and basic information of the car.

But since he learned to drive, he has been full of interest in this fashionable thing, and even has a special hobby.

Captain Li would study the enemy's various vehicles in his spare time, and then make a horizontal comparison with Huang He's Citroen U23.

This made him recognize that the car was a Type 95 four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle, which was mainly used by officers in the Japanese army, taking into account patrol and reconnaissance.

"Zhu Zi! Hurry up and push the Type 92 infantry gun over to me."

In the previous attack, Wang Chengzhu and his gun crew used this gun to knock down several difficult Japanese firepower points.

After the battle, they had just dismantled the infantry gun, after all, it was too hard to carry a half-ton thing up the mountain.

Hearing the call from his own regiment leader, Zhuzi immediately realized that he had another job, so he picked up the gun shield and ran.

Although all the Japanese were dead, it was highly likely that this 4mm thick steel plate would not be used.

But since the artillery attack on Sakata, in order to prevent the danger of being shot by the enemy again, he has now evolved into a sinister old scoundrel.

"Report to the regiment leader! Artillery company commander Wang Chengzhu is waiting for instructions!"

After several months of learning, Zhuzi has been able to skillfully use all types of artillery available in the Eighth Route Army. After returning to Li Yunlong's men, he took advantage of the opportunity to become the artillery company commander of the new second regiment.

"Look, there is a Japanese convoy over there. The jeep in the front should be a senior officer, at least a colonel."

"Old rules, half a pound of sweet potato, think of a way to shoot them!"

Hearing the familiar reward, Wang Chengzhu, who hadn't drunk for a few days, took out a map from his pocket without saying a word. It is not appropriate to use the eye-jumping method at this distance, and a more scientific method is needed to aim.

In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Guosu issued a batch of military maps to the Eighth Route Army. However, due to their low accuracy and age, they could no longer meet the needs of combat.

In order to cope with future wars, they also wanted to make the artillery in their hands more accurate.

Wang Chengzhu personally led people to the important town where the Japanese were stationed and drew several maps for artillery. Although he was just an ordinary grassroots officer, he firmly believed that the troops would be able to recover the lost land sooner or later.

Because there was no professional theodolite, they could only measure on the spot during the day and calculate and draw at night. It took a full month to draw this Yangquan map in hand.

While his company commander was calculating the trajectory and data, the other five members of the artillery group had already assembled the Type 92 infantry gun skillfully.

Opportunities always come to those who are prepared.

After a quick calculation, Wang Chengzhu began to turn the elevation handwheel, while another soldier turned the direction handwheel.

Seeing that he was about to fire so quickly, Li Yunlong showed a very surprised expression. When he was about to tell the other party to aim, Zhuzi had already opened the loading port and pushed the shell in from the back.

This skilled action would be pleasing to the eye even for laymen. The action of pulling the matchlock was even more chic.

What Li Datuanzhang didn't expect was that Zhuzi actually fired two shots in a row. This somewhat wasteful behavior made him feel so distressed that his teeth itched.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The sound of the artillery shells was deafening, and the comrades who were still cleaning the battlefield around him thought that the enemy was going to attack again.

Veterans are the treasures of every unit. In addition to rich combat experience, they can sometimes rely on their intuition to avoid the danger that has already arrived.

When two shells were fired at Katayama Shotaro's convoy one after another, the old devil felt as if something was staring at him.

Originally, he sat in the jeep with an expressionless face, still thinking about how to attack next.

But his strong sixth sense told him that danger was coming. Even vaguely, he heard the sound of the high-speed movement of the shells tearing through the air.

Just because he hesitated for a few seconds, Katayama Shotaro lost his last chance to survive.

A 70mm grenade landed steadily three meters away from the left front wheel of the jeep, and the power generated by the explosion detonated the fuel tank.

The jeep, which was originally driving normally on the road, was thrown to the right side of the road by the air wave. This burning coffin became the final destination of Katayama Shotaro.

The second shell hit the truck bed, and the scene of blood and flesh flying seemed like a paradise on earth.

As the saying goes, if you are close to vermilion, you will be red. If you are close to ink, you will be black. After staying with Captain Li for so long, Wang Chengzhu has more or less learned some skills of pretending and bragging.

Although he didn't expect that both shells could hit the enemy, the round-faced man still put on an air of everything being under control.

He smacked his lips with some dissatisfaction, as if he was a little empty and unsatisfied, as if the Type 92 infantry gun with a range of only three kilometers could no longer satisfy him.

"Captain, I was in a hurry to fire because the Japanese were about to get out of range. I have completed the mission, so don't refuse to pay me half a pound of sweet potato."

"When are you free to go to the logistics department to see what other good things Deputy Minister Huang has. I am getting more and more dissatisfied with this Type 92 infantry gun."

After saying this, Zhuzi ran away. He felt that he was pretending too much, and he might be scolded if he didn't run away.

Leaving Li Yunlong alone to watch the Japanese convoy, messy in the wind.

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When the victory was decided, Political Commissar Xie returned to the command post of the 385th Brigade.

Although he had received news that the troops were going to launch a charge, after seeing his old partner, Brigade Commander Chen put his heart back in his stomach.

"What is the situation at the front? Are the casualties of the soldiers heavy? Which unit came to reinforce?"

When the three hurriedly asked questions on the opposite side, Political Commissar Xie looked at the other party with a strange look. He answered the first two questions first, but did not directly say the number of the supporting troops.

"We won again. According to the time, the comrades should have started cleaning up the battlefield. The casualties are barely acceptable, and the number of casualties does not exceed 150."

Even though he knew that the other party was deliberately keeping him in suspense, the 25-year-old Brigade Commander Chen still fell for it.

Commissar Xie successfully achieved his goal. He took a sip of the water cup and then said slowly:

"The troops coming to support are the new 2nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade. I just took a look at the map. It's more than 50 kilometers away. Think about how to thank them."

Brigade Commander Chen is very familiar with Li Yunlong.

First of all, the 385th and 386th Brigades belong to the same sequence of the 129th Division. Although the two have not communicated many times, they can meet every time the division headquarters holds a meeting.

Secondly, at the beginning of this year, Li Yunlong defeated the Sakata Regiment head-on and killed a colonel, and even brought back a regiment flag.

Although he was assigned to the logistics department afterwards, this matter spread throughout the province of Shanxi.

Finally, it was because the two brigade commanders had a good relationship. Both Chens were officers from the Red Fourth Division. Moreover, they always call each other brothers in private, and their relationship is very good.

Whenever they have free time, they will get together to eat and chat about family matters. They have heard a lot about the great achievements of their elder brother, their beloved general.

"Later, the two Chens became brothers-in-law."

After learning that Li Yunlong brought the new second regiment to Lion's Head Mountain, Brigade Commander Chen immediately thought of the bold tactics of the past and captured Yangquan County.

The reason why Li Yunlong proposed the plan to attack Yangquan on the way here was to tie down part of the forces of the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade and relieve the pressure on the friendly forces on Lion Head Mountain.

It was just that the situation was urgent at the time, so he gave up this idea.

And Brigade Commander Chen wanted to attack Yangquan just to expand the results of the battle. Yangquan is a military stronghold, and its importance to the devils can be ranked in the forefront in the entire Shanxi Province.

The reason why it didn't work before was that it was very difficult to attack the city.

With mortars and Type 92 infantry guns alone, even if it can be taken down, it is estimated that it will cost a lot, and doing so goes against the original intention.

But now the two levels have reversed, the enemy has become weaker and our side has become stronger, and the previous idea has room for operation.

After all, after adding a fierce general, the strength of the 385th Brigade has exceeded its peak period. If the trump cards in hand can be fully utilized, it will definitely have unexpected results.

According to the current statistics of the two regiments, plus the devils who just attacked, at least more than 2,000 enemies have been killed.

This means that there is a high probability that only one squadron is left in the defenders of Yangquan County, and at most some useless puppet troops and military police.

He thought carefully for a few minutes and said to the political commissar beside him:

"Katayama Shotaro is completely useless. The defenders in Yangquan can't stop us. And now the Zhengtai Railway has been destroyed by us, and there will be no Japanese support in a short time."

"Now is a rare opportunity! I want to restart the previous combat plan and launch an attack on the county!"

After hearing this, Political Commissar Xie nodded and showed an unexpected expression, as if the two of them had the same idea.

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Just when Katayama Shotaro was killed by Zhuzi, 36 fighters set off from the Japanese airport outside Taiyuan City.

Just now, Shinozuka Yoshio received news from Shimen that Major General Mizuhara Yoshishige of the 8th Independent Mixed Brigade was killed by the Eighth Route Army. For a while, the east side of Niangzi Pass almost completely became the enemy's territory.

In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes and to open up a passage between Yangquan and Yuci, the old devils made a huge investment! One flight squadron was all the aviation force that Shinozuka Yoshio could mobilize.

They were led by Major Asakawa Masatake. The mission of these devil pilots was still to support the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade in Yangquan, bomb Lion Head Mountain and cooperate with the ground forces to capture the Eighth Route Army.

But this time, Shinozuka Yoshio gave a death order and did not allow them to slack off.

The fleet was arranged in a neat battle formation, and the engines roared over the villages, fields and mountains, and soon they saw the Zhengtai Railway.