Chapter 3 Ambush
In the following days, the convoy kept moving forward at a daily mileage of 168 kilometers, and finally reached the destination of the first stage after crossing two large provinces.
In this former dynasty capital, they split into two groups after a short rest. The three motor battalions of the large force went south from here, while the independent motor company where Huang He and Maklov were located continued to move east.
The two groups had different tasks, and after saying goodbye, they started a new stage of the journey with mutual blessings.
After several days of long journey, the independent motor company finally arrived in the neighboring province.
Since most of the cities in this province were occupied by the enemy, they were extremely careful during the journey. Even though there were not many soldiers in the team, they still had to send some to scout the road they were about to pass.
The plateau is the main terrain of this province, which is a typical mountainous plateau covered with yellow soil. Moreover, there are many river valleys here, the landforms are complex and diverse, there are many mountains, and the terrain is dangerous.
If you move forward in this environment, once you are discovered by the enemy and ambushed, the consequences will be disastrous.
Huang He did not try to contact the Eighth Route Army at all levels, but after being away from home for many years and being unfamiliar with the place, there was still no progress after a few days.
The only good news is that before entering this province, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army had contacted the base by telegram and informed that the independent motor vehicle company would arrive in the near future.
If they were lucky enough, they should be able to complete this mission safely. But things did not develop in a good direction. Their target was too big, and it was difficult to keep a close eye on the process of marching.
There are countless bandits and traitors in the whole province.
Bandits are easy to say. Most of them are bullies who are afraid of the strong and bully the weak. Even if they are found, they can't do anything. Even if there are bandits of a certain size, they have to weigh in their hearts whether they can eat this batch of goods when they see such a large convoy.
But traitors are more troublesome. Although they will not be in any danger at the first time after being discovered by them. But these dogs who sell their ancestors for glory will contact their masters as soon as possible in order to get promoted and make money. If they are bitten by the Japanese, it will be a big problem.
Huang He knew one thing very well, that is, the independent motor vehicle company and even their army, the current combat effectiveness is not as strong as imagined.
First of all, their open purge has just ended not long ago, and the generals and a large number of grassroots officers have either gone to the Lubyanka Hotel or been assigned to Siberia to dig potatoes.
Even though they have been troops for many times to perform transportation tasks, their combat experience is still not enough, and they lost the last war with Xiao Rizi.
This independent motor vehicle company did not carry any heavy weapons. Once a battle broke out, there were only two 82mm mortars that could serve as supporting firepower, and the performance of the mortars was also limited by the terrain.
The gift Huang He prepared for the base was just an ordinary rifle. After all, what the troops need now is a large quantity. If an accident occurs, these weapons will not play any role at all.
Although they were extremely careful, their whereabouts were discovered by a group of idle traitors on the third day of entering this province.
These dog traitors split up their troops at the first time, two people went to contact the nearest devils, and the remaining three continued to follow the transport team far behind.
The Japanese who received the intelligence immediately dispatched a squadron of troops to prepare for an ambush.
It must be said that the tactics of the devils in this era were very vicious. Ambush warfare was not as simple as in later film and television dramas. It was impossible for everyone to find a place to lie down and be done with it.
Choosing a suitable ambush area is actually not an easy task.
In order not to alert the enemy, the devils would definitely not ambush. The entire convoy was too late to hide from them, so how could they take the bait?
Their staff analyzed the route of the transport team based on the existing known conditions. More than 200 devils marched quickly to the canyon section that the transport team must pass through to set up an ambush according to the orders of their superiors.
The canyon in early autumn still has some greenery, which is good news for the ambushers. After all, it is not easy to hide in a bare canyon.
It seems that luck is also on the side of the devils. The capacity of this canyon section is just enough for the transport team to march in normal formation.
But it is difficult for the soldiers of the transport team to immediately deploy combat formations when attacked, which prolongs the time required to change from marching state to combat state.
Moreover, the environment of this ambush area is very convenient for the Japanese to hide, advance and retreat, deploy and exert their firepower advantage. If it can be used reasonably, it can greatly reduce the difficulty of the Japanese to annihilate the enemy.
These cunning enemies guessed that the transport team must have arranged reconnaissance personnel, so they only arranged a few hidden observation posts and guard groups on the attack position.
The main force was arranged in a standby position located on the side and rear of the attack position, which was connected by a hidden passage.
This can reduce the risk of exposure. It only needs to use up the opponent's reconnaissance means, and the large force sneaks to the attack position to prepare for an attack.
From the era of cold weapons to the era of hot weapons with not very high technical conditions, the core of ambush tactics has always been to block the head and tail and attack the two wings.
The heavy firepower of the Japanese is used to split the enemy's formation, so that the head and tail of this transport team cannot take care of each other.
In addition, the mountain road is originally very narrow. Once it is divided into several sections, most people can only hear the wailing of their comrades after the attack, and their morale collapses, and their combat effectiveness naturally disintegrates quickly.
And the Japanese staff officer in charge of this ambush was obviously a steady old devil. He did not take advantage of me just because of the superior number of people. This group of unknown enemies made him extremely afraid.
Under the arrangement of this old devil, they formed a pocket-shaped ambush circle. On the premise of not affecting the combat effectiveness of the flanking team, the tail attack team and the blocking team, he even prepared a reserve team.
This reserve team of more than a dozen people is ready to support the battle of the front combat team at any time, or to deal with unexpected situations. The only point that made him dissatisfied was that the terrain on the left side of the canyon was steep and it was difficult for ordinary soldiers to go up.
In the hidden standby position, a captain looked at the watch on his wrist and said to the devils around him: "The unknown enemy should arrive in half an hour, everyone is ready for battle!"
He waved to the communicator not far away and said: "Is there any new news?"
Hearing the words of his captain, the devil trotted forward and said: "Report to the captain, not yet!"
Just as the two were talking, Makarov's transport team was approaching the canyon.
As a veteran, his premonition told him that there might be problems in the canyon ahead. So he ordered the troops to temporarily stop advancing and wait in hiding, and sent out twice as many scouts as before.
Seeing the transport team suddenly stop, Huang He, who had no combat experience, walked to Makarov and asked, "What happened? Why did you stop?"
"Nothing happened for the time being, but the canyon ahead is very suitable for ambush. It's too dangerous to go in rashly."
Although time was short, the devils did not lay mines. But they tried their best to deal with the plants, soil and ground along the way.
An hour later, all the people responsible for reconnaissance came back. After their careful inspection, they judged that there was no danger in the canyon.
At this time, the devils had prepared for the attack position. When the head car entered the canyon, more than 200 pairs of malicious eyes stared at them.
The devils aimed their weapons at the trucks, waiting for the order of the commander!