Chapter 334 Fire Barrier Combination

Fifteen minutes later, the North China Front Army Joint Command Post.

Looking at the telegram for help from the artillery position, Iinuma Mamoru took a deep breath and suppressed his inner anger. However, the gloom on his face still exposed his indignation.

The awkward atmosphere lasted for two minutes, and it was finally Nishihara Issaku who broke the silence.

"Iinuma-kun?"

"What happened?"

In fact, the old devil was asking knowingly, after all, the Eighth Route Army Air Force had just made a lot of noise, and anyone who was not blind or deaf could foresee the tragic situation at the scene.

As a lieutenant general division commander, he really didn't want to rub salt into the wounds of friendly forces.

But if Iinuma Mamoru continued to waste time, thereby delaying the advancement of the main battlefield, then the senior general of the Eighth Route Army in Datong County would probably slip away.

Between failing at the last hurdle and offending his colleagues, Nishihara Issaku chose the latter without any hesitation.

"What happened?"

Hearing his companion's question, Iinuma Mamoru took a deep breath again, and then slowly exhaled. After repeating this several times, he reluctantly answered:

"Our division was attacked by the Eighth Route Army Air Force."

"According to the telegram from the front line, the equipment of the mountain and field artillery regiments was almost lost by 70%, and there were only three 105mm howitzers at the division level."

"Without the support of heavy weapons and anti-aircraft weapons, I am pessimistic about the next battle."

The 110th Division was a unit formed by the Japanese headquarters with the remaining personnel of the Himeji Division as the core.

Because it has the foundation of a Type A standing division, the division has hardly suffered a major blow since its establishment in June 1938 until yesterday.

In this Datong Battle, the 110th Division lost an artillery regiment in just half an hour.

Such exaggerated losses once made Iinuma Mamoru, who was usually smooth sailing, lose the courage to attack.

Seeing his teammates wanting to retreat, Nishihara Issaku could no longer sit still.

If the 110th Division could not break through the frontal positions outside Datong, the idea of ​​entering the city would be a pipe dream, not to mention capturing the senior commander of the Eighth Route Army alive.

After thinking for a moment, the old devil decisively persuaded:

"Mr. Iinuma, there is an old Chinese saying that the first effort is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted."

"Now, whether it is our Mongolian army or your North China Front Army's direct troops, we have lost a lot of troops and heavy weapons."

"If we don't attack with all our strength this time, we will not be able to complete the task assigned by our superiors. You don't want General Okamura Yasuji to doubt the ability of the three of us."

Hearing the name of his immediate superior, Iinuma Mamoru shuddered involuntarily.

That general is a fanatical radical, and those who are targeted by him will basically not have any good results. When he thought that he might be framed, he immediately said:

"Thank you for Nishihara-kun's advice, I will reflect on my mistakes just now."

"The next attack will require the joint efforts of your cavalry group and Shitsuya-kun's 26th Division!"

"Pass my order, the whole army will launch a general attack in five minutes! At all costs, we must blow up the walls of Datong and rush in to capture the senior commander of the Eighth Route Army alive!"

In the following preparation time, the three lieutenant generals reported their combat plans together, and asked the North China Front Army's Army Aviation to cooperate with the greatest efforts to contain the enemy.

The ruthlessness of the Eighth Route Army Air Force has been experienced by everyone present, and the grassroots officers and soldiers have been psychologically traumatized by the ground-licking aircraft.

Whenever an enemy plane flies over, even the soldiers who have been brainwashed by Bushido will have obvious fluctuations in combat effectiveness and morale.

If the opponent's close-range support aircraft cannot be delayed, all plans will become empty talk.

······

After receiving the order from its own division commander, the 108th Brigade, which was responsible for the main attack, sent out the 139th and 140th Regiments to lead the charge.

The 133rd Brigade, which suffered relatively heavy casualties, was forced to contribute its subordinate 110th Regiment, and the half-crippled 163rd Regiment became the reserve for this general attack.

Before the attack, the Japanese sent artillery observers and infantry to conduct close reconnaissance.

The task of these people was simple. They only needed to plan and distinguish the firing areas and targets of mountain and field artillery, and set the firing range for the three 105 howitzers.

"Boom boom boom!"

The artillery opened fire, and the 110th Division's all-in officially began.

Before the infantry set out from the assault position, the only remaining artillery provided a fire attack. Compared with an hour ago, the artillery bombardment at this time was sparse and completely lost its former spirit.

"It's a black card! Get on board!"

With the shouts of the captains of various squadrons and battalions, the Japanese infantry jumped out of the trenches one after another.

Compared with the artillery that could barely fight back, the experience of these infantrymen was extremely miserable, even worse than some black farm tools of the Ugly Country.

The Japanese infantrymen had to launch a feint attack first, using themselves as bait to lure out the hidden fortifications of the Eighth Route Army.

Only in this way could the artillery in the rear use a few shells to open up a channel for them to attack.

Since most of the mountain and field artillery in the brigade were transferred to the artillery regiment for unified use, at this moment only twelve Type 41 mountain artillery and fifteen Type 92 infantry artillery could provide support firepower for the infantry.

If they really had to fight, the regiment-level 120mm mortars of the Eighth Route Army would be able to completely defeat the enemy in terms of range, power and mobility.

The battalion-level 81mm mortars can even chase the Type 92 infantry artillery, not to mention the company-level units also have a large number of 60mm mortars.

The artillery fire with a huge disparity in strength made the three attacking regiments difficult to move forward.

For every ten meters the Japanese advanced, they had to pay the price of half a squadron of casualties.

This situation made Ishii Kaho of the 108th Infantry Brigade and Tsuda Mitake of the 133rd Infantry Brigade very painful.

"We can't fight like this anymore. The current casualties have far exceeded the limit that you and I can bear."

"Even if our troops can rush to the foot of the city wall, the brutal street fighting will cause our division to suffer heavy losses. The organization has been destroyed, so what's the point of merit."

"Use the trump card, don't hesitate!"

After this, Tsuda Mitake nodded after a little hesitation.

At present, the North China Front Army is seriously short of troops, and the two major general brigade commanders have no place to be promoted even if they have made merit. Rather than working for the superiors in vain, it is better to protect their own base as much as possible.

If the soldiers are gone, they will probably have to go to a certain division to be a powerless staff officer.

"Pass my order! Let two artillery squadrons go up and fight with three infantry regiments!"

"Don't be reluctant to give up the ammunition. As long as you can defeat the Eighth Route Army and enter Datong, I will personally take you to grab the enemy's 81 and 120 mm mortars!"

With the promise of the superiors, the artillery squadrons, which were regarded as secret weapons, officially rushed to the battlefield.

The weapons used by these two artillery squadrons are Type 97 90 mm mortars.

The devils rarely equip mortars. After all, this thing violates the ideological program of poor militarism: to achieve the greatest results with the lowest ammunition consumption.

In contrast, they believe more in grenade launchers that rely on experience and feel.

However, after the Eighth Route Army was equipped with a large number of mortars, the Japanese headquarters learned from their mistakes and urgently produced the Type 97. As the strongest Type B division in North China, the 110th Division was naturally assigned a batch.

"Boom boom boom!"

Mortar shells suddenly rose from the rear of the infantry and landed in the defensive positions of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region.

The sudden attack did disrupt the comrades' defense plan. But there was no anxiety in the eyes of every Eighth Route Army soldier, but full of jokes.

It was as if the enemy was rushing to die.

······

In the plan of the tiger in the forest, the battle outside the city was divided into two parts.

In order to lure the enemy deep into the city, all columns tried to hold back as much as possible in the first stage, and did not even use the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region's magic weapon: mines.

In the second stage, the enemy had been blinded by interests, and the comrades could naturally open fire at full power.

In front of the second line of defense outside Datong, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region prepared an unprecedented mine belt, which almost used the output of major military industrial areas for half a year.

"Boom!"

After a loud bang, the first lucky person made a brilliant appearance.

During the charge, a Japanese squad leader stepped on a mine. The mine, which was full of drugs, blew him up more than three meters high, and his limbs and broken arms directly covered his team members.

No matter what the obstacle is, there must be a key prerequisite, that is, the combination of firepower and obstacles.

Take the minefield as an example, it can be regarded as a combined combat system. There are mines to block the enemy, and there is rear fire support to attack the blocked enemy.

The most taboo thing in the attack is to slow down. Once the pace stops, the defenders will have a hundred ways to kill you.

"Da Da Da!"

Just as the Japanese squad leader stepped on the mine first, the heavy machine guns in several fortifications suddenly opened fire, and the sound of the Hotchkiss heavy machine gun echoed throughout the defense line.

The metal storm enveloped the stunned Japanese brigade, and more than a dozen heavy machine guns fired cross fire at tricky angles.

Bullet holes burst out one after another on the infantry, and from time to time, 60 mortars and 81 mortars fell into the crowd.

All these scenes were like the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region constantly urging the subordinate units of the 110th Division to attack. Either they stay still and become live targets for us, or they rush through the defense line of fire and barriers.

At this moment, every Japanese infantryman showed a desperate expression.

Although these people did not have a high level of education before joining the army, the famous Battle of the Somme is a classic battle that every soldier must know.

The combination of mines, barbed wire, heavy machine guns and mortars, isn't this the culprit that caused 60,000 casualties in one day in the Battle of the Somme. (End of this chapter)