Chapter 1476 Debate (Part 2)

The first thing that caught Fang Xianjue's eyes was a piece of hilly mountain made of artificial loess!

"These mountains are all piled up according to the results of the terrain survey outside the southern city of Hengyang. Because of the terrain, the width may not be enough, but the height is the same." Tang Dao pointed at these mountain fortifications and said.

Fang Xianjue's eyes were staring at these earthen hills that were cut into nearly 90-degree cliffs, and his eyes were full of horror.

The side of these hills facing the attacking party has become a cliff, which makes it a headache for people at the foot of the mountain to climb up by building a ladder or stacking human ladders, but in fact this is just the smallest part of this mountain fortification.

Above the cliff, there are trenches and communication trenches that extend in all directions, connecting all the trenches to form a main mountain defense position!

At the hub of the trench, there is a 1.8-meter-deep foxhole, and there is a simple bullet shelter next to the pit. Judging from the 1-meter-thick soil layer in the bullet shelter, it should be no problem to defend against 75mm mountain artillery.

"Sir, this is to prevent the Japanese army from attacking our main mountain position with artillery fire in anger, and it is used for a small number of observation posts and officers and soldiers who stay on the front line to block." Facing Fang Xianjue's puzzled eyes, Tang Dao explained.

"This kind of single-soldier bullet shelter has been specially tested by our regiment with various types of artillery live ammunition. If it is topped with wooden boards and beams as thick as human legs, it can prevent 75mm mountain artillery from bombarding on the top.

Of course, if there is enough time, we can also build an underground fortification with reinforced concrete and fill it with a 1.5-meter-thick soil layer, so that it can defend against 105 howitzers and 150 heavy artillery."

After going around to the back of the mountain, Fang Xianjue knew why Tang Dao only left fortifications to defend against artillery for the observation post on the main position.

It turned out that Tang Dao hid the main force behind several mountains.

On the hillsides behind several mountains, there were tunnels dug underground, and the main force was hidden in them. They could replenish troops at any time according to the needs of the battle situation. The movement was secretive and rapid, and the enemy on the opposite side of the position could not see it at all.

And most importantly, this reverse slope tunnel has sufficient protection, which minimizes the artillery and air threats of the Japanese army.

Good offense and defense, refers to this kind of mountain fortifications!

"It's amazing that someone can design this kind of mountain fortification. Fang has learned a lot. There are so many talents in your regiment, which is enviable." The top student who graduated from the third term of Huangpu could only admire sincerely at this time.

According to his rough estimate just now, if such a piece of mountain is equipped with an infantry battalion, he would need at least two infantry regiments plus an artillery battalion to assist in capturing this position. Even the 5 to 1 attack and defense ratio is a bit shaky for him.

Tang Dao smiled slightly, pointed to the front of the mountain and said: "There are fortifications there, Commander Fang, go and have a look and give some suggestions."

When approaching the saddle below the cliff and between the hills, the deep trench with a width and depth of 5 meters came into view, and there was a layer of water in the trench that was as deep as the calf.

"Go, drain the water so that the commander can see more clearly." Tang Dao waved to Shi Dakuan.

As the soldiers opened the drainage valve, the layout at the bottom of the trench gradually emerged, and Fang Xianjue took a breath of cold air.

There were wooden boards laid flat under the deep trench, and the wooden boards were covered with steel nails nailed up to the sky. Although covered with mud, Fang Xianjue believed that if anyone stepped on it, the pair of tough little feet would be pierced, not to mention the cowhide boots equipped by the Japanese army, even if they wore a pair of iron boots.

On the battlefield, once the feet were injured and could not walk, the ending was predictable.

In addition to this "sinister" arrangement, the outer walls on both sides of the deep trench are made slightly different. The side facing the enemy is slightly tilted outward to facilitate human sliding down, while the side facing the defenders is made 90 degrees upright, just like a shrimp and crab trap, easy to get in and difficult to get out.

Standing at the bottom of the trench where there are no nails, looking up at the top of the 5-meter-high deep trench, Fang Xianjue, a veteran soldier, can't help but feel a chill in his heart. If it were him who fell into such a desperate situation on the battlefield, there would be sharp steel nails covered by water under his feet, and he didn't know where to pierce his feet. He wanted to get out but couldn't, what should he do?

Following the pointing of Tang Dao's finger, the battle-hardened tiger general smiled bitterly. Good man, Tang Dao doesn't leave anyone any way to survive!

It turned out that there were bunkers at the end and the turning point of the deep trench. Two-thirds of it was embedded in the cliff, and one-third extended into the trench. It was built with steel plates, logs, stones, reinforced concrete, and covered with loess on the outside, which was hidden and solid.

The bunker had four machine guns on each firing port facing the trench, and all the muzzles were pointed inside the deep trench.

The Japanese soldiers basically could not see the bunker before entering the deep trench, but as soon as they entered, they would be shot by the machine guns in the firing holes on both sides of the bunker.

Even the 70mm infantry guns were difficult to destroy such a solid fortification, not to mention the grenades and hand grenades carried by the infantry.

To put it bluntly, if you encounter this thing in the deep trench, you can only wait to die.

Following Tang Dao into this fire bunker that took a lot of effort to build, the interior is much larger than Fang Xianjue imagined. The bunker is equipped with a shooting room, ammunition room, shelter room, and an upward tunnel leading directly to the main position on the mountain. This passage can ensure the replenishment of all food, clean water, ammunition and other supplies in the bunker, and can also transport troops and transport soldiers to the rear.

"This bunker is well made, but I'm afraid there won't be time!" Fang Xianjue sighed after walking around the bunker.

"Although this configuration is time-consuming and labor-intensive, it allows the soldiers in the bunker to fight in the bunker with peace of mind without worrying about being disposable consumables. When facing the enemy, morale can also remain high." Tang Dao said.

"And as long as there are engineering design drawings and enough raw materials, the engineering troops can build such a bunker in two days. My Sihang Regiment has 5,000 people, but we have been an engineering corps for a year. As long as we have enough materials, I can build such a bunker in the south of the city in one week instead of ten days or half a month."

"Haha! Okay, that's what I'm waiting for you, Commander Tang. When the Japanese attack, the deep trenches and bunkers in the mountains south of the city will be handed over to your Sihang Regiment. From the commander Ge Youcai to the 10th Reserve Division, you can command all the people. You, Commander Tang, can even take General Ge to carry the heavy bag." Fang Xianjue laughed loudly.

The sharper the Tang Dao's fortifications, the greater the damage to the Japanese army. He even has the confidence that if an infantry regiment has this fortification, a Japanese infantry brigade will be beaten to a pulp.

Even Fang Xianjue felt impatient, hoping that the Japanese would fight in Hengyang as he and Tang Dao imagined.

Yes, perhaps even this tiger general did not realize how much influence his best friend who died in the Battle of Changde last year had on him, so much so that he would rather let the war burn the land of Hunan Province than fight the Japanese army to the death, to avenge his best friend, and to ask the Japanese for blood debt for the three children left by his best friend.

Fang Xianjue was not a saint, he also had selfish desires, he was extremely eager to use a battle to prove to the general surnamed Xue who deliberately wanted to drive him out of the 10th Army that his judgment of the war situation was correct, and that the general surnamed Xue was outrageously wrong.

Although this proof was extremely cruel, it required countless soldiers to pay blood and lives!

But, war, will it not come if you don't want it?

Obviously not, the flames of war always need lives as fuel and casualties as rain, so that they can gradually extinguish from the heat.

This is an era that is determined by the will of a few people. Most people can only go with the flow. Even brave generals like Fang Xianjue and Tang Dao can only try their best to maintain a trace of clarity in such a storm, holding the gun in their hands tightly, trying to break through the stormy waves that constantly devour their lives and see the day when peace will finally come.

"At this time, we have the support of Liuzhou Airport behind us, and air supremacy can be guaranteed. The Japanese army is very risky in daytime operations, so using the dark night to carry out sneak attacks will become the main combat method of the Japanese army. This kind of broken wall and deep trench can be seen clearly during the day, but the vision is restricted at night. Observation during the day is one thing, and the reaction when it is close is another thing." After taking Fang Xianjue to see all the mountain defense positions and firepower deployments, Tang Dao made his final summary statement.

At this time, Fang Xianjue's mind has emerged a scene after the real battlefield.

The firepower configuration of the positions developed by the Four-line Regiment is basically based on the principle of "concealment first". Regardless of the entire main position or the deep trench, all light and heavy machine guns are required to fire sideways, and direct fire is strictly prohibited. They form a cross-fire network to cover each other, so as to avoid the Japanese army discovering the firing holes and removing the firepower points with infantry guns.

This also reflects the defensive firepower strategy of the Tang Dao, which is not based on "blocking", but letting the Japanese army in with the cooperation of carefully designed field fortifications.

It is to control the entire attack line of the Japanese army in the firepower network composed of light and heavy weapons of the defenders. When the Japanese army began to charge, they could only crawl forward in the direct firepower composed of infantry rifles and submachine guns. The Japanese army that was lucky enough to pass this firepower network arrived at the 90-degree cliff and had to attack upward by setting up ladders or stacking up. At this time, they would face the cross-machine gun fire from the cliff and the overwhelming grenade cluster bombing.

When the Japanese soldiers were dizzy from the light and heavy machine guns and grenades, they could only look for shelters to stay alive. At this time, they would roll into the trenches without thinking. The Japanese thought that as long as they entered the trenches, the defenders could not see them or hit them, and they would be safe. However, they did not know that they would die faster once they entered the trenches.

The six-centimeter-long steel nails at the bottom of the trench would make them want to die, and the whips formed by the eight machine guns in the bunkers on both sides of the trenches would sweep down the Japanese like dominoes!

But for the Japanese who had already attacked here, they would be oppressed and driven by the machine guns, grenades and mortars on the main position above, and they would be strafed by machine guns below. It was a dilemma to choose one of the two?

For an adult with enough thinking, they don’t want to choose either one, but they have no choice. The most common way is to face the difficulties and then become the dead souls under the gun above or below.

This kind of broken wall and deep trench is like a well-designed killing machine. Every step is cautious and murderous. Tactical skills are useless in front of such fortifications and firepower configuration.

Unless the Japanese use artillery to flatten the mountain and kill all the defenders on the mountain, there is no possibility of rushing up.

Fang Xianjue's mind had already seen the corpses of the Japanese soldiers who attacked the mountain area south of Hengyang.

"Excellent! The people who designed these defensive trenches are really geniuses. Can I meet them?" Fang Xianjue stood on the broken wall, his heart was extremely excited.

"Except me, several chief officers of the regiment went out to purchase supplies a few days ago. The Japanese are coming. Don't we have to make some preparations in advance?" Tang Dao said with a smile.

He couldn't tell the man in front of him that these trench designs were not designed by others, but by the man in front of him and his chief of staff and the commander of the engineering battalion.

And this deep trench in front of the broken wall will have a name in the future, called 'Fang Xianjue Trench'!

It was in front of this killing machine that the 100,000-strong army of the 11th Army of Yokoyama Yong was hit and bleeding.

It was once recorded in time and space that before approaching the urban area of ​​HY, the Japanese army's losses in the battle for the suburbs alone reached a staggering 40,000 people, including the Japanese 68th Division Commander Lieutenant General Sakuma, the disabled 68th Division Chief of Staff Colonel Harada Sada, and the deceased brigade commander Major General Shima Genkichi.

"Good! There is no one else who can prepare for the rainy day like you, except you, Commander Tang." Fang Xianjue nodded.

"Then tell me now, what the 10th Army should do now. If it is necessary to make some positions in the suburbs of Hengyang in advance, I can arrange for the 3rd Division and the 10th Reserve Division to deploy first. But I can't do anything in the city now. After all, it is Mayor Zhao's territory. Although he is my good friend, he is also under the command of Commander Xue. If there is a big move in Hengyang City, it will be difficult for him to explain to Commander Xue who said that there will be no big battles in Hunan Province."

"My opinion is exactly the opposite of Commander Fang's opinion." Tang Dao shook his head.

"At this time, the Japanese army must be full of spies inside and outside Hengyang City. If the 10th Army builds key fortifications in the south of the city now, the Japanese army will have enough time to adjust their deployment. It is better to wait until the Japanese army's combat intentions are completely exposed before building.

But there is no time to delay in Hengyang City. If it is not possible to build fortifications on the ground, then start underground.

For example, starting from the 3rd Division headquarters of the 10th Army in Hengyang City, from now on, immediately dig underground tunnels in secret to ensure that even if all the ground telephone lines are blown off, there can still be communication soldiers through the tunnels to reach various positions, and even through the tunnels to transport troops to the occupied positions.

In short, when the day of street fighting really comes, these underground tunnels that extend in all directions will be of great help to my defenders."

"You got this inspiration from the tunnel warfare in southern Hebei! I heard that your Four-Line Regiment in southern Hebei led the people to hollow out the underground of the entire village and beat the Japanese dizzy." Fang Xianjue said.

"Hehe! Commander Fang is a little wrong. It's not the underground of the whole village, but all the underground. When our Four-Line Regiment was ordered to leave North China, 80% of the villages in southern Hebei had interconnected tunnels, and the military and civilians could be transferred at any time. Just the excavated loess alone made hundreds of artificial hills. We hollowed it out and made a lot of shooting holes in it, so that we can shoot the Japanese soldiers running in the wilderness from a high position at a long distance." Tang Dao chuckled.

Fang Xianjue took a breath and gave Tang Dao a thumbs up sincerely.

No wonder this person suggested that he dig a tunnel in Hengyang City. It turned out that he almost hollowed out the underground of the entire southern Hebei.

No wonder the Japanese North China Front Army, which had nearly 300,000 troops, could not do anything to the Four-Line Regiment in Taihang Mountains, and was killed by the Four-Line Regiment in the plains of southern Hebei.

Tang Dao is like a monkey that runs away when it scratches someone in the mountains, and a fox that burrows into the ground when it bites someone in the plains. Who can defend against this?

With such a brave general and a strong army to assist him, no matter how many people Yokoyama Isamu brings, I will break all his teeth.

In the evening when the sunset was all over the sky, the Lieutenant General Councillor who was about to become famous all over the world suddenly became extremely confident.

However, perhaps even he himself did not expect that Yokoyama Isamu, who had just regained the throne of the 11th Army Commander, was also staring at Tanzhou and Hengyang at this time.

The eyes of this Japanese Army Lieutenant General, who was known for his tenacity, were also full of determination.

Everyone has the opportunity to fail and start over, but he, the reinstated Army Commander, does not have it. He must win in one battle!