Chapter 227: Hitting with a huddled fist hurts more!
"Whoo~"
After the battle temporarily stopped, the wind that had stopped started blowing again, even stronger, and the humidity in the air became heavier.
Amid the howling wind, Qin Yangming and Zhangye climbed up the mountain wearing coats to protect themselves from sand.
Qin Yangming and Zhang Ye each stood on a ridge, looking at the Japanese positions in front of them. Their coats were rustling in the strong wind on the ridge.
Behind the two men were Duan Peng and others, who were standing straight and neatly arranged with submachine guns hanging on their chests.
A fiery red flare was fired into the sky from a mortar from under the mountain, temporarily illuminating the surroundings.
The fiery red light shone on Qin Yangming and others, making the scene oppressive.
……
"Captain, the Japanese army has temporarily retreated!"
On the top of the mountain, Zhangye could barely see with the help of the light from the flares that the large Japanese army that was originally preparing to charge was slowly retreating from the Japanese positions.
"Captain, do you want to order a pursuit?"
Seeing the Japanese troops retreating, Zhangye quickly asked Qin Yangming.
Listening to what Zhangye said and looking at the retreating Japanese army, Qin Yangming shook his head calmly.
"I still say the same thing. Without my order, no troops may pursue us. Those who disobey my order will be punished by military law!"
Listening to Qin Yangming's cold words, Zhangye's mind was full of doubts.
It was Qin Yangming who said that he wanted to hold on to the Japanese army, and it was also Qin Yangming who was watching the Japanese retreat and stopping the troops from pursuing them.
Zhangye simply couldn't understand what Qin Yangming meant.
"But Commander, the Japanese are retreating now, shouldn't we hold on to them?
If we let the Japanese retreat like this, how will we attack when it rains heavily later?"
Listening to Zhangye's words, Qin Yangming still held the telescope and observed the Japanese positions opposite, and spoke to Zhangye indifferently.
"Who told you that the Japs were retreating?"
As Qin Yangming spoke, he raised his right hand and gestured to his neck.
"But the Japanese army is retreating!"
"Does the retreat of a large force necessarily mean a retreat?"
“You can only hurt your enemy more if you pull your fist back first and then punch out again.
The temporary retreat is only to gather strength and then launch a more fierce attack! "
“Although the Japanese army retreated, the troops on the battlefield still maintained a defensive posture.
I bet the Japanese artillery is already in place. As long as we take the initiative to attack, we will be bombarded with heavy bombardment!"
"Kasahara Koizumi...you really are not afraid of death."
"If you have the ability, don't hide!"
Listening to what Qin Yangming said and the action of Qin Yangming wiping his neck just now, Zhangye was a little confused, and immediately took the telescope and looked in the direction Qin Yangming was facing.
On the Japanese position, a Japanese officer and a few others were holding binoculars and looking at where he and others were.
"Wang Daniu, target number three, four rapid fire shots, quick!"
Holding the telescope, Qin Yangming quickly issued an order.
"go!"
Almost at the same time, Qin Yangming and the Japanese officer on the Japanese position put down their binoculars and turned away.
"Tom!"
Qin Yangming and Zhang Ye had just turned around when the mortar position at the foot of the mountain roared again, and four shells rushed into the sky with a shrill whistle.
At the same time, Qin Yangming, who was walking down the mountain, also heard three whistling sounds of artillery shells in the sky, which were completely different from those of mortars.
"boom!"
Three violent explosions sounded above the mountain where Qin Yangming and others were just now. The violent explosions even caused pain in the eardrums of Zhangye and others who had just walked down the mountain.
At the same time, four mortar shells exploded where the Japanese officer had just been, raising four columns of smoke.
……
After Pinglu Yongfu made up his mind to mobilize all the elite troops for a head-on confrontation with the Eighth Route Army, Kasahara Koizumi had no choice but to cooperate.
In order to reduce casualties, and also to wait for all troops to gather together to better launch an attack.
Kasahara Koizumi decided to temporarily withdraw the large troops on the position and get out of the artillery range of the Eighth Route Army.
At the same time, Kasahara Koizumi considered that if he ordered the large force to retreat, the Eighth Route Army would most likely pursue him, so Kasahara Koizumi first ordered all artillerymen to withdraw their artillery from the Eighth Route Army's artillery range.
Then he pointed the gun at the open space between the two sides' positions.
If the Eighth Route Army had just charged, the artillery troops that had retreated in advance would immediately cover the open area with artillery fire, and they would bombard the Eighth Route Army back with artillery in the same way they had just bombed them.
After the order was issued, when the artillery was ready, Kasahara Koizumi also began to prepare to retreat.
As soon as Kasahara Koizumi and the remaining personnel in the command center walked out, he suddenly had an idea and wanted to see what was going on with the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side.
So, Kasahara Koizumi brought two captains and the remaining officers to the front line under the protection of the guards. Holding binoculars, they observed the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side with the help of the light from the flares fired by the Eighth Route Army.
They wanted to see what the Eighth Route Army, which had been fighting against them, looked like.
Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps because both sides were commanders, Kasahara Koizumi saw Qin Yangming and others standing on the mountain, also holding binoculars towards him.
"An officer of the Eighth Route Army? It looks like you are the commander of this Eighth Route Army."
Looking at the tall man in a coat standing on the mountain, Kasahara Koizumi murmured to himself.
A Japanese captain standing by listened to what Kasahara Koizumi said and immediately moved the telescope in the direction Kasahara Koizumi was looking.
The Japanese captain happened to see Qin Yangming wiping his neck.
"Baga, come here, push the infantry artillery up, target the senior officers of the Eighth Route Army on the mountain!"
Listening to the order given by the captain beside him, Kasahara Koizumi did not stop it.
They were all commanders of their own troops. Since they were enemies, they would naturally try their best to kill them. Kasahara Koizumi believed that at this moment, the Eighth Route Army officers on the opposite side were also ordering their artillery to aim at their position.
"withdraw!"
Kasahara Koizumi put down the telescope in his hand and quickly left the position with the rest of the people behind him.
Kasahara Koizumi was right. They had just left their position, and soon after the three infantry guns on their side opened fire, four shells fell on their original position.
The shock waves generated by the explosion of four 82mm mortar shells directly blew away the nearby sandbags.
"Let all troops retreat faster and get out of the Eighth Route Army's artillery range as soon as possible. The Eighth Route Army will not pursue us."
Listening to the explosions behind him and feeling the impact of some clods of earth hitting him, Kasahara Koizumi gave orders to the guards beside him without even turning his head.
A Japanese officer was somewhat confused by Kasahara Koizumi's order and immediately spoke in confusion.
"Sir, Captain, why do you think the Eighth Route Army will not pursue us?
We are now retreating. Logically speaking, the Eighth Route Army commander would definitely order a pursuit in this situation.
If we speed up the retreat of our troops, once the Eighth Route Army pursues us, the troops will likely fall into chaos.
If we retreat slowly, once the Eighth Route Army pursues us, after our artillery fire covers the Eighth Route Army, we can take advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, and perhaps directly seize the Eighth Route Army's position.
After all, when our warriors and the Eighth Route Army soldiers are mixed together, the Eighth Route Army will definitely not dare to attack, nor will they provide artillery fire, and their heavy machine guns will also be restricted. "
Hearing the officer of the independent infantry battalion asking him the reason and the ideas he proposed, Kasahara Koizumi glanced at him and said indifferently.
"Because the officers of the Eighth Route Army are not as stupid as you."
"If you can think of it, do you think the Eighth Route Army officers over there can't think of it?
We underestimated the Eighth Route Army once, and the price we paid was that our entire Fourth Brigade was in danger of destruction.
Hasn't this lesson taught you a little more respect for the Eighth Route Army?"
After saying that, Kasahara Koizumi no longer paid attention to the officer who seemed hopelessly stupid to him, and led his men to quickly move away from the artillery coverage area of the Eighth Route Army and head to the location where Pinglu Yongfu had assembled his troops.
……
Pinglu Yongfu made up his mind to gather the remaining elite troops and have a head-on confrontation with the Eighth Route Army. Either they rush out together, or they all die in Tongshi Town.
After persuading him once, Kasahara Koizumi stopped trying to persuade him and could only allow Pinglu Yufu to mobilize the troops.
In the direction of Baihuling, in an open space eight kilometers away from the Eighth Route Army's position, in addition to leaving a squadron of soldiers in the direction of Yuxi Town and Dajing Town for defense and blocking, and also responsible for covering the retreat.
Pinglu Yongfu ordered the remaining troops of the 4th Brigade to gather towards this open space.
After most of the day's fierce fighting, the entire 4th Brigade still had more than 7,000 Japanese soldiers.
(The 22nd Regiment had a total of 4,000 men, and one battalion of infantry was killed in the battle. That leaves 3,000 men. The other troops each lost 1,000 men, but the tank squadron and the artillery supported by Yoshio Shinozuka were not killed... Add in a bunch of other miscellaneous personnel, and it's normal that there are still more than 7,000 men.
It has been about six hours since the official exchange of fire. In these six hours, we have killed more than a thousand Japanese soldiers. This is already an impressive record.
The Japanese Fourth Brigade is not the Yamazaki Battalion. Not only is the Yamazaki Battalion incomplete in organization, but it also lacks weapons and ammunition.
However, the Japanese Fourth Brigade was overstaffed, well-equipped, and had ample ammunition, and even had aircraft support at the beginning.)
Pinglu Yongfu stood on a truck, looking at the troops that kept gathering, with a lot of thoughts in his mind.
"Mr. Kasahara, this is probably the first time that our Great Japanese Locust Army has faced the Eighth Route Army face to face on such a large scale, right?"
Listening to what Hiraru Isamu said, Kasahara Koizumi nodded.
"Mr. Brigade Commander, as you said, in the past, when we fought against the Eighth Route Army, we either engaged in ambushes, guerrilla warfare, or blocking warfare.
The main forces of the Eighth Route Army will try their best to avoid direct confrontation with us.
Unbeknownst to us, the Eighth Route Army now has the strength to engage in direct combat with large-scale forces."
"Yes, the Eighth Route Army is developing very fast. I really don't know where they get all those weapons from... Their arsenal should not be able to produce so many weapons and equipment, even if the Second War Zone provides support to the Eighth Route Army.
The equipment of the Eighth Route Army could not possibly be so powerful."
Thinking of the equipment of the Eighth Route Army, Pinglu Yongfu wished he could chop those intelligence officers to pieces alive.
Such important information, not only did their First Army have no news, even the North China Front Army Headquarters had no news.
The intelligence department didn't even know such important information!
Thinking back to a day ago, he had vowed to take over Shiquan County as quickly as possible, rescue the Yamazaki Battalion, and at the same time, take over the Shangdang area first and annihilate the Eighth Route Army in the entire Shangdang area.
As a result, just one day has passed and the situation has taken a turn for the worse.
Not to mention rescuing the Yamazaki Battalion, let alone annihilating the Eighth Route Army in the Shangdang area.
Now his entire Fourth Brigade was surrounded by the Eighth Route Army and was at risk of being annihilated by the Eighth Route Army.
The 4th Brigade went from being rescuers to being rescued.
Pinglu Yongfu’s biggest idea now is to lead the elite troops of the Fourth Brigade to break through the blockade of the Eighth Route Army, and then successfully merge with the Ninth Brigade to preserve part of the elite troops of the Fourth Brigade.
In this way, he still has a little hope of making a comeback.
Otherwise, the 4th Brigade would be completely wiped out, and even if he, the brigade commander, did not commit suicide, he would have to return to the headquarters to be investigated.
Even if nothing happens in the end, unless there are some special circumstances, he, the brigade commander of the major general, will have to stay in the base and grow old for the rest of his life, and will never have the opportunity to lead troops again.
Accompanied by the rumbling sound of engines, the Japanese tank squadron also came from their original stopping place to the new assembly point set up by Pinglu Yongfu.
"Your Excellency, the brigade commander, the tank squadron has arrived!"
With the arrival of the last tank squadron, the remaining troops of the Japanese 4th Brigade also rushed over.
"Kasahara-kun, distribute all the weapons and give guns to all the warriors, whether they are in logistics, medical, or cooking teams."
Seeing that some of the assembled troops had no weapons, Pinglu Yongfu immediately ordered Kasahara Koizumi to distribute guns to those unarmed soldiers.
The Japanese soldiers without weapons basically belonged to the logistics troops, such as animal husbandry soldiers who feed horses... the cooking team, engineers and the like.
All these people add up to less than two thousand people.
Ping Lu Yongfu's purpose of distributing weapons to these people was very simple. He wanted these auxiliary personnel to stay behind to cover the combat troops after the combat troops broke out of the encirclement of the Eighth Route Army.
Let these auxiliary personnel use their lives to delay the pursuing Eighth Route Army, in exchange for time for the combat troops to break out.
(End of this chapter)
