Chapter 42: Heartless Cannon
Many Japanese generals had a unit in their army that was composed entirely of fellow villagers or even relatives and friends.
This troop is often the elite in the general's hands and is a troop that absolutely obeys the general's orders.
Although the battalion just now was just a new battalion formed by some of his fellow villagers and reinforcements.
However, since the grassroots officers are all from the same hometown as Nobutsu Sakata, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are composed of his fellow townsmen.
Now those people are dead. If I don’t have enough merits, I’m afraid that when I return home, the families of those fellow villagers will hate me to death.
In addition to this reason, there was also an order from Yoshio Shinozuka to retrieve the regimental flag of the Ohno Regiment.
If the soldiers of Kimura's brigade found the Ohno regiment flag on Baihu Ridge, the Shanxi garrison would lose all face.
He was also hoping to find the regimental flag so that Yoshio Shinozuka could provide him with reinforcements.
The Sakata Regiment has a total of three battalions, one composed entirely of fellow townsmen and also the most elite battalion, one new battalion composed of some fellow townsmen and reinforcements, and one battalion composed of veterans.
Now they have lost almost one-third of their troops. If they lose more troops in the future, the undefeated myth of the Sakata Regiment may come to an end.
If the regimental flag was found by the soldiers of Kimura's brigade, Yoshio Shinozuka would be lucky not to curse, let alone provide himself with reinforcements.
But how could Shinjiro Kimura just give the credit to Nobutsu Sakata for the achievement that was right in front of him?
Nobutsu Sakata is a subordinate of Yoshio Shinozuka, but Shinjiro Kimura is not.
Kimura Shinjiro still needs military achievements to consolidate his position, especially when he heard that the higher-ups are preparing to form a new group of divisions.
His family sent him a message, asking him to find ways to gain more military merits, so that perhaps he could be promoted to the position of lieutenant general.
"No, Sakata-kun, you are already letting your anger get to your head."
"You are really not suitable to lead the attack on Baihu Ridge now."
"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander!"
"Sakata-kun, it's the Ohno United, right?"
"What is the Ono United?"
"For example, that..."
Shinjiro Kimura pointed to a flag fluttering not far away.
Kimura Shinjiro waved away the nearby guards and continued speaking.
"Don't lie to me. I saw it when you kept asking to attack White Tiger Ridge."
"Is it the flag of the Ohno Regiment that was lost?"
"And the regiment flag has not been discovered by the Eighth Route Army yet. It is still on Baihu Ridge."
"That's why you're so serious about attacking White Tiger Ridge."
"Yes, Your Excellency, Brigade Commander."
When Nobutsu Sakata saw that the matter had been discovered by Shinjiro Kimura, he simply stopped hiding it.
"Sakata-kun, I will find what you want for you."
"Sir, what do you need Sakata to do for you?"
"The higher-ups are discussing the establishment of a new division. I'm still a little short of becoming a lieutenant general."
Shinjiro Kimura gestured with his fingers and then looked in the direction of Cangyun Ridge.
"I need enough merits for this battle!"
"So I have to clear Cangyun Ridge as quickly as possible. You are a capable commander."
Kimura Shinjiro looked at Sakata Nobutsu with a sharp gaze: "Sakata-kun, Commander Shinozuka Yoshio is now fifty-six years old, and I am only forty years old."
"As long as you can make military achievements, I will become the youngest lieutenant general. At that time, I hope you can take over my Kimura Brigade and serve as my chief of staff!"
When Nobutsu Sakata heard what Shinjiro Kimura said, he immediately understood what he meant.
The other party didn't want me to help him earn military merits. He obviously had his eyes on me, or even my Sakata Regiment!
Nobutsu Sakata was right. Shinjiro Kimura had his eyes on Nobutsu Sakata and his Sakata Team.
A newly formed division must have a strong and capable force.
The Sakata Regiment, which was the first to be formed, was such a unit.
Nobutsu Sakata has also proven his abilities in battles over the years.
Among all the battles, the results of the Sakata Squadron were definitely ranked in the top 20, if not in the top ten!
There are hundreds of squadrons across the country, so you can imagine how valuable the Sakata Squadron is.
……
Nobutsu Sakata didn't know why he agreed to Shinjiro Kimura.
Afterwards, he took his own regiment, the three independent infantry battalions assigned to him by Kimura Shinjiro, and the garrison troops from Shiquan County to prepare to attack the county seat of Linyuan County.
Originally, Nobutsu Sakata was planning to have the garrison in Shiquan County bring a group of civilians to help with the siege.
However, the North China Front Army had just issued an order strictly prohibiting the capture of civilians for attacking the city. Because a group of Japanese soldiers captured civilians to attack the Eighth Route Army positions, they happened to capture the family members of the puppet army who were cooperating in the attack.
The puppet soldiers watched their parents fall to the Japanese guns, listened to their children calling for their father, and then were stabbed to death by the Japanese bayonets.
The puppet army, which had never been on the same page with the Japanese, turned against them at that time.
Then all the puppet troops contacted each other to see if their hometowns had been harmed by the Japanese devils.
If they are harmed, they will rebel directly on the battlefield.
If the Japanese had not discovered it early, they would have been lucky to be able to stabilize their own territory, let alone encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army.
Now all the puppet troops are on strike, clamoring to be stationed in their hometowns. If they are not allowed to return to their hometowns, then don't blame them for being rude.
The puppet army officers did not dare to stop them, as they also wanted to return to their hometown to lead the troops of their fellow villagers.
By forming a team with your fellow villagers, you don't have to worry about your position being evacuated by the Japanese at any time.
However, the Japanese devils finally managed to replace the positions of the puppet army officers, not allowing them to command the troops of their fellow villagers, nor allowing them to be stationed in their hometowns.
Otherwise, with the capabilities of the Eighth Route Army, once the puppet army returned to their hometown, they might become the Eighth Route Army wearing the uniforms of the Locust Association the next day.
……
Nobutsu Sakata had no choice but to organize his troops and prepare for a strong attack.
With the cooperation of airplanes and the six Type 94 mountain cannons assigned to him by Shinjiro Kimura, the siege progressed smoothly.
The large force quickly advanced to the outer positions of the city gate.
At this time, Nobutsu Sakata was observing through a telescope the outer positions at the city gate. There were many black holes and he was wondering what those holes were.
"Colonel, I think those holes are meant to prevent tanks from entering the city.
It looks like the Eighth Route Army is preparing to engage us in street fighting."
……
Similarly, in the Baihu Ridge Canyon, Kimura Shinjiro looked at the hillside about 200 meters away from the open space with some confusion. It was full of black holes, and he wondered what those things were.
If you count carefully, there are probably more than a hundred of those round holes.
"Order the troops to launch an all-out attack!"
At this time, two infantry battalions of soldiers had gathered in the open space behind the canyon, and a steady stream of Japanese soldiers were advancing through the bottom of the canyon.
……
At the city gate, Sakata Nobutsu waited until the troops gathered and then drew his sword.
"attack!"
"Take the wall in one go!"
……
"Kill him!"
Seeing the Japanese charging, Qin Yangming raised his lips and said, "Notify Li Erhu, all the unscrupulous artillery fire!"
……
"Zhang Dabiao, have someone fire the cannon! Let the Japanese see the power of the conscienceless cannon!"
……
Because the conscienceless cannon is just an explosive projectile made from a gasoline barrel.
Because the barrel wall is too thin, it needs to be buried in the ground. The shooting range is fixed, and the range is about two hundred to three hundred meters.
In the past six months, after demonstrating the "Unscrupulous Cannon", Qin Yangming and Li Yunlong gathered all the blacksmiths in Linyuan County to forge iron sheets and make the "Unscrupulous Cannon".
And now more than a hundred conscienceless cannons roared.
Round explosive packs were thrown onto the heads of the Japanese soldiers.
A pack of explosives weighs more than ten or even thirty kilograms. Even if it is filled with black powder, its power will not be small.
What's more, Qin Yangming filled it with real explosives.
Explosive packs weighing several kilograms exploded among the group of Japanese devils.
The powerful shock wave caused the Japanese soldiers within a radius of fifteen meters to bleed from all their orifices and their brains were shattered.
"Heavy artillery!"
"The Eighth Route Army has heavy artillery!"
"What are the air forces doing? Why aren't they dropping bombs to destroy the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery?"
"The Eighth Route Army is too arrogant. They even pulled their heavy artillery to the front for close-range shooting!"
(End of this chapter)
