Chapter 658 Attack (I)

It's dawn, and it's half past seven in the morning. The smell of horse manure and the smell of gasoline permeated the entire ferry, and horse-drawn carriages, tanks, armored cars, and trucks were crowded on both sides of the ferry, and the staff officers commanding the "traffic" were very busy.

This is the Yellow Flag Fort, located in the middle reaches of the Dayang River, almost 50 kilometers away from the Xiuyan upstream, and another major tributary of the Dayang River, the Whistle River, is in the Yellow Flag Fort into the Dayang River, geographically speaking, this Yellow Flag Fort is the thoroughfare area, if you want to go to sea along the Dayang River from Xiuyan, this Yellow Flag Fort is the place to pass, but it is a pity that the Northeast region has always been economically and culturally backward, and it has not been able to get rich here after all.

The eastern boundary of the "neutral zone line" of the Luda lease is the Dayang River, and Huangqibao is located on the south bank of the Dayang River, so there is no Chinese garrison here, which was previously garrisoned by the Japanese Kwantung garrison, and in peacetime, a squadron of Japanese troops is usually stationed here.

After the start of the Sino-Japanese war. Due to the lack of strength of the Japanese Kwantung Army, it could only shrink the defensive line, so the Japanese squadron of Huangqibao was transferred to Xiuyan in the upper reaches of the Dayang River, which became a town without garrisons, and because the Japanese retreat was very sudden, the order in the town was 'chaotic' for two days, until the local gentry and the leading figures united with the Japanese expatriates to organize a so-called "maintenance meeting", which restored order in the town, and the Japanese expatriates also held all the power in the town and commanded them.

However, the Japanese expatriates did not get complacent for long, and in the early hours of this morning, a Chinese reconnaissance force infiltrated the Yellow Flag Fort from the upper reaches of the Dayang River, and after ascertaining the truth of the town, this reconnaissance force took decisive action to destroy the maintenance association, and disarmed the maintenance association without much effort, and then, most of the Japanese expatriates in the town were restricted from their freedom of movement, and only a few fled to the south, and the commander of the reconnaissance force then temporarily took over all the power in the town.

At seven o'clock in the morning, an infantry regiment of the Chinese army crossed the Dayang River from the ferry and marched into the Yellow Flag Fort, where the Military Management Committee immediately took over the power from the commander of the reconnaissance unit, and then issued a proclamation announcing the recovery of the Yellow Flag Fort and the containment of all the Japanese expatriates in those towns. And sending them to the rear, the Yellow Flag Fort finally raised the Chinese flag.

This infantry regiment was only the vanguard of the arrival at the Yellow Flag Fort, and at the same time that the Japanese expatriates were escorted across the river by the soldiers, the real main force finally drove into the Yellow Flag Fort, and for the advance of this main force, the engineering unit even erected a pontoon bridge at the ferry.

This pontoon bridge is by no means the kind of simple pontoon bridge composed of wooden boats and ropes, this pontoon bridge designed by German technical experts is very modern, its main materials are steel, it is composed of a huge steel box, relying on steel cable connection, the carrying capacity is amazing, so when they saw the armored vehicles one after another driving into the Yellow Flag Fort through the pontoon bridge, many Japanese expatriates who were crossing the river were completely frightened by this scene, they didn't know what kind of vehicle it was, but common sense told them, It must be a weapon used to wage war.

"Boom...... Boom ......"

The roar of the gasoline engine and the roar of the diesel engine are mixed together, deafening 'jade' deafness, and people have to raise their voices to talk to each other, otherwise they can't hear clearly.

"Sir Bai! This is a telegram that has just been photographed! ”

A staff officer holds a transcript of a telegram in his hand. Standing beside a swarthy tank, he shouted a few words to an officer sitting on top of the tank, and although the tank was starting the engine, the roar of the engine almost drowned out his voice, but the tank commander sitting on the roof jumped out of the tank because he held up the transcript of the telegram.

After jumping off the tank, he took out a black and shiny handkerchief from his military pocket, wiped his greasy hands, and then took the transcript of the telegram sent by the staff officer, and looked at the contents, but it was a telegram taken by Zhou Daogang, the commander of the First Army, from the Xiuyan front, asking Bai Lang about the current location of his armored troops.

"You telegraph back and tell Commander Zhou that we have just arrived at Huangqi Fort, which is a little slower than the original plan, but this is also no way, these tanks have some mechanical failures from time to time, and the road stops and stops, besides, this road is hilly and mountainous, and we are not slow to walk."

After a few words, the staff officer hurried to the town and sent a telegram to the Xiuyan front.

"Boom...... Boom ......"

The tank continued to start the diesel engine, and Bai Lang glanced at the exhaust pipe at the back of the tank, then 'fumed' a cigarette from the pocket of his military uniform, and stuffed it into his mouth, without waiting for him to 'touch' the match. The roar of the tank's engine suddenly stopped, which made Bai Lang a little impatient.

"How?"

Bai Lang grabbed the tank cap from his head, then grabbed the cigarette from his mouth, walked to the cockpit, and shouted at the busy pilot soldier through the observation window.

"Gearbox belch." The driver looked helpless.

"Drag! Drag it into town to fix it! ”

Bai Lang took a sip, this kind of halfway tank did slow down the march of the entire armored brigade, but compared to the four-wheel armored car, Bai Lang did not hate this kind of armored combat vehicle with tracks, because the off-road "ability" of this weapon was too good In terms of protection and firepower, tanks are much more powerful than armored cars, if Bai Lang has to make a choice, he would rather most of the armored vehicles equipped in the army are tanks, of course, the armored maintenance company must also have more manpower.

In fact, armored cars also have advantages, that is, they can run fast on the road and can be used as a reconnaissance vehicle, but the problem is that if the road conditions are bad, this speed advantage of armored cars cannot be brought into play.

In this Liaodong campaign, the General Staff Department not only equipped the infantry divisions participating in the battle with some armored combat vehicles. Two independent armored brigades were also formed separately, and Bai Lang was the brigade commander of one of the armored brigades, and was assigned to the Xiuyan Theater and was dispatched by Zhou Daogang.

Originally, Zhou Daogang planned to concentrate the armored brigade in the direction of Xiuyan's main attack, but after Bai Lang and the chief of staff made his statement, Zhou Daogang finally changed his mind and decided to send Bai Lang's armored brigade to the downstream direction of Xiuyan to carry out a pincer attack on the flank and rear direction of the Japanese army in Xiuyan, and 'advance' to the depth of the Japanese defense. Cut off the connection between the Japanese troops on the front line and the rear, and 'disrupt' the entire deployment of the Japanese army, and strive to cooperate with the frontal main attacking force to eat the Japanese army in one bite.

This was a somewhat risky military operation, and Zhou Daogang only gave Bai Lang the order to march after consulting the General Staff and obtaining the approval of the president, at a time when the Battle of Xiuyan had just begun.

The reason why he volunteered to lead the armored troops to the eastern coastal plain of the Liaodong Peninsula was to test the combat effectiveness of the troops, and the reason why the center agreed to Zhou Daogang's change of combat plan was also to see the real combat effectiveness and tactical level of the armored troops, but if there was no battle to fight, then the armored troops would not get actual combat experience and training, and Bai Lang was of course depressed.

At the same time, he also sent a telegram to the General Staff asking the Air Force to assist in carrying out tactical reconnaissance of the eastern coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, but at present, the Air Force has a heavy task, and it is still unknown whether it can send reconnaissance planes in time to conduct tactical reconnaissance of the circuitous route of the armored brigade, and if the Air Force cannot help, then Bai Lang can only rely on his own reconnaissance troops.

Since the gearbox of the car was no longer working properly, Bai Lang had to take a four-wheeled baggage carriage that had just crossed the river and 'smoke' a cigarette into the Yellow Flag Fort.

At this time, the brigade headquarters had already chosen a station, which was on the original site of the "maintenance meeting", and the leading figures in the town were all called over to listen to the teachings of Brigade Commander Bai.

"Listen up, you're all listening. I don't care whether you cooperated with the Japanese in the past or not, I only value the present, if you are still eye-to-eye with the Japanese, then, don't blame the brigade commander for being unkind, for the Han 'traitor', whether it is me. Or other commanders, they are all very hated, now that China is at war with Japan, our ** soldiers are here to recover the country, whoever dares to go against us is our enemy, and we will never tolerate any sabotage! ”

As soon as he saw the faces of these gentlemen and elders, Bai Lang taught a few words very unceremoniously, and the old gentlemen below were all silent, where did they dare to say half a "no".

After singing the white face, Bai Lang left the brigade headquarters, and asked the brigade chief of staff to continue to sing red face to these Shunmin under Japanese colonial rule, as for the white brigade commander himself, he went to the maintenance company, and worked with the officers and soldiers to replace parts for those tanks lying in the nest, although the culture is not high, but after several years of training, Bai Lang is now a repair expert, ordinary mechanical failures are just a piece of cake for him, as long as there are parts, it is only a matter of hours to complete the overhaul of a tank.

There are several tanks lying in the nest, without exception are gearbox failures, which can also be understood, walking on this terrain, the gearbox is indeed easy to wear, which is why the tank is equipped with a trailer for the "door", which can maximize the combat effectiveness of the tank, and save the physical strength of the tank crew, after all, staying in a steel stuffy tank upside down, no matter how strong-willed people are, it is impossible not to be affected.

This repair was repaired until noon, when the reconnaissance unit also returned to the Yellow Flag Fort and brought Bai Lang a very exciting news.

In a village dozens of miles southwest of the Yellow Flag Fort, the reconnaissance team found a Japanese logistics warehouse, where the Japanese army seemed to have received the news of the fall of the Yellow Flag Fort, and is currently organizing manpower to empty the warehouse, judging from the goods carried by the Japanese soldiers, the warehouse should be stored with shells and bullets, and the number of Japanese troops is not large, at most more than 100 people, and more importantly, the village is located on the route of the armored brigade's roundabout flank, that is, Bai Lang can carry out the outflanking task at the same time, and grab a handful in that logistics warehouse.

"Order, all eat! I went to the south to take a look, and the chief of staff remained in the town to command. ”

Bai Lang wiped his oil-stained hands with cotton yarn, and then ordered the troops to make food immediately, but he himself did not intend to stay at the Yellow Banner Fort for lunch, but immediately gathered five tanks and fifteen armored vehicles, leaving the brigade chief of staff in command, and then, with an order, led the armored assault detachment consisting of twenty armored vehicles and several trucks full of infantry to leave the Yellow Flag Fort and 'advance' along the dirt road outside the town to the village in the south.

Attacking, attacking without stopping, until the logistical supply cannot keep up———— this is the basic tactic of armored operations.