Chapter 53: Interception of the Springfield Squadron (1)
"Got it, you go down first" Kanda Masazen, who was hanging on one arm, drank the sake in the cup a little sullenly, the Haruta squadron, which was the vanguard of the Sixth Division, had been attacked and killed more than half of them in a row, but they didn't even find the shadow of the attacker. Originally, the forward troops were scheduled to arrive at Lashio in three days, but now it is the third day, and the Chuntian squadron has only traveled half of the distance, and at this pace, before the troops can reach Lashio, the Chuntian squadron, known as the arrow of the 6th Division, may be canceled because of the casualties.
It's not that Kanda Masa didn't think about replacing other troops as the striker, but Haruta is the younger brother of his senior, not to mention that this person is brave and arrogant, and has sent several telegrams to himself asking to continue to serve as a striker, saying that if he is removed, he will immediately apologize. Forced by helplessness and selfishness, Kanda Masashong had no choice but to let the Haruta squadron continue to serve as the vanguard, anyway, the battle plan of the Sixth Division was to attack the southwestern border of China along the Yunnan-Burma Highway, so as to attract the attention of the Southwest China Army and provide assistance for the Chinese army to attack Sichuangui and other places, even if it was not a big problem to arrive in Wan Town a few days later.
Kanda Masasang, who borrowed alcohol alone to kill his sorrows, never thought that it was his selfishness that led to the demise of the Haruta squadron, if he hadn't cared about the face of his seniors and replaced the forward troops early, maybe the Haruta squadron, which had suffered more than half of the casualties, would not have suffered a catastrophe. The successive ambushes made the already grumpy Kazuo Haruta even more furious, and the commander of the chariot who cooperated with the Haruta squadron also persuaded to no avail, and after successfully defeating an attack, the confident Kazuo Haruta chased him into the bushes with his people.
Myanmar is a mountainous and jungled country, especially in the area north of Mandalay is full of jungles, although the rainy season has passed now, but the bushes are still extremely hot, chasing not far away, Kazuo Haruta they are sweating profusely and panting, the environment in Myanmar is much worse than that of the Philippines.
"Can't chase anymore" The Burmese guide who was forcibly recruited by the Japanese army pulled Kazuo Haruta who wanted to continue to pursue deep in the jungle, "There are locusts and grass mosquitoes in such forests, we don't have medicine, it's better not to go in" The words of the Burmese guide made Kazuo Haruta slowly calm down, the power of the Burmese locust was seen on the first day of Kazuo Haruta to Mandalay, two soldiers who went into the forest to hunt were drilled into the crotch by the locust and died in pain on the bed of the ambulance, that scene makes Kazuo Haruta unforgettable to this day.
"Damn, why did these little devils become smart and know to go back?" Lai San, who was in charge of acting as a bait to lure Haruta and his party into the bushes, scolded in a low voice, looking at the figure of Kazuo Haruta and the others who had already turned around, there was a hint of fierceness in his eyes. In order to attract this group of Japanese soldiers into the set, the dozen or so Burmese brought by Lai San all died in the grass next to the road, thinking that the Japanese army should always chase them in when they saw blood, saying that they thought that this group of guys was about to enter the ambush circle but chose to retreat, it seems that this arrangement is in vain.
"Damn, that can't let you go back well" Lai San leaned on the back of a big tree hugged by two people and raised the Garand in his hand, "Pap" "Pap" "Pap" Raisan's continuous shots hit the three Japanese soldiers walking behind, but Kazuo Haruta and the others flashed behind a few bushes, and it was difficult for Raisan to shoot them in his current position. "Dog's day, count your fate" Ignoring the bullets fired at his side, Lai San stretched out his waist and ran towards the woodland, this time the decoy operation failed, Lai San's heart was somewhat annoyed, but Kazuo Haruta's prospects were still not good, because there was still an infiltrator team in front of them that was ready to ambush them.
"Pack up your things, let's change places and continue to get them, this gang of bastards has shrunk back" After joining Zhuo Chen and them, Lai San poured water in a big gulp, and at the same time urged the others to pack up their things and move the ambush point. In the three days that they have been engaged in fire with the Springfield squadron, they have experienced more than a dozen ambushes like this, and the occasional miscalculation is nothing, as long as they can slow down the movement of the Japanese army, they will be a great achievement.
Carrying the bodies of the soldiers killed in battle, Kazuo Haruta returned to the highway and was glad that he had listened to the persuasion of the Burmese guide, otherwise he would have fallen into the trap laid by the attackers. "Nogami-kun, I'm sorry just now, I shouldn't have lost my temper with you, your opinion is right, the attackers did set a trap in the woods" Kazuo Haruta looked guilty and apologized to Nogami Heyuan, who commanded the chariot. More than half of his squadron had already suffered casualties, and without the cooperation of the tank squad, it would have been delusional to get to Lashio smoothly, so Kazuo Haruta had to put down his body and apologize to Nogami Kagen, who was one rank lower than him.
"Haruta-kun, we are good friends, you don't have to do this, my chariot has also lost three of them, these damn attackers are our common enemies" Nogami Heyuan, who was just a captain, obviously understood the true intention of Kazuo Haruta's compensation, and without waiting for Kazuo Haruta to bow to himself, he had already reached out to support Kazuo Haruta's shoulder, and there was a hint of compliment in his words, who ** Kazuo Tian has a relationship with the commander of the division, if he were to change himself, I am afraid he will be so arrogant.
The Type 98 chariot at the front of the "boom" team was shrouded in fire after a bang, and a charioteer covered in fire crawled out of the chariot, and the Japanese soldiers next to him tried to extinguish the fire on his body, but unfortunately after they put out the fire with all their hands and feet, the soldier who jumped out of the chariot was already exhausted. "Boom" another flame appeared at the rear of the team, and this time the explosion occurred in a truck of the Springfield squadron hauling the wounded, and all 20 wounded and several ambulance soldiers in the cabin were killed.
"Bageya Road" looked at the charred corpses placed on the ground after the fire was extinguished, and Kazuo Haruta was in flames, and the attacks were like this for three consecutive days, and I don't know where the attackers got so many mines, and the road surface that the sappers probed with mine detectors would also explode. Only half of the 12 trucks and 6 combat vehicles that the Springfield Squadron had when it set out are now left, and after a few landmine attacks like this, I am afraid that the Springfield Squadron will have to go to Lashio on foot.
"Chuntian-kun, this can't be done, if we continue like this, sooner or later we will be dragged to death by those attackers on this road" Yeshan Heyuan is a cautious person, and the continuous attacks for three consecutive days also made him see something. The fact that the attackers were only using mines and long-range fire to attack and harass them, but never came face to face, suggests that the attackers were only trying to delay their progress. The Springfield Squadron now only has half of the soldiers left who can fight, even if you count the three tanks you still have left, they may not be the opponents of the attackers, and the best thing to do at present is to stand by and wait for the follow-up troops to catch up, and the attackers will never dare to play tricks with them who are outnumbered.
It wasn't just Kazuo Haruta who was persuaded by Nogami Heyuan, but he himself was aware of the danger ahead, and the Haruta squadron, which had been attacked for three days in a row, began to stand by and camp after finding a water source. "Yo, the little devils are scared by us, they are all starting to camp, it seems that they are waiting for reinforcements" Lai San, who was lying on the grass, watched the Japanese army's every move with a telescope, Zhuo Chen, they were teaching the Burmese how to open the can.
"Master Cao, you can be regarded as coming, these little devils have been beaten by us for three days and are almost unbearable, or we will destroy them here" Connecting with another team of infiltrators, Lai San's face showed a smile. The mercenary led by the infiltrator team who came to the meeting was called Cao Yang, who was also a veteran from the national army, and he was a guy who could be ranked in the infiltrator army, and Lai San had the intention to pull him to deal with the Japanese troops below.
"How many more of them are there? I look at the three Iron King Eight Shells," Cao Yang didn't say a word, he lay beside Lai San, picked up the binoculars and looked at the Japanese camp in the distance, the three 98-type chariots covered with grass branches naturally couldn't escape his eyes. Cao Yuan participated in the Thunder is running to kill the Japanese, but this does not mean that he is a reckless man, 8 years of experience in carrying guns and eating food tells him that if he is not sure, he will only make himself and his brothers fall into a situation of death war, not to mention that they plus Lai San's people are only about 40 people, if the number of Japanese troops is too large, they have no chance of winning at all.
"I probably counted it in the morning, there are almost more than 140 of them, if you count their wounded soldiers and those Japanese soldiers who make Iron King Ba, Mo can have the appearance of 200 people" Lai San came with his mouth open, and when he got up early and attacked the Chuntian squadron with mortars, Zhuo Chen had already arrived close and counted the number of Japanese soldiers, although it was not very accurate, but it was not far from ten. "Originally, there were 6 Iron King Eight, but we have knocked out three of them, I have taken a fancy to their trucks, if we have a truck, the brothers will no longer have to walk with a footboard"
"It's good to have a car, but we have to have our lives to get it back," Cao Yang whispered and continued to observe the movements of the Japanese army with a telescope. The number of Japanese troops is almost 5 times that of them, and after removing the more than 20 Burmese guerrillas who operate with the infiltrator team, there are only 24 real mercenaries, Cao Yuan is not bloodless, but he can't think of how to defeat the 200 Japanese troops below at this point.
"Cao Ye, don't you look down on me Lai San" Lai San, who had a hippie smile, leaned over to Cao Yang's side and whispered, "Seeing those Burmese behind me, there is a Burmese village nearby, I have already sent someone to move troops, as long as these little devils don't move their nests before dark, when Lao Tzu's men and horses arrive, you just have to clean up the battlefield, I can't run any of the little devils" Lai San's unfathomability aroused Cao Yang's interest, but no matter how he pressed him, Lai San just didn't reveal his plan of action, Just say that everything will wait for reinforcements to come.