The 26th Division of the Japanese Army, codenamed "Izumi", was formed on September 30, 1937 based on the 11th Brigade of the Kwantung Army's independent infantry, and was initially subordinate to the Kwantung Army. After the formation of the Mongolian Corps, it was separated from the Kwantung Army and assigned to the Mongolian Corps. Subsequently, the Corps stationed in Mongolia was reorganized into the Army stationed in Mongolia and subordinated to the North China Front.

For example, the 23rd Division, which fought against the Soviet Army at Nomenkan, was the first mobile division of the Japanese army, and all of them were motorized; The 27th Division stationed in Tianjin had a combat convoy and a heavy artillery wing. This 26th Division is no exception, the general Japanese division is either a field artillery wing (horse pull system) or a mountain artillery wing (pack horse system), but the 26th Division actually has one each, and it has a large number of trucks, a very high degree of motorization, and its strength can be imagined.

At present, the commander of the department is Lieutenant General Shigetoku Kuroda, and has three infantry wings, namely the 11th, 12th, and 13th independent infantry wings, each of which has 3 infantry brigades and each brigade has 4 squadrons; At the same time, there are also search teams, signal teams, the 26th Independent Field Artillery Wing (234 establishment), the 26th Independent Mountain Artillery Wing (234 establishment), the 26th Independent Engineer Wing, the 26th Independent Baggage Corps Wing, the Ordnance Service Team, the Health Team, the Field Hospital, and the Sick Horse Farm. The establishment of 12,000 soldiers, 2,065 military horses, 8,940 rifles, 216 grenadiers, 216 light machine guns, 54 heavy machine guns, 24 field artillery, 36 mountain artillery (24 mountain artillery, 12 wing guns) and other weapons and equipment.

Since the afternoon of December 24. The units of the 26th Division rushed to Baotou one after another and launched wave after wave of fierce offensives. However, after three days of fighting, only one fortification outside the east gate was captured.

Baotou, Suixi Tunken Reclamation Office Compound, City Defense Headquarters Station. That's right, just a few days ago this was the headquarters of the little devils. However, after the 342nd Regiment completely annihilated the remnants of the enemy in the city, the commander of Dong Qiwu's division saw that it was quite strong here, so he moved the city defense headquarters over.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! The Japanese artillery was still bombarding the city. Not long after, there was a sudden commotion in the city, and Commander Dong Qiwu, who was sleeping soundly on the table, hurriedly got up and asked, "What's the matter!" What's going on! Is it the little devil who has come into the city? ”

The chief of staff of the 101st Division hurried over. The report said: "Master, please rest assured. With our department stationed, Baotou City is impregnable! Just now it was the arson bomb of the little devil that set several houses on fire, and the fighters were putting out the fire. ”

"Oh!" Master Dong Qiwu rubbed his head tiredly, and asked in a deep voice, "I'm all sleepy." How many days is it today? ”

The chief of staff hurriedly said: "It's the third day!" ”

Master Dong casually picked up a helmet. Say, "Go." Let's go out and see! ”

The chief of staff hurriedly persuaded: "Division, the little devils outside are firing artillery every now and then, and safety cannot be guaranteed." You are in command. How can you take risks lightly? ”

Division Commander Dong shook his head and said, "No, if I don't go to the front line, I don't know the bottom of my heart." ”

The chief of staff had no choice but to call a few more guards to accompany him. The group walked along the neighborhood that had just been bombed by the little devils, and most of the houses on both sides had been blown into rubble. Some of the wooden buildings were burned to the ground, and even sporadic fires could be seen that had not yet been extinguished, and teams of soldiers were carrying water from wells to put out the fire.

Division Commander Dong stopped a soldier and asked, "Little brother, have you eaten enough these days, and are you cold at night?" ”

The soldier hurriedly saluted: "Report to the master's seat!" ”

Master Dong waved his hand and said, "Just talk about it, don't be nervous!" ”

"Yes, Master!" The soldier thought for a moment and said bluntly: "I have a full meal, and it is a little cold at night, but I can deal with it by putting the captured little devil's coat on my body." ”

Master Dong smiled and asked, "What are the main difficulties?" Or what do we need to solve? ”

The soldier thought for a moment and said, "Nothing else, it's just that the little devil's cannon is so hateful, bombarding day and night, killing many of our brothers." Shiza, look here, this is what was blown up by the little devil just now! ”

Master Dong looked around and said angrily: "The little devil dares to blow up so hard, Lao Tzu will have to take revenge sooner or later!" He also instructed: "Let the brethren be careful and take shelter when they hear the sound of cannons." ”

The chief of staff comforted: "It's okay today, the little devil only fired a few dozen shells, and it is estimated that the logistics are also a little out of help." As long as we hold on for a while longer, the Japanese army will be defeated! ”

Master Dong waved his hand and said, "You can't underestimate the enemy!" It's not the first time we've fought against little devils, and you should know their technical and tactical level, so don't slack off. As he spoke, he was about to walk near the city gate, and Master Dong climbed straight to the city tower and said, "Let's go, go up and have a look." ”

The chief of staff hurriedly stopped and said, "This is not good! ”

Master Dong laughed and said, "Look at you nervous, I'm just going to the city wall to observe." What can the little devil do to me, the bullet that can kill me hasn't been made yet! ”

The chief of staff thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "You have to go, but you have to change into civilian clothes." ”

Master Dong waved his hand and said, "Don't be so troublesome, I'll just go up and take a look." He also joked: "If I had changed into civilian clothes, the brothers might have thought that I was going to abandon the army and run away!" ”

The chief of staff couldn't cry or laugh, so he had to explain: "Shizao, this set of generals on you is really eye-catching, and it's not fun to be seen by the little devil's sharpshooter!" ”

Master Dong suddenly became interested, and hurriedly asked, "What sharpshooter?" Thinking that the little devil's marksmanship was really powerful, he hurriedly asked, "How did the brothers defend the city?" ”

The chief of staff pointed to it and said with a smile: "The snipers of the 342nd Regiment are fighting cold shots with the little devils, and the little devils are not taking advantage of anything. However, the city is still very dangerous, so you can only bend down. ”

It didn't take long for the two to quickly change into a set of ordinary military uniforms, and then quietly appeared in the city. I heard a soldier holding a bent stick in his hand, resting on the lookout hole and observing and saying, "Three o'clock, 300 meters away." Machine gun bunker, target four people, wind direction north-west level 4. ”

A soldier next to him repeated, suddenly raised his gun and fired, only to hear thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, four shots in a row, and then shrunk back in a swoop. As soon as he retreated, several rows of dense bullets swept through the front, sending brick fragments flying all over the place. This is a heavy machine gun deployed by the Japanese army at a distance of 800 meters. Specifically suppressed the fire point at the head of the city. Fortunately, Baotou City is still relatively strong. As long as you hide behind the parapet wall, it's basically fine.

The soldier in charge of observation complained: "Holy shit, whoever told you to shoot four times in one breath, don't kill you!" ”

The soldier who fired the shot smiled: "Don't talk about this yet, I hit a few." Just now! ”

The soldier in charge of observation said angrily, "I'm embarrassed to ask." Just kill one. One was wounded, and the remaining two were not even rubbed with skin. Luckily, the one who killed it was the Heavy, otherwise you kid would have finished the game! ”

……

Master Dong is not happy to see it. couldn't help but interject and asked: "Two little brothers, your marksmanship is really good, you can even suppress the little devils to beat their cold guns!" How many of you in the 348 regiment can reach this level? ”

The soldier who fired the gun blushed slightly, and said with a smile: "Brother has won the prize, my marksmanship can only be said to be acceptable, and it is not better than the little devil." There are quite a few people in our regiment who are good at marksmanship, but there are not many who can snipe, so there are only one or two squads! ”

Master Dong said curiously: "Why is this? ”

The soldier in charge of observation explained: "Sniping is not just good marksmanship, you just saw it, the little devil's marksmanship is no worse than ours, but he doesn't know how to protect himself, so he has become a ghost under the gun." ”

Dong Qiwu said admiringly: "Not bad! Then he asked, "I just don't know how long it will take to learn your brother's skill?" ”

The soldier looked back and smiled, "There's a lot to learn!" Brother, do you want to learn so much if you ask so much...... Dong, Master Dong? Hello sir! ”

The other soldier was also taken aback and hurriedly said hello.

Master Dong waved his hand disapprenosingly and said, "It's okay, it's okay, let's talk about this sniper!" Well, uh, this is a great job, can that be passed on? ”

The soldier in charge of observation smiled and said, "Division Commander Dong has seen the outside, this is the skill of fighting devils, we wish all Chinese soldiers could learn it!" He pointed to the east of the city and said, "Our platoon commander has held a study class over there and is teaching sniper knowledge on the spot." ”

Master Dong was overjoyed, thanked him repeatedly, and then hurried to the east of the city. Sure enough, a group of Suiyuan soldiers were lying on the ground practicing. Wang Jianye, commander of the 301st Regiment of the 101st Division, hurriedly greeted him and saluted: "Report to the division, our regiment is organizing sharpshooters to learn sniper skills from friendly soldiers." ”

"Well, well, how are the brethren learning?" Master Dong smiled with satisfaction.

Head Wang smiled: "I have benefited a lot, Shizuo!" He also exclaimed: "They teach all the best jobs to save their lives on the battlefield!" If only we had more or less understood it before, but it was not as systematic and comprehensive as that of friendly forces. The lowly plan is to let the brothers practice for two days first, and then practice with the devil! ”

Master Dong stroked his palm and smiled: "Okay, learn hard, if you learn well, you will beat the little devil so that you can't even touch the side of the city wall!" ”

While he was talking and laughing, the signal corpsman trotted over all the way and reported: "Division, the headquarters has called to inquire about the current situation of our department and ask if we need support. ”

Master Dong thought for a while and said: "You call back and tell the head seat, just say that Baotou City is very strong, and there is no shortage of personnel and materials, and it is no problem to hold on to this situation for another three days." It's just that the little devil's artillery is too hard, and I hope the headquarters can think of a way. ”

The telegram was soon sent to the headquarters of the deputy commander of the Eighth Theater of Operations in Dashetai. Chief Fu Zuoyi took the telegram and looked at it, and asked, "Chief of Staff Fan, the 101st Division has asked us to provide artillery support, do you think we can do it?" ”

Chief of Staff Fan Zixia hurriedly said: "Oh, no problem! Through reconnaissance in the past few days, the location of the enemy's artillery has almost been figured out. However, the enemy still has a lot of tanks and armored vehicles, and once our artillery positions are exposed, I am afraid that a large number of enemy troops will be recruited, so it is necessary to have at least one main division of troops to cover the artillery transfer. ”

Fu Zuoyi nodded and said, "Well, that makes sense." In this way, your staff department should first draw up a plan, and you must try to be as thorough as possible to win the morale of the little devils in one fell swoop. ”

In the afternoon of the same day, various units of the Suiyuan National Army suddenly concentrated their artillery and bombarded the Japanese positions. These include the 25th Artillery Regiment of Fu Zuoyi's Department (note: the number is wrong in the front, it is written as the 52nd Regiment, apologize), and a newly formed artillery regiment of the 34th Division. And then there are a few artillery batteries of various miscellaneous cards.

The Japanese army did not take the national army seriously at all by relying on the advantages of aircraft, tanks, and artillery, but they did not expect to lose troops and defeat in Baotou and hit a wall again and again. Lieutenant General Shigetoku Kuroda, who was extremely demoralized, ordered the artillery units to approach and bombard the city walls and the city.

At first, the Japanese artillery was quite cautious, but after several days of fighting, the artillery counterattack of the national army was not seen, and gradually slackened. Sometimes the artillerymen entered the position and stayed for half a day and did not bother to change positions. This kind of paralysis has brought great convenience to the counterattack of the national army.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble...... After precise aiming, nearly 200 shells were poured on the Japanese positions in an instant. Of course, these troops did not add up to two hundred cannons. The reason why so many shells were able to land on the Japanese positions in the first place was because the 34th Division used the method of "landing multiple shells at the same time" again.

The observation squad sent by the artillery regiment of the 34th Division of each artillery unit calculates the data, and then compares the data to the calculated data, so as to avoid the difficulty of training.

Shiguai Town. 34th Division Command.

"Report!"

"Come in!"

Master Zhao Yunxiang looked up. Seeing that it was Wang Changjiang, the deputy chief of staff, and his face was happy, he couldn't help but smile and said: "What good news did you get, happy to be like this?" ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang stretched out his hand to make an OK gesture. Said excitedly: "Master." Did you hear that burst of artillery just now? It was reported by front-line scouts. Our assault knocked out at least three of the enemy's artillery batteries! ”

Division Commander Zhao nodded with satisfaction and asked again, "Are those old guns newly received easy to use?" ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang poured himself a cup of hot water and took a sip. said: "Well, it's a little old, but it's surprisingly accurate, but the power is a little insufficient, if only I could drag those dozen 105mm howitzers over!" ”

There are six main models of artillery exchanged by Jizhong this time, namely the Suluotong 20mm anti-aircraft gun, the Makqin 37mm bang gun, the Austrian Bailu 47mm battle defense gun, the German-made 1913 75mm mountain gun, the 1908 Krupp 75mm mountain gun, and the 1916 105mm light field howitzer.

The Suluotong 20-mm anti-aircraft gun is the most important small-caliber anti-aircraft gun in central Hebei at present, and for the convenience of logistics and supply, there is no other model. In the future, the Makqin Bangbang cannon will be used as the main support firepower at the battalion level, and this kind of artillery has a large reserve on both sides of the war, and it is also a waste material, and it is also very convenient to replenish.

The Austrian Bailu 47mm anti-aircraft gun is the most important anti-tank firepower of the Jizhong troops, and there are weapons with better performance, but for the convenience of logistics and supply, this kind of weapon is still needed. The Germans are also willing to give, because they themselves do not need such things.

Although the remaining three were produced before World War I, their performance was not much behind the mainstream artillery of the Japanese army. For example, the German-made 1913 75mm mountain gun weighed 275kg and had a maximum firing range of 3150m, which was slightly heavier than the Japanese army's Type 92 infantry gun, but its power and range were much stronger. If the gun carriage can be replaced, the range can be increased a lot.

In 1908, the Krupp 75mm mountain gun, with a total weight of 529kg and a maximum firing range of 5750m, was almost the same as the Japanese army's Type 41 mountain gun.

The 105mm light field howitzer in 1916, with a total weight of 1525kg and a maximum firing range of 11000m, was slightly better than the Japanese Type 91 field howitzer. It is important to know that there are not many Type 91 field artillery howitzers in the Japanese army, and only the first-class main division has a brigade.

The only regret is that now the mountains are covered by heavy snow, and the road to Outer Mongolia is very difficult to walk, and many materials cannot be transported for a while. Otherwise, why be polite to the devil? Directly organized four or five artillery regiments and returned to Sui!

Master Zhao Yunxiang's eyes lit up, and then he shook his head and said, "Not for the time being!" Our strength in Suiyuan is still too thin to protect the material channel. It's okay to say that if a 105-caliber heavy gun appears, the little devil will definitely be able to see some clues! ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang also agreed, saying: "Yes, this material channel is too important for us now!" There is no room for sloppiness. However, Chief Fu Zuoyi's troops are very capable of fighting, and there is a great hope of holding Baotou this time, as long as Baotou is here, our transportation route will be very safe! ”

Zhao Yunxiang hurriedly asked, "You have been observing the front line for so long, what do you know?" ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang smiled and said, "I have summed it up, there are four major ones on this battlefield that cannot be provoked!" ”

Zhao Yunxiang smiled: "Oh? How to say this! ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang explained: "First, the Japanese fortifications are strong and well-laid out, and it is really difficult to fight!" ”

Zhao Yunxiang smiled and said, "Not bad! Who let them work hard in Baotou in the first half of the year, they really deserve it! And what about the second? ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang said: "Second, that is, Chief Fu's troops are indeed very good at defending the city, and this is some of the experience I have observed. ”

Zhao Yunxiang took it and said happily: "Well, it's really a good thing, and it can be included in the textbooks of our Jizhong Military Academy." It seems that although the fortifications are good, there must be a good army. ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang agreed: "That's exactly the reason! Then he continued: "This third is the guerrilla attack of the Eighth Road, which is really breathtaking. As of this morning, 50 Japanese vehicles and more than 100 large vehicles had been destroyed. The Japanese guards are not strict, but they have repeatedly succeeded, which is incredible. ”

Zhao Yunxiang said with a smile: "Well, the Eighth Road is the ancestor of guerrillas, and with the new weapons we provide, it is naturally handy." There are already three points for this, but what about the fourth point? ”

Deputy Chief of Staff Wang said with emotion: "It's Ma Jiajun's decisiveness!" To tell you the truth, this is the first time I have seen such a cavalryman who is not afraid of death. When a cavalry company of theirs went out to reconnoitre, it encountered more than 10 tanks and more than 500 cavalry of the Japanese army on the edge of the Yellow River. ”

Master Zhao Yunxiang was silent for a moment, and sighed slightly: "Horse leather shroud, isn't it strong!" (To be continued......)