readx;? Iwanaka Yoshiharu's Type 97 medium tank weighed seven tons and was equipped with a 37 mm tank gun and a 7.7 mm heavy machine gun. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info For the squadron at that time, such a tank was very difficult to destroy, but what he was encountering now was a heavy tank a few decades later. The weight of the Type 59 heavy tank reached 36 tons, and the 100 mm caliber tank gun could penetrate a 140-millimeter-thick steel plate at a distance of 1,000 meters with armor-piercing shells, which was similar to the famous German Leopard tank and the Soviet T-34 tank a few years later, but with more powerful firepower and more advanced design.

Iwanaka Yoshiye would never have thought that backward China would have such tanks, and he was full of confidence and prepared to take his tank brigade to destroy the tank troops in China. At this time, the armored regiment, with the cooperation of the 543rd Regiment and the Guard Regiment, completely annihilated the Japanese brigade that remained to block itself, and continued to pursue and advance towards the main force of the Japanese Fifth Division.

After twenty minutes of pursuit, the two chariot units finally met, turned a hill, and spotted each other's lights almost simultaneously. The No. 1 and No. 2 heavy tanks of the armored regiment immediately reported to the regiment commander Wu Jianzhou with a vehicle-mounted telegraph: "Regiment commander, the No. 1 tank reports that there is a light in front of it, and it is suspected that the Japanese tank unit is driving towards us. ”

Wu Jianzhou, who was in the back, heard the report and immediately ordered the tanks of the whole regiment to be replaced with armor-piercing shells and prepare to engage the Japanese tanks. And the two medium tanks in front of the Japanese were also given orders to shoot at any time. When they both appear under the headlights, they shoot cannonballs at each other almost at the same time, but the effect is different. The Type 59 heavy tanks of the armored regiment were equipped with advanced balancing devices and artillery aiming systems, and the first hit rate was unmatched by the Japanese tanks.

As a result, the two shells on the Japanese tanks passed by the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks, while the two shells on the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks blew up the first two tanks of the Japanese army on the spot. The two burning Japanese tanks exposed a small part of the Japanese tank brigade, and the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks of the armored regiment fired armor-piercing shells at the Japanese tanks behind.

The tank guns on the Japanese medium tanks were also desperately counterattacking, but the armor-piercing shells fired by the Japanese 37-mm tank guns could not penetrate the 100-millimeter-thick inclined armor at the front of the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks. As long as the shells of the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks hit the Japanese tanks, they would immediately cause the Japanese tanks to explode and catch fire.

Tanks No. 1 and No. 2 were ordered to step aside after receiving several shells from the Japanese army, and tanks No. 3 and No. 4 behind them came up. The artillery battle between the two sides lasted for more than an hour, and only two tanks remained in the Japanese Type 9 tank squadron, and three Type 94 tanks were also destroyed in the back. So Iwanaka Yoshiharu immediately ordered the entire tank brigade to retreat.

It is not easy for all the tanks to turn around on such a narrow road, even if the Japanese army is well-trained, it is inevitable to turn around and retreat in this situation, and when the armored regiment tends to the confusion of the Japanese tank brigade, it continues to shell the Japanese tank brigade, and when Iwanaka Yoshiharu leads the tank brigade to withdraw from the attack range of the armored regiment, there are only twelve Type 94 tanks left in a tank brigade, and only the one he is riding in is left in the Type 97 medium tank.

The armored regiment also wanted to continue the pursuit, but a dozen destroyed Japanese tanks on the road became an obstacle, and by the time the armored regiment crashed through a passage with heavy tanks, the Japanese tank brigade had already gone far. The armored regiment could only regroup and continue to pursue in the direction of the Japanese army. At this time, two regiments of the teaching corps also rushed up, and behind the armored regiment were three main regiments plus a guard battalion.

The 9th Brigade of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army was only fully replenished when it was in Shanghai, and Seishiro Itagaki was the last to let them go, and now as soon as they retreated, the 9th Brigade became the front force. The 41st Wing was on the march, but a Japanese squadron at the front stepped on a mine. The continuous explosions caused the Japanese squadron to suffer nearly half of the soldiers at once. The line behind also stopped.

The co-captain of the 41st Wing, Takayuki Ueki, hurriedly came up to check on the situation. The report of his subordinates made Ueki Takayuki also stunned for a while, this road was nothing when he came, why is there a large number of mines now? At the current night, the sappers can't clear the mines, what should I do? In desperation, Ueki Takayuki had no choice but to go to the brigade commander, Major General Noboru Kunisaki, to report the situation.

Noboru Kunisaki couldn't figure out what was going on, so he could only ask the troops to stop, and then go to the division commander, Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki himself. Noboru Kunisaki approached Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki and had just proposed that the troops be stationed in the camp and that the sappers go to clear the mines after dawn before leaving, when soldiers came to report that the tank brigade had returned.

When Yoshiharu Koiwanaka, the brigade of the chariot brigade, saw Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki and said: "Your Excellency the division commander, the chariot of the Shina people is really very powerful, but I am incompetent, not only did I not destroy the chariot troops of the Shina people, but I was defeated by the chariot of the Shina people, and I really have no shame to come to see His Excellency the division commander." Itagaki Seishiro said: "Iwanaka-kun, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and you can't be blamed for this, let's camp first, tomorrow I will ask for support from the air force, I believe that no matter how powerful the tank is, it will be destroyed under the bombshell of the plane." ”

When Iwanaka Yoshiye heard this, he hurriedly said: "Your Excellency the division commander, you can't garrison the camp, the chariot troops of the Shina people are advancing towards us, once the chariots of the Shina catch up, we can't stop their attack at all." Seishiro Itagaki was taken aback and said, "Nani, the chariot troops of Shina are still advancing towards us, but Kunisaki-kun has just reported that there are a large number of mines on the road we came from, and the engineer troops are unable to clear them at night, what should we do?"

Iwanaka Yoshiharu thought for a moment and said, "Your Excellency the division commander, let my chariot brigade use chariots to open the way for you, ordinary mines can't help my chariots." Itagaki Seishiro said happily: "It's great to be able to do this, then please Iwanaka-kun." Iwanaka Yoshiharu was also polite and went to command the chariot brigade to open the way.

Naturally, these mines were planted by the 546th and 547th regiments in order to delay the Japanese army, but these anti-infantry mines really had no way to take several tons of Japanese tanks. After the Japanese tanks detonated the mines, they gradually approached the defensive positions set up by the 547th Regiment. On the defensive position, Regiment Commander Zhang Lingfu looked at the Japanese tanks that were opening the road in the distance, and gave the order to prepare for battle.

The mortars of the heavy fire battalion of the regiment had already set up positions, and the four eighty-two recoilless guns had been prepared with armor-piercing shells aimed at the approaching tanks of the Japanese army. At night, the dazzling headlights on the Japanese tanks became the best targets, and when the tanks advanced to only 300 meters from the position, the Japanese also discovered the defensive position of the people in front of them under the lights, and at the same time, the heavy machine guns on the vehicles also began to strafe the position.

Zhang Lingfu did not find that the Japanese infantry was following the chariot on the position, so he did not let the soldiers shoot, but ordered the 82 recoilless gun to knock out the Japanese chariot. The artillerymen, who received the order, fired four armor-piercing shells at once. At a distance of three hundred meters, the direct fire of the 82 recoilless gun hit the target almost at the same time as the armor-piercing projectile was fired.

The armor-piercing projectile that could penetrate 120 mm steel plates was too easy to deal with these thin-skinned tanks of the Japanese army, and the armor-piercing bullet easily penetrated the armor of the Japanese tank, and exploded directly in the tank, and the three tanks that were hit were suddenly blown apart, and the remaining chassis also ignited a fire. These fires allowed more chariots to explode in the eyes of the soldiers of the 547th Regiment.

The 82 recoilless gun was again loaded with armor-piercing shells and fired at the Japanese tank. After losing eight chariots, the remaining chariots retreated, and the encounter with the defensive positions of the Shina was reported to Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki. At this time, Lieutenant General Itagaki Seishiro suddenly realized that the people of China were going to eat the entire Fifth Division.

Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki shouted angrily: "If you want to eat my entire Fifth Division, I want to see if the people of China have such a good appetite." Order: Nakamura Masao led the 21st Brigade to block the attack of the Shina on the spot, and Kunisaki Noboru led the 9th Brigade to attack the position of the Shina people. ”

As soon as Seishiro Itagaki gave the order, the chief of staff of the division, Tian Jiu Toshio, who had been silent next to him, suddenly said: "Your Excellency the division commander, whether we let the 16th Division approach us, we and the 16th Division will definitely be able to completely annihilate our Chinese troops under the attack from both sides." Itagaki Seishiro thought for a moment and said, "Ryshi." I want the people of China to know how powerful my Fifth Division is. You immediately go and send a telegram to Lieutenant General Nakajima, the commander of the 16th Division. Tian Jiu Toshio Osaku agreed.

After the order of Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki was issued, the Japanese army became busy again, the situation of the 9th Brigade was fine, the organization was basically intact, and the losses were relatively small, and now that there was an order to attack, Noboru Kunizaki immediately ordered the 41st Wing to organize an attack on the defensive position of China. At night, the Japanese troops, who were not enthusiastic about the Sidi type, only felt that the road was getting narrower and narrower, and the formation became denser and denser the further they advanced.

The soldiers of the 547th Regiment knew very well that this was a mountain pass, and that the place where they had established their position was not only a slope top, but also the road surface was the narrowest, and the road in front of the position was a 70-degree slope on one side, and on the other side was a mountain wall that was almost vertically downward, and although the mountain wall was only a few dozen meters high, there was a small lake below. This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is a good place specially selected by the reconnaissance group to block the attack.

This position was defended by the 547th Regiment, with only two companies of the 1st Battalion in front, and the 2nd Battalion climbed to the top of the hill next to it, and the 3rd Battalion and the 1st Battalion and 3rd Company were in reserve. This is also because the frontal position is too narrow, and the two companies are at the limit here, so the rest of the troops have to retreat to the rear as reserves.