Datong.

1st Division Headquarters.

More than half an hour after the telegram of the 1st Division was sent to the headquarters of the North China Front.

The communications captain walked into the division headquarters quickly and reported to Nakazawa Sanfuton: "Report to the division commander, General Okamura Ningji, commander of the North China Front, call back!" ”

Yo Xi, the commander of the North China Front, General Okamura Ninji, finally replied.

Nakazawa Sanfu's expression perked up and said, "Read! ”

Yoshio Noguchi, the chief of staff on the side, also hurriedly pricked up his ears.

This telegram is likely to affect the life and death of the 1st Division.

"Hey!" The captain of the communications team then took the telegram and read, "The North China Front Command has sent a reconnaissance plane to the northwest of Shanxi Province to reconnoiter the Datong Highway, and your unit will immediately eliminate the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army outside the north of the city and keep the passage to the north unblocked. ”

Mitsuo Nakazawa frowned slightly, and the telegram sent by General Okamura Ninji was not a telegram destined for Mongolia.

But after thinking about it, Mitsuo Nakazawa can also understand.

After all, now that the enemy situation is unknown, it is indeed a pity to give up the military town of Datong like this.

As long as the 1st Division keeps the passage to the north unimpeded, even if the main force of the new 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army is moving towards Datong, the 1st Division can calmly withdraw.

At that moment, Mitsuo Nakazawa looked at Yoshio Noguchi, the chief of staff, and asked, "Noguchi-kun, how many troops are there in the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army outside the north of the city now?" ”

"There were about 400 people." Yoshio Noguchi immediately replied, "We are building a position outside the north of the castle, about 2 kilometers from the castle wall. ”

Nakazawa Sanfu snorted coldly, and his tone was disdainful: "The Eighth Route Army is still the same, with only a few hundred cavalry, we want to trap the locust army in Datong City, we are not the idiots of the 3rd Brigade, we are the 1st Division of the Great Japanese Empire, the most elite troops." Noguchi-kun immediately ordered the 1st Infantry Brigade of the Suzuki Wing to destroy this cavalry of the Eighth Route Army. ”

"Hey!"

Chief of Staff Yoshio Noguchi bowed his head, turned around and walked towards the telephone.

……

Outside the North City.

Japanese Suzuki Wing, command of the 1st Infantry Brigade.

The commander of the 1st Infantry Group, Fujita Hidehachi, was stepping on the ladder at this time, holding a telescope and looking at the position of the Eighth Route Army opposite.

The Suzuki Wing has been reorganized, with one-third of its soldiers and officers, and is the main force of the former 1st Division.

And Fujita Shuhachi was one of the several captains who escaped by luck under the ambush of the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

The captain of the 1st Division, whose military rank is basically Zhongzuo, has a much stronger tactical command ability than the captain of the B-level division.

Captain Fujita Shuhachi, like most Japanese officers of that era, was not very tall, but he had circled legs and a strong body, and his neck and head were about the same thickness.

His face had the usual demeanor of a Japanese officer, cold and resolute.

Before being ambushed by the Eighth Route Army in the northwest of Jin, Fujita Shuhachi was a samurai ready to sacrifice his life for His Majesty the Emperor.

But after that narrow escape, Fujita Shuhachi changed his mind, his life is his own, and only by living can he make contributions to His Majesty the Emperor.

He saw with his own eyes thousands of soldiers of the 1st Division dying tragically under the fire of the Eighth Route Army.

In that battle, the density of dense artillery fire was like a brand, leaving a painful memory that Fujita Shuihachi could never erase.

In the field of vision of the telescope, the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army was carrying rifles on their backs, wielding military shovels and hoes and sweating like rain, and it had only been more than half an hour's work, and the trench had been dug by the Eighth Route Army to a depth of nearly 1 meter.

"Captain, why don't you attack the Eighth Road?"

A squadron leader ran over and asked Shuhachi Fujita:

"That's it, our 1st Infantry Brigade, one charge wiped out the Eighth Road."

Fujita Shuhachi's tone and expression remained the same: "Matsuo-kun, don't be impatient, I haven't received the order of the wing commander yet." ”

Matsuo Harushige said: "But our soldiers are ready to attack!" ”

Dingding, Dingding, Dingding——

The phone on the table rang, and Shuhachi Fujita turned around and picked up the phone: "Moxi Moxi, this is the 1st Infantry Brigade!" ”

The voice of Suzuki Daisa rang on the phone: "Fujita-kun! ”

Fujita Shuhachi straightened up at first, and subconsciously made a pause: "Hey! ”

Suzuki Daisa's voice did not carry a trace of emotion: "The division commander has just issued an order, ordering your troops to immediately eliminate the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army outside the northern city and open the passage for our 1st Division to turn north. ”

"Hey!" Fujita Hidehachi, "Your Excellency, Wing Commander, please give me half an hour, our 1st Infantry Brigade will definitely cut off the heads of all the Eighth Route Cavalry outside the north of the city!" ”

After saying that, Fujita Shuhachi hung up the phone with a snap.

Then, Fujita Shuhachi walked to the window, drew his command saber, and pointed forward: "Pass my order and fire at the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army!" ”

"Kill the chicken and give it!"

The Japanese army's 4 Type 92 infantry guns and 4 Type 97 mortars, which had already been prepared, were ready to fire.

First, one Type 92 infantry gun and one Type 97 mortar test-fired shells.

The shells exploded near the cavalry positions of the Eighth Route Army, kicking up several clouds of mud and mist.

After the three test firings, the Japanese artillery had already determined to shoot Zhu Yuan, and then the fire was full, and the relatively dense shells poured towards the cavalry position of the Eighth Route Army.

Due to the two artillery wings of the 1st Division, they were completely lost in the ambush of the Eighth Route Army in the northwest of Shanxi.

So now the 1st Division is no longer free of mountain artillery and field artillery, only 20 150-mm cannons and 10 240-mm heavy howitzers.

But.

Against the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army, which was only 400 people, the 1st Division could not use 150-mm cannons and 240-mm heavy howitzers.

Not to be outdone, the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army opened fire with 60-mm mortars and 82-mm mortars.

The artillery of both sides was pouring shells on each other's positions.

However, the Japanese positions were very well constructed, all of them were complete civil fortifications, and there were anti-artillery holes.

Unless you use 75mm mountain guns or 105mm howitzers, you can destroy the Devil's fortifications.

The 82-mm and 60-mm mortars on the side of the Eighth Route Army inflicted very few casualties on the Japanese soldiers.

However, the Japanese army's Type 92 infantry guns and Type 97 mortars caused a lot of casualties to the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army.

After ten minutes of shelling, Fujita Shuhachi looked at the dense craters and the corpses of the Eighth Route Army in the field of vision of the telescope, and smiled with satisfaction.

"Yo Xi!"

"Order all the soldiers of the 1st Infantry Brigade to attack!"

"Kill the chicken and give it!"

Fujita Shuhachi brandished Nakasa's command knife and pointed sharply at the position of the Eighth Route Army in front.

The more than 1,000 devil soldiers of the First Infantry Brigade immediately rushed out of the trenches, carrying the 38 rifles with bayonets on them, and rushed towards the position that the Eighth Route Army had not yet built.

The Japanese soldiers used the most skillful pig assault charge.

The positions of both sides are about 1 km apart.

However, at this time, the Japanese artillery continued to fire at the cavalry positions of the independent regiment.

Although it was cavalry, the cavalry of the independent regiment, like the cavalry of the new regiment, was light cavalry, which could be fought on foot or on horse.

Because it was to block the way for the Japanese army to flee north, the cavalry of the independent regiment in this battle was dismounted and fought on foot.

The light and heavy machine gunners of the devil were on the flanks, and after entering the range of the machine guns, they set up the Type 96 light machine guns and Type 92 heavy machine guns and poured fire towards the cavalry positions of the Eighth Route Army.

The firepower composed of artillery and light and heavy machine guns overwhelmed the cavalry on the positions of the Eighth Route Army.

Shuhachi Fujita, who was in the field of view through the telescope, saw this scene with a smug and confident smile on his face.

At this time, the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army withdrew from the position, returned to the position of the horse post, rode on the horse and fled, and still saved the lives of some cavalry.

But the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army obviously chose to resist to the end, so they could only be wiped out.

Whether it is strength or firepower, his infantry brigade is no worse than the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side.

Because he was afraid of death, Fujita Shuihachi did not personally participate in the charge, but charged in the command with officers and soldiers who watched him.

Seeing that it was about to be done, the corners of Fujita Shuhachi's mouth curved upward, and his face became more and more smug and confident.

Just when Fujita Shuhachi thought that this Eighth Route Army soldier was dead, a sudden change was born!

In Fujita's telescope view, something seemed to fall towards his soldier's location.

Before he could react, a huge explosion appeared in the field of vision of the telescope, and the explosion sound like a landslide was heard almost simultaneously.

At this time, the charge of the Japanese officers and soldiers was only halfway through.

However, this was just the beginning, and the endless shells fell on the Japanese troops who were charging.

Boom boom...

Suddenly, accompanied by continuous explosions, circles of blazing and dazzling orange-red fireballs rose up in the continuous explosion like a landslide, and huge mud and smoke filled the air.

The position of the Japanese soldiers was directly enveloped in fireballs and gunsmoke, drowning in flames.

It was a salvo of 12 Katyusha rockets at Japanese soldiers.

192 rockets equivalent to the power of Soviet-style 152 mm high-explosive grenades directly covered the Japanese soldiers who were charging with a round of artillery fire.

Covered by a round of artillery fire, a large group of Japanese soldiers of the Japanese army disappeared without a trace.

"Nani?"

In the headquarters of the Japanese army outside the city, Fujita Shuhachi looked at this scene in the telescope in front of him, and the whole person was directly stupid.

More than 1,000 elite soldiers of one of his brigades were almost torn to pieces by artillery fire in less than half a minute.

Only a dozen or so machine gunners on the flanks were left to flee in disgrace.

"Yaga!"

It took a while for Shuhachi Fujita to come back to his senses from the shock.

The artillery fire of the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army has been strengthened again!

Fujita Shuhachi ordered in a panicked tone: "Turn back to the city, fast!" ”

If the Eighth Route Army had another round of heavy artillery fire covering the Japanese positions outside the city, everyone would have to die.

This is at least the heavy artillery fire of an artillery division, and each cannon is the caliber of a 150-mm cannon!

At that moment, Fujita Shuhachi fled into the city with the remaining Japanese soldiers.

Watching the devils of the 1st brigade feed the rockets, compared to the embarrassment of the Japanese soldiers, the cavalry soldiers of the independent regiment on the opposite side were smiling.

"Retreat!"

Huang Zhiyong ordered loudly.

If they didn't retreat, the Japanese 150-mm and 240-mm shells would have to fall on their heads.

Under the orders of the battalion commander Huang Zhiyong, the cavalry fighters immediately took the wounded and went in the direction of the horse stake.

(End of chapter)