Sha Hollow Stronghold.

Located between Yangquan and Taiyuan, a Japanese stronghold on the Zhengtai line.

It is a key big lock in the cage tactics of the devil with the railway as the pillar, the highway as the chain, and the stronghold as the lock.

Lock up the Taiyue and Wutai Mountain base areas adjacent to the north and south.

In other words, the Shawa stronghold is the nail of the devil to cut off and hold the important communication line between the Wutaishan base area and the Taiyue base area.

As the Taiyue base area gradually became stronger, and began to send funds, weapons, ammunition, and food supplies to the surrounding base areas, the devil knew the importance of the Shawa stronghold.

Repeated reinforcements were carried out.

The first is the garrison.

The number of devils stationed in the Shawa stronghold has increased from more than 300 to more than 500 now!

It's enough for a regular brigade of devils.

After the crushing defeat of the 27th Division,

Subsequently, the fortifications of the stronghold were strengthened, and even cement was brought in, the concrete fortifications were rebuilt, and even the main body and part of the stronghold were reinforced.

Enough to block the bombardment of 120 grenades.

After all, the devil knows it.

Once the railway line is lost, the problem will be very serious.

Far more serious than the fiasco of the 27th Division.

"Near-term..."

In the Sha Depression stronghold, Shaozo lowered his head and held a phone in his hand, and in the microphone, it was Yoshio Shinozuka's voice:

"The Eighth Route Army has repeatedly attacked the strongholds of our locust army in various places."

"Among them, even some of the strongholds near the railway line, and even on the railway, were attacked."

Hearing this, although Shaozo was respectful and bowed his head, his expression was indifferent.

He knew that the strength of Tubalu had increased greatly recently.

So what?

This is a sand hollow stronghold.

It is the strongest stronghold of the Locust Army on the Zhengtai Line, not even one of them, there is a complete reinforced concrete body, and there are six reinforced concrete bunkers.

Hundreds of tons of reinforced cement are consumed.

The defense is much stronger than the main tank of the Locust Army.

Able to block long-range shelling of 105 grenades.

In the main body of the stronghold and the pillbox, there are also two Type 41 mountain guns, two Type 92 infantry guns, four Type 92 heavy machine guns, and more than 20 Taisho Type 4 light machine guns.

There are a large number of trenches and barbed wire fences around the stronghold.

Even if the so-called Tubalu Independent Regiment came over, he was not afraid at all.

Under the garrison of his brigade, the stronghold of Shawa was impenetrable.

"Be vigilant."

Yoshio Shinozuka taught in a tone of Tonton:

"Although the Shawa stronghold is very tenacious, it is not to be careless."

"Hey."

After all, it was a direct order from the commander, the most senior boss, the person who could decide his future fate with one word, although his expression was disdainful, his tone was very sincere:

"Humble duty, remember the teachings of the commander."

"Please rest assured by the command."

"At present, all the locust armies in the Shawa stronghold are in the highest state and are ready to meet the enemy at any time."

"Then I'll be relieved."

Yoshio Shinozuka hung up the phone after speaking.

At this time, Shaozo still maintained a disdainful expression, obviously, he didn't pay attention to Yoshio Shinozuka's reminders and warnings at all.

···

"General."

"I'm afraid of this person..."

Yamamoto, who had just returned from Baoding, reminded Yoshio Shinozuka:

"Won't take your warnings to heart."

Yamamoto's tone was full of disdain.

The reason why the situation in the empire has deteriorated to such an extent is that in addition to some of the command factors and national strength factors at the top, a large part of it is because of these arrogant officers at the grassroots level.

"I know."

Yoshio Shinozuka spoke calmly.

"But..."

He continued:

"I know this person."

"Although proud and arrogant, he is never careless in military affairs."

"He knows that the lion fights the rabbit with all his strength."

"Even if this person looks down on Tu Balu, he will not relax his vigilance in any way."

"I see."

Yamamoto nodded abruptly.

"Any information?"

Yoshio Shinozuka asked:

"Although the Eighth Route Army has only made a small fight recently, we must also be vigilant that they have launched a large-scale offensive."

"Especially the Taihang base area."

After the defeat of the 27th Division, the North China Front and the First Army mobilized five brigades and regiments, totaling 30,000 locusts, to strengthen the defense of the Taiyue base area.

But for the Taihang base area, it is really powerful.

There are no more troops.

And according to his speculation, the strength of the Taihang base area may not be weaker than a division.

So Yoshio Shinozuka can only strengthen intelligence vigilance.

"Not yet."

Yamamoto replied.

"Pay attention to strengthening the investigation."

Yoshio Shinozuka reminded.

"Hey!"

Yamamoto bowed his head should be.

···

"Our target this time is the Shawa stronghold."

"Occupy the stronghold in the sand hollows."

Meanwhile.

The new 2nd Regiment, led by regiment commander Kong Jie, plus an artillery squad of the anti-tank artillery company belonging to the artillery battalion of the independent regiment, plus the transport company, totaled more than 3,000 people.

It has secretly moved to the nearest base to the Shawa stronghold.

With the devil's attention to the Taiyue base area and the 386th Brigade, the devil's intelligence tentacles also began to penetrate deep into the Taiyue base area, and special high-tech spies, traitors, and so on infiltrated.

The ten main regiments of the 386th Brigade were stared at by the devils.

But the struggle is mutual.

With the development of the economy, the improvement of material conditions, and the improvement of the policy of the base areas, devils, spies, and traitors have been found out one by one.

It can't be said that it is all in one catch, but most of the devil's eyeliner has been removed.

The rest, don't dare to be too active.

Therefore, even in this battle, almost all the troops in the Taiyue base area were dispatched, but when the new second regiment marched covertly, the devils still couldn't find clues in advance.

So much so that Yoshio Shinozuka did not receive any news.

"Sand Cave Stronghold?!"

The battalion commanders of the new second regiment, who came to the meeting, looked at their own regiment commanders one after another, their eyes shocked.

They knew it was a difficult task.

But unexpectedly, the target was actually the Shawa stronghold.

In the statistical ranking of the staff of the independent regiment, in the strength ranking of the devil strongholds around the Taiyue base area, the Shawa stronghold is known as the most difficult stronghold to break through, and there is no one.

Of course

The reason why the sand recess stronghold is difficult to gnaw is not because there is a brigade of devils here, and the firepower is strong.

Firepower is not mentioned.

Now that the 386th Brigade is pulled out by any regiment, even the weakest new third regiment can press the hammer of the devil infantry wing in terms of firepower, let alone the new second regiment that has a relationship.

You must know that today's new second regiment has two regimental 120 heavy guns.

The firing range of 7.7 kilometers surpasses the power of the 105 artillery, and with the advanced optical observation system and accurate map, it is enough to suppress the wing-level artillery brigade of the devil.

The real reason is that the main body of the sand depression stronghold, as well as the six pillboxes, are all reinforced concrete structures.

According to the information.

Not to mention the Type 92 infantry gun, the 82 mortar, even if it is a 120 heavy mortar, it is difficult to gnaw this hard bone.

Even if the explosive package is less than 25 kilograms, it is difficult to have a direct effect.

Coupled with the trenches, barbed wire, and ring fortifications around the strongholds and pillboxes, even on the independent regiment, I am afraid it will be difficult to take the sand recess stronghold in a short time, let alone the new second regiment.

So··

Everyone looked at an artillery staff officer of an independent regiment who had come to the meeting.

Since the regiment commander swore and confidently said that the task of the new second regiment this time was to destroy and occupy the stronghold of Shawa, then he must have enough confidence.

Known!

Even 120 mortars could not do anything against the Shawa stronghold.

So!

"Hey, hey, hey..."

Kong Jie smiled proudly:

"This time, we will have a new artillery to support us."

"One door?"

The hearts of the people were uncertain.

One artillery piece can make the regiment commander so confident?

What kind of artillery is it, exactly?

However, they also know that all the artillery taken out by the independent regiment is a good thing.

Brilliant stuff.

When I was surprised, my expectations did not diminish in the slightest.

"In this battle, our tactics will also revolve around this artillery."

Speaking of this, Kong Jie's face changed, and his tone was serious:

"I command."

"The first battalion, the second battalion, and the artillery battalion directly under it, take the commanding heights of the two wings, and build fortifications in place to block the devil reinforcements on both flanks of the Shawa stronghold, and buy time for attacking the stronghold"

"Three battalions, in cooperation with the artillery units of the Independent Regiment, to attack the stronghold of Shawa."

"After the artillery units of the Independent Regiment have completely destroyed all positions such as the sand recess, strongholds, themes, and pillboxes, they will launch an attack."

yes

Today, the new second regiment already has an artillery battalion.

Armed not only with two 120 heavy mortars, but also with six long-range 82 mortars, as well as an ammunition transport convoy with more than one hundred and fifty people, almost three hundred mules and horses.

For this battle, the brigade headquarters allocated three bases for each gun of the new 2nd Regiment, with a total of 500 rounds of 120 mortar shells.

"Yes!"

All the battalion and company commanders who attended the meeting were even more curious.

What kind of artillery the hell,

Can the regiment commander say that after destroying all the fortifications of the devil's stronghold, he will continue to attack?

So powerful?

The main body and bunker of the devil's stronghold in the sand hollow stronghold are hard bones that even 120 mortars can't handle.

How many calibers?

Also, the meaning of this set of orders is obvious, in order to reduce casualties, prepare for a protracted battle, estimate, and prepare to take the Shawa stronghold in a day or two.

Although two battalions were sent to block the devil's reinforcements,

But

Yangquan and Taiyuan have tens of thousands of devil troops.

Not to mention that all of them poured over, even if two infantry wings came over, the new second regiment couldn't handle it.

So··

Will the other devil forces also be pinned?

This operation··

Thinking of this, everyone's hearts are already hot.

It is already late August, and the results of the training course for officers in the Taiyue base area have already appeared, and the results are remarkable.

The battalion and company commanders present here, from Kong Jie's brief order, analyzed that not only the new second regiment had to eat hard food today, but the other regiments might not be left behind.

The scale is even beyond everyone's imagination.

Although they don't know how many weapons Li Yunlong and Grand Master Li have gotten,

However, they knew that not long ago, the Independent Regiment transported a batch of 50,000 grenades and 50,000 rounds of 60 mortar shells in the area, because the New Second Regiment was responsible for escorting them.

So they know the numbers very well. (End of chapter)