Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 100: The Fifth Heavy Artillery Brigade
At the 9th Division Headquarters, Bakayaloo was everywhere and the staff officers were all silent for fear of bringing disaster upon themselves.

Chief of Staff Colonel Nakagawa Hiroshi said with a stiff upper lip:
"Your Excellency, the 8th Army and the 72nd Army are not ordinary troops. The 8th Army is just the external designation of the General Tax Police Corps. It is a fully German-equipped force. The main officers have studied abroad, and the total strength is as high as 3.

The 72nd Army is also an all-German-equipped unit. It was upgraded from the 88th Division, the old rival of the Imperial Army. All officers above the rank of platoon leader graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy. Its combat effectiveness is second only to the Training Corps in the Chinese National Government.

The 7th and 35th Regiments attacked the positions defended by tens of thousands of Chinese elite troops. The ratio of the two sides was as high as 1:5. The defenders also had the advantage of terrain. They were able to achieve such a result without disgracing the reputation of the Imperial Army. "

Yoshika Ryosuke's expression improved, but he still said in a bad tone:
"Nakagawa-kun, that's not an excuse for their long-term attack. My Ninth Division is a recognized military division in the Empire, and our combat power ratio with the Chinese is 1 to 10. The commander is watching us, and we must not lose to the 13th Division."

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, Yunzaobang is a key point heavily guarded by Chinese troops. The troops defending this place are all top-notch Chinese troops. The 13th Division cannot easily break through the Chinese defense line.

The Chinese have several times the advantage in military strength, so the Imperial Army can only rely on firepower if it wants to make a breakthrough.

I heard that the 5th Heavy Artillery Brigade and Shigeto's detachment landed at Wusongkou one after another. I would like to ask the commander to send the 5th Heavy Artillery Brigade to support the Yunzaobang operation.

Even just one heavy artillery regiment would be enough to flatten the positions of the defenders on the south bank, and then the warriors would only need to cross the river and collect the bodies of the Chinese."

Yoshika Ryosuke's heart moved. The 5th Heavy Artillery Brigade is a strategic-level force. Good steel should be used on the blade. Now is the time for the Heavy Artillery Brigade to show its strength. When he thought of the Heavy Artillery Brigade's gun barrels that were as thick as buckets, his blood boiled. This was the pride of the empire.

Although asking the commander for tactical guidance would damage the reputation of the 8th Division, as long as they could capture Yunzaobang and annihilate the two elite German-equipped Chinese 72th Army and nd Army, a little face would not be worth mentioning.

Thinking of this, he made up his mind and said to Colonel Nakagawa:
"Mr. Nakagawa, let's follow your suggestion and ask the commander for tactical guidance!"

Colonel Nakagawa was one of the "colonel-level war criminals" in later generations. His cruelty was proven. It was no exaggeration to say that his capillaries were full of animal blood. When he saw that the division commander adopted his suggestion, his animal blood boiled with excitement and he rushed straight to the secret cable room.

South bank of Yunzaobang, Field Command Headquarters of the Second Battalion of the 527th Regiment
Although the Japs had suspended their attack, he still felt hot and uneasy. Based on his later experience, this was definitely a great danger, and he had a very strong sense of danger.

He racked his brains to search for recent major events in his mind, but none of them seemed to have anything to do with him;

In the Battle of Yunzaobang in another time and space, 10 elite troops of the Central Army held out for ten days, suffering more than 3 casualties when the Japanese broke through the Yunzaobang defense line. What followed was the Battle of Ohba.

The 21st Army of the Guangxi clique, which had just arrived from Guangxi, fought against the Japanese. Under the stranglehold of Japanese planes and heavy artillery, nearly half of the four main divisions suffered casualties in one day. General Bai was so heartbroken that he shed tears.

As a small battalion commander, he had no say in these grand strategies, and he was powerless to save the 21st Army, which made him feel very frustrated.

In the battle for Dachang, the National Army suffered an average of one division's casualties per day, and his Second Battalion could not even sustain its consumption in an hour, so what he should be more worried about now is the survival of the Second Battalion, so that it would not be used as "cannon fodder".

"Battalion Commander, we have intercepted a telegram from the Japanese."

The communications officer sent over a message. After he had seized the enemy's radio station and the cipher book, he had asked the regiment to send him a cipher who would be in charge of intercepting the enemy's messages.
He had to do the decryption work himself. The secret code clerk of the regiment was only a jack of all trades. He could handle the normal receiving and sending of messages, but he had no business thinking about decryption.

As the telegram was translated, Yue Qianli's expression became more and more serious. He finally understood where his uneasiness came from, and he also felt regretful for his negligence.

Damn it, how could they have overlooked the Heavy Artillery Brigade, a powerful weapon? In the battles for Yunzaobang and Dachang, although history did not specifically record the role of the Heavy Artillery Brigade, one can imagine the damage this strategic weapon did to the Kuomintang positions.
It is estimated that a large part of the casualties of the 21st Army Group were caused by them. There were tens of thousands of elite Gui troops. If they could be saved to fight the devils in the mountains in Central China, they would definitely make the devils pay a heavy price! "Damn it, you really think highly of me. For the sake of the Second Battalion, I have to destroy you!"

Yue Qianli secretly made up his mind that he would be willful this time...

"Someone, call Li Boxi over to me!"

Yue Qianli roared, he already had a battle plan in his mind, he didn't trust others, he decided to complete the battle plan himself.

When he told Liao Jianping about his idea, Liao Jianping strongly opposed it on the spot and said:
"Old Yue, you are the backbone of the Second Battalion, not the death squad leader. I disagree. If we have to go, it should be me, the deputy, who should lead the team."

Yue Qianli immediately frowned and said:
"Opposition is invalid! Liao Jianping, I called you here not to discuss matters, but to give you orders;
You must take good care of the Second Battalion while I am away. If you lose the position, come to see me with your head on your shoulders!"

He was asked to face the people with his head on the line again. It was true that a higher-ranking official could crush a lower-ranking official. He could only follow orders and then said:
"Then you should bring more people with you. The battalion's reconnaissance platoon and artillery platoon alone are not enough. You need to bring at least an infantry company to ensure your safety."

Yue Qianli waved his hand and said:

"This is deep into enemy-occupied territory. With too many people, the target is too big, making it difficult to complete the tactical penetration mission.

This time I only brought one rocket launcher and 1 rockets. The artillery squad was responsible for carrying the rocket launcher, and each member of the reconnaissance platoon carried one artillery shell, daily combat weapons, a basic amount of ammunition, and five days of rations. The average weight per person was 36 kilograms. "

Although the reconnaissance platoon of the Second Battalion was not a true special operations team, Yue Qianli had instilled a lot of special operations concepts into them during the intensive training several months before the war.

The training method is also a streamlined version of the special forces team of later generations. In this era, there are definitely only two such teams, the other one being Zhao Tianci's special forces team.

The soul of special warfare operations lies in its concept, and Yue Qianli himself is the squadron leader of the Falcon Special Forces in later generations. A group of ordinary soldiers led by him can achieve the same effect as a special warfare team.

Seeing that Yue Qianli was determined, Liao Jianping no longer insisted and immediately stated:
"Don't worry, Lao Yue, we are here!"

"Old Liao, it's not just about the people and the position being there, it's about both the people and the position being there."

Liao Jianping bowed heavily. He knew very well how much money and effort Yue Qianli had spent on the Second Battalion. It was his responsibility to protect the Second Battalion.

"Old Liao, if you can't hold on any longer, you can ask the regiment for support. Before I get back, you must take good care of the house, especially the baggage train and the rocket launcher platoon. It is better to blow them up than let others take them away. If they fall into the hands of the devils, the consequences will be disastrous."

"Old Yue, don't worry. I know my limits. If I can't protect it, I will ask Li Boxi to destroy the rocket launcher."

Two chapters today, waiting for the result of P Sanjiang tomorrow. If it fails, it will be put on the shelves after 0: on Friday. I still want to ask for readers, collections, monthly tickets and recommendations. After the put on the shelves, I will update chapters a day.



(End of this chapter)