Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 157: The extremely arrogant Pinglu brave man; Chu Yunfei's psychological game. (Subscribe)
When Fang Ligong learned that the outer positions were still in his hands, he was surprised: "This first battalion actually held out for so long!"

A battalion.

Blocked the high-intensity and continuous attack of two Japanese infantry battalions.
"The combat effectiveness of the 197th Regiment seems to be much higher than we imagined."

Yes, these Shaanxi troops are full of bravery and fearlessness.

This makes their combat effectiveness infinitely higher.

What's more, they were well-trained and had the help of the Jin army's new tactics.

The combat capability has been raised to a higher level...nominally it is a battalion.

The combat strength is about 1,900 people.

The same approach as Chu Yunfei and Qian Bojun.

The other battalions are basically of basic structure...while the main battalion has been madly strengthened.

While they hold the best weapons and equipment, they also bear the most important responsibilities during wartime.

Chu Yunfei nodded and praised: "Yes, the first day's blocking battle has far exceeded our expectations. If we continue to fight like this, the casualties of the Sakata Brigade when they break through Nanguan Town may even reach one-third or even one-half."

The green and yellow bars of the Sakata Regiment of the 4th Brigade in the three-dimensional combat map have been visibly reduced by a quarter.

The Sakata Unit launched a fierce attack throughout the day.

There will definitely be a lot of casualties among ourselves.

The casualty ratio between the two sides should be very close to 1:1, or even 1:1.5.

The 197st Battalion of the th Regiment fought very well, and Chu Yunfei will personally recommend credit for them after the battle.

Although a wave of artillery fire from the 30th Artillery Regiment destroyed the Japanese army's forward mortar positions.

But the same thing.

Japanese fighter planes also conducted targeted searches and reconnaissance in the mountains.

one afternoon.

Fighter planes alone were dispatched back and forth four times.

According to reports from various departments, Japanese fighter planes appeared in groups each time.

There are at least four.

According to Chu Yunfei's estimate at this time.

The Japanese army also attached great importance to the battle situation of the 4th Brigade.

Before the general offensive was launched.

Every time the 30th Artillery Regiment and the Mountain Artillery Regiment provided support, they actually carried the risk of being exposed.

And now.

"With the 197st Battalion already retreating, the only direct fire support the 60th Regiment can get is a 12mm mortar company and a heavy mortar battalion equipped with 82 mm mortars."

Fang Ligong seemed very worried. Seeing Chu Yunfei didn't say anything, he immediately added: "After such a long time, the Japanese army's follow-up support troops must have arrived. Jingcun's defense line has not been deployed yet. I am a little worried whether the 197th Regiment can hold on."

This is essentially a question of trade-offs.

A high ground fulcrum on the outer defensive position.

Theoretically, it is more suitable for defense.

It has the firepower advantage of being high above, and the Japanese army needs to attack from above.

Nanguan Town also built complete and reasonable defensive fortifications.

But after all, it is in a valley, and there are not many commanding heights to occupy.

For the Japanese army, the difficulty of attack dropped a whole level.

Their fundamental purpose this time was not to stop the 4th Brigade and force them to abandon the attack.

The purpose is to lure the enemy deep into our territory and then encircle and annihilate them.

The Japanese troops were kept blocked in the outer positions.

While the defense line in Taiyue Mountain area remains solid.

If we pretend to be defeated and retreat, the possibility that the Japanese will pursue us will be close to zero.

Regardless of whether the Japanese attack in other directions could make progress.

all the best.

The initiative in the entire southeastern Shanxi region will be in their hands.

At that time, a more conservative approach will inevitably be chosen.

We want to annihilate the 4th Brigade in this state.

That would be no different from commanding a large force to launch a frontal assault on the 4th Brigade.

There was no progress. With such an obvious strategy to lure the enemy, the Japanese naturally would not be fooled.

This degree must be grasped well.

The headquarters of the 197th Regiment at this time.

Li Kuishan told Yan Weiliang the same reason.

And asked him to send all the wounded soldiers back to the field hospital set up in Qin County.

"Aren't people with minor injuries allowed to leave the front line? Why do we have to leave even though we are injured..." Yan Weiliang asked as he sat aside and ate a lard bun from the command center.

Li Kuishan emphasized: "This is the order of the superior."

"Then I will take the main force of the battalion and stay here. The wounded soldiers can be sent back by the captain of the first company."

"Ah."

It's been two days.

Li Kuishan also believed that the Japanese artillery unit should arrive.

Because of this, the battle in Nanguan Town became increasingly difficult.

The main force of the first battalion stayed behind to strengthen the defense line and ensure that it could not be broken by the enemy in a short period of time.

In principle, Chu Yunfei generally does not interfere with Li Kuishan's combat operations.

But after seeing that he planned to leave the first battalion there to defend the line.

Still couldn't help it.

A phone call came into Li Kuishan's command center.

"Brother Kuishan."

"Reporting to Commander Chu, we have followed your instructions and the first battalion has withdrawn. We have also sent all the wounded to the field hospital in the rear."

"The first battalion fought well, very tenaciously and bravely."

Li Kuishan felt something was not right: "Please give me your instructions, sir."

"Withdraw the first battalion and leave the second and third battalions to hold on."

Li Kuishan was puzzled: "Sir, I don't understand"

"Your combat force exceeds the regiment's scale. The Japanese army is likely to be cautious."

"This is not a group of simple devils. Any unconventional measures will stimulate them..."

The toad jumps up and down when you poke it.

Chu Yunfei thinks that Nobutsu Sakata is an old devil.

In fact, they have the same mentality as those famous war criminals in war history.

The apparent calmness is actually a cover-up for the madness within.

Once this beast realizes its weakness.

They will bite you without hesitation.

In the original play.

The 129th Division was surrounded somewhere in Jinzhong.

The Sakata Regiment, with only more than 386 Japanese troops and the support of the puppet army, dared to encircle and annihilate the main force of the th Brigade.

It's not something that can be fully explained with just one sentence of proper command.

In terms of command ability, Brigade Commander Chen is not bad, and he also has rich combat experience.

Li Yunlong, Commander Cheng, and Commander Xu are all commanders who have fought for more than ten years.

The reason why this happens.

Chu Yunfei believed that a big part of the reason was because the Sakata Unit was crazy enough and its combat effectiveness was strong enough.

In today's battle.

Chu Yunfei has already discovered this.

Their combat power far exceeds that shown in movies and TV dramas.

And a fighting style that would fight to the death unless the order to retreat was given.

This caused heavy casualties among the troops in the first battalion.

It also inspires their courage and spirit of sacrifice.

This encirclement and annihilation battle was much more difficult than expected.

Even though the Fourth Brigade was a weak force in southeastern Shanxi at the time, it was not so easy to deal with.

Chu Yunfei is actually under a lot of pressure.

His plan affects millions of people in southeastern Shanxi.

It involves tens of thousands of troops.

Fortunately, the battle situation the next day developed exactly as he had expected.

Nobutsu Sakata received the relevant report.

The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army troops originally stationed in the outer strongholds have already evacuated.

The position was in disarray.

There were even ammunition and weapons that had not yet been taken away.

and the remains of the warriors.

Should we evacuate in a panic or lure the enemy deeper into our territory?

Nobutsu Sakata decided to continue attacking and see how things went.

After the 2nd and 4th infantry squadrons replaced the 1st and 3rd infantry squadrons for rotation correction.

Nobutsu Sakata also received news of the arrival of reinforcements.

Pinglu Yongfu went to the front line in person.

He took over the battlefield command and transferred the field artillery battalion of the Kasahara Regiment to strengthen the attacking force.

At noon that day.

The battle broke out in Nanguan Town.

After a brief reconnaissance and exploratory attack.

The Japanese Army's Bamenshan artillery launched a continuous bombardment on various frontline firepower points.

The effect of the shelling was not very good, but these Japanese devils pushed six Type 92 infantry guns to the forefront of the attack at the same time.

Use direct fire to target the soldiers' trenches and sandbags.

As soon as the battle began, it entered a white-hot state.

The attacks were continuous, like a tide. Sometimes, before the second batch of defenders could even reach the enemy, the second wave of the Japanese attack had already arrived.

Li Kuishan was beaten very badly.

However, Song Ming from the Heavy Mortar Battalion did not listen to his advice and said that the Heavy Mortar Battalion would only accept orders from Chu Yunfei.

Li Kuishan felt powerless and extremely angry.

Song Ming, who only knew how to flatter, actually brought this matter to the battlefield.

Just as he picked up the phone and was about to call Chu Yunfei's command center.

When asking for command of this force.

The heavy mortar battalion opened fire.

The piercing whistling sound of shells tearing through the sky echoed throughout the battlefield.

The soldiers and the Japanese soldiers looked up at the sky at the same time.

One mortar shell after another fell into the position of the Type 92 infantry gun with incredible precision.

Very even and precise.

For a moment, there were panic shouts, screams, and explosions.

One after another, without stopping.

The soldiers looked at each other and smiled.

Blow you bastards to death!
Let you show off!
Go ahead and show off, but wait a few days, I will kill you!
The soldiers vented their anger and their morale improved a lot.

As for the Japanese army, their offensive, which had been ongoing, inevitably came to a halt.

After the reports from the front line were summarized to Pinglu Yongfu, Sakata Nobutsu and others.

Even the veteran Japanese soldiers who had fought in many battles were surprised.

Three target positions were fired at the same time, and they hit the ground and exploded at almost the same time.

This illustrates a problem..
The enemy is capable of more than just accurate indirect fire.

It can even roughly estimate the time it takes for the same artillery position to strike the target point.

While causing beneficial casualties.

Don't give their other artillery positions time to react.

Although this style of fighting is a conventional artillery tactic, where have they ever seen the Chinese use it?

Pinglu Yongfu sighed: "Chu Yunfei's troops are well-deserved of their reputation!"

"Artillery troops can be deployed immediately. Do you want to continue the attack?"

Although only one artillery piece was destroyed, the loss of artillery could not be made up in a short period of time.

This is what Kasahara Koizumi meant by replacement.

It is also about adjusting other artillery groups to supplement, rather than adjusting artillery.

The heavy mortar battalion just took action.

The effect is immediate.

The Type 92 infantry guns that were originally bullying others had now all gone silent.

As for the 75mm mountain gun, its deployment position was far beyond his range.

There was nothing he could do about it.

Under Chu Yunfei's command, the 82mm mortars fired continuously.

Carry out blocking fire on Japanese troops to delay time and hinder the Japanese offensive.

It might not be that effective against the Japanese invaders like the 20th Division who attack strictly according to infantry squad tactics.

But for this group of Sakata troops who are fearless and like to attack and charge continuously.

This tactic has a value far beyond the tactic itself.

After learning that the Jingcun defense line had been completed.

Li Kuishan no longer hesitated and ordered the bombing of all military facilities in Nanguan Town.

They fought and retreated, leading the Japanese pursuit troops further back.

After the report was delivered to the front-line headquarters.

Kasahara Koizumi seemed quite confident: "Sakata-kun, it seems that our opponent can no longer hold on."

The Japanese knew that Chu Yunfei's troops had two infantry regiments under their command.

First, it is the Honor 196th Regiment, which was reorganized from Chu Yunfei's original 358th Regiment (from the perspective of Japanese intelligence)
The second is the 197th Regiment, which was reorganized from the th Army Training Regiment.

The 38th Army was just a ragtag army for the Japanese army.

In terms of combat effectiveness, it would naturally feel a little worse.

It is normal to behave like this.

Sakata Nobutsu's mouth curled up slightly at this time: "With just their bravery, they were able to stop the two-day onslaught of our brother country's soldiers. I really admire the fighting spirit of these Chinese people."

"but."

Sakata Nobutsu looked at Pinglu Yongfu and said with a firm tone: "Under the iron hoof of my great Japanese brother country, they will surely be crushed into dust. Nothing can stop us from achieving victory!"

Pinglu Yongfu chuckled: "Sakata-kun, Kasahara-kun, do you think this is Chu Yunfei's plan to lure the enemy deeper into our territory?"

Sakata Nobutsu nodded: "This possibility cannot be ruled out. According to the current information about Chu Yunfei, this person is very good at mountain mobile warfare and has a lot of experience in offensive operations.

But, Brigade Commander.

I have to point out that this unit suffered heavy losses in previous operations.

The combat effectiveness of its troops.

It has been declining steadily since the Battle of Ruyuekou.

With the strength of one reinforced regiment, it is enough to challenge the elite 11th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Kwantung Army and the Shibuya Regiment of the 5th Division.

After that, its combat capability continued to decline.

If it weren't for the Second World War, the artillery force would have been strengthened.

It was supplemented several times with elite infantry regiments.

This unit should have been destroyed by our army long ago."

"Yes, Commander, with the national strength of the Republic of China, it is absolutely impossible to complete the corresponding reorganization in such a short time. I think what Mr. Sakata said makes sense. In fact, this unit should only have the corresponding artillery strength at this stage. As for the infantry, even the commander-in-chief of the Second War Zone, Yan Xishan, must be powerless."

Nobutsu Sakata and Koizumi Kasahara are both extremely confident.

Based on intelligence before the invasion of Shanxi.

There are a total of four infantry units that were built at great expense by the Second War Zone Commander's Headquarters.

They are the 358th Regiment directly under the theater of operations, and the newly formed st, nd, and rd Regiments.

The new infantry regiment was not active on the battlefield, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs intercepted the corresponding telegram.

It was learned that these so-called elite troops had already been replenished and consumed in continuous battles.

This is also the reason why their attack on Taiyuan City was so successful.

Pinglu Yongfu frowned slightly, but it was not that he did not trust his subordinates' judgment.

But he always felt that things were not that easy.

His finger pointed in the direction of Qin County.

"If our army continues to advance and reaches Qin County, our logistics supply line will be extended to 80 kilometers."

"Qin County and the surrounding areas are suitable for large-scale military deployment. If the enemy gathers more than four times our strength this time, supplemented by the elite artillery of the 358th Brigade, it is very likely to cause considerable trouble to our troops."

That’s right, the old Japanese soldier Pinglu Yongfu knew that there was a high possibility that he would be surrounded and annihilated ahead.

"Wait until the westward-moving troops confirm the enemy's number before advancing forward."

"Hai!"

That night.

The commander of the 4th Brigade, Pinglu Yongfu, received a telegram from the commander of the 1st Army, Xiangyue Qingji.

He was clearly informed that the troops active in Shexian and Dongyangguan areas were the Eighth Route Army and the Third Army under Zeng Wanzhong.

And the results of aerial reconnaissance showed.

There are at least two troops of more than 5,000 people marching towards Dongyang Pass.

Judging from the color of military uniforms, marching routes, and intercepted related telegrams.

These two troops should be the 17th Division under Zhao Shoushan and the 169th Division under Wu Shimin.

Pinglu Yongfu, who received the latest intelligence, hesitated.

This intelligence illustrates a problem.

The main force of the Central Army, the 22nd Army of the Sichuan Army, is fighting fiercely with the 20th Division in the Taiyue Mountain area.

Zeng Wanzhong's troops and the two support forces are rushing to Changzhi area.

The sudden retreat of the 358th Brigade.

Could it be related to the smooth offensive of the westward-moving troops?
Their Fourth Brigade had just advanced five kilometers.

The Kimura Detachment advancing westward had already captured Shexian County and was even attacking the Dongyang Pass defense line.

There were actually not many options available to Pinglu Yongfu.

1: Hesitate and dare not attack, rest in Nanguan Town, and wait for progress in other attack directions before launching an attack.

This would most likely make them a laughing stock of the entire North China Expeditionary Army and even the Japanese military.

He himself is likely to be labeled as a cowardly Pinglu brave man.

No one would call him a steady general.

Second, continue to advance and pursue.

This choice will lead to two possibilities.

Either everything goes well.

Successfully occupied Qin County and completed the established and planned combat mission.

Or they would be besieged by Chu Yunfei's troops and the main forces of the Eighth Route Army.

But Pinglu Yongfu was quite confident in the combat effectiveness of the two troop regiments under his command.

The weak Eighth Route Army troops.

And at this stage, Chu Yunfei's troops are unlikely to pose too much threat or trouble to him.

At this time, Pinglu Yongfu was already thinking about his options after capturing Qin County.

It is nothing more than: 1. Attack the main force of the National Army in the Taiyue Mountain area.

2 Attack Changzhi area and join forces with the westward-moving Kimura Detachment to attack the main force of the National Army in Changzhi area.

Destroy them as completely as possible.

No matter what choice you make.

The addition of the 4th Brigade will have a very favorable impact on the battle situation.

In that case, what other options are there?

Pinglu Yongfu immediately drafted an order to continue the attack.

With the Kasahara Regiment as the vanguard, pursue in the direction of Qin County!

(End of this chapter)