Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 141: Carrying a three-foot sword, achieving unprecedented achievements

Zhang Hu stepped forward and kicked: "Sir, what should we do with these Japanese staff officers?"

Wang Feng sat on his horse and glanced down.

Several Japanese staff officers knelt side by side on the ground, their bodies trembling constantly.

Wang Feng pointed with his whip and said, "Go take a few more photos of these devils, right in their faces."

"Let's get rid of them all later."

This light sentence made several Japanese staff officers feel as if they were falling into an icy cave.

Zhang Hu said excitedly: "Okay, leave it to me, sir!"

boom!
A series of gunshots rang out, and several Japanese staff officers fell in a pool of blood, and there was no movement anymore.

Wang Feng: "Retreat!"

What Okamura Neiji said was right. This is the heartland of the Second Division, and it is extremely difficult to escape.

But it was not a difficult task for him.

To ensure the success of the operation, some troops have been sent to Yishui to prevent the Japanese troops from returning for support.

Second Division Command Post.

Flames shot up into the sky, dispelling the darkness of the night.

Following the light, the king led dozens of cavalrymen and rode back to the battlefield.

The battle is over, and the entire division command post has been engulfed in flames.

Wang Feng raised his eyebrows.

The Japs were really fucking crazy. Except for a few who took the opportunity to escape, most of them chose to live and die with the division command post.

-

At the same time, on the Western Front.

0:12
At midnight, the sky is not dark.

Yu Xuezhong lay in the trench, holding a rifle tightly in his right hand, leaning his head slightly and squinting at the Japanese troops in front of him.

Damn it!
What the hell was wrong with the Japs? They thought that as night fell and the Japanese army lost its air support, they would restrain themselves, but they didn't expect that the offensive would increase instead of decrease.

The fighting had lasted from two o'clock in the afternoon until now, a full ten hours, and the soldiers had no time to even catch their breath.

half an hour ago.

Under the fierce attack of the Japanese army, the first line of defense was completely broken. The remaining troops quickly retreated and continued to defend the city relying on fortifications.

If the second line of defense is breached again, his command post will be reached.

"Sir! Sir!" Amid the hail of bullets, a signalman ran over with a telephone in his arms, which was ringing.

"Sir, phone!"

Yu Xuezhong hid in the bunker and picked up the phone: "Hello!"

"I am Yu Xuezhong!"

On the phone: "I'm Chu Yunfei! My troops are ordered by the commander to support the western front. How is your unit doing?"

"How's your department? Hello!"

"Hey!"

The explosions around him interfered with Yu Xuezhong's hearing. Chu Yunfei repeated several times before he could barely understand what he was saying: "The Japanese offensive is extremely fierce. The frontline positions have been breached. Our troops are reorganizing the resistance. Tell the commander! As long as I am alive, the Japanese invaders will never break through the defense line!"

"We are the 51st Army! We swear to live and die with this position!"

On the phone: "General Yu, our troops have circled to the rear of the Japanese army and are ready to launch an attack. Please hold your position until the last moment!"

Yu Xuezhong hung up the phone and turned to look at the soldiers around him: "Gentlemen! The commander's reinforcements are here! Cheer up, don't let the brother troops make a fool of our Northeast Army!"

"A true man born in troubled times should carry a three-foot sword and accomplish unparalleled feats!"

"After the battle, I will personally help you and ask the commander for a reward!"

Yu Xuezhong raised his arms and shouted loudly, and the violent movement caused an old injury on his shoulder blade that had not yet healed to flare up.

The pain of the torn wound surged into my heart, but I still gritted my teeth and insisted on finishing what I had to say.

Opposite the position.

4th Infantry Regiment Command Post.

Asai Goro frowned, feeling vaguely uneasy.

After fighting for such a long time, there has been no progress at all. The front line has only advanced two kilometers, which is still far from the goal set by the division commander for himself.

"Your Excellency!" The commander of the regiment, Keihei Matsui, walked closer and shouted.

Asai Goro turned his head and asked: "How is it? Is there any news from the division headquarters?"

"When will the ammunition supply arrive?"

Matsui Keihei shook his head: "I asked the signalman to send four telegrams, but there was no response."

Asai Goro frowned even more tightly: "No response?"

"Has the signal cavalry been sent out?"

Matsui Keihei: "We have sent them out, but if we want to find out the situation in the rear, we will probably have to wait until daybreak."

Asai Goro's heart skipped a beat.

Dawn?

Under the non-stop attack, the ammunition reserves of the 4th and 16th Regiments dropped sharply. If they are not replenished in time, the subsequent attacks will probably become increasingly weak.

"What about the Cavalry Brigade? Any progress?" Asai Goro was unwilling to accept failure and thought of the last straw.

Keihei Matsui: “We don’t know yet.”

The Cavalry Brigade and the 2nd Division are two completely independent combat units. Without news from the general command post, no one knows the specific battle situation.

But in fact, we can guess that if the cavalry brigade had made progress on the flank, the defense of the Chinese army would not have been so tenacious.

Asai Goro was furious and stared ahead with cold eyes.

"How much red agent do you have in stock?"

Upon hearing the name, Matsui Keihei frowned: "Sir, are you going to use chemical weapons?"

Asai Goro nodded: "The wind direction is just right tonight, what do you think?"

Matsui Keihei hesitated and looked at the other person as if he was looking at a madman: "The use of chemical weapons in war requires the approval of the Army's Homeland General Staff."

After saying that, he took a step back.

The reason why the attack was unsuccessful in this battle was entirely due to the staff's misjudgment of intelligence, and had nothing to do with him.

Thanks to personal connections, even if the assigned combat mission is not completed, the person will not be held accountable too severely.

He can still hold the position of wing captain.

It's different for Asai Goro. If he can't atone for his mistakes, his military career may end here completely.

Matsui Keihei would not be so foolish as to take the risk and use chemical weapons without authorization. If the news was leaked accidentally and the Army General Staff held him accountable, he would be in big trouble.

After Okamura Yasuji was promoted, he also wanted to strive for the position of division commander.

Seeing the other party's polite refusal, Asai Goro felt as if he had punched cotton. He was immediately furious and no longer had the high-spirited and confident look he had before the battle. He stood there for a long time before uttering a few words:

"Use the soldiers to speed up the attack!" As soon as Matsui Keihei left, a signalman hurried in: "Sir, the 16th Regiment has sent a message!"

Asai Goro turned around and said, "Show it to me!"

The signalman handed over the telegram.

Asai Goro looked up and down, and suddenly his eyes went dark.

[Our rear was attacked by the enemy! We suffered heavy losses, requesting support! ]

"It's over. Everything is over!"

The enemy's detour to the rear of the regiment can only mean one thing.

In this "race", the Chinese army got ahead of him and was the first to win victory on the Eastern Front.

-

The fighting continued until dawn on March 3.

As the division command post had not responded for a long time, Asai Goro had already noticed something was wrong.

But I always hold on to a sense of luck.

The news was not confirmed until the dispatched communications cavalry returned.

Due to the lack of unified command in the rear, the entire front was in disarray.

The defeat of the Eastern Front had doomed the battle to failure. Under the situation of being attacked from both sides, the two Japanese regiments struggled for more than ten hours, but were eventually forced to break out to the north due to running out of ammunition and food.

The 108th Division, located in Yishui, ambushed in advance on the route that the Japanese army must take to retreat.

While it is fleeing in panic, give it a heavy blow!
The 29th Regiment, located in front of Linyi City, suffered defeat on both the east and west sides and was forced to retreat.

The cavalry brigade suffered heavy losses and quickly withdrew from the battlefield thanks to its mobility.

The infantry behind them were far behind and could not catch up, so they had to turn their attention to the 4th and 16th Regiments.

Mobilize heavy troops to encircle them!

----

"Sir, the fighting on the western front has ended!" Zhao Fangyuan strode in, saluted and reported.

Wang Feng: "How many enemy troops are left?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "On the Eastern Front, most of the tank regiments have withdrawn. We have too few anti-tank guns."

"On the Western Front, more than 4 Japanese cavalry brigades were killed, and half of the 16th and th Infantry Regiments were withdrawn."

"On the Linyi front, the 29th Regiment suffered very little loss."

"About 7000 enemies were killed in this battle."

Wang Feng straightened his back: "Has the battlefield been cleaned up? The Japanese army was defeated on the front line, so there should be a lot of good things left behind!"

He was quite satisfied with this number.

This battle is not about how many enemies are annihilated. The two sides are setting up their battle formations and bombarding each other. Without a very obvious advantage in military strength, it is difficult to defeat them in one bite.

The key is to dampen their enthusiasm.

Speaking of the seized weapons, Zhao Fangyuan was excited: "The brothers are still counting. As far as I know, there are several large-caliber heavy artillery pieces seized!"

"The Japs wanted to blow it up, but we snatched it away!"

Upon hearing that there were heavy artillery, Wang Feng also laughed: "The Kwantung Army is really fat, speed up the statistics and give me the results before tonight."

This battle was extremely difficult.

The Japanese Heavy Artillery Brigade, an independent field artillery unit, has terrifying combat capabilities.

In terms of strategic command, General Okamura Yasuji also learned his lesson and dismantled the heavy artillery brigade and deployed it to various regiments.

In addition, the east and west battlefields were wide and far apart, and the maximum range of the Type 91 howitzer was only ten kilometers.

The map marking and precision bombing tactics that were commonly used in the past are no longer very effective.

Wang Feng: "How is the situation in Teng County?"

Zhao Fangyuan shook his head: "We don't know yet. After the battle started, our unit stopped communicating with them by telegraph."

"But considering the time, the main force of the 10th Division should have arrived at the battlefield long ago."

Wang Feng took a deep breath and said, "Go and ask and see what the specific situation is."

If Teng County cannot be defended, Linyi will not be able to stand alone.

He still understood the principle that the lips and teeth are interdependent.

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, the frontline troops have also seized four Type 89 tanks, which are completely grounded. What should we do with them?"

Wang Feng turned his head: "Tank?"

"How was it captured?"

Zhao Fangyuan replied: "The tracks were damaged by anti-tank guns. The Japanese tank soldiers wanted to blow up the car, but our soldiers rushed over and snatched it away."

Wang Feng frowned and thought to himself.

tank?

Without qualified tank soldiers, we can’t move forward!
"Is the maintenance blueprint that the Red Flag First Corps seized still there?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "It's at the General Staff. Do you want me to bring it over?"

Wang Feng waved his hand and said, "Let the maintenance soldiers take a look. If they can drive it away, then drive it away. If they can't drive it away, try to refer to the blueprints and remove the engine and other valuable components."

"Then we'll ship it to the Changzhi factory for our technicians to study."

Several national policies were implemented in succession, and the number of technicians with overseas study experience in the rear reached hundreds.

All kinds of industrial equipment are available, and a complete industrial system has been established.

But the quantity is a bit small, and you have to wait in line if you want to use it.

Do some research early and accumulate some technical experience. When you unlock tank technology, you can also speed up mass production.

A torrent of steel!
What man doesn't like that?
Recently, his mind is full of tanks and armored vehicles, and he even dreams about them when he sleeps.

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, there is one more thing!"

"A large amount of supplies were sent from the rear, and the Japanese Air Force mobilized bombers to launch a large-scale bombing of the Fifth War Zone's supply lines. The supplies could not be transported at all and had to be piled up in Xuzhou."

Wang Feng frowned and said, "Put that piece aside now. Tell our people to keep a close eye on it and make sure it is not lost."

Judging from the time, the troops of Tang and Sun in the rear should be arriving soon.

The 59th Army was fine in this battle, but the 51st Army was seriously injured and lacked filling-line troops, which had a great impact on its macro-combat capability.

At that time, I will hand over the battlefield to the army coming from behind, and I can retreat to the second line.

If we keep fighting like this, the troops won't get enough rest and will be exhausted, which will lead to a long-term vicious cycle.

Zhao Fangyuan nodded, then strode out of the command post.

After the post-war situation was compiled, Wang Feng immediately sent it to the headquarters of the Fifth War Zone.

At the same time, a large number of troops had assembled in Xuzhou and were rushing towards Tengxian-Linyi.

A new round of war is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)