Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 15 No matter who is beating Itagaki, my 414th Regiment must help!
Fifth Division.

Itagaki Seishirō's face was livid, and Chief of Staff Nishimura Toshiwaki, who was standing next to him, also had a very ugly look on his face.

A logistics and supply battalion pursued an ordinary infantry regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army in the mountains west of Weixian and Guangling, and suffered extremely heavy losses.

Battalion commander Akihiro Kawai was killed on the spot.

Hundreds of soldiers were also lost.

It is truly a shame for the Fifth Division!
"General, this Jinsui Army unit is probably heading towards Lingqiu."

"We have set up a large number of interception checkpoints on the mountain roads in this area...but we have not yet discovered this force..."

Nishimura Towin said this with trepidation.

He was the one who deployed the specific pursuit mission, but no progress has been made so far and the captain in charge of the front-line command has been killed.

I'm afraid this sin will fall on his own shoulders.

"Nishimura-kun, I need a reasonable explanation."

Itagaki Seishirō spoke in a cold tone, raised his head and stared at the chief of staff with a fierce look.

The strength of a battalion.

On the front battlefield, it was enough to sweep away two regiments of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

But he was fooled by a group of remnant soldiers in the mountains.

How could he hold his head up high among his colleagues in the military?

Nishimura Liwen closed his heels, lowered his head and gritted his teeth:

"General, this Jinsui Army is extremely good at mountain warfare... They are very familiar with the terrain in this area."

"Although this unit is small in number, it is highly disciplined and organized. I suspect it is very likely a special mountain force secretly trained by Yan Laoxi!"

Itagaki Seishirō frowned slightly and began to weigh the matter in his mind.

Although he wanted to win quickly.

But he never underestimated his opponents.

Past battle records have indeed shown that this Shanxi-Suiyuan Army is quite extraordinary.

But Itagaki Seishirō and Yan Laoxi were once teacher and student.

Very familiar with its true military level.

They simply do not have such a far-sighted strategic vision.

If so.

When this force penetrates into the hinterland of the Fifth Division, it should make corresponding deployment and coordination on the front battlefield and adopt the tactics of "blooming in the center".

But obviously, Yan Laoxi would only let his Shanxi-Suiyuan Army shrink its defense line desperately, and just retreat into Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass.

Itagaki Seishirō paused and asked, "What is the specific number of this Shanxi-Suiyuan Army?"

The war had been going on for so long that the Chinese troops on the front line collapsed at the first blow. Occasionally there were some stubborn resistances, but they were just trapped beasts fighting to the bitter end.

Can't hold on for long.

This is the only Chinese army that makes me look at it with admiration.

Nishimura Tomoyuki dug out a stack of files, which were the latest collection of the Special High Police.

"This unit is the 414th Regiment of the st Army of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army."

"Captain Wang Feng, about 26 years old, graduated from the ninth infantry class of the Whampoa Military Academy. His great-grandfather was a lieutenant general in Shanxi, with a rank of third rank..."

Itagaki Seishirō's eyes were sharp: "Pay close attention to the whereabouts of this troop and wait for an opportunity to annihilate them!"

"If this man is not removed, he may become a great threat to the empire."

In the mountainous area.

After that annihilation battle, Wang Feng led his troops to stay nearby for two days.

It was not until the transport team arrived from Xiajiashan Village and delivered 300 refurbished Jin-made Type 65 rifles that they slowly set off southward.

Because Xiajiashan Village is located in the enemy-occupied area, all actions must be carried out under the noses of the Japanese army, and we must be careful and cautious.

When transporting these 300 rifles, the transport team only dared to travel at night.

In order to avoid leaving obvious tire tracks, this batch of rifles was carried purely by manpower.

After several days of bloody fighting, the total strength of the 414th Regiment was reduced to more than people.

The casualties were extremely tragic.

The organization of each battalion was in jeopardy and they were completely unable to fight again. If they did not replenish their forces, something terrible would happen.

A lot of equipment was seized along the way, including more than seventy light and heavy machine guns of various types, enough to equip an entire reinforced regiment.

There were also two Type 92 infantry guns.

More than 30 grenade launchers and more than 500 grenades of various types were also seized.

After packing up everything, Wang Feng led his troops and began to march south.

Target Lingqiu.

The various temporary checkpoints set up by the Fifth Division on the road and the mountain-searching troops deployed were useless in Wang Feng's eyes.

After a detour, we finally arrived at the area around Lingqiu two days later.

"Commander, there seems to be gunfire ahead."

At the foot of the hill, Zhao Fangyuan, whose ears were very sensitive, spoke cautiously.

"stop!"

Wang Feng waved his hand, signaling the troops to stop advancing.

Zhao Fangyuan poked his head out slightly, observed with a telescope and said, "Commander, 800 meters to the left, there is a troop fighting with the Japanese."

Zhang Hu asked from the side: "Which unit is it?"

"I don't know. Their flag is too damaged to make out the specific number."

"Who cares? As long as we can fight the devils, we are our brother troops!"

Wang Feng immersed his consciousness into the three-dimensional combat map.

From the three-dimensional map, we can see that the battle ahead is extremely brutal.

A Shanxi-Suiyuan Army unit of about 500 people.

Surrounded by about two squadrons of Japanese troops, the Japanese rushed to the position and are currently engaged in a bloody hand-to-hand combat.

This can be seen from a bird's-eye view.

These more than 500 Shanxi-Suiyuan Army soldiers are protecting the command post located in the middle of the position.

The two sides fought back and forth in the trenches, and the battle on one front was repeated five or six times.

The flag symbolizing the spirit of the troops was planted on the ground. The flag was torn into pieces, but the blue sky and white sun could be clearly seen on it.

The Japanese army's rifles were very long, and when equipped with bayonets, they were very useful for close-range combat.

In addition, they were well-trained and worked in groups of three or two, cooperating very well and slaughtering the lone soldiers of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Although the Japanese soldiers were short in stature, there was a surplus of logistical food supplies in the early stages of the war, so the soldiers had sufficient nutrition and were physically strong.

If we really compare strength, the Shanxi Suiyuan Army soldiers may not be able to beat the Japanese soldiers.

At present, the front line of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has shown signs of collapse.

However, because they were surrounded by the Japanese army and had no way to retreat, the soldiers under his command had no choice but to fight to the death.

Zhao Fangyuan put down the telescope. He didn't have a battle map, so he couldn't see the specific details of the situation.

All we could see was Japanese soldiers pouring into the trenches.

"Commander, what should we do? Fight or not?"

The current situation is very favorable. More than half of the Japanese infantry battalion's troops have been engaged in hand-to-hand combat and are being entangled and unable to extricate themselves.

The 414th Regiment suddenly appeared on the battlefield like a ghost.

If they attack from behind, it will definitely deal a fatal blow to the Japanese army.

Wang Feng’s consciousness was extracted from the three-dimensional combat map.

"beat!"

"No matter who is attacking the Itagaki Division, my 414th Regiment must go and help!"

"Mortar company, prepare to fire heavily into the Japanese rear."

"And the infantry guns?"

"Pull up and fire a few shots to boost the morale of the brother troops."

Wang Fengzhu gave the order.

The entire 414th Regiment quickly began to move.

(End of this chapter)