Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 159 Forced to Help

The Third Division.

A high-level military meeting is underway.

"The Central China Headquarters sent another telegram, urging us to move north as soon as possible." Chief of Staff Masayuki Sugiyama put the telegram on the table. "The 16th Division has encountered the Chinese garrison army, and the battle is not going well."

Division Commander Fujita Susumu wiped his command knife and said, "I remember yesterday that the 9th Division sent a brigade to Dangshan."

"The 6th Brigade?"

Sugiyama Masayuki shook his head: "The Chinese army across from us is very cunning. Although the main force has entered Yongcheng, they still deployed about a brigade of troops on the periphery."

"The 6th Brigade has been blocked!"

Fujita Susumu frowned: "How could an elite brigade be stopped by a brigade?"

Sugiyama Masayuki smiled bitterly and remained silent.

Fujita Jin looked unhappy: "The Empire spends so much military money every year, but it only raises a bunch of stupid pigs!"

"Has the Home Army Staff responded?"

Sugiyama Masayuki nodded: "I called back half an hour ago. Chief of Staff Kan'in Palace issued the 'Continental Command No. 110' order, allowing the large-scale use of red bombs in the Xuzhou battlefield!"

Fujita Jin grinned: "Yoshi, immediately deploy the red bombs to the front-line regiments and quickly disintegrate the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army!"

The so-called red bomb, also known as sneezing agent, is filled with diphenylcyanamide in the warhead. It is solid at room temperature. It is heated by ignition and explodes when the shell lands, turning into microparticles and spreading. After being inhaled by the human body, in addition to falling into a state of severe pain, it sometimes causes vomiting, causing the soldiers to quickly lose their combat effectiveness.

Diphenylcyanamide is not "non-lethal". Once inhaled in high concentrations, it will damage the respiratory organs and cause death.
Fujita Susumu looked at the regiment commanders on both sides and said: "The 34th and 68th Infantry Regiments will be dispatched immediately. Besiege Yongcheng tonight and cut off the supply lines of the Chinese army!"

All the officers stood up: "Hay!"

------

Dangshan battlefield.

Wang Feng focused on the three-dimensional combat map and kept an eye on the battlefield developments.

The 16th Division held Dangcheng firmly and did not take the initiative to attack, but instead built defensive positions on the periphery.

The intention was clear - waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

Wang Feng came back to his senses and looked at Zhao Fangyuan who was setting the table: "How is the situation in Xuzhou?"

Zhao Fangyuan raised his head and said, "The military and political organs have already evacuated westwards. Commander Li is still in Xuzhou, coordinating the various troops to break out."

Wang Feng nodded.

Duke De's level of battle command is still worthy of praise. With him stationed in Xuzhou and himself attracting firepower on the periphery, it was not difficult for the fifty divisions in the war zone to break through.

Zhao Fangyuan thought of another thing: "Sir, recently we received a telegram from the rear saying that a large number of the Eighth Route Army passed through Changzhi and moved towards North China."

Wang Feng raised his eyebrows: "Eighth Route Army?"

Zhao Fangyuan responded: "The Japanese army has mobilized a large number of troops to besiege Xuzhou. The North China region is short of troops. This is the best time to establish a base behind enemy lines."

"The Eighth Route Army's advance toward North China is not difficult to explain."

Wang Feng: "How is Zhu Xiangwen's situation?"

He still cares a lot about his old butler and the guerrillas behind enemy lines.

If we want to inflict heavy damage on the Japanese army, we cannot rely solely on the frontal battlefield.

Zhao Fangyuan: "According to a routine report a while ago, we have expanded two guerrilla units, one of which is in Suiyuan area."

Wang Feng smiled and said, "That's right. Increase the supply of weapons and ammunition, and secretly transport some food over."

Zhao Fangyuan: "Understood!"

"Sir, come and have dinner."

Wang Feng walked to the table and pulled out a chair: "Where's Sergei?"

Zhao Fangyuan grinned: "Old Xie went to polish his shoes. It seems that he was in the Frunze Military Academy. It's a habit that I developed at the Frunze Military Academy. I can skip meals, but I must polish my shoes."

Wang Feng: "Okay, let's not wait for him! Eat quickly, and go down with me to inspect the front line."

Zhao Fangyuan was curious: "Sir, what kind of school is this Soviet Frunze Military Academy?"

Wang Feng glanced sideways: "What's wrong? Do you want to go for further studies?"

Zhao Fangyuan quickly shook his head: "No, no, no, I think our Changzhi Military Academy is good enough. We don't need to learn the Soviets' tactical skills."

Wang Feng took a sip of soup and said, "We must not have such a conservative mindset. We must be exposed to more advanced strategic ideas in the world. If there is an opportunity in the future, I would like to send a group of officers to Frunze for further study."

"What kind of soup is this that tastes so weird?"

Zhao Fangyuan hurriedly explained: "Back in Shanxi, we seized a lot of supplies from the Fifth Division. This was originally a box of canned meat, which the kitchen staff used to make soup."

Wang Feng frowned: "It's been so long, why haven't you finished eating yet?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "This can of food is inconspicuous, with Japanese characters all over it, and it has been placed in a corner. Later, Xu Zuyi came to our military camp. He studied at the Japanese Army University and said that this can of food was specially provided for generals and officers, and was handmade by a century-old shop in Hiroshima."

Wang Feng couldn't help laughing: "Then you should eat more. This century-old restaurant may no longer exist."

Zhao Fangyuan put down his chopsticks and scratched his head, not understanding what was going on: "Sir, this..."

After the joke, Wang Feng turned to the serious business: "How far has the battle in Yongcheng progressed?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "The Third Division is gathering in the direction of Yongcheng. According to the news from the front line, it is very likely to launch an attack tonight."

"The 9th Division attempted to bypass the 7th and 8th columns and quickly move north, but was blocked."

Wang Feng nodded: "Telegram Yu Xuezhong and make a routine report every 20 minutes."

"In large-scale military operations, military discipline must be strict!"

"Don't hide anything!"

A staff officer stood beside the dinner table, recording the conversation between the two at all times.

Zhao Fangyuan thought of another thing: "Oh, sir, just now there was news from the battlefield in northern Jiangsu that the Japanese army used poison gas bombs on a large scale. Soldiers will cough violently after inhaling the air, and in severe cases, it can even cause death!"

Wang Feng paused with his chopsticks, "Poison gas bomb?"

Zhao Fangyuan said solemnly: "Yes!"

Wang Feng frowned and thought secretly in his heart.

He had anticipated long ago that the Japanese army would use poison gas bombs in the war and had made adequate preparations in advance.

As early as in the officer training class, instructors have repeatedly emphasized the specific response methods and preventive measures when encountering chemical warfare.

"How many gas masks are the Seventh and Eighth Columns equipped with?"

Zhao Fangyuan looked embarrassed: "It seems that there are only three or four hundred."

Wang Feng's heart sank.

The National Army had little vigilance against chemical warfare, and the various units were basically not equipped with gas masks. The reserves in the war zone were even fewer, and there was no such thing in the allocated supplies.

These hundreds of gas masks were seized from the Japanese army.

Zhao Fangyuan: "Should we notify all the columns and ask them to be on high alert?"

Wang Feng nodded: "Let's go now!"

After hearing this, Zhao Fangyuan immediately stood up and picked up the telephone receiver beside him.

"We want the Seventh Column!"

"."

After learning that the Japanese army might use poison gas, Wang Feng lost his mood to eat. He put down his chopsticks and immersed himself in the three-dimensional battle map. The Fourth Column was still 20 kilometers away from Dangshan County.

It looks very close, but within the depth of 20 kilometers, the Japanese army built six lines of defense in tiers. Even with the support of heavy weapons, it would cost a huge price to conquer it in a short period of time.

If you proceed step by step and take it step by step, the losses will indeed be much smaller.

But the risk is too great. Once reinforcements arrive from the east, the cost will outweigh the gain.

Zhao Fangyuan made a few phone calls and walked to Wang Feng: "Sir, the Sixth Column has arrived at the flank of the Sixteenth Division. Should we launch an attack?"

Wang Feng thought about it and said: "Mainly use harassment to assist the 4th column in launching a strong attack from the front!"

Although the name contains the word "mountain", the area around Dangshan is very flat. If you adjust the three-dimensional combat map to the contour line mode, you will find that the highest altitude in the entire area is only more than 50 meters.

Standard Great Plains terrain.

Commonly used tactics of infiltration and roundabout attacks are difficult to be effective.

During the day, Japanese reconnaissance planes have an unobstructed view of the ground, and any troop movements will be discovered. At night, scouts and sentries can also detect abnormalities in time.

It can only be interspersed on a small scale.

"Small-scale infiltration," Wang Feng muttered.

That’s a solution!

Zhao Fangyuan looked at Wang Feng: "Sir, is there anything else to add?"

Wang Feng: "Call Zhang Hu over here, and have the First Column prepare for battle!"

"Yes!" Zhao Fangyuan saluted, then turned around and left the command post to pass on the order.

after an hour.

Led by the guards, Zhang Hu walked quickly into the tent, stood in a suitable position, and saluted: "Sir!"

Wang Feng switched his consciousness to reality: "You are the elite of the entire army. You are assigned to the reserve team. You must feel uncomfortable, right?"

Zhang Hu scratched his head and laughed, "The First Column will absolutely obey the orders of the commander!"

Wang Feng: "Your skills in flattery have improved, but I wonder how your skills in battle are doing."

"Now I order you to break up into smaller units, and penetrate deep into the Japanese army in squads and platoons!"

"Create chaos, destroy major fortifications, and coordinate with the 4th column's frontal assault!"

"The battle is somewhat difficult. The plain terrain has no suitable ambushes, hiding spots, wide fields of vision, and no strategic locations to defend. It is not suitable for interspersed operations at all."

"But there is no other way now. We can only fight on. The Japanese can afford to drag it out, but we can't. We must occupy Dangshan as soon as possible!"

Zhang Hu glanced at the map and assured, "Don't worry, sir. There will be absolutely no problem!"

Wang Feng: "Move after dark. I will order the artillery to cooperate with you."

"How many portable radios do you have?"

Zhang Hu thought for a moment and said, "More than 20."

The so-called portable radio station is a Type 94 No. 6 radio station captured from the Japanese army. Unlike the high-power radio stations used by the General Staff and the column communication units, the former has lower power and a communication range of only two kilometers.

But it is very light and can be carried by 1-2 soldiers.

Wang Feng: "I will transfer all the portable radios of the 4th and 6th columns to you, so that you can have 70 of them. You can distribute them to the various teams and I will also transfer a group of communication soldiers from the internal affairs corps to support you."

As a technical branch of the military, communications soldiers rarely participate in military training, and their physical fitness, willpower, tactical qualities, etc. are far behind those of front-line soldiers.

In the entire garrison, only the internal troops can meet both of these requirements.

Wang Feng then added: "I will allocate a batch of light machine guns to you and directly assign them to the action team!"

"Hurry up and prepare. Wait for orders on the specific time of action!"

Zhang Hu saluted: "Yes!"

------

At sunset.

There was a rustling sound in the grass as a squad of soldiers advanced stealthily.

"Sergeant, there is a Japanese sentry five hundred meters ahead!" A soldier crouched down and tried his best to lower his voice.

The squad leader looked up and saw that the visibility in the sky was already very low. It was estimated that it would be completely dark in half an hour.

"Brother, do you have any orders?" The squad leader turned his head to look at the housekeeper and asked softly.

The housekeeper grabbed a handful of straw, laid it under the radio, and then began to operate it skillfully.

"Begin the attack in twenty minutes! After crossing the Japanese defense line, advance two kilometers to the northwest and enter the village to take shelter."

The squad leader made a gesture and clenched the light machine gun in his hand.

The Changzhi Model 1938 light machine gun, which was modeled after the Browning automatic rifle, retains the characteristics of the prototype gun to the greatest extent.

A hand rest is installed under the barrel, which allows for stable shooting even if the bipod is removed.

The reliability and stability are also very good, but it is a bit heavy. The empty gun alone weighs a full seven kilograms, and with the thirty-round magazine, the weight reaches seven point five kilograms.

Fifteen pounds!
But apart from being a little bulky, everything else is impeccable.

With a firing rate of 600 rounds per minute, it completely crushed the Japanese "Type " light machine gun.

The squad leader leaned forward slightly, looked at the Japanese sentry in the distance, and then immediately retracted his gaze.

"Sergeant, what's the situation?" a soldier came over and asked.

The squad leader frowned, "You little bastard, you're quite alert. There's only one sentry, and I don't know how many there are. Be smart when the fight starts, or you'll get shot!"

The soldiers nodded.

The squad leader lowered his voice and continued, "Before I set out, I went to a meeting and the commander explained the combat mission. I want to emphasize it to you again."

"Our main task in this operation is to attract the Japanese firepower and cover the follow-up troops to penetrate deep into the territory. Do you understand?"

"understand!"

"Fuck the Japs!"

The soldiers murmured in response.

In order to deal with the problem of poor concealment and easy discovery in the plain terrain, Wang Feng came up with a solution - to infiltrate in batches.

The seventy squads were divided into two parts, one of which took the lead in attacking and tore a hole in the Japanese army's flank cordon.

The second unit delayed its action for two hours and advanced deep into the Japanese territory without anyone noticing.

Wang Feng himself sat in the command post, observing the Japanese army's deployment through the three-dimensional combat map and passing the information to each combat team.

There are many tasks to be performed, including but not limited to destroying telephone lines, burning baggage and other logistical supplies, and even sneak attacks on Japanese command posts.

At first glance it looks a lot like modern special operations.

However, due to the limitations of equipment technology level and combat concepts, they could only achieve a similar appearance. Once separated from Wang Feng, these seventy squads of soldiers would be no different from committing suicide if they rushed in.

At the same time, the 4th Column launched a strong attack on the front battlefield.

The 1st and 6th columns attacked the left and right wings of the 16th Division respectively, encircling the Japanese army.

Time passes slowly.

The breeze blows across the grass, and night falls quietly.
(End of this chapter)