Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 161: The Third Team

Liu Haiwen is an ordinary machine gunner.

He reacted quickly as soon as the gunshot rang out.

The only automatic rifle in the class was in Chen Desheng's hands, so Liu Haiwen had to carry the rifle to participate in the battle. However, he encountered the Japanese four or five times along the way, but the battle was not without results.

While ambushing a small squad, he took advantage of the chaos and seized a Taisho Type 11 light machine gun.

It is commonly known as the "crooked handle".

Liu Haiwen leaned out from the corner, aimed the crosshairs at the Japanese troops who were hastily fighting back, and pulled the trigger.

Da da da--

Gunshots rang out, and the three or five Japanese soldiers closest to the scene fell to the ground.

Liu Haiwen was overjoyed: "Damn it, I made a profit!"

The Japanese lieutenant reacted and was furious: "Disperse and counterattack, grenade launchers!"

Judging from the gunshots heard in the village, the number of enemies was very small, no more than ten at most.

However, due to the cover of night and the hidden location of the house, the search was somewhat difficult.

Logically speaking, according to the requirements of the Infantry Drill Manual, when entering a village during wartime, scouts should be sent out to search in advance.

But requirements are requirements. If you really want to carry them out, it will take at least half an hour to complete the survey of dozens of houses.

But the friendly forces were still waiting for rescue, and they had to pass through at least three villages along the way. If they marched according to the rules, the enemy might have fled by the time the troops arrived.

The lieutenant shouted loudly, and the infantrymen beside him opened fire to cover him.

The grenadier team adjusted their position, removed the grenades from their chests, and stuffed them into the gun barrel.

boom--

The grenade drew an arc in the night sky and landed precisely next to the firing point.

Liu Haiwen was engulfed by the smoke raised by the explosion.

Seeing that the firing point had stopped, the Japanese lieutenant was overjoyed: "Destroy the stubborn enemy immediately and move forward!"

"Kill him!"

The support from his brothers gave Chen Desheng a chance to catch his breath. He covered his bullet-infected calf and moved into the house little by little in a crawling posture.

"hiss"

Chen Desheng bared his teeth, his facial features twisted together.

It fucking hurts!
The Japs were around, and now was not the time to be pretentious. He gripped his automatic rifle tightly, replaced the magazine with a new one, and crawled to the window.

"Damn you little Japs, I told you not to stop chirping!" The sound of gunfire was mixed with the sounds of footsteps and incomprehensible bird calls.

The sound was getting closer and closer. Chen Desheng took a deep breath and took out a wooden-handled grenade.

He took off the rubber cover, pulled out the fuse, and threw it out through the open door.

boom--

Chen Desheng held his head with his hands, and the earth wall behind him shook violently, as if it would collapse at any time.

Although the grenades equipped by the garrison troops were wooden-handled grenades like those of the Eighth Route Army, their production equipment was advanced, their craftsmanship was sophisticated, and their quality was always above standard.

The amount of explosives is also larger, and the power is quite considerable.

Chen Desheng shook his head, and the blood loss and severe vibration made him less conscious.

After the explosion stopped, the footsteps outside disappeared for five or six seconds, and then sounded again.

Even more dense than before.

Chen Desheng suddenly felt something was wrong. He supported himself against the wall with one hand, staggered to his feet, and leaped into the inner room.

Ding!
As soon as I stepped over the threshold, I heard a few crisp sounds.

It was the Japanese soldiers knocking their helmets with grenades!
The Type 91 and Type 97 hand grenades equipped by the Japanese army are both equipped with double-layer safety.

The first is the conventional pull ring safety, and the second is the impact safety.

After the safety pin is removed, an external force impact is required to trigger the firing pin to ignite the delay gunpowder.

Several grenades were thrown in, and Chen Desheng's ears were filled with the sounds of gunfire and explosions. He was slow to react for a moment and immediately hid under the table.

boom--

Smoke and dust from the grenade explosion burst out from the window, and the entire mud house collapsed.

Several Japanese soldiers took two steps back, their eyes full of pride.

"Why didn't the troops that raided this place blow up all the houses?"

"Maybe he wants to be in the house with a Chinese woman."

“Wouldn’t it be more pleasant to open air?”

The Japanese soldiers looked at each other, talking and laughing.

The other side of the village.

The garrison soldier put the radio aside, holding a bloody rifle in his hand.

It was picked up from the bodies of fallen soldiers.

The radio station in the corner received a signal and was beeping.

But he didn't have the energy or time to translate.

The brother next to me was shot and fell to the ground, blood gushing out of several blood holes in his lungs. He was sobbing, and the blood flowing out of his mouth was mixed with bubbles.

On his deathbed, he took out three grenades from his body and handed them to the internal security soldier.

"I'm going back to Shanxi to see my mother"

After saying the last sentence, he was completely out of breath.

The internal affairs soldier rushed over and looked at the label on his chest.

"Zheng Gang."

The housekeeper took a quick look, took out a telegram sheet, quickly wrote a line of words, folded it, and stuffed it into the cracks between the bricks.

At this point, he knew that he couldn't go back, and he only hoped that the brothers who came later could see this piece of paper.

"Wang Linhai, please help me look after my elderly parents at home," the housekeeping soldier muttered.

The sound of gunfire in his ears became increasingly frequent, bullets hit the corner of the wall, and flying dirt splashed on his face.

A sentence popped up in the mind of the housekeeper.

Sergei once said at a mobilization meeting: "The country is in ruins, why should I care about my life!"

After coming to China, his Soviet superior also adapted to the local customs and spoke more and more like everyone else.

In the past, people would probably say something like, "Soldiers, you are the last line of defense of the motherland. Victory belongs to the brave people!"

The internal affairs soldier grinned, his consciousness flashing across countless faces like a kaleidoscope.

Listening to the footsteps, he calculated the distance in his mind.

When the time was right, he suddenly pulled out the fuse of the grenade in his arms.

He pounced from the corner and hugged the Japanese soldier's thigh.

boom--

The flames of the explosion engulfed four Japanese soldiers. When the smoke and dust cleared, only a pool of blurry flesh and blood remained at the scene.

--------

Inside the command post.

Wang Feng closed his eyes and couldn't help sighing.

Ugh.
If he hadn't had to, he would never have given such a stupid order.

Let eight soldiers take the risk to stop a Japanese squadron.

This is no different from sending them to their deaths.

Pulling the camera to the northeast, the battle to ambush the transport team is basically coming to an end, with only three or two Japanese soldiers still resisting. Judging from the situation, the battle can be over in less than ten minutes.

He stared at this batch of supplies for a long time. If he guessed correctly, the mule cart should be loaded with a large number of poison gas bombs.

Wang Fengneng could roughly guess why the Japanese army was so crazy.

It was simply that under the impact of successive failures, the domestic anti-war movement continued. In order to achieve considerable results as soon as possible, the local Army General Staff issued an order allowing the army in Xuzhou to use poison gas on a large scale.

He always had a question in his previous life.

Why didn't Japan choose to proceed step by step and adopt a strategy of nibbling away at the enemy's territory, as it did when it invaded the Northeast?

If this is true, how can we resist?
But only after putting yourself in their shoes can you understand the way.

This is a very complicated historical issue.

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's policies had a notable feature.

Whenever there is an economic crisis and domestic conflicts intensify, they will strengthen their armaments, launch wars, seize resources and shift conflicts abroad.
Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Japanese government had a huge debt of nearly 100 million.

However, after the victory of the war, a large amount of reparations was received, the domestic economy recovered suddenly, and in addition, the country gained vast markets in the peninsula and other regions. The government boldly lent money and tried its best to stimulate the development of domestic manufacturing.

After tasting the sweetness.

Japan pointed its spearhead at Russia, prepared to tighten its belt, overdraw its domestic economy, and then go all in to launch the Russo-Japanese War.

The final result was, as expected, victory.

But the campaign had little success.

After investing billions of dollars in military expenditures, the returns received were minimal.

The domestic economy completely collapsed and society was in chaos.

The Japanese exerted their traditional spirit of "the lower ranks overthrowing the higher ranks" and forced the current cabinet to collapse.

Society became more turbulent.
It took a long time before I could catch my breath.

After that, it supported the puppet state of Manchukuo and seized the resources of Northeast China.

This time, Japan has tasted enough sweetness, and the whole country is tightening its belts again, preparing to go all in.

Inflation, soaring prices, intensified conflicts and other scenes are happening again.

The result was the opposite.

North China, Northwest China and Northeast China are different.

The agricultural country has backward infrastructure and low efficiency in plundering, and the central government would rather die than surrender, so it is unable to support an agent equivalent to the puppet Manchukuo.

There is a huge gap between the initial investment and the subsequent returns.

Militarism is like this, stopping aggression is equivalent to failure.

In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes and letting the scene after the Russo-Japanese War happen again, they had no choice but to fight on.
Or open up a second front
Zhao Fangyuan approached: "Report to the commander, there's a call from the Fifth War Zone!"

"It seems to be Chief Li's call!"

Wang Feng came back to his senses and said, "Tell me what the general content is."

Zhao Fangyuan glanced at the telegram and said, "Sir, we have air force support."

Hearing this, Wang Feng didn't react for a moment: "What?"

"Can you say that again!"

Zhao Fangyuan: "Tomorrow the Third Squadron of the Fifth Theater Air Force will fly to the Dangshan battlefield!"

Wang Feng thought for a long time before he reacted.

He had some knowledge of the so-called Third Air Force Squadron.

The original Third Squadron of the Central Air Force was wiped out during the Battle of Shanghai.

The current Air Force's Third Squadron was reorganized from the Guangxi Air Guard, and most of its pilots are from Guangxi.

At present, the domestic air force and the Soviet Union's aid to China air force are focusing on the Wuhan air battle.

Only the Third Air Force Squadron controlled by the Guangxi Clique would obey Li Zongren's command and rush to the Dangshan battlefield for support.

Zhao Fangyuan looked delighted: "Sir, I never thought we would get air support so soon!"

Wang Feng shook his head and said, "Don't be happy too soon. I think Commander Li sent them to help us. If we really want to defeat the 16th Division, we still have to rely on the Army."

Zhao Fangyuan was stunned: "To save face?"

Wang Feng explained: "I have learned about this air force. They are equipped with Soviet I-15 fighter jets. Their performance is quite good, but the pilots' experience is still a little lacking."

"During the training in Hubei, more than a dozen fighter planes failed to catch up with a single Japanese reconnaissance plane."

"We finally got some planes, Commander Li can't afford to leave them all here."

Zhao Fangyuan frowned: "Sir, I remember that during the Battle of Taierzhuang, this aviation team also bombed the Japanese positions. It is said that it achieved considerable results."

Wang Feng nodded: "That's true, but it's all staged."

Zhao Fangyuan was confused: "Staging?"

Wang Feng: "Single purpose, this is the consistent style of Soviet fighter planes."

"In order to boost the morale of the troops on the front line, Duke De pulled in the air force and had them drop bombs on the Japanese positions."

"But the I-15 is a fighter jet and cannot carry aerial bombs."

"In the end, we had no choice but to install a bomb rack under the plane, which could only carry a few small bombs."

"But the effect was quite good. The morale of the ground troops was greatly boosted. On the way back, they encountered two Japanese bombers. It is said that they were all killed in less than ten seconds. We won a great victory."

Zhao Fangyuan suddenly realized: "So this air support is mainly to boost the morale of the troops?"

Wang Feng nodded: "That's right, but let's not be picky."

"The battle in Xuzhou was extremely intense. The Japanese launched a second attack on Taierzhuang. The situation of the Gui army in the southern battlefield was not very good. Under such circumstances, Duke De was very generous to take the risk and send the air force."

Zhao Fangyuan responded, "Then I will notify the frontline brothers to raise the flags immediately to prevent any accidental injuries to us."

Wang Feng waved his hand: "Go!"

Zhao Fangyuan quickly ran out of the command post and passed the message down step by step.

Then Wang Feng did not switch his consciousness to the bird's-eye view, but put his hands behind his back, paced back and forth, with a thousand thoughts in his mind.

It is now the early morning of April 4th, and it has been nearly a week since we left Lanfeng.

In the first half of the night, three or four telegrams were received in succession.

Chiang Kai-shek personally went to Kaifeng and ordered the formation of the Henan East Corps.

In fact, it was based on Xue Yue's First Corps and expanded by two or three divisions.

The intention of doing so is very clear, it is obvious that they want to wipe out the 14th Division.

At present, the Second and Third Columns have surrounded Puyang, and Kenji Doihara is in an awkward situation, unable to advance or retreat.

First of all, the old home in the rear was raided, and it looked like the siege would not be broken in a short time.

There is another corps in front of us, with more than a dozen divisions sharpening their knives and plotting evil.

Faced with a dilemma, Kiyoshi Kozuki issued an order, requiring the 14th Division to change direction again, turn back to attack the Henan East Corps, and aim for Kaifeng.

Kenji Doihara had no choice but to obey, and the division under his command rolled back and forth between Kaifeng and Puyang like a ball.

The enemy's movements didn't matter to Wang Feng.

No matter where the 14th Division goes, it will not affect his recovery of Puyang.

But we still need to pay attention to the development of the battle.

If the Henan East Corps was defeated by the 14th Division and allowed Kenji Doihara to fight all the way to Zhengzhou, that would be a big problem.

Where is Zhengzhou?
If the important town on the Pinghan Line fell, the Japanese army could take the railway directly to Wuhan.

The remaining divisions can also take advantage of this gap and march south with heavy troops.

In this way, the significance of the Xuzhou War of Resistance would be lost and all efforts would be in vain.

(End of this chapter)