Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 24: Bloody and Brutal Battle

A weak voice was heard, and the recruits in the fortifications swallowed and looked at each other silently.

Even the leadership of the Nationalist government remained pessimistic about this war, not to mention these new recruits who were just entering the battlefield.

The deputy head of the group patted the sand off his sleeves:

"meeting!"

"We will definitely win!"

"It is simply a foolish dream for Japan, a tiny country, to want to swallow up our great country."

"Remember this: we Chinese cannot be killed or exterminated!"

"If the regiment commander dies, I will take over the command. If I die, the battalion commander will take over the command. If the battalion commander dies, the company commander will take over..."

"If we all die, you guys will take over."

"As long as the belief in fighting to the death continues, the Japanese will never be able to defeat us!"

"Pack up and prepare for battle!"

The Japanese air force retreated.

Two hours later.

The three battalions under the 21st Brigade rushed to the Tuanchengkou line.

The battle to capture the position began.

Temporary 1st Brigade Command.

Zhao Fangyuan ran over in a hurry: "Commander, the Japanese army has launched an attack!"

Wang Feng leaned his hands on the table: "I know."

"Notify all troops to immediately enter defensive status."

"If there is a vacancy in any front, fill it immediately."

"We must not expose our flaws to the Japanese army."

Although Gao Guizi's 17th Army suffered heavy losses, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. The width of the friendly forces' positions was twice that of the temporary st Brigade.

Naturally, it also absorbed most of the Japanese offensive forces.

The Japanese troops currently stationed in front of the Temporary 1st Brigade have a strength of a full battalion.

This is not the strategically located Tianzhen, nor is it the mountain ambush that had been carefully prepared.

The Japanese army could deploy its troops and launch a large-scale attack without restraint.

The two armies clashed head-on, bayonets against bayonets.

Judging from the current combat capability of the Japanese army, if they want to defend against the attack of a battalion, they will need at least a division's worth of troops to be able to rest assured.

Therefore, the defensive pressure on the Temporary 1st Brigade was quite great.

Intensive gunfire began to be heard from the front line, and Wang Feng switched his perspective to a bird's-eye view.

Many people believe that the Japanese army’s attack method was the simplest three-pronged attack.

The artillery bombarded and the infantry charged. After the artillery bombarded, the infantry charged.

The truth is this.

But in practice it is quite different.

Generally speaking, the Japanese army divided its forces into three parts when attacking.

Feint attack on the front battlefield, by using direct fire or grenade launchers, prioritize eliminating enemy firing points.

Prepare for the subsequent attack.

At the same time, troops were sent out to attack from both sides in a covert and roundabout manner. The troops here were the main force of the attack.

Another force was sent to ambush the enemy along their possible retreat route.

The enemy's orderly retreat was turned into a complete rout.

Therefore, there are often rumors that dozens of Japanese soldiers chased hundreds or thousands of people, which is not groundless.

If faced with stubborn resistance from the defenders who refuse to retreat, this unit will temporarily change its combat intentions.

Attack the enemy position from the flank and rear.

Wang Feng also made careful preparations for this.

Kong Zhiyong's reserve forces were deployed behind the position to guard against Japanese troops that might appear at any time.

boom!
The Japanese army's 70mm infantry artillery shells began to fall on their own positions.

Having just experienced a large-scale aerial bombardment, the fortifications on the position were now shaky and it seemed that a large-scale collapse would occur in the next second.

Through the three-dimensional combat map, Wang Feng clearly saw that the Japanese army was forming a lead-shaped formation, slowly approaching a regiment's position.

The Japanese troops on both sides bent their backs and used the terrain, weeds, trees and other obstacles to advance covertly.

Obstacles can block the sight of the defenders on the position, but they cannot block Wang Feng's eyes. After so many battles, Zhang Hu has a thorough understanding of the Japanese infantry attack rules.

Some troops were reserved in advance for defense.

But it's not enough.

A trace of worry flashed across Wang Feng's brows.

Itagaki Seishirō was too impatient.

The first wave of troops launched an attack with the strength of three squadrons.

"Notify the Second Regiment to assist in the defense of the First Regiment's flank position!"

"The Japanese army is likely to launch a large-scale attack from there!"

Zhao Fangyuan nodded and quickly ordered the communicator to send the message.

The brigade headquarters was located on a high ground, with an unobstructed view of the situation of the two regiments below.

So I didn't doubt it too much.

"Commander, should we send in the reserve forces to help?"

Zhao Fangyuan put down the telescope and was somewhat worried about the situation on the front line.

Many of the regiment's firepower points had been cut off by the Japanese troops' frontal feint attack, and there were gaps in some places on the front line.

Wang Feng shook his head: "The reserve forces cannot be moved."

"At least you can't move for now!"

His level of observation of the battle situation far exceeds that of Zhao Fangyuan.

It is normal to be short of manpower when facing an all-out attack by an infantry battalion.

The war has just begun, so we must not lose our composure.

Thinking of this, Wang Feng turned around and picked up the phone.

"Hey! Zhang Hu!"

"Brigade Commander!"

There were continuous explosions coming from the other end of the phone, which directly covered up the intensive gunfire.

"Commander, we can still hold on!"

Zhang Hu's voice was hysterical. If his voice was lowered, Wang Feng on the other end of the line might not be able to hear him.

"Deploy defenses at weak points in the front immediately. There will be no reserve troops to support you in the first three hours of the battle!"

"do you understand?"

Zhang Hu said without hesitation: "Understood, Commander!"

"The man is at the position!"

boom!
There was an explosion and the voice on the other end of the phone stopped abruptly.

It must have been the Japanese artillery shells that cut off the telephone lines.

Wang Feng turned his head and said, "Notify the communications team and restore communications immediately!"

"Even if I have to use my body to conduct the signal, I have to connect the telephone line to the front line!"

"Or I'll knock his sand pot!"

After receiving the order, the messenger ran to the communications squad.

The battlefield on the front line was shocking.

As the frontal feint attack troops gradually approached, the individual qualities of the Japanese army were fully demonstrated at this moment.

The grenadiers almost always hit the target with every shot, and every shot could cut off a machine gun fire point.

No matter whether it was a light or heavy machine gun, as soon as the soldier pulled the trigger and fired a few bullets, he would be attacked by at least three grenade launchers of the Japanese army.

This is also one of the Japanese infantry tactics.

Prioritize attacking a certain point in the enemy's position.

From point to surface, gradually expand the offensive advantage.

Although the Japanese infantry tactics are a variation of the old-fashioned World War I tactics, they are still a dimensionality reduction attack when used on the Asian battlefield.

The marksmanship of ordinary soldiers has also reached the level of perfection.

If our soldiers exposed even a little bit of their bodies, they would be hit by bullets.

"Order the mortar company and infantry artillery company to mobilize superior firepower and drive back the Japanese attacking forces!"

"We can't let them get within 150 meters of our position!"

(End of this chapter)