Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

The headquarters of the 237th Regiment of the Japanese Army at Qinglong Mountain.

"Report to the regimental commander, the enemy has begun their attack!"

A staff officer rushed into the command post, bowed, and reported to his superior.

Colonel Masahiko Nara immediately went to the entrance of the tunnel at the top of the mountain and looked down through his binoculars.

Through the binoculars, Eighth Route Army infantry, under the cover of tanks, advanced towards the forward positions down the mountain.

"It's actually infantry-tank combined arms."

Colonel Masahiko Nara narrowed his eyes.

To the Japanese soldiers, the Eighth Route Army's tanks were not ordinary tanks, but rather M4 heavy tanks and M24 medium tanks.

Even the M24 medium tank was far superior to the Japanese Type 97 main battle tank.

Therefore, the Eighth Route Army's infantry-tank coordination was very troublesome for the Japanese army!

Although the 41st Engineer Regiment deployed some anti-tank cones and anti-tank mines in front of the position.

but,

Under the firepower of the Eighth Route Army's artillery groups, anti-tank cones and anti-tank mines were basically destroyed.

"How are the suicide squad's preparations?"

Colonel Masahiko Nara asked in a deep voice.

The 37mm rapid-fire guns equipped by the Japanese army were completely unable to penetrate the Eighth Route Army's armored defenses.

Moreover, even the 37mm rapid-fire guns were not widely equipped; the entire 237th Regiment only had four, and that was after wartime reinforcements.

Previously, it was only equipped with a pitiful two 37mm rapid-fire cannons.

Faced with the Eighth Route Army's heavy and medium tanks, the Japanese had few options, except to organize suicide squads carrying explosives to launch human-powered assaults.

For this purpose, the 237th Regiment prepared a large number of Molotov cocktails and explosive charges.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Masanaka Kato stepped forward and replied, "Reporting to the regimental commander, our regiment has a total of 3420 men, and every single one of them is a suicide squad member!"

Because the soldiers of the 237th Regiment were all hidden in bunkers, tunnels, and anti-aircraft bunkers.

Therefore, the casualties from the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire were not significant.

The Eighth Route Army's artillery bombardment was primarily used to destroy the Japanese anti-tank cones, anti-tank mines, anti-tank infantry mines, trenches, foxholes, and other fortifications.

"Okay, very spirited!"

Nara Masahiko nodded coldly and said:

"Order all units to take their positions and show the Eighth Route Army what it's made of. Let them witness the true fighting power of the Locust Army's elite troops!"

"Hi!"

Lieutenant Colonel Kato suddenly lowered his head, turned around, and quickly made a phone call to relay the order.

Nara Masahiko continued to observe the battlefield through the binoculars on his chest.

As the regimental headquarters issued its orders and time passed, three infantry companies of Japanese soldiers quickly moved into the forward position, which was 3 kilometers wide.

Simultaneously,

On the rear slope of Qinglong Mountain, four Type 4 infantry guns and six Type 6 90mm mortars were quickly deployed and their barrels were raised.

The Japanese not only learned the Eighth Route Army's tunnel warfare tactics, but also its reverse slope artillery tactics.

Nara Masahiko's eyes were cold.

Although the First Army Headquarters issued orders to all units saying that the 9th Brigade and the 39th Brigade had annihilated tens of thousands of Eighth Route Army soldiers.

However, as a front-line regimental commander, Masahiko Nara has his own intelligence network and judgment.

He knew very well that the facts were not at all what the First Army Headquarters had said.

The 9th Brigade and the Yoshino Regiment were completely annihilated, and the 39th Brigade suffered heavy losses.

Of the more than 6000 men of the 39th Brigade that went to ambush the Eighth Route Army's vanguard battalion, less than 1500 successfully returned to Taiyuan. When they passed by the foot of Qinglong Mountain, the entire 39th Brigade looked like they had lost their armor and weapons.

snort…

The elite brigades of the First Army's directly subordinate brigades and Class A divisions were nothing special.

第9旅团和第39旅团打不了的仗，我第237联队来打！第9旅团和第39旅团消灭不了的八路，我第237联队来消灭！
"300 meters!"

"250 meters!"

"150 meters!" In the Eighth Route Army's attack formation, each tank company commander would report on the radio channel every 50 meters of advance.

"Stop advancing and take cover."

When the distance of 150 meters was mentioned, the soldiers behind the tank immediately crawled to the ground and covered their ears.

In this offensive, the New First Regiment deployed three tank companies with more than 30 flamethrower tanks and over a thousand infantrymen.

Tank commanders also climbed into their tanks and closed the tank roofs.

The Japanese soldiers, who had already set up various weapons and equipment on the opposite position, were immediately puzzled when they saw this scene.

But some veteran Japanese soldiers couldn't help but change their expressions when they saw this scene.

However, some Japanese officers were skeptical when they saw this.

However, before they could think too much, a series of sharp whistling sounds rang out from the sky.

"Bombardment!"

"hidden!"

The Japanese company commanders and platoon leaders immediately began shouting at the top of their lungs.

But the next moment, countless shells rained down on the Japanese front lines.

Boom boom boom...

Shells rained down in dense formation, accompanied by explosions. Shockwaves sent up plumes of mud that spread in all directions, mixed with the remains of Japanese soldiers.

The Eighth Route Army's artillery strength was no joke.

Because the Japanese positions had already been shelled for 30 minutes, there was no need for prior test firing; the artillery barrage began immediately.

"Haha, this artillery barrage is fucking awesome!"

From his command post, watching this scene, Commander Li's lips curled into a wide smile.

The previous artillery bombardment of the Japanese positions was not at full speed, but rather at a rate of 2 rounds per minute per gun.

Now, under full-speed artillery fire, each cannon achieves a rate of fire of 4 to 6 rounds per minute, greatly increasing the intensity of the artillery fire!

Zhao Gang's lips curled up slightly: "That's really exciting!"

For the past six months or so, the New First Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the New Third Regiment have indeed not engaged in combat with the Japanese.

However, none of the units were idle.

All units launched a vigorous large-scale training exercise, which included not only three-person tactical training but also training in coordinated operations between different branches of the armed forces.

Infantry-artillery coordination, infantry-tank coordination, artillery-tank coordination, and later, infantry-aircraft coordination and air-tank coordination, were all tactical training exercises.

"Nani?"

"Infantry-artillery coordination?"

"idiot!"

Upon witnessing this scene at the 237th Regiment headquarters, Colonel Masahiko Nara's tense expression crumbled instantly.

"How many meters are the Eighth Route Army tanks and infantry from the front lines?"

Colonel Masahiko Nara asked in a deep voice.

A staff officer replied, "Reporting to the brigade commander, it's about 150 meters."

"150 meters?" Nara Masahiko was startled, then cursed, "Damn it, isn't Li Yunlong afraid that the artillery fire will hit the infantry and tanks?"

The Japanese also knew the tactic of infantry-artillery coordination, but Colonel Nara had never seen infantry fire artillery at a distance of 150 meters from the enemy's forward positions.

Even when a Class A division is attacking, the infantry maintains a coordination distance of at least 200 meters from the enemy's positions.

When a Class B division attacks, the infantry can maintain a coordinated distance of up to 400 meters from the enemy's positions.

The reason is simple: due to the lack of skill among artillerymen, when they open fire, they are likely to injure their own attacking infantry.

The higher the artillery's skill level, the closer the infantry can maintain in coordination with the enemy's positions.

"It seems that the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire didn't actually hit their tanks and infantry."

Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Kato raised his binoculars and looked at it, his tone filled with shock.

Clearly, the Eighth Route Army artillery was far more skilled than the artillery regiments of the Locust Army's Class A divisions.

"Baka!" Nara Masahiko had no choice but to prematurely reveal the artillery positions: "Order the artillery units on the reverse slope and the artillery positions in the rear to open fire. Since the Eighth Route Army's artillery can't reach them, let the Locust Army's artillery bombard them." (End of this chapter)