The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 541 First Stage! Perfectly Completed (Two-in-One Chapter)

Suddenly, several pine resin torches lit up on the dirt road just three hundred meters away.

And under the glow of pine torches, there were many shadowy figures moving about, and some strange wooden frames were arranged in an orderly manner.

The Japanese squad acting as scouts couldn't figure out what those wooden frames were.

But even a fool could tell that it was definitely not a good thing. Their infiltration plan must have been leaked, and their opponents had set up a trap here long ago to deal with them.

The second lieutenant in charge reacted immediately, shouting, "Fire!"

Immediately, about forty Japanese soldiers continued their charge, not forgetting to pick up their Type 38 rifles and start firing.

This Japanese squad was also equipped with three light machine guns and two grenade launchers.

Their operators stopped charging and quickly moved to the roadside to set up the suppressive weapons.

However, in their haste, even with their usual training, they would probably still need about ten seconds before they could fire.

Even so, the rifle bullets fired by the Type 38 rifles were still flying around the wizards, crossbowmen, welders, and others who were busy igniting their DIY rocket launchers.

The wizard and the cross were both alright under such circumstances.

With their rich combat experience, they remained incredibly calm even in such a small-scale situation.

But the greatest danger this novice welder had ever encountered in his thirty-odd years of life was when he was in middle school helping a friend fight an acid fight with a stick.

Where have you ever seen bullets whizzing around you like that?

A stray bullet grazed his left ear, and although it didn't knock his ear off, he was scalded by a hot current, which made him shudder.

The thought that if the bullet had been slightly off target, his head would have been blown apart like a watermelon, with juice splattering everywhere, made him realize how terrible it was.

This poor modern-day window and door shop owner's legs were as weak as cotton.

He collapsed to the ground, unable to even stand up for a short time.

So here comes a crucial question: why weren't these DIY rocket launcher positions placed further back when they were being set up?

Or could Hu Biao and his men use the call of a cuckoo to issue the order to act earlier?

Wouldn't this prevent the current dangerous situation where the Japanese soldiers are almost at the artillery position before we have to fire hastily?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

The Japanese 68th Infantry Regiment, with a force of 3,200 to 3,300 men, has now covered a marching distance of more than four miles on the not-so-wide dirt road.

Their DIY rocket launcher, which they imitated, used only granular black powder as propellant and propellant.

Compared to a proper Katyusha rocket launcher, its 8.5-kilometer range is severely reduced; in previous test firings by Wizard and others, the range of their DIY product was only about 3 kilometers.

If we fire too far away from the Japanese vanguard, we'll be safe.

This wave of rocket attacks was truly ineffective in covering the entire Japanese unit, plunging them into a brief period of panic.

This would severely impact the effectiveness of a large-scale military offensive, including charges and close-quarters combat.

Fortunately, even though the Japanese scouts discovered the artillery position and immediately charged and opened fire, it was too late by then.

However, just seconds later, before the Japanese scout squad could even set up their light machine guns and grenade launchers, all 50 groups of rockets, totaling 300 rounds, had been ignited.

"Quick, quick, run to the side of the road and lie down, don't get burned by the rocket's exhaust flame."

The wizard and the cross threw down their pine torches and shouted in unison, running towards the roadside as they did so.

After all, getting burned by the exhaust flame of a rocket launch is no joke.

The difference was that, as the wizard ran towards the roadside, he caught a glimpse of the novice welder, who was slumped on the ground, struggling to get up.

He rushed over, grabbed the welder by the collar, and dragged him away towards the roadside.

As he was dragged along like a lump of rotten flesh, the welder, who was only wearing a single pair of trousers, felt a burning pain in his legs as they rubbed against the stones on the ground.

But instead of harboring any resentment, he was filled with gratitude towards the wizard.

The logic is simple: even if the pain from friction is painful, it's still better than being burned by the high temperature of a rocket's exhaust flame, right?

After being hastily dragged to the roadside by the wizard, he was just thinking of solemnly thanking the old bird for saving his life.

Some unexpected events made him no longer have time to say anything.

Those were some of the first rockets to be ignited; by this time, the fuses had burned out, and the actual launch had begun.

Because of these concerns, they had spent countless efforts to create the DIY rocket launcher that could perform in actual combat. The welder put aside all other thoughts and first turned to look at the road.

He then stared intently at these DIY rockets, noting their flight paths and final landing points.

The wizard and the cross, even the soldiers of the reinforced artillery battalion, and the laborers who helped transport the rockets, all reacted in a similar way.

After the fuse burned to its end, a thick plume of smoke first emerged from the base of the rocket, turning the entire launch site into a whiteout, making it choking even for those lying on the roadside.

Immediately afterwards, a crimson flame shot out from the bottom.

The resulting thrust propelled a DIY rocket, weighing about 60 pounds, into the sky, leaving a long, blinding trail of flame.

Watching these DIY rockets take flight, observing their flight through the air.

The wizard, the cross, and the welder, who witnessed the first large-scale launch of this thing, had expressions of indescribable regret and helplessness on their faces.

The main reason is that during this process, they discovered too many serious deficiencies in the rockets due to shortcomings in materials, the skill level of processing personnel, and the technology.

For example, they have tried their best to use maple wood for the shelves and guide rails, which is a common and hard wood in the Xinning area.

However, in terms of material rigidity, it is still far inferior to the rails commonly used in the Katyusha rocket launcher.

This caused some shaking of the projectile as it flew along the guide rail.

The degree of shaking is not actually that strong, but it still has a considerable impact on the already poor accuracy of DIY rockets.

On the missile body, they had blacksmiths hammer and install the tail fins by hand.

Due to issues with craftsmanship and techniques, the tolerances were too large.

The fact that many DIY rockets fail to maintain the expected stability in flight is another factor that reduces accuracy.

It made extensive use of wood, with only a few key parts using cast iron for the projectile body, resulting in poor sealing.

Especially in the latter part of the propulsion section, they clearly saw thick smoke and flames coming out from one side of the projectile, rather than all of it coming out from the bottom.

This indicates a gas leak, leading to insufficient propulsion and potentially reducing the rocket's range.

In short, after seeing these problems arise one by one, the wizard, the cross, and the welder were filled with immense helplessness and powerlessness.

That said, the above problems are simple; they're not incapable of handling them.

The prerequisite for solving this is to give them more time and materials, especially time. Even just one more month would be enough to basically resolve the above issues.

Unfortunately, the limited timeframe was the biggest problem facing their equipment manufacturing team.

After a while, damn it! These problems are basically unsolvable...

******
Fortunately! The shortcomings of the DIY rockets mentioned above were only magnified and emphasized by the three professionals: Wizard and Cross.

For the brothers of the Xiangjiang Supplementary Regiment of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, and even for the Japanese soldiers, these rockets, which looked beautiful as they flew through the air, were an exceptionally terrifying and powerful form of firepower.

At that moment, countless people on both sides looked up.

Seeing the sky filled with thick sticks trailing long flames, like a meteor shower streaking across the sky, they quickly moved towards the Japanese soldiers who had just stopped after hearing the gunfire on this relatively straight dirt road.

The difference is that the emotions and states of mind of the two sides are completely different after seeing such a scene.

The Subei Independent Regiment felt immense pride and exhilaration, which further boosted their morale and spirits.

Surprisingly, this unexpected turn of events greatly reduced the anxiety of these greenhorn recruits before their first battle. On the Japanese side, even though they were elite troops from a Class A division, this was their first time experiencing rocket artillery fire.

Suddenly seeing a dense barrage of rockets hurtling towards them, they were all terrified and reacted instinctively in different ways.

They either lay down on the spot, ran to either side of the dirt road, or even jumped directly into the rice paddies.

However, the DIY rockets propelled by black powder particles were noticeably slower in the air compared to regular artillery shells and rockets.

However, compared to the speed at which humans run, it is still far too fast.

The Japanese soldiers on the dirt road had just hurriedly lay down, clutching their heads tightly with their hands; the Japanese soldiers who jumped into the rice paddies were struggling in the deep mud, barely managing to take two or three steps.

The DIY rockets in the air were already whistling down.

A large portion of them exploded violently immediately after landing.

Even though these DIY warheads are still filled with black powder pellets, the 8 kilograms of black powder pellets, plus 2 kilograms of broken iron nails and iron pieces, make their destructive power not to be underestimated.
Not only the Japanese soldiers within ten meters of the blast point, but also those within that radius were all knocked down by the shockwave of the explosion.

Even Japanese soldiers twenty meters away, when hit by the dense flying nails and shrapnel, would scream and fall to the ground.

So, despite its unappealing appearance, this DIY rocket is no slouch in terms of power, with an effective kill radius of 20 meters.

This kill radius is far greater than that of a 75mm howitzer.

It seems to be slightly more powerful than the Japanese Type 91 105mm howitzer.

Anyway, every time a shot lands, as long as it successfully hits the area where the Japanese soldiers are gathered, it can immediately take down a large area of ​​Japanese soldiers with its powerful force.

The other part of the unexploded rockets were not due to the substandard homemade contact fuses installed on them.

The only difference is that their warheads weren't filled with gunpowder, nails, or iron sheets, but rather with materials like potassium nitrate, yellow phosphorus, and chili powder.

Therefore, although they did not explode upon landing, they quickly emitted a large amount of choking smoke.

The chili powder in it caused the Japanese soldiers' eyes, mouths, and noses to sting terribly.

It was clearly not poisonous smoke, but the Japanese devils, with their despicable minds, were convinced that it was the latest poison gas bomb developed by the National Revolutionary Army.

They covered their mouths and noses and fled frantically, their faces filled with extreme terror.

The target that terrified the Japanese troops actually had a better effect than the exploding rockets.

Unfortunately, the IY rockets mentioned above, despite their different effects, still have two major drawbacks.

Firstly, with very limited manpower and materials, and more importantly, time constraints, the wizards could only produce a total of 300 rounds.

Even so, their enormous consumption of iron almost forced the villagers of Xinning County to donate their kitchen knives and iron pots.

In pursuit of maximum instantaneous damage, they launched everything at once.

The brothers in the reinforced artillery company had no spare ammunition, even if they wanted to reload immediately and fire another shot at the Japanese.

Secondly, the shortcomings of the DIY rockets that the three wizards discovered during their observations were not exaggerated at all.

However, these shortcomings resulted in a rather unsatisfactory hit rate.

Of the three hundred rockets fired, only a third, or even less, landed successfully on this section of the dirt road and not far from it, causing casualties to the Japanese soldiers.

Most of them landed in deserted areas, exploding and sending mud and sand flying everywhere.

Or perhaps, it created a meaningless cloud of smoke.

Several rockets even missed their mark by more than a mile, landing instead on the hills on either side of the long, flat plain.

One of the warheads was loaded with black powder, and it was lying in ambush at this location, instantly wiping out an entire platoon of unlucky recruits.

Fortunately, all of the above situations were actually within Hu Biao's and others' expectations.

Knowing that the accuracy of DIY rockets cannot be expected to be too high, and knowing that such accidental casualties are an unavoidable price to pay.

The key point is that, in addition to using DIY rocket launchers to bombard the ground, they also arranged some other methods to make the Japanese soldiers even more confused.

Sure enough! On this long dirt road, in just a few seconds, less than forty rockets were fired.

The problem is that the Russians first used rocket artillery in combat on July 14, 1941, which was just over two months ago, and they fired a total of 112 rockets.

Even the Germans, who were much more experienced at the time, were stunned by the sheer volume of firepower from this thing.

More than two months later, the Japanese soldiers present had basically never heard of such a rocket launcher with terrifying firepower that could burst out instantly.

I don't know if this thing is powerful in one go, because the subsequent loading process is incredibly long and complicated.

Based on their usual thinking, they mistakenly believed that the Nationalist army had concentrated at least several hundred cannons in this area, and assumed that the subsequent shelling would come soon, so they had to take cover and evacuate immediately.

In any case, most of the Japanese soldiers no longer dared to stay on the dirt road.

They fled to both sides of the road, hoping to escape this extremely dangerous place.

This is exactly what Hu Biao and his team desperately wanted to see.

Because from beginning to end, Hu Biao and his men never imagined that 300 rockets with questionable accuracy would completely throw an elite Japanese regiment into chaos.

If there were an extra zero after the quantity of this thing, it would be more like 3000 rounds.

So they buried all 580 landmines they had painstakingly carried all the way from Xinning County in the wild fields, paddy fields, and rice paddies along the roadside.

Meanwhile, 120 brothers hid in the fields and rice paddies.

If this batch of landmines is added, then they should have achieved their goal.

After the Japanese soldiers were bombarded with a wave of DIY rockets, they all ran to the sides of the dirt road. After running about ten meters, the brothers hidden in the rice fields finally launched their attack.

They pulled with all their might the rope, which was almost oozing oil, that was almost clenched in their hands.

Each rope was connected to at least five or six landmines, so a series of explosions erupted instantly, rising from the feet of the already panicked Japanese soldiers.

After reading this, I imagine many people will have questions.

Why not set up these landmines as tripwires, instead of having them triggered by people pulling on ropes?

Or why not simply have the entire main force lie in ambush in the rice paddies beforehand? At least that way, after a sudden attack, they could engage the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat with the shortest distance and the fastest speed.
It can only be said that, on one hand, they were the vanguard of the Japanese army, not as useless as everyone thought.

As they advanced, they knew it was inappropriate to fire at the hills along the roadside, as this method of reconnaissance could expose their location, but they also wouldn't be foolish enough to simply walk along the dirt road.

They would still frequently rush off the dirt road and stab at suspicious places like haystacks and bushes by the roadside to see if anyone was hiding inside.

If the landmine is tripped and detonated, it will explode prematurely, thus arousing suspicion from the Japanese.

On the other hand, there's the terrible accuracy of the DIY rockets. Judging from where they landed, if the main force had been deployed in the rice paddies, our side would have suffered even greater casualties from the rockets.

You should know that the 120 people who were originally lying in ambush in the rice fields were all brave warriors carefully selected from the regiment.

When it came time to detonate the landmines, only about 90 people managed to pull the ropes; everyone else had been killed by the rockets that had hit them earlier.

Their troops were all new recruits, and with such heavy casualties, an irreversible collapse was an inevitable outcome.

In short, the above operations were finalized after Hu Biao and other time travelers had carefully considered and refined the details of the battle many times.

As for the specific results? Good, very good, quite good.

Amidst the continuous explosions, the Japanese soldiers who tried to escape the dangerous dirt road were blown away and knocked down one by one; they felt that although the area around them was large, there was no safe place left.

Even if they were the elite of the Japanese Class A divisions, what could they do? They were still thrown into complete panic.

So far, the accuracy and effectiveness of the DIY rocket launcher are, to be honest, somewhat unsatisfactory.

However, with the addition of landmines, the first phase of this ambush—disrupting the enemy and throwing them into a state of panic—was successfully completed.

(End of this chapter)