Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

After all, after the establishment of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, the three major general brigade commanders who followed were all killed.

So, this time, he went out on a sweep, but he wasn't taking it lightly. He brought not only his own Second Independent Battalion, but also the newly reorganized Second Independent Mixed Brigade's machine gun and artillery squadrons, as well as over 18100 puppet troops. All told, the Japanese and puppet troops numbered a full .

With so many people around, Mano Keijiu finally felt a little safe.

"Boom boom—

"Bang, boom, boom! The car in front hit a mine planted by the Eighth Route Army.

The Eighth Route Army's ability to use mines was becoming increasingly sophisticated, and various mine tactics were constantly emerging. They buried large numbers of mines ahead, and when they exploded, the surrounding area was completely destroyed. They could even destroy an entire Japanese vehicle, including the dozen or so soldiers inside.

"Bang-

"Da da da

"boom-

“The sound of the mine exploding is a signal.

A group of people suddenly appeared from a small hill nearby. Although the troops had been lying in ambush for almost three days, it was fortunate that it was September and the temperature was acceptable. It wasn't as difficult as ambushing the Japanese in winter.

Everyone is ready to go.

The New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments' weaponry wasn't very impressive, especially with their limited numbers of light and heavy machine guns. But they still had guns. They weren't particularly good, primarily Hanyang-made. Many were looted from puppet troops, while a number were purchased. But since they were guns, they could annihilate the enemy with a single shot.

Besides, the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments simply lacked combat experience, and most of their soldiers were new recruits.

But that didn't mean they were useless in an ambush. After all, they were new recruits who had received six months of training, and the grassroots commanders of the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments, including squads, platoons, and companies, were all veterans and cadres trained by the Second Training Battalion of the First Division and the Eighth Column Training Battalion.

They are all veterans who have fought in many battles.

With them, plus the new recruits who had received six months of training, it was more than enough to fight an ambush. Besides, the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments were both large regiments of 2,000 people. Even if a platoon opened fire together and could only kill one Japanese soldier, the first round of shooting could still kill hundreds of people.

The Independent Third Regiment is much stronger than the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments.

Because their predecessor was the Chahar-Suiyuan Army, a unit that rose to prominence during the war. In the Chahar-Suiyuan area, they constantly engaged in battles with the Japanese and puppet troops. They possessed numerous light and heavy machine guns, including a significant number of mortars and flat-fire artillery allocated to the Chahar-West Detachment by the Column. Furthermore, the Independent Third Regiment outnumbered the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments, totaling over 2500 men.

In an ambush, the advantage of numbers is very important.

The Japanese were suddenly ambushed, and before they could react, shells and bullets rained down. More importantly, this area was mostly hilly, meaning small mountains. Therefore, the distance between the troops' ambush positions and the Japanese was very close, with the farthest being only 170 to meters, and the closest only about meters. The shorter the ambush distance, the greater the lethality to the enemy. By the end of the first round of attacks, over Japanese soldiers had fallen. Mano Keikyuu reacted the fastest, quickly lying on the ground to observe his surroundings before finding a cover.

He had a very ominous feeling.

Originally, Mano Keijiu was thinking about how to prevent the Eighth Route Army from launching a surprise attack after entering Xinghe County. He never expected that the Eighth Route Army would penetrate deep into Huaian County and ambush him within its borders.

Completely unprepared.

And just by hearing the gunshots, Mano Keikyu knew he had run into a large force of the Eighth Route Army. Because the troops ambushing him were no less than 4,000 people. A force of 4,000 people should be several regiments of the Eighth Route Army.

The Eighth Route Army troops currently surrounding the area are either the 8th Column Chabei Detachment or the 8th Column Chaxi Detachment, or a combination of the two.

Mano Keiku immediately looked at the situation of his troops.

The troops were more panicked than expected.

Keijiu Mano understood that the troops under his command were all new recruits added later.

Veterans would have immediately sought cover and organized a counterattack upon being ambushed. But these new recruits, caught in the ambush, were completely panicked. After all, they had only received two or three months of basic training back home before being deployed to the Chinese battlefield. Gao Wei worried that his New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments would have trouble fighting their first battle, but the same was true for the Japanese troops.

They were all new recruits who had never fought this kind of battle.

Although many people lay on the ground at the first moment, they did not organize a counterattack quickly.

Because they were too flustered.

Although I have learned this before, when I really encountered this kind of ambush, I didn’t know how to organize a counterattack.

But the more panic there is, the more casualties there will be.

Because they didn't quickly take cover, casualties mounted. Within ten minutes of the ambush, the Japanese had already suffered nearly 400 casualties. Originally, the attacking Japanese force numbered just over 1200, yet nearly 400 were wiped out in a single blow. The machine gun and artillery squadrons, in particular, were large targets and were the primary targets. Within a few moments, over half of their troops had been killed or wounded. The puppet troops were also in dire straits.

In fact, the Eighth Route Army's main firepower was directed at the Japanese army.

However, the puppet army's tactical skills were far inferior to those of the Japanese army. In a panic, they had no idea what to do and suffered heavy casualties in a few moves.

However, after a brief moment of panic, the Japanese army finally reacted. Although this group of Japanese troops was not as good as the previous ones, their basic tactical skills were still good. After a period of panic, they quickly organized their own defenses in small groups and squadrons. Especially with so many shallow hills around, the Japanese army sought out the surrounding high ground and seized it.

"What happened? How did the Japanese army occupy the high ground on the left?"

Gao Wei observed the entire battlefield from a high place.

Overall, this ambush was very successful. The Japanese had no idea that the Eighth Route Army would ambush them in this place, so the ambush was very effective. After half an hour of fighting, the Japanese casualties had reached 500.

But the Japanese army is not a pushover either.

The surrounded Japanese troops began to counterattack. One Japanese squadron launched a counterattack, and a high ground on the left was captured by the Japanese. Although it was only a small point on the battlefield, its capture by the Japanese directly affected the movements of other troops. After occupying this small point, the Japanese built a defensive line on the mountain and set up machine guns. This immediately gave them the initiative within a small area.

Gao Wei was very angry.

Before the battle, all the troops were deployed.

Which regiment needs to occupy which place.

However, a high point was unexpectedly occupied by the Japanese army, which immediately affected a large area. When such a high point was occupied by the Japanese army, the battlefield within 200 meters around it would be affected. The Japanese army used the high point to support the battlefield within 200 meters around it.

Why are those high points important on the battlefield?

It's because of this situation.

This high point will not affect the entire battlefield, but it will greatly affect the situation on the New Sixth Regiment's side.

"Tell Zhang Shan I'll give him twenty minutes. You must recapture the high ground within twenty minutes.

Zhang Shan was already very annoyed when he received the order.

The New Sixth Regiment is a new regiment after all.

Although all deployments were in place, the battle went much slower than planned. The New Sixth Regiment and the Japanese simultaneously attempted to seize the high point, but the Japanese were the first to capture it, routing the New Sixth Regiment's advancing troops and then establishing a defensive line. The New Sixth Regiment's troops, attempting to capture the high point, failed to capture it despite several attempts.

Zhang Shan is angry.

After the small Japanese unit occupied this high point, the surrounding Japanese troops received their fire support and quickly began to stabilize their position. As a result, the attack of the New Sixth Regiment immediately encountered great resistance.

As a newly recruited regiment, the New Sixth Regiment's offensive capabilities were not its strong point. This situation directly affected the New Sixth Regiment's mission. Currently, there were nearly 200 Japanese troops surrounded by the New Sixth Regiment, but they were unable to break through.

Zhang Shan looked around. Although the New Sixth Regiment was a large group of 2,000 men, the troops he could mobilize were limited. So he gritted his teeth and said, "Guard Company, follow me."

"Captain, how about sending the Third Battalion up?"

"No. The Third Battalion is the reserve and cannot be moved. If Japanese reinforcements come from the county town, the Third Battalion must go ahead.

Zhang Shan shook his head.

Unless absolutely necessary, the reserve forces could not be deployed casually. No one could guarantee how the war would unfold. Besides the Third Battalion, the New Sixth Regiment consisted of approximately 1500 men. These units currently had their own missions, and Zhang Shan did not want to interfere with their tasks.

"There's no time. Guard Company, follow me."

Zhang Shan immediately led the guard company up.

The Japanese army was actually very small, with fewer than thirty men above. They had suffered some casualties in previous attacks, but now they only had around twenty men.

But the defensive position was very well constructed.

Zhang Shan looked at the guard company he had brought with him, as well as the 5th Company responsible for this hill. Zhang Shan knew that if he stormed this hill, he could take it, but the casualties would be great. But Zhang Shan had no choice.

Gao Weidu issued an order, requiring the high ground to be recaptured within twenty minutes.

Therefore, Zhang Shan ordered: "Concentrate the light machine guns to provide cover.

Each platoon was divided into a squad, which attacked in three directions, with the others following behind.

Zhang Shan chose to attack directly.

Although this would result in heavy casualties, Zhang Shan was no longer concerned. This small high point would directly affect the fighting of other troops in the New Sixth Regiment. He concentrated the New Sixth Regiment's already limited light machine guns to suppress the Japanese firepower.

After all, the Japanese army was small in number, only about twenty people.

It was not easy to hold onto this small high point. Zhang Shan had originally thought he could take it quickly.

But unexpectedly, this small high point led to repeated battles between the New Sixth Regiment and the Japanese army.

Although the Japanese army consisted mostly of new recruits, the level of education in Japan was far higher than in China. Japan had implemented compulsory basic education half a century ago, and most new recruits had received basic education. Another thing was that new recruits in the Japanese army all underwent simple military training when they were in school. While that training was completely different from regular military training, it still provided some basic knowledge.

In comparison, most of the new recruits in China are illiterate.

Not only have they never been to school, but even after joining the army, they can't even tell left from right. These things need to be learned in the army after joining.

Therefore, although they were all new recruits, the Japanese army had a higher level of tactical acceptance than the new recruits of the Eighth Route Army. Therefore, although the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties in the ambush, they were unwilling to accept defeat.

And they have already asked Huaian County for help.

They believed that reinforcements would come.

So they held on.

In order to hold out longer, the Japanese repeatedly fought with the Eighth Route Army for high ground. Because in such a battle, high ground is very important. Especially the high ground on the New Sixth Regiment's side, the Japanese were really unwilling to give up. After all, the high ground in other areas had already been occupied by the Eighth Route Army. Only the high ground here was being fought over by the New Sixth Regiment and the Japanese.

The two sides fought fiercely for a high point.

At the beginning, the New Sixth Regiment had only two companies, and the Japanese had less than 30 men. But as the battle progressed, the New Sixth Regiment deployed more than six companies, and the Japanese had more than 100 men on this small hill.

As a new regiment, the New Sixth Regiment did not perform well in this close combat.

Zhang Shan was a fierce general who had fought in many fierce battles.

Knowing that the New Sixth Regiment was a new one and that it was significantly different from the old regiments in all aspects, Zhang Shan personally led the charge to boost the morale of the troops. Gao Wei gave Zhang Shan twenty minutes of orders.

But the New Sixth Regiment organized six companies and more than 700 people fought for more than an hour before they completely controlled this small high point.

Zhang Shan, the regimental commander, was shot twice, but fortunately neither wound was fatal. However, one bullet struck his thigh, and he bled profusely, forcing him to be carried off the battlefield.

"Put all the detachment's reserves in and resolve the battle within an hour.

After fighting for more than five hours, there were still about 300 Japanese soldiers left, divided into several places and still resisting.

Very tenacious.

The reinforcements from Huaian County were not far from the battlefield. Although the New Sixth Regiment had a battalion in reserve, ready to block these Japanese troops, the Japanese reinforcements from Huaian County consisted of three infantry companies, about 400 men.

Although four hundred people are not a lot, if they really join the battlefield, it is enough to disrupt the current battlefield situation.

This time, it was because of the ambush that they were able to annihilate 1,000 Japanese soldiers. If it were a face-to-face battle, even though the three regiments had 7,000 to 8,000 men, they would still be no match for the Japanese. The troops currently encircling and annihilating this Japanese force have already suffered heavy casualties.

Gao Wei understood that the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments had suffered heavy casualties and were now on the verge of collapse. If the Japanese had been joined by over four hundred new recruits, the outcome of the battle would have been uncertain. Gao Wei still had a reserve force of approximately one thousand men. He needed to quickly eliminate the Japanese forces trapped in the encirclement and withdraw from the battle. Despite the use of the reserves, the Japanese resistance was stubborn, and the battle ultimately lasted nearly seven hours.

The New Fourth Regiment and the New Sixth Regiment are indeed not comparable to the old regiment in terms of combat effectiveness.

When annihilating the Japanese troops trapped in the encirclement, the New Fourth and New Sixth Regiments were remarkably ineffective at breaking through the enemy lines. For example, the New Sixth Regiment, on a small hilltop, had only about a hundred Japanese troops. With the exception of a reserve battalion, half of the remaining troops were involved in the battle for this hilltop. Ultimately, they annihilated over eighty Japanese troops, but suffered over three hundred casualties themselves.