After the Taipingchuan Battle, Yang Zhen, who had been sharing the joys and sorrows with the officers and soldiers, finally had a substantial difference from ordinary officers and soldiers, except that he only wore a pistol this time instead of carrying heavy rifles and ammunition.
When we broke up, we saw that Yang Zhen looked a little pale due to lack of rest and overuse of his brain. In order to prevent Yang Zhen from being too tired and allow him to rest for a while on the road, Dong Ping brought him a captured maroon horse.
This horse is the mount of Sasaki Chuichi. When Yang Zhen bombarded the Taiping River, it escaped because it was tied near the ammunition depot with other pack horses. As a native of Northeast China, Dong Ping still has a certain understanding of horses.
When counting the captured horses, he could tell at a glance that this horse could only be temporarily mixed in a group of ordinary pack horses due to its condition. The horse was different from other horses. It was definitely a good war horse. So he gave the horse to Yang Zhen as a mount.
It¡¯s just a pity that his little flattery came at the wrong time. Yang Zhen, who in later generations has flown on military transport planes, helicopters, and vehicles including various tanks and armored vehicles, has never ridden a horse. He can't even ride a horse, let alone ride a horse.
The horses that the army had limited development and growth were handed over to the artillery and baggage troops, although Li Yanping once said that he and Guo Bingxun would pick a few horses as mounts. But after thinking about it for a while, Yang Zhen finally refused.
For troops that currently have insufficient transportation capacity, horses are too precious. I'm not that delicate, so I can just as easily march on foot. As for the mounts, let¡¯s wait until we get a sufficient number of horses.
Northeast China is one of the few horse-producing areas in China, with a huge horse output. Although the quality is not very good, it cannot be compared with Qinghai and Xinjiang. But there is no shortage of horses. The original Northeastern Army had a fairly large cavalry force.
As long as the troops are fought out, there will still be horses. So Yang Zhen never learned to ride a horse. What's more, he really doesn't have the energy now, so he devotes part of his time to learning to ride a horse.
Time is tight and Yang Zhen, who is unable to practice riding skills, can only watch the horse and sigh. He gave the horse to Du Kaishan, who was taking care of him after the break, and asked him to use the horse to carry soldiers who were in poor health and might fall behind. But I am still the same as the officers and soldiers, driving the pace.
In fact, Yang Zhen did not ride a horse. The reason why he used the mount given to him by Dong Ping to transport weak soldiers was not just because he could not ride a horse. The main reason is that under the current situation where everyone in the army is extremely tired, Yang Zhen, as the leader, still needs to show his consistent style of unity between officers and soldiers.
Except for the two trucks carrying captured ammunition, especially artillery shells, and the large vehicles carrying the wounded and sick, the entire army marched on foot. As the supreme leader, I always have to show some leadership and exemplary role at this time.
Although Yang Zhen is also very tired, and even a little overused, his fatigue is still higher than that of ordinary soldiers. But Yang Zhen knew better that what he needed to do now was how to boost morale so that the soldiers could overcome the fatigue caused by continuous marching operations in order to prepare for the next battle. Instead of resting.
But Yang Zhen didn¡¯t know that he transferred the horses given to him by Dong Ping to Du Kaishan to carry the weak soldiers. His move of marching on foot like other officers and soldiers greatly boosted the morale of the troops.
To be honest, after continuous heavy physical training, we continued marching and fighting without any rest. Although the food is guaranteed, the food is quite good. But this intensity is really too strong for a unit composed of most of the soldiers who have only been in the army for more than a month.
Not to mention the new recruits, even the old cadres trained by Lao Heidingzi, who is now the company platoon leader, can't stand it. The entire army now feels a strong sense of exhaustion from top to bottom. There are some complaints about Yang Zhen's continuous march, not resting after the battle, and continuing to go north.
"But complaints are complaints, the soldiers' minds are simple. Because most of Yang Zhen's troops were rescued prisoners of war and laborers, the entire army looked very young. The team as a whole is relatively young, and its biggest shortcoming is its lack of experience. But in this way, there will be very few veterans. Recruits don't have that many bells and whistles.
Everyone has seen what Yang Zhen, the supreme leader, has done these days. When they were training, the leader, Yang Zhen, was leading them in training without rest. While they were resting, Yang Zhen stayed up all night revising the training plan.
They all heard from the brothers in the security company that the lights in the commander's lounge were always on all night long. Many of them had also heard that Director Zhang from the Military Medical Department, who was very beautiful but also very aggressive, had several quarrels with the commander over the matter of rest.
themYou know, they are tired, and their leader is even more tired. Because while they were training, their leader was at work. While they were resting, their leader was still working.
Although the battle at Taipingchuan didn't last long, everyone finally took advantage of the opportunity to rest for a while. And their leader was still holding a telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield. He was still looking at the map and using his flashlight to think about the next battle plan.
Everyone knows that marching on horseback is easier than marching on foot. But now the commander gave up the opportunity to ride on horseback, not even riding in the two trucks used to transport ammunition and supplies, but marched with them on foot.
In the eyes of all the soldiers, following such a leader who shares the joys and sorrows with the officers and soldiers will definitely not abandon them to escape alone in times of crisis. Especially those soldiers who took turns riding on the horses that Yang Zhen insisted on giving up despite Du Kaishan's objections were extremely excited.
Yang Zhen over there had no idea that his simple act of handing over a horse would cause such a big stir in the hearts of the soldiers. His mind was constantly brewing and revising the next battle plan to be carried out.
In order to conceal his whereabouts, Yang Zhen thought over and over again but gave up the idea of ??crossing the Gejie River north of Taipingchuan and entering Wang Shazitun. Instead, they chose to bypass the Japanese group tribes set up in Dequantun with great fanfare, and after assuming a posture of outflanking the Japanese army's retreat in Jianshanzi to the west, they entered the mountainous area west of Dequantun and penetrated directly into the front line of Miaoling Mountain. Marching route.
The route from the north of Taipingchuan to the Gejie River and into Wangshazitun is slightly shorter on the march. But this route is relatively densely populated. There are several Japanese and puppet group tribes. With no time to deal with these group troops, this route is extremely easy to expose one's combat intentions.
Once the Japanese army discovers that its large troops have turned, I am afraid that the Japanese troops along the Fasi River will immediately turn around and withdraw. Once the two Japanese brigades gather together, the battle below will not be so easy. Once the Japanese army launched a forceful assault regardless of casualties, Yang Zhen was not sure that the two battalions led by Guo Bingxun could stop the Japanese army.
Although it is a little further to the west of Daodequantun, this road is relatively sparsely populated and can effectively conceal one's whereabouts. After the Battle of Taipingchuan, the artillery had replenished a relatively sufficient number of pack horses. After the mountain artillery was broken down and carried by six horses, the fatigue of the artillery troops could be greatly relieved.
After the Battle of Taipingchuan, Yang Zhen divided the artillery into two parts. The field artillery battalion was commanded by Qiu Jintang and went to Jianshanzi to cooperate with Wang Guangyu in the battle. He carried two mountain artillery battalions and rushed to the front line of Miaolingzi Mountain at a rapid march, trying to encircle the enemies in Heli before they merged with the enemies in the Fasi River line.
At this time, with Sasaki's adjutant in hand, for Yang Zhen, all Japanese military deployments in Tangyuan are now confidential. The adjutant was not as stubborn as Yang Zhen imagined. Just a few strokes of the whip told Yang Zhen everything he wanted to know.
Now that he has mastered all the deployment of the Japanese army, it is much easier for Yang Zhen to march and set up formations. Except for some worries about the movements of the Fourth Division stationed in Jiamusi, the rest of the Japanese army was already under his control.
In fact, Yang Zhen didn¡¯t need to be in a hurry. Because the first battalion of the 17th Regiment of the 8th Division, which was originally stationed in Heli and responsible for blocking the junction of Tangyuan and Luobei, received an order from Sasaki to adjust its deployment and order it to immediately join the main force, it did not Act now. After leading the troops out of Heli Town, they stopped before entering the mountains.
Since it was already dusk when the order was received, its captain, Zuo Jianjiu, was a major in adhering to the tradition of never spending the night in the mountains and forests during the suppression of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. He insisted on delaying entering the mountain until dawn the next morning. When Yang Zhen arrived at the front line of Miaolingzi Mountain early the next morning, the first brigade began to enter the mountain one after another.
Although the Japanese army was marching very fast, Zuoma's previous movements were too slow, causing the distance between him and the main force that had crossed the Faji River to become wider and wider. The time wasted previously cannot be made up by speeding up the march now.
The delay in Zuo Jian's life not only made him truly alone in the subsequent combat operations, but also made him truly alone. It also allowed Yang Zhen to not only set up the ambush circle calmly, but also had a half-day of rest time, which relieved the fatigue of the troops.
Zuoma may be stubborn, or he may think that the area that the commander has already raided is safe. Not only did the march route exactly follow the original march route of the Second Battalion, but the defenses were also very lax.
The heavy machine guns were broken into several large pieces and placed on the back of the pack horse. Even the leading soldiers only sent out a rifle team carrying a light machine gun, instead of sending out a small team as usual.
Although before setting off from Heli, in view of the eleventhRegarding the outcome of the two brigades of the regiment, as well as the personal experiences of the 12th Division and himself, the commander of the regiment, Colonel Kawada Takeshi, has repeatedly warned him to be more careful when marching. This anti-Manchu armed force is extremely cunning and has fierce firepower.
But Zuo Jian is still very stubborn and believes that it will be safe for him to follow the route taken by the captain. Moreover, the main force of the anti-Manchu armed forces were on the front line of Jianshanzi. Even if he encountered harassment by a small group of armed forces, it would not matter. The Eighth Division is not an idiot unit like the Fourth Division. A brigade was actually defeated by thousands of anti-Manchu and anti-Japanese elements.
Therefore, when his subordinates were marching, they sent more troops to clear the mountains on both sides of the marching route, and the leading soldiers should be integrated into an infantry squad. Zuoma Jiashi, a major, refused without hesitation. In his opinion, the most important thing for him now is to rendezvous with the captain, rather than to march slowly while sweeping.
Zuo Jian¡¯s arrogance and lax guarding made him the happiest person, none other than Yang Zhen. Yang Zhen, who thought he was going to fight a head-on battle, immediately changed his tactics. Turn the siege into an ambush.
The tactics Yang Zhen arranged for Zuo Jianjiuwei were completely replicas of the tactics used when encircling and annihilating the two brigades of the Japanese 11th Division on the South Road. After receiving a report from the scouts that the Japanese army was marching carelessly, Yang Zhen naturally thought of the successful combat examples he had used before.
Since there are good plans that can be copied, and they are all ambushes, and the combat methods are the same, then why not bring up the old things again, why bother to use your brain to formulate a new combat plan. However, Yang Zhen did not copy everything, but adjusted the deployment of troops according to the changes in the terrain.
After all, this is a shallow mountainous area, and the terrain is still very different from that of Yunshilizi. Moreover, it is close to the plains. Once the war goes against, the Japanese army can easily and quickly break away and withdraw to Heli.
Miaolingzi Mountain is not high, with an altitude of only more than 300 meters. It is incomparable with Yunshilizi, which has an altitude of more than 700 meters, and the mountain is far less steep than Yunshilizi. But the vegetation all over the mountain is no worse than Yunshilizi.
Even compared to Yun Shilizi, one of the main quarries for the Jiasui Railway built by the Japanese army, the vegetation here is better. The thinnest tree in the mountain is as thick as the mouth of a bowl. These lush vegetation can provide a good concealment for the troops.
Zuo Jianjiu didn¡¯t know that as soon as he left Heli Town, there were several pairs of eyes secretly staring at him. After entering the mountain, more eyes were peering at him. His every move was transmitted to Yang Zhen's headquarters in Miaolingzi Mountain via radio waves.
After receiving the report that all the Japanese troops had entered the ambush circle, Yang Zhen picked up the field phone and without any hesitation gave the order to fire artillery to Ma Qichang, who was already waiting for the enemy.
The ruler has already been measured, so there is no need to aim or correct the trajectory. The artillerymen are the same as on the Yunshilizi front line. They only need to concentrate on firing the artillery shells according to the predetermined scale.
But this time, because the supplies from Qunce Mountain have not yet arrived, and after two high-intensity uses, Yang Zhen did not have many shells on hand at this time. Although some ammunition was seized during the Taipingchuan Battle, the number of artillery shells was not large, with only more than a hundred 75mm mountain artillery shells.
In addition, the opponent did not have as many troops as last time, and only had one infantry brigade. Therefore, Yang Zhen only gave each cannon a quota of fifteen rounds, and it would not be enough to fire even one more. But there are twenty-four artillery pieces, even if each can only fire fifteen rounds, there are still more than three hundred rounds. These shells were not something Zuo Jianjiu, who was unprepared at this time, could digest.
When the first artillery shell landed in the Japanese marching group, the power of the explosion and the flying shrapnel almost sent more than thirty Japanese troops to the west. Zuo Jianjiu, who was awakened by the sound of the artillery, was confused by the scene in front of him. was stunned.
He had heard the faint sound of artillery from the direction of Taipingchuan last night, but he thought it was the Japanese army in Taipingchuan using artillery fire to repel the harassing anti-Manchu elements. He definitely didn't expect that he was sweeping across his superior's headquarters.
Major Zuoma, who was knocked off his horse by the blast of the shell and escaped unharmed, looked at the troops that were bombed to pieces and suffered heavy casualties under the intensive artillery fire. He not only cursed: "Baga, aren't these anti-Manchu armed forces fighting with the 24th Regiment on the Jianshanzi line and resisting the attack of the main force of the Regiment? Why are they here? Are there so many shells and artillery from them?"
But after all, Zuo Jian was a top student at the Army Academy. He realized in just a moment that he had been ambushed, and immediately ordered the combat staff around him to contact Jiamusi immediately and request the dispatch of aircraft to cover the troops.
It¡¯s a pity that Yang Zhen didn¡¯t give him a chance to get in touch with the outside world. When the staff officer who received his order told him in frustration that the radio station, along with the pack radioAfter receiving the unfortunate news that his opponent had destroyed him in the first place, Zuo Jian knew that he was in front of a trap carefully designed by his opponent.
After knowing that there was no hope of asking for help, Sasama made the same choice as Colonel Murata Takao. He did not choose to break out because he knew that since his opponent had painstakingly set up such an ambush circle, he would definitely deploy heavy troops on his planned breakout route.
So he chose to stick to the idea of ??waiting for help. After making up his mind, Zuo Jian immediately braved artillery fire and concentrated the remaining troops to seize a hilltop to seize a commanding height so that he could stand firm and wait for reinforcements.
¡°Major Zuoma, who still doesn¡¯t know that his commander is in danger, believes that as soon as the commander discovers that he has lost contact with him, he will definitely send reinforcements to support him. As long as the main force of the alliance completes its turn, there is still hope for the war situation to be restored.
It¡¯s a pity that his wishful thinking was very accurate, but Yang Zhen didn¡¯t give him the slightest hope. When he concentrated his remaining troops to launch a fierce attack on the highest surrounding Miaolingzi Mountain, he was not only violently hit by mortar fire, but also received intensive machine gun fire on the mountain.
Faced with intensive machine gun fire and overwhelming rain of grenades, the First Battalion paid nearly a hundred casualties in just one charge, but was driven back without even capturing the mountainside. The number of opponent's machine guns almost made Zuoma Jiure's jaw drop.
As a graduate of the Army Academy, he could tell from the sound of gunfire alone that there were at least twenty light and heavy machine guns concentrated on the hill in front of him. Although this hilltop is the highest in the surrounding area, it is not large in scale and can only accommodate two companies of troops at most.
Since graduating from the Non-commissioned Officer School, he has been in the Eighth Division for a long time. After the Eighth Division was transferred to mainland China, he has been in the Kwantung Army sequence and has never participated in any formal combat on the battlefield inside the Kwantung. But that doesn¡¯t mean he hasn¡¯t had contact with the Chinese military.
As a squadron leader, he participated in the battle to capture Jehol and fought against the Central Army along the Great Wall. In his impression, all Chinese troops were poorly equipped and far from being a match for the well-equipped Imperial Japanese Army. The imperial conquest of China was only a matter of time.
The equipment of the so-called most elite Central Army is extremely poor. Not to mention the small number of artillery, the number of machine guns is also insufficient. Since the equipment of the Chinese government troops is so poor, let alone a guerrilla-like force? And he had never seen that unit have such a large number of machine guns.
With so many casualties in the past, Zuo Jianjiu, a major, naturally wouldn't care too much. But right now, he really can't withstand this blow. The shelling that just lasted for only a few minutes caused nearly half of his first brigade to be injured or killed.
In other words, more than one squadron of his first brigade were bombed in the shelling just now, and they collectively became gods. At present, being able to gather a squadron to launch an attack is already the limit of the troops he can use now.
But according to this casualty ratio, even if you can capture the mountain top, where will there be anyone to defend it?
Looking at the troops that were defeated again, as well as the corpses of the Japanese soldiers who died in the battle lying on the mountain slopes and the groaning wounded who could not be evacuated, Zuo Jian knew that he had no way out. Unless he can break through with the remaining troops. Otherwise, they will either die here with honor, or they will have to wait to go back to court-martial or be ordered to commit seppuku.
Zuo Jianjiu, who did not want to go back and commit seppuku, took off his upper body clothes, raised his saber, gathered all the Japanese soldiers who could still pick up guns, and launched a Japanese pig-like attack on Miaolingzi Mountain.