Chapter 144: The Japanese Vanguard Listening to the news spoken by the communicator, Huang Chengfei looked up at the other party with surprise. "The Independent Regiment, the New First Regiment, and the Vanguard Regiment have all been dispatched?" The communicator nodded: "Well, the regiment commander mentioned it, and it seems that it was a battle plan sent over from the brigade headquarters. I heard that it was because of the 772nd Regiment led by Commander Cheng, the Independent Regiment led by Commander Li, the New 2nd Regiment led by Commander Kong, and the Vanguard Regiment led by Commander Qin. These four regiments almost fought each other for the main attack mission of the Yamazaki Battalion. Originally, the main attack mission of the Yamazaki Battalion was to be handed over to Captain Li's independent regiment, but for some reason it was intercepted by Captain Qin. Captain Li felt unhappy because he didn't get to eat the meat, so he proposed to let the Japanese Fourth Brigade in and then close the door to beat the dog! Our leader said, worthy of being Leader Li, if you want to eat meat, you have to eat fat meat. The big piece of fat meat of the 4th Brigade is enough to feed three elite regiments. Our leader said that the three elite regiments will eat the meat, but our 77th Regiment can also drink some of the broth, and if we are lucky, we can even get some of the remaining meat of the three elite regiments." When the communicator talked about the three elite regiments of the 386th Brigade, his eyes were full of envy.
He had long heard that these three regiments were luxuriously equipped, especially the Vanguard and Independent Regiments. All the soldiers were equipped with Type 38 rifles, even the new recruits used Type 38 rifles. Moreover, the guns they used were all good guns. None of the guns had to be repaired by the logistics department before being sent over. A squad even has two light machine guns, a platoon has a grenade launcher squad, a company has a mortar platoon, there is an infantry artillery company in the battalion, and the regiment even has its own artillery battalion. The most important thing is that these equipments were all snatched from the Japanese devils, and in a true sense they treated the Japanese devils as a transport team. It is conceivable how strong the combat effectiveness of these three regiments is, as they were able to snatch so much equipment from the Japanese. Especially the commander of the independent regiment, Li Yunlong. The New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment were all led by Li Yunlong. A regimental commander led the two strongest regiments in the Eighth Route Army's combat sequence. Huang Chengfei listened to what the communicator said and nodded. Seeing the envious look in the other party's eyes, Huang Chengfei patted the other party. "There's no need to envy them. Whatever they have, we will have sooner or later. Our regiment used to be responsible for defense work and had few opportunities to go to the battlefield. Now our regiment can also enter the front line. Sooner or later, we will have our own artillery battalion!" The correspondent envied the other party, and so did Huang Chengfei. His Sixth Company is also the main force in the 771st Regiment, and its organization and equipment are all up to standard. But even so, the only heavy weapon of his 6th Company was a Type 92 heavy machine gun, and the rest of the equipment was temporarily given to him by the regiment commander. Moreover, in normal times, each soldier in his Sixth Company would only have ten to twenty bullets. Moreover, many of the bullets were reloaded bullets sent by the Logistics Department, and only a small portion were the Japanese's original bullets. Except for some soldiers with good marksmanship who were able to get some of the Japanese's original bullets, the other soldiers basically had reloaded bullets, and the rest had to be saved for machine guns. After all, the Japanese's Type 99 light machine gun is indeed very delicate. If there is anything wrong with the bullet, it will go on strike. Therefore, most of the Eighth Route Army soldiers did not dare to use reloaded bullets for the Japanese's Type 99 light machine guns. If the bullet got stuck, it would be fine. But if the bullet got stuck in the barrel and exploded, it would be fatal. Most of the Eighth Route Army had only light machine guns as fire support weapons. The loss of machine guns was a major blow to the Eighth Route Army, especially on the battlefield. Without the fire suppression of machine guns, rifles alone could not suppress the Japanese at all. They were really puppet troops. Huang Chengfei heard that the soldiers of the independent regiment always had at least forty bullets in their hands at any time, and all of them were original products from the Japanese.
If it is during combat, each soldier may have sixty to eighty bullets. Even the grenades were the Japanese's melon-shaped grenades, or the Gong-type grenades captured from the puppet army. The border-region-made grenades produced by the Border Region Arsenal of the Logistics Department were distributed to the border regions and were either used to equip new recruits or given to the militia for use. Moreover, each company has its own mortar platoon. The company commander can use the mortars however he wants, and the regiment doesn't ask any questions. It's just like a rifle. If it breaks down or there are no shells, the regiment will replenish it for you. And only one battalion of their 771st Regiment was equipped with three mortars. Their Second Battalion had only one mortar and thirty shells. The mortars that his 6th Company brought out this time were reinforced by the regiment commander from the artillery company directly under the regiment. The company commander had a lot of opinions about this. Huang Chengfei looked at the gunner who was holding his mortar like a baby not far away, and he made up his mind that in this battle, he must get a mortar for his Sixth Company! …… In a wilderness ten kilometers away from the mountains, several large trucks and three-wheeled motorcycles were leading the way, and a group of Japanese soldiers were running behind the trucks. Around this group of Japanese devils there were more than a dozen guys wearing black short coats, hats, and pistols on their waists, riding bicycles and following the troops. While waiting for the rest of the troops to join up, Pinglu Yongfu was naturally not idle. He directly sent a squadron of Japanese soldiers to act as the vanguard and explore the way. Behind the Japanese vanguard squadron, there was another battalion. This Japanese battalion was the last elite force under Pinglu Yongfu's command besides the Kasahara Koizumi Regiment, the Kishida Battalion with 1,200 people. As long as the vanguard squadron can explore the Eighth Route Army's blocking position, Kishida Battalion will arrive immediately. Then break through the Eighth Route Army's blocking positions, open the way for the large force behind, and allow the 4th Brigade to rescue the Yamazaki Battalion as quickly as possible. Unlike others who use inferior troops as vanguards, Pinglu Yongfu is an exception. He likes to use the strongest troops to launch an attack as soon as possible during combat. Face the enemy with the strongest attitude. Pinglu Yongfu is best at head-on confrontation. He would use his strongest force at the first opportunity, without any false probing, and would directly confront the enemy head-on. Therefore, Pinglu Yongfu was extremely good at frontal combat. For the Eighth Route Army, Pinglu Yongfu was indeed a formidable enemy. Because at this time, most of the Eighth Route Army commanders were good at fighting behind enemy lines, harassment warfare, ambushes, and guerrilla warfare, but were not good at head-on combat. But now the Eighth Route Army wants to annihilate the 4th Brigade, so it is naturally impossible to fight any guerrilla warfare or harassment warfare with the 4th Brigade. (End of this chapter)