Chapter 44 Street fighting! Compared to the ease of Qin Yangming's side, the situation in Linyuan County is not so easy. The first time the conscienceless cannons were fired, they were discovered by Nobutsu Sakata, who directly ordered the artillery to destroy those conscienceless cannons. It was originally made of thin iron sheets or gasoline barrels, and could not withstand the Japanese artillery bombardment at all. After more than a dozen shells were fired, plus some explosive packs that failed to be launched and exploded, all the unscrupulous artillery on the outer positions of Linyuan County were directly destroyed. When Wang Chengzhu saw that the Japanese Type 92 infantry artillery position was exposed, he directly ordered several mountain artillery guns in the artillery company to open fire, preparing to blow up the enemy's artillery position. However, after learning that the Eighth Route Army on Baihu Ridge had Type 41 mountain cannon, Sakata Nobutsu guessed that the Eighth Route Army in Linyuan County must also have mountain cannons. So he specifically ordered the artillery to set up the position of the Type 94 mountain artillery six kilometers away from the county seat of Linyuan County. The mountain artillery position directly exceeded the six-kilometer maximum range of the Type 41 mountain artillery. As soon as the New 1st Regiment's artillery opened fire, the Japanese artillery immediately locked onto the New 1st Regiment's artillery position.
Wang Chengzhu is a good mortar player, but mountain cannons are different from mortars. This thing requires sufficient mathematical knowledge! Otherwise, you can only try direct aiming shooting or close-range projectile shooting, it is difficult to shoot a little further away. He just learned a few simple things from Li Erhu. His level is similar to that of other gunners under Li Erhu. Although Wang Chengzhu received instructions from Li Yunlong to move his position immediately after firing the artillery. But their speed was still a little slow. One Type 41 mountain gun and two Type K mountain guns were directly destroyed by the Japanese artillery shells. Fortunately, only three shells were prepared for each gun, and the rest were carried by the logistics soldiers not far away. Otherwise, a chain explosion would occur and Wang Chengzhu would not be able to escape even if he wanted to. Wang Chengzhu felt so sad when he saw half of his artillery company being destroyed by the Japanese in one encounter. The new regiment's artillery company didn't have many mountain cannons, and three of them were blown up at once. But there was no time to think about this, the Japanese had already launched the attack. Wang Chengzhu quickly ordered the soldiers of the artillery company to take their artillery away and provide support separately. After seeing the Japanese artillery strength, Wang Chengzhu no longer dared to engage in an artillery battle with them. "Damn it, if only Captain Li were here." Wang Chengzhu was pushing a Type 41 mountain cannon and couldn't help but think of Li Erhu, who was very good at using cannons. But there was nothing we could do since Li Erhu was here. The range of the Type 41 mountain gun is not that far, and it is not located on a high mountain to strike low. Even he couldn't hit the Japanese Type 94 mountain artillery position. "Order the troops to charge and take the city wall within an hour!"
Seeing that the artillery of the Eighth Route Army was suppressed by his own artillery, Nobutsu Sakata gave the order to attack to several captains beside him. Kimura's brigade has three independent infantry battalions under his command, and his Sakata regiment has two more infantry battalions, which together make up the strength of a brigade, with a total of nearly 7,000 men. However, there were only 4,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers in Linyuan County, nearly twice the number. Under the fierce artillery bombardment of the Japanese and the support of aircraft, the soldiers of the New 1st Regiment on the city wall could not hold on at all. The commander of the second battalion was accidentally killed by the Japanese infantry artillery while commanding the battle. "Captain, the city wall can no longer be defended!" Zhang Dabiao quickly rushed into the regiment headquarters and reported to Li Yunlong who was looking at the map. "The Japanese artillery is too powerful. Our artillery is no match for them." "Even in direct confrontation, our artillery can't defeat the Japs." "Captain, abandon the city walls and fight the Japs in the streets!" Street fighting is the most brutal form of fighting. It is also the fighting method that is most likely to narrow the gap in weapon generations. In street fighting, no matter how advanced your weapons or how luxurious your equipment are, you cannot stop the bullets shot from the ruins. Li Yunlong naturally knew the cruelty of street fighting. But if we fight in street battles, we can buy a little more time. If we don't fight, even if we send all our troops to the city walls, we won't be able to hold out for long. "Captain, the southern city wall was blown up by the Japanese planes!" A soldier covered in blood rushed into the regiment headquarters and reported to Li Yunlong. "Order all troops to retreat into the county town and fight the Japanese in street battles! Have Captain Wu take the new recruits to send all the wounded to Cangyun Ridge, and notify Captain Kong to prepare for battle!" "The deputy battalion commander of the second battalion has been promoted to battalion commander. He is responsible for guarding the west gate and being ready to break out at any time!" A series of orders came from Li Yunlong's mouth. "Yes!" Zhang Dabiao responded and then quickly organized the troops to withdraw into Linyuan County. "Damn it, the Japanese are so cruel that a brigade came to attack my Linyuan County. I wonder what the situation is like over there!" After learning that a brigade of the Japanese had arrived outside Linyuan County, Li Yunlong knew that the Japanese must have made significant progress in their attack on Baihuling, otherwise they would not have moved their large forces to the county seat of Linyuan County. Maybe Baihu Ridge has been breached by now. The road leading to Baihuling had long been blocked by the Japanese, and the radio station was damaged by aerial bombs during the air raid, so the New 1st Regiment was unable to repair it. As a result, we are now unable to get in touch with Baihu Ridge and have no idea of the battle situation there. We can only prepare for the worst. "Forget it. I don't want to think about him anymore. That guy is very lucky. Even if the Japanese smashed open the hedgehog shell of Baihu Ridge, Qin Yangming will probably be fine with those tunnels."
Originally, Li Yunlong was hoping that the tunnels in the village could play a positive role. But the Kimura Brigade came from the plains and was very familiar with tunnel warfare. After discovering the sudden appearance of the Eighth Route Army, they immediately realized that there was a tunnel in the village. Not all the tunnels in Linyuan County were designed by Qin Yangming, and the Japanese quickly found the entrance to the tunnels. Either flooding the tunnels or dropping poison gas bombs on them, these were not taken into consideration when the tunnels were dug, and many soldiers were trapped and died in the tunnels. As the new regiment of soldiers on the city wall retreated, the Japanese immediately occupied one side of the city wall. Looking at the county town that had suddenly become quiet, Sakata Nobutsu immediately realized that the Eighth Route Army wanted to engage in street fighting. "Hmph, street fighting, order the Tanabe Brigade and the Wild Dog Brigade to enter the county town!" Perhaps the soldiers of the Kimura Brigade are not very good at street fighting. After all, their job is to maintain public order. But the Sakata Corps is different, they are good at field battles and street fighting! The new group can be said to have really encountered a powerful opponent. The soldiers of the Sakata Regiment worked in groups of three and searched house by house. Years of fighting have enabled this group of veterans to develop a special way of fighting. When they encountered a house with a closed door, the Japanese soldiers did not open it. Instead, they used the butt of their guns to smash the windows from a distance, and then threw a grenade in through the window. (End of this chapter)