SFS Chapter 141 Taking advantage of the situation
Chapter 141 Taking advantage of the situation
After the Japanese soldiers entered the Northeast Army's position, they immediately found the feeling.
A Japanese squad, under the command of a sergeant, cleared the trenches section by section. They threw grenades and shot all the Northeast Army soldiers they met. The Northeast Army soldiers were vulnerable and were easily driven out by them.
"Assault! Assault!"
The sergeant shouted and ordered the soldiers to chase the fleeing Northeast Army. They loved chasing the enemy the most. The demoralized enemy would only care about their heads and not their butts when running away. As long as they followed and chased them, they could achieve great results.
As for what to do if the enemy ambushes and counterattacks? The sergeant laughed. With the quality of Chinese soldiers now, once they receive the order to retreat, they want to run into their mothers' arms. How could they stop and fight back? If their officers ordered to stop the counterattack, the soldiers would kill the officers first and then run away.
"Quick! Set up the light machine gun here!"
The Japanese squad soon reached the end. Outside the position were all fleeing Northeast Army soldiers. The Japanese sergeant chose two good positions to set up light machine guns and fired at the Northeast Army soldiers outside the position. He himself also used a Type 38 rifle to kill any enemies he saw.
The Japanese sergeant was very calm. He would not shoot immediately after locking the front sight on the enemy. He would let the muzzle follow the target for one or two seconds to get familiar with the frequency of the opponent's running, and then shoot. He almost always hit the target.
The sound of gunfire from "Ba Gu Dao Ba Gu" rang out rhythmically. Every time the Japanese sergeant fired a shot, an enemy fell down. He completely ignored the sound of light machine gun fire beside him and was as calm as a machine.
The five bullets were quickly used up and the Japanese sergeant began to change bullets. He felt that this was a real battle. Pull the bolt, aim, kill the enemy, and then pull the bolt again. This is how a man should pull the bolt, not hiding in a bunker like the punitive troops.
"This is what fighting should be like!"
The Japanese sergeant sighed with satisfaction after killing the sixth enemy, but the next moment, a series of explosions suddenly came from behind him!
He thought the enemy had started shelling the occupied position, so he subconsciously dodged. However, no shells fell for a long time, which made him a little confused.
At this moment, the light machine gunner's shouting called him out of the trench.
"Damn it! They're shelling the bridge!!"
The Japanese sergeant panicked, a bad feeling filled his heart. He quickly used a telescope to observe the Nenjiang Bridge and found that there were bursts of flames on the bridge, shells kept falling on the bridge deck, and there were supply troops passing by on the bridge deck.
"Not good! The Punishment Army is trying to block our retreat!"
The Japanese sergeant exclaimed. Even though he had ten years of military career, he still lost his composure when he realized that he and others might become isolated.
"Hold... hold on here! The enemy may have set up a pre-encirclement! We can't let the enemy shrink..."
He had just said half of his words when a mortar shell landed in their section of the trench, killing the Japanese sergeant.
The sound of artillery fire continued. The Punishment Army had blocked the retreat route and the Northeast Army also began to act. The Northeast Army assembled more than 60 mortars and began to bombard the Japanese in the encirclement. The heavy firepower that had been hidden for a long time also began to show its power. The large amount of firepower caught the Japanese off guard.
However, the Japanese acted quickly. After suffering the first wave of damage, they responded quickly, hiding in the trenches and exchanging fire with the Northeast Army.
This time the Northeast Army suffered considerable damage. The Japanese's hard power was there. Both sides were shooting at each other in the trenches, and the Japanese with a better level of training gained the advantage.
Fortunately, the Northeast Army had mortars. The 81mm mortar shells were not very accurate, but had a fast rate of fire. The Japanese were suppressed in the trenches by the mortars and could not get out.
Ono Ikki did not cross the river. He was commanding from a distance on the other side of the river. When he saw the Nenjiang Bridge being bombed, his face changed and he immediately roared to the officers around him: "Go and give the order! Let the artillery attack the Punishment Army's high ground!"
Another artillery battle started, but no conditions had changed. Naturally, the Japanese could not defeat the Punitive Army and could only watch as the Punitive Army killed the logistics troops crossing the bridge, thus cutting off their rear.
Noguchi Ikki was sweating profusely. He felt that things were going to be bad and that he had to do something. He told Tamon Jiro that the attacking troops were surrounded, and Tamon Jiro remained calm about it.
"It's okay. I never believed the Punitive Army's declaration of not bombarding. They thought I was careless and foolishly sent the troops across the bridge to be surrounded by them. It's ridiculous. I took advantage of their mentality and sent the troops across the bridge without any injuries.
These idiots even gave up their positions. Haha, you want to surround my troops? Do you have the strength to do so? You want to eat up my Fourth Regiment? I'll break your teeth!
Pass the order, calmly attack the Northeast Army, and fight the Northeast Army in position. They are no match for us. Let the artillery fire poison gas bombs at the Punishment Army! Suppress the Punishment Army's artillery!"
Neither Li Weiguo nor Duomen Jilang believed any of the enemy's assurances, but the punitive army's declaration that it would not use artillery opened the door to Jiangbei.
It is equivalent to Li Weiguo saying: Do you dare to cross the river? If you dare to cross, I will bombard you and cut off your retreat.
Duomen Jiro said: "It is a good thing to be able to cross the bridge without getting hurt? As for wanting to eat me? Do you have the strength to do so?"
Jiro Tamon asked the soldiers crossing the river to carry twice the ammunition, and the logistics troops who successfully crossed the river also carried a large amount of supplies. He wanted to make a big move to let the punitive army know what a stupid decision it was to let him cross the river.
The Japanese soldiers did not disappoint him. After they gained their positions, they took root there. The surrounded Japanese actually suppressed the Northeast Army.
The Japanese also brought 6 Type mountain cannons across the river. The Japanese artillery used these cannons to destroy many of the Northeast Army's mortars. If the mortars could not hide in trenches and fire indirectly, and the Type mountain cannons could only fire directly at close range, the Northeast Army's mortars would probably have been completely destroyed.
The Northeast Army fell into a disadvantage, and the Punishment Army also suffered from poison gas bombs.
The Japanese fired three rounds of artillery shells at the Punishment Army's high ground, and yellow smoke filled the air. Li Weiguo saw that the Japanese used poison gas and immediately ordered: "Follow the original plan!"
The Punitive Army's position moved quickly. Some soldiers rushed into the underground command post and closed the door to the outside world. Other soldiers stayed in the tunnel, blocked the shooting holes with sandbags and mud, and started playing cards.
These are the ones without gas masks, while those with gas masks are on high alert, preparing to deal with the Japanese attack.
The punitive army had more than 900 gas masks, more than 600 of which were surrendered by the Fengtian Arsenal, and more than 300 were bought by Li Qinwu at the Xiaoyi Arsenal in the name of protecting workers' production. Only this many could be bought, and if there were more, Director Huang would become suspicious. This was one of the reasons why Li Qinwu wanted to be independent. He was so restricted that he had to be pulled over and questioned for a long time just to buy a gas mask.