Because they were accurately bombarded by the heavy artillery battalion of the independent regiment without warning, the division headquarters of the 10th Division and the 10th Field Artillery Regiment suffered heavy losses. For safety reasons, Xiaozhi Yoshiro could only The division and regiment headquarters and all directly affiliated troops were ordered to withdraw five kilometers back from Qingniuping and set up camp.
It was busy until dawn the next day, and order was finally restored at the division headquarters.
Fortunately, since the Maori Regiment and the other two infantry regiments protected the front and the left and right wings, the Independent Regiment was unable to take advantage of the situation to attack. Otherwise, the losses of the 10th Division would have been even more severe. One mistake, It is also possible for his little piggy boy to make the same mistake as Inaba Shiro.
Fortunately, such an extremely bad situation did not happen.
At 8:05 a.m., Central China sent more than 40 Type 97 carrier-based attack aircraft from the 3rd Flying Regiment of the Aviation Corps directly under the Condemnation Army to fly over Damei Mountain and began a "heavy artillery attack" on Meizhen and outside Shaqiao Gang. position" to carry out bombing.
This batch of attack aircraft was originally planned to be sent to the Changsha battlefield by Shunroku Hata to support the 3rd Division and the 101st Division in their attacks on Yueyang and Changde. In Shunroku Hata's view, the importance of Yueyang and Changde is far too great. Meishan, so he was not planning to send attack planes from the Condemned Army Aviation to Dameishan.
But I couldn't hold back Higashikata's words. Although Higashikata was only the commander of the subordinate group army, his other identity was that of the emperor's uncle. He was a noble among the nobles. The Sino-Japanese War would eventually end. But Hata Shunroku still wants to continue to hang out in the country, so the face that should be given to the royal family must be given.
In this way, Higashikata sent a telegram to the Dameishan battlefield for more than 40 Type 97 carrier-based attack aircraft that Shunroku Hata had originally planned to send to the Wuhan battlefield. Considering the current firepower configuration of the Japanese army, the dispatch It is definitely a luxury for more than forty attack planes to bomb a target like Dameishan that is not even a tactical level.
The huge explosion coming from the direction of Meizhen could be heard more than ten kilometers away.
Xiaozhu Yinan is essentially a militarist, but he is relatively diplomatic.
Listening to the constant sound of explosions, Xiaozhu Yinan said flatteringly to Dong Jiu Nianyan: "Your Highness, strictly speaking, Xu Rui's Dameishan Independent Regiment is not even a tactical-level target. I'm afraid it's not even a tactical-level target." Only you can allow Your Majesty the General to dispatch so many attack aircraft to support the Dameishan battlefield."
Dong Jiure Nianyan waved his hand and said with a smile: "Xiaozhusang, let me tell you some good news. According to the report of the aviation scouts of the 3rd Flying Regiment, they found an independent regiment outside Shaqiao Gang at the entrance of Meizhen. At the heavy artillery position, the artillerymen of the independent regiment were busy camouflaging at that time, but they did not expect the imperial army's aviation reconnaissance to fly over Damei Mountain so early. As a result, they were spotted immediately and reported to the follow-up flying regiment. "
"Really?" Xiaozhu Yinan immediately became energetic after hearing this.
Dong Jiureyan added: "If no miracle occurs, the heavy artillery brigade of the Independent Regiment should have been blown to ashes by the attack aircraft of the 3rd Flying Regiment. This means that the heavy artillery threat of the Independent Regiment has been removed. Zhusang, your troops will be able to attack Shaqiao Gang, the gateway to Meizhen, without any scruples."
"Hai." Xiaozhu Yinan paused heavily and said, "I understand, I will order the 10th Infantry Regiment to attack Shaqiao Gang."
After finishing speaking, Xiaozhu Yinan picked up the phone and said: "Pick up the 10th Infantry Regiment for me."
After a while, the call was connected, and Xiaozhu Yinan said again: "Maoli Sang? I am Xiaozhu Yinan. I order your unit to immediately launch an attack on Shaqiao Gang, the entrance to Meizhen. Please make sure before noon today Take down Shaqiao Gang, please.”
After finishing speaking, Xiaozhu Yinan hung up the phone again, and then turned to Dong Jiureyan and said: "Your Highness, if you have no other military affairs in the morning, I would like to ask you to stay temporarily. You know, the shelling last night It has caused a lot of damage to the morale of our department. If Your Highness is here, it will be a boost to the morale of our department."
Of course, what Xiaozhu Yinan said was an excuse. Dong Jiu'er stayed at the division headquarters of the 10th Division, which had no impact on the morale of the 10th Division. The reason why Xiaozhu Yinan invited Dong Jiuer Nurihiko stayed because he actually wanted to restore the impact. He wanted to win the recognition of Higashikata Nurihiko through the outstanding performance of the Maori United's rapid attack on Shaqiao Gang.
Speaking of which, the performance of the 10th Division last night was indeed very poor. It did not behave like an elite division that had experienced hundreds of battles, but more like a special division that had just stepped onto the battlefield. Xiaozhu Yinan If this impression cannot be eliminated, it will seriously affect his career advancement in the future.
Although Dongjiu Nianyan is a prodigal boy, he still has a good grasp of human nature.
At that moment, Dong Jiu Nianyan nodded happily and said, "Yo Xi, then I'll just wait here for the good news."
It has to be said that the ideal of Xiaozhu Yinan is very beautiful, but the reality is extremely cruel.
The Maori United Army started its attack at nine o'clock in the morning and continued the attack for more than four hours. Until two o'clock in the afternoon, it only broke through the two flank defense lines outside the Independent Regiment. From the front, the Maori United Army could not even advance one meter. , the Independent Regiment relied on the strong fortifications built in advance and fought very bravely and tenaciously.
Xiaozhu Yoshio originally wanted to show his hand in front of Higashikawa Tokyo and eliminate the previous bad influence. However, the final result surprised him. The Maori United attacked fiercely all morning and could not make any progress. Not only could they not eliminate the influence, but they made His impression of Dong Jiuer Nianyan became even worse.
So Xiaozhu Yoshio became a little angry. Taking advantage of the opportunity when Dong Jiu got up to go to the toilet, he picked up the phone and gave Mouri Mohiro a death order, ordering the 10th Infantry Regiment to capture Shaqiao Gang before dark. position to clear the way for the main force of the subsequent division to enter Meizhen, otherwise Mori Suehiro will be sent to a military court.
At this time, Xiaozhu Yinan still fantasized about conquering Shaqiao Gang before dark, and still fantasized about re-proving himself in front of Dong Jiu Nianyan and re-proving the combat effectiveness of the 10th Division. However, he did not know that the Maori Regiment Already in danger, a greedy mouth of blood has bared its fangs towards the Maori United!
(Dividing line)
Through the tunnel, Xu Rui reached the 1st Battalion's defensive position.
In the past half month or so, since there was still a surplus of ten tons of cement provided by the National Government, the Independent Regiment simply built some concrete fortifications outside Shaqiaogang and connected these concrete fortifications to Shaqiaogang Fortress through tunnels. Of course, these underground passages can be cut off when necessary.
It was precisely with these solid concrete fortifications that the 1st Battalion barely blocked the attack of the Maori Regiment. Otherwise, not to mention just one battalion, but two more battalions, including the 2nd Battalion from Wanzhongshan and the 3rd Battalion from Xu Dekun. Come on, I'm afraid the little devil's Maori unit has been defeated.
Of course, the results are completely different between those with strong fortifications as cover and those without fortifications. As long as you have seen the actual combat case of Normandy D-6, you can know that during the Normandy D-6 battle, with the strong defense fortifications, a German machine gunner could easily Hunted and killed thousands of Allied soldiers.
Therefore, facing strong defenses, the attacker's situation is extremely miserable.
So when Xu Rui came to the battlefield, He Guangming was even in the mood to joke with him.
He Guangming grinned and said: "Captain, didn't you say that the 10th Division is an elite division among the seventeen permanent divisions of the Little Devils, second only to the Kumamoto Division and the Sendai Division? But why do I feel that Is that all there is to it?”
"That's what I said." Xu Rui said angrily, "If you have the ability, don't hide in the fortifications. Instead, take the troops to the front and fight the Japanese in the wilds. How long can your 1st Battalion hold up?"
"Do you think I'm stupid?" He Guangming said cheerfully, "Ignore the fortifications and go out to fight with the Japanese in the wild?"
"Then don't make sarcastic remarks here." Xu Rui snorted, "What are the casualties of the 1st Battalion?"
Speaking of the casualties, He Guangming immediately became alert and said in a deep voice: "It's okay, the casualties are not too big."
"What do you mean the casualties are not too big?" Xu Rui frowned and said, "Tell me the truth, how many casualties were there?"
"The whole battalion can almost piece together a whole company now." At this point, He Guangming didn't wait for Xu Rui's words, and immediately rushed to say, "Captain, our 1st Battalion fought with the Japanese for a long time, and finally we finally succeeded." We've exhausted the Japanese, so you can't leave us behind during the counterattack later and let Lao Wan and Lao Xu take advantage."
"Lao He, when will you change your localism? What do you mean by letting Lao Wan and Lao Xu take advantage?" Xu Rui snorted and said coldly, "You 1st Battalion will not participate in the next counterattack. But you can rest assured, if we can really annihilate the Japanese 10th Regiment this time, it will be your 1st Battalion’s credit!”
When He Guangming heard this, he immediately grinned and said with a smile: "That's pretty much it."
"Look at your potential." Xu Rui snorted, "Go and have a rest."
"Okay." He Guangming agreed, humming a tune and turned away.
Within a moment, the officers and soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, who had been recuperating in the fortress for a long time, were fully armed and entered the forward position one by one through the tunnels. Wan Zhongshan and Xu Dekun also came to Xu Rui.
Xu Rui turned his head and glanced at the two of them, asking, "Are you all ready?"
Wan Zhongshan and Xu Dekun nodded at the same time: "The troops have entered the attack position."
Xu Rui raised his wrist to look at his watch, then immediately picked up the phone in front of him and said in a deep voice: "Get me the fortress artillery battalion."
After a while, the call was connected, and Xu Rui said: "Aniu? I'm Xu Rui. Before the Japanese attack, I'll shoot at Zhu Yuan according to the calibration and blow their attack position to rubbish. Do you hear me?"
"Yes." Niu Dazhuang's thunderous response immediately came over the phone, "Before the Japanese attack begins, shoot the elements according to the calibration and blast their attack position into rubbish!" (To be continued.)