Phi-Fic Chapter 943 A Small but Important Battle
Chapter 943 A Small but Important Battle
The reason for choosing this terrain, which was not conducive to an ambush, when formulating the battle plan before the war was also to catch the Japanese off guard.
After all, the enemy has been ambushed by us so many times, and they have been summarizing the lessons learned from their failures, especially the reconnaissance of the surrounding terrain. They have put the most effort into this, because after being beaten so many times, they have to make some changes.
Our guerrilla forces are now equipped with far more advanced weaponry; we need to do the opposite.
Once the enemy convoy had entered our trap, Deputy Squadron Leader Qian decisively ordered his men to activate the detonation device.
This detonation device was newly developed in our base area. It uses radio detonation, which is a departure from the primitive method of using wires. This is one of the reasons why we chose to ambush the enemy in open areas.
In a short time, dozens of landmines were detonated, immediately causing chaos and destruction to the enemy convoy. The first two military trucks, in particular, were directly hit by high-explosive landmines and burst into flames.
Unfortunately, the two lead trucks were carrying soldiers from the Yamashita Squadron, and many of them were lost in the process.
When the squad leader saw this, he felt a sense of relief, which proved that his previous judgment was correct and there really was an ambush.
Now all he needs to do is find a way to escape back. At least he won't have to go to Languan to die. As for supplies and such, what does that have to do with him?
He immediately ordered the entire convoy to turn around, and everyone quickly ran to the rear. They had not found anything unusual when they came, which showed that the rear route should be safe.
But the enemy could have imagined it, and we had anticipated it long before we even formulated the battle plan. Actually, it was quite simple: just use mortar shells to block the enemy's retreat.
For this ambush operation, the county brigade mobilized four 60mm mortars, which were recently drawn directly from the main force of the independent column to strengthen the guerrillas' offensive firepower.
Although mortars are the best artillery for training in this situation, it is not an easy task for county brigades to operate them proficiently. It would be better to directly allocate them, so that as long as the personnel are in place, they can immediately form combat capability.
Three mortar shells landed directly next to the last carriage in the enemy convoy. The shrapnel from the shells overturned the carriage on the spot and killed the horses pulling it.
This immediately blocked their retreat. Upon seeing this, the squad leader at the foot of the mountain angrily ordered his men to clear the retreat route.
But our shells seemed to be free, raining down on the enemy continuously, instantly blasting the Japanese soldiers to smithereens.
It immediately intimidated all the enemies, and no one dared to approach the place.
Some clever Japanese soldiers tried to go around the road, but as soon as they stepped in, someone stepped on a bounding mine. A large number of steel balls rained down on the enemy, killing five or six of them instantly.
Our mortar group then proceeded to pick off the Japanese convoy one by one. The gunners participating in this operation were all elite, and hitting these fixed targets was a piece of cake for them.
As for the supplies carried by the enemy's transport convoys, they were like a chicken rib to our guerrillas—tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away.
Even if it's destroyed now, it's not a big deal. We can't trade our soldiers' lives for these supplies.
After firing a hundred shells at the enemy convoy, Deputy Battalion Commander Qian, seeing that the time was ripe, immediately issued the order to attack via walkie-talkie.
The county brigade's first squadron, which had been lying in ambush, immediately led its men out after receiving the order and launched an attack on the enemy on the highway.
However, they didn't rush in all at once, but rather they worked in groups of three, taking turns to coordinate their attacks.
More than half of the soldiers in the Yamashita Company had been killed by artillery fire. Seeing this situation, the more astute Japanese soldiers had already taken their rifles and bypassed the destroyed supply vehicles to retreat from the rear.
Some die-hard soldiers even attempted to put up a stubborn resistance under the cover of vehicles, and wanted to use their accurate marksmanship to kill our guerrillas.
We didn't hold back either. The soldiers charging ahead immediately lay down, and those who were close enough threw offensive grenades to take down the enemy.
If they are far away, call in the recoilless rifle team behind them and use direct fire to pick them off one by one.
Anyway, the lives of our soldiers are paramount, so consuming some grenades and recoilless rifle shells is no big deal.
When the Japanese soldiers saw our aggressive fighting style, they immediately showed a look of despair. This was clearly bullying, relying on advanced weapons and equipment, what kind of skill is that?
In the end, after consuming more than a dozen recoilless rifle shells, they successfully wiped out all the remaining Japanese soldiers. On our side, apart from a few who charged fast and suffered minor injuries, the rest were just in the way.
Given the medical conditions of the county brigade, a bullet wound like this can be treated with surgery and a period of rest, and the patient will be fine again.
Captain Qian saw the highway piled high with various military supplies, but remained unmoved, calmly issuing subsequent orders:
"Everyone quickly clean up the battlefield, take everything usable with them, and plant booby traps on vehicles and Japanese soldiers. We need to leave our enemy with a big gift."
Although the Japanese army's logistical supplies were mediocre, distributing compressed biscuits and canned food to poor people was still a good thing, since these were food items.
The Chinese people have the utmost respect for food. Besides, even if the Japanese canned food was the worst, it still contained some meat, so it was still edible.
As for booby traps, that's standard practice. If the Japanese come later, it'll be a welcome surprise.
In the next few days, their county brigade's most important task was to block the highway, cut off all contact between Echeng and Languan, and prevent a single grain of food, a single bullet, and a single Japanese soldier from reaching Languan.
As long as the enemy's Languan Pass lacks logistical support, its existing stockpile won't last long.
As for the dozens of Japanese soldiers who escaped, they were nothing but stray dogs and were easily wiped out by the Second Company.
Thus, this small-scale battle came to an end, but its significance was profound, as it directly supported the main force's battle.
Let's take a look at the Jin-Sui Army side. Commander Zhang's regiment, as the vanguard, was equipped with forty 60mm mortars and forty recoilless rifles, which immediately increased its attack capability several times over.
In order to achieve the goal of speed, Regiment Commander Zhang specially applied to the division headquarters to mobilize more than a dozen tricycles converted from military motorcycles and more than a dozen military trucks, which were divided into five combat detachments to carry out separate operations.