Chapter 224: The Famous Segment of "The Fuhrer's Wrath" "The Three of Us"

"Brigade commander! Let's go!"

"This is definitely the last chance! The enemy must be waiting for an opportunity!"

Kenji Ikegami was hunched over. He grabbed a lieutenant's arm and staggered to his feet.

At this time, the old devil only had a complete squadron as a guard. Even if all the lightly and seriously wounded were counted, there were no more than 300 soldiers who could fight.

Such a huge loss has made him determined to die.

"Kojima-kun, prepare to draft a telegram."

"We are warriors of the Great Japanese brother country. Dying on the battlefield is our best destination. The honor of the brigade cannot be lost."

"Before the enemy launches an attack, send someone to notify the surviving squadron. Let them get close to me, prepare for battle, and ensure that ammunition and all heavy weapons can be destroyed at the last moment."

The words of his own brigade commander seemed to ignite some kind of flame.

Reason disappeared from the eyes of the devils. Everyone present bowed to each other enthusiastically, and then ran towards different targets to convey orders.

As for the telegram, it was of course a farewell message to the commander of the North China Front Army, General Okamura Yasuji.

With the battle going on to this point, Kenji Ikegami knew that he would not be able to see tomorrow's sunrise.

Even the nearest 41st Division was 30 miles away at Hengling Pass. The 9th Independent Mixed Brigade was already an isolated army deep in the enemy's territory, completely isolated and helpless.

Just as he was still lamenting that he had died before he could accomplish his mission, a soldier hurried over and said:

"Major General! An unknown number of enemies appeared on our two wings! The enemy has broken through the outermost defense line!"

Upon learning that the battle had begun, Kenji Ikegami was not panicked, but instead showed a crazy smile. The old devil drew out his command knife and swept away the previous haze.

"Okay! Let's meet this mysterious enemy!"

"Even if I die today, I will die on the way to charge! It's a black card! Get on board!"

When a major general brigade commander personally led the charge, this behavior played a great role in motivating the lower-level soldiers.

Although they lost a large number of heavy weapons and all armored units, the excellent training effect of the Japanese was more evident at this time.

When attacking Li Yunlong's troops, the existing officers at all levels of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade performed their duties. Under their command, several infantry squadrons maintained the skirmish line and maintained the attack formation.

Each soldier was about five steps apart, and the linear formation was scattered but not chaotic from beginning to end. Even if they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, they were not inferior in momentum.

Moreover, the Japanese did not blindly charge under the artillery fire. While maintaining mobility, they also tried their best to avoid the firepower network they faced.

Next, as long as they entered the effective range, the grenadiers would immediately start to counterattack and suppress the opponent's firepower points.

This tactic is the comfort zone of the Japanese and the top priority for attacking the northern defense line of Zhongtiao Mountain.

If it is a preserved fruit unit lacking veterans, it is likely that it will be in a hurry and exhausted to deal with it, and waste the already scarce ammunition on the air.

Even if the grassroots officers are brave enough, they dare to lead their soldiers to fight the Japanese with bayonets. They would also suffer heavy losses due to physical fitness and combat experience, and eventually lose their positions.

But the troops led by Li Yunlong were different. Their members were either elites selected from the entire Eighth Route Army or veterans who survived the cruel battlefield.

Facing the desperate struggle of the devils, the soldiers quickly made the most correct choice.

The troops rushing in the front used the bomb craters blown out by the Air Force First Division to build a defense line on the spot.

Their task was not to destroy as many devils as possible, nor did they need to fight the enemy to death. They only needed to use the advantages of numbers and firepower to block the enemy's charge and buy time for the troops on both wings.

The troops on both wings quickly encircled, and the three parties cooperated to launch a pincer attack to give full play to their strengths.

Zhang Dabiao on the position was so excited that he wanted to throw his hat to vent his excitement, but his helmet interrupted his spell. He looked at the fearless devils very unhappily and gave the order to attack.

"Bring up the mortars! Get your machine guns and rifles ready!"

"950 meters away! Effective firing!"

As soon as the words fell, the five artillery groups that followed the troops began to set up the mortars.

They put down the base, installed the barrels, and adjusted the brackets. In just half a minute, five 60 mortars were successfully assembled.

Boring × 5!

Flames burst out from the muzzles, and five heavy powder cannons drew an arc in the air and fell towards the Japanese troops in front.

Since the sights and sufficient shells were available, the hit rate of the artillerymen has risen sharply. In the first round of test firing, four shells achieved good results.

Effective firing is a shooting process that is carried out to directly annihilate, suppress, destroy targets and hinder the enemy's actions.

The five artillery groups were running at full speed, and the ammunition handlers sent a steady stream of shells up, and the gunners only needed to stuff the shells into the barrels.

Boom boom boom!

The brand-new Brand 60mm mortar is of high quality, and there is no need to worry about malfunctions even when firing at full speed. The dense artillery fire made it difficult for the Japanese to move forward, and even the skirmish line could not change their fate.

At this time, the disadvantage of losing the Type 92 infantry gun appeared. Because there was no supporting weapon, the entire team could only passively take the beating.

During the attack, Kenji Ikegami watched with great pain as the soldiers around him fell one after another on the way to the charge. But he was ready to die in battle, so he had to continue to move forward while roaring.

"Baga! It's the Eighth Route Army!"

"How could they appear in Zhongtiao Mountain! What is going on? Who can tell me what happened?"

In order to avoid the ground attack of the First Air Division, the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade was scattered in squadrons. This arrangement did allow more soldiers to survive.

But once a battle broke out, the disadvantages of lack of unified command were exposed.

Although Kenji Ikegami ordered the troops to gather before the battle, Li Yunlong did not give him time. The devils of only two or three squadrons were no different from paper in front of the First Marine Regiment.

Light machine guns + various types of mortars fully explained what it meant to break with one poke.

After finally rushing to the range of the Type 38 rifle and grenade launcher, before they started to counterattack, Li Yunlong led hundreds of soldiers to come from both wings.

The commandos rushed into the ranks of the devils with submachine guns.

Whether in the era of cold weapons or modern warfare, once the troops were inserted into the flanks by superior forces, they were basically not far from the end of defeat.

The 9th Independent Mixed Brigade could not organize a large-scale counterattack at all, and was often dispersed by the metal storm fired by submachine guns as soon as it started to get going.

The living space of the devils in the chaos was gradually squeezed, and once they resisted, they were hit by a series of bullets.

Half an hour later, the battle was over.

"Clean up the battlefield! Be quick!"

"The enemy is likely to send reinforcements, and we don't have much time left."

Although the casualties in the battle were not high, the cost was that a lot of ammunition was consumed.

When calculating the ammunition reserves, Captain Li seemed to have returned to the old days, and he even picked up a few melon grenades.

As for those enemies who were not dead but had lost their combat effectiveness, they were naturally handed over to the soldiers of the Shanxi Suiyuan Army and the Northwest Army. They did not have a policy of preferential treatment for prisoners.

As comrades fighting side by side, there was still a tacit understanding.

While cleaning the battlefield, Kenji Ikegami, who was not dead yet, resolutely raised his Type 14 Nambu. The gun went off, and the bullet hit the thigh of a Shanxi Suiyuan soldier.

Li Yunlong, who happened to be nearby, immediately snatched the sword from the injured soldier and chopped off the attacker's head with one blow. The gushing blood splashed all over Li.

The sword was used to save bullets and because it was faster. But by coincidence, it was also a pleasure.

After all, after coming to the New Second Regiment, he had no chance to lead the team to charge, let alone chop the devils with a sword. Moreover, the Eighth Route Army was not short of ammunition, and the chances of hand-to-hand combat were even less.

"Healthman! Medical soldier! Come and treat the wound!"

Upon hearing the gunshot, Wei Heshang hurried over to check, only to see that his own regiment commander was trying hard to hold back his smile and pretending to be very serious to take care of the wounded.

The fighting will of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade was very strong, and pretending to be dead and attacking was not an isolated case, which made the military doctors present very busy for a while.

"Captain, what's wrong with you? Can killing a Japanese make you so happy?"

"Have you been holding it in for too long? Otherwise, I'll capture a few prisoners for you next time, so you can have fun?"

Li Yunlong, who was originally still cheerful, immediately put away his smile when he heard Wei Dayong's words.

"You know shit, how long have I not used a big knife! The last time I chopped off a Japanese's head was in Cangyunling! It's still fun to cut blood with every knife!"

"And you kid, be careful with your words, what do you mean by capturing a few prisoners! Be disciplined, don't violate discipline! Even if there are Japanese surrendering, they have to be handed over to Wang Dahai for processing."

······

Yuncheng, the temporary station of the North China Front Army.

At this time, the sun had just set, and the combat meeting room was already brightly lit.

Okamura Neiji put his hands behind his back and looked at the strategic situation map of Zhongtiao Mountain on the wall with a smile on his face. Next to him was Tanabe Moritake, who didn't say a word and seemed to have something on his mind.

The staff officers at work also tiptoed, for fear of disturbing their own superiors.

In silence, a signalman staggered into the combat meeting room. His terrified expression instantly attracted the attention of everyone present.

Under the pressure of several sharp eyes, the little Japanese stood at attention and simply read out the contents of the telegram.

"Commander Okamura! Major General Kenkichi Ikegami of the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade sent a farewell telegram!"

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the room instantly became extremely depressing.

Obviously, they were still silently celebrating the breakthrough progress of the battle in the previous second, but such a major blow came in the next second.

Under the drastic contrast, many staff officers were directly injured.

Okamura Neiji also lost his expression control for a short time, and even the pencil in his hand was broken by him. After a moment, he took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress the anger in his heart.

"Farewell telegram? Keep reading, don't worry about me."

"Hi!"

With the guarantee of his own commander, the signalman read out the rest of the content clearly.

"Our unit was attacked by the Eighth Route Army Air Force. The enemy went all out and deployed more than 300 fighter planes of various types."

"After the air raid, thousands of enemy troops rushed into our position. They were suspected to be the mysterious troops mentioned by Chief of Staff Tanabe. After half an hour of fierce fighting, all the warriors of our brother country were killed or wounded."

"There is no hope of breaking through now. We can only fight to the death. Long live the great Japanese brother country, long live His Majesty the Heavenly Locust."

After listening to the entire telegram, Okamura Neiji did not cry or make a fuss.

The old devil looked down at his watch, then named three people and left them behind, including Tanabe Moritake.

He then waved his hand seemingly casually, signaling the others in the meeting room to leave quickly.

After the strangers left, Neiji Okamura grabbed the corner of the table with both hands and overturned the entire desk. Then he pulled out his pistol and vented his anger at the map on the wall.

It was a pity that the Type 14 Nambu performed well and jammed after a few shots.

The loss of a brigade was difficult for even the commander of the front army to accept. What's more, with such a formation, the entire expeditionary army had only twenty people in total.

It was really embarrassing to be wiped out as a whole.

The remaining three people in the room bowed their heads and remained silent. The scene was very similar to the famous scene "We Three" in "The Fury of the Führer".

"Tanabe-kun, I'm so stupid. When you mentioned that small force, I should have faced up to the existence of the other party."

"It seems that the commander should be the Eighth Route Army, otherwise it would be impossible to guide the enemy's air force to cooperate in combat! What do you think should be done next?"

At this time, Tanabe Shigetake was also helpless, but more powerless. Facing the wolf-like and tiger-like Air Force 1st Division, he had no substantive suggestions at all.

After all, the gap in military strength cannot be closed by the will of the soldiers alone.

"In my humble opinion, we should slow down the pace of the attack now. Without air superiority, the enemy's fighters will cause too much damage to the ground forces."

"Even if the 41st Division is sent this time, it is estimated that Shimizu Kiyoshi's fate will not be much better. At most, he will not be completely wiped out."

"It is better to wait until the field anti-aircraft weapons and land aviation are in place before letting the samurai launch the attack. Anyway, with the strength of the Zhongtiao Mountain defenders, the gap in the northern front will definitely not be blocked."

Sometimes, sincerity is the greatest killer move.

Okamura Yasuji knew that the opinion given by his chief of staff was the most reasonable arrangement at the moment, but as the commander of the North China Front Army, he really couldn't accept that his side couldn't even deal with a small preserved fruit unit.

According to the opponent's style of play, the breakthrough blitzkrieg that was originally bound to win would be fought in the style of World War I. Wouldn't it be necessary to dig trenches and squat with the defenders?

If the operation fails, he will definitely be on the pillar of shame in history! Once he returns to his homeland, he will probably be torn to pieces by the fanatical people.

After thinking for a while, Okamura Neiji made a decision. He decided to go all in!

"Pass my order, speed up the attack across the board! Don't give the Eighth Route Army and the preserved fruit defenders a chance to breathe!"

"As long as the defense line is broken, let the troops rush into Zhongtiao Mountain in battalions! I don't believe it. Can't the Eighth Route Army Air Force's bomb reserves be used up?"

"All obstacles! Doujiangbai fell under my hands!

If I update two more chapters today, can my monthly votes reach 420?

Add an update note for May 9.

I caught a cold and my head is buzzing. I wrote for half a day and only 3400. I will slack off tomorrow morning and write again. I should post it before lunch.