Chapter 55: Positional Warfare
Chapter 55: Positional Warfare
"Charge! For the silver dollars, charge!"
"Charge! To pay off my gambling debts, charge!"
"Charge! If I die, I won't have to pay off the gambling debts anyway, charge!"
"Charge! For Xiaofang of the Chunhong Brothel, charge! I'm going to buy her freedom!"
...
Several hundred puppet army soldiers shouted various slogans as they charged directly into the minefield.
Birds die for food, and men die for wealth.
Blinded by the prospect of money, the puppet soldiers temporarily forgot their fear of death and ran frantically forward.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
...
As the puppet soldiers advanced, more and more landmines were detonated.
Those wounded fell to the ground, clutching their injuries and shrieking in agony.
Yet the rest did not stop. They bypassed the wounded and continued their charge, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
For they could distinctly feel that the number of landmines was dwindling rapidly.
Yes, indeed. The intuition of the puppet soldiers was correct.
Over the past few days of playing guerrilla warfare with the puppet troops, the New First Regiment had expended a massive quantity of landmines.
Even though the New First Regiment had previously captured vast amounts of supplies, their stock of landmines was now running perilously low.
However, after running halfway across, the hundreds of puppet soldiers encountered fierce blocking fire from the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment.
Light and heavy machine guns opened fire simultaneously, their dense bullets acting like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, harvesting the lives of the puppet soldiers.
Suffering heavy casualties, the puppet soldiers' fear of death was reawakened.
After all, they were not Japanese troops; they had not been brainwashed by Bushido.
Some of the puppet soldiers lay on the ground pretending to be dead, others scrambled to find cover, and some fled in panic with their heads in their hands.
The attack by hundreds of men had not been crushed by landmines, but rather repelled by the overwhelming firepower of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment.
"Fire! Fire! Open fire!" Seeing the soldiers of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment return from the reverse slope to the main trench with ferocious firepower, Jiang Deshui immediately ordered the artillery to fire once more.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
...
As the six artillery pieces roared back to life, the soldiers of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment promptly withdrew behind the reverse slope again.
"Charge! Give the order to charge!" Seeing the Eighth Route Army soldiers retreat behind the reverse slope, Jiang Deshui immediately ordered his troops to seize the moment and press the attack. This time, he threw in several hundred more men.
The puppet soldiers charged again. When they reached the halfway point, the six cannons fell silent.
This was because Fujimura Yōichi, seeing that the remaining artillery shells were running low, forbade Jiang Deshui from using them further, saving the fire support for the subsequent charge of the Imperial Japanese Army company.
Seeing the puppet soldiers rush forward once more while the six cannons remained quiet, the morale of the soldiers of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment soared even higher.
They returned to their positions, unleashing every kind of weapon, light and heavy alike.
Grenade launchers, mortars, heavy machine guns, and light machine guns fired in unison, their concentrated firepower instantly suppressing the charging puppet soldiers once again.
Although the puppet soldiers desperately tried to retaliate, their attempts failed repeatedly; either their mortars were taken out by the opponent's Italian cannon, or their heavy machine gun positions were blown to pieces.
"It's unbelievable. The Eighth Route Army's firepower is so ferocious. This positional warfare of theirs is no weaker than their guerrilla tactics." Looking at the battlefield through his binoculars, Jiang Deshui was utterly shocked.
He even began to wonder: when Fujimura Yōichi's company eventually went over, would they be any match for these people?
Through his binoculars, Fujimura Yōichi observed the scene of the puppet soldiers being pinned down by suppressive fire, and his expression turned grim.
In his imagination, the Eighth Route Army was merely a rabble skilled only in guerrilla warfare.
They would fight when they could win, and run when they couldn't.
By compressing their operational space and forcing them into positional warfare, Fujimura Yōichi had expected to exploit their weaknesses with his own strengths.
Yet now that the Eighth Route Army displayed their proficiency in positional warfare, Fujimura Yōichi realized, much to his surprise, that they were remarkably adept at it as well.
The placement of heavy and light machine guns was ingeniously coordinated, leaving no dead angles in the firing arcs.
Grenade launchers and mortars provided dedicated fire support, specifically targeting the puppet soldiers' fire support nodes.
They even possessed an Italian cannon; whenever a target could not be eliminated by mortars or grenade launchers, it was resolved by the Italian cannon.
"Company Commander, the commander of these Eighth Route Army troops must be a veteran of defensive warfare," a squad leader remarked to Fujimura Yōichi.
"Undoubtedly. A novice would not possess such capability," Fujimura Yōichi nodded. "Who would have thought such talent existed among the Eighth Route Army?"
"Company Commander, should we request more reinforcements from the Battalion Commander?" the squad leader inquired.
"Never underestimate the combat effectiveness of the Imperial soldiers," Fujimura Yōichi said with considerable confidence. "Do not forget, we once crushed an entire regiment of Lao Jiang's forces on the battlefield. No matter how formidable the Eighth Route Army's combat power is, there is still a significant gap between them and Lao Jiang's armies. Even though their weapons and ammunition have improved, have you noticed? Their marksmanship is not all that accurate, and their use of grenade launchers and mortars lacks proficiency. That Italian cannon, however, poses a considerable threat; not a single shell misses its mark. As long as we first knock out their critical firepower points, relying on the combat proficiency of the Imperial soldiers, tearing through their defense line will not be a problem."
"Tell Jiang Deshui that I have seen through the Eighth Route Army's firepower completely. He can order that pack of trash under his command to pull back," Fujimura Yōichi instructed. "Next, the Imperial company will go up, and his soldiers will follow behind."
"Yes!" The squad leader hurried away to relay the order.
Upon hearing that Fujimura Yōichi had ordered a retreat, Jiang Deshui unhesitatingly commanded his men to fall back.
The puppet soldiers, previously suppressed by the Eighth Route Army, immediately scrambled away.
"Old Li, the puppet soldiers have retreated." Kong Jie looked through his binoculars at the battlefield and said, "Next, I reckon the Japanese company will launch a direct assault."
"The Japanese have formidable combat capabilities," Li Yunlong nodded, saying, "Just now, that little devil Fujimura Yōichi definitely got a clear look at our firepower positions. When they attack next, he will surely target our Italian cannon, mortars, and heavy machine guns first."
"Then let's relocate our firepower points right away and execute our second contingency plan," Kong Jie suggested.
"Right, shift the firing points immediately," Li Yunlong agreed, raising his binoculars to look once more toward the six artillery pieces.
Those six cannons were positioned behind the Japanese and traitors. With the Japanese and traitors forming a barrier between the New First Regiment and the artillery, capturing them would not be easy.
Li Yunlong could not help but think of Wu泽 again in his mind.
Wu泽 ought to be helping him deal with these Japanese and traitors, or perhaps find a way to help him capture those six cannons.
Yet, why hasn't he shown up by now?