bookrandom Chapter 545 As long as we can capture two high grounds, we can win even if it means attrition!
Chapter 545 As long as we can capture two high grounds, we can win even if it means attrition!
The armored regiment's march during the day went very smoothly, without encountering any harassment from the Japanese air force, and arrived at Liangjia Pass at 11: p.m. Li Yunlong originally planned to order the troops to pass through Liangjia Pass directly, but a huge rock fell at the pass, blocking the armored regiment's way, forcing Li Yunlong to order the troops to stop marching and temporarily station outside the pass to rest.
"College student, the stone that the Japanese made is not small. If we want to blow it up by blasting, is it difficult?" Li Yunlong asked seriously.
Lin Zhenhua looked at the size of the stone, shook his head unconsciously, and replied solemnly: "The stone is too big. It is very difficult to blast it completely. In addition, we need to clean up the rubble from the blasting, which will take a huge amount of time. We must first build high ground on both sides. Only in this way can we have time to complete the stone cleaning work."
"We will probably have to wait a day. This matter cannot be rushed. The only solution is to mobilize all our fighters. Let the dive bombers drop bombs on the boulders. The Fatso ground attack planes and Lightning fighters will be responsible for providing fire support for the ground forces' attack. No matter what the cost, we must take the high ground on both sides before 12 noon tomorrow. Only in this way can we completely clear the rubble before the morning of the day after tomorrow."
"As long as we can clear a passable road, we can pass the entire pass in two hours. After passing the pass, it will be really flat. It will only take three days for us to return to the base, and maybe we can catch up with the summer harvest."
Zhao Gang felt that delaying for a day was acceptable, and said with full approval: "College student, the solution you gave is very reliable. If we want to pass Liangjia Pass tonight, it will be harder than climbing to the sky."
"Under the cover of night, let's place the explosives next to the boulder and destroy it bit by bit, so that we can save a lot of trouble tomorrow. I just looked at the height of the peaks on both sides, which are only more than 100 meters high. The difficulty of attacking is not particularly great. The real difficulty is the bombing of the dive bombers. The two peaks are only 50 meters apart. The bombing of the dive bombers must not be interfered with in any way. We must take down the two high grounds occupied by the devils before the dive bombers drop their bombs."
"According to the intelligence sent by the reconnaissance team, the enemy's troops stationed on the two highlands add up to only three squadrons. I think with the strength of our armored regiment, it will be absolutely no problem to capture the two highlands in one morning."
Li Yunlong was not as optimistic as Zhao Gang. With a distance of more than 100 meters and the steep mountain, it would be difficult to fight. If there was fire support from air fighters, it would be easier. But even so, the troops would have to pay a huge sacrifice to be able to take the high ground on both sides.
"College student, you are fully responsible for blasting the rock. Lao Zhao will provide full support. Bring me all our explosives. If we don't have enough, we can use artillery shells instead. In short, no matter what the cost, you have to clear this huge rock for me."
"I will be responsible for taking the high ground on both sides. I promise to occupy both high grounds before 12 noon tomorrow and annihilate all three Japanese squadrons stationed at Liangjia Pass."
"We must clear all the rubble tomorrow afternoon, and the troops must pass through Liangjia Pass before midnight. We cannot delay any longer than one night. I estimate that the Japanese reinforcements will arrive soon, and we must pass through Liangjia Pass before the Japanese reinforcements arrive."
Zhao Gang and Lin Zhenhua had no objection to Li Yunlong's arrangement. Li Yunlong was indeed very capable in military command. The three of them began to get busy with their own affairs, and Lin Zhenhua started to blast the boulder overnight.
Under the cover of darkness, the blasting operation went very smoothly at the beginning, but the Japanese soldiers stationed on the heights on both sides were not fools. After hearing the movement below, they quickly fired flares into the air, and then discovered the soldiers who were blasting. The light and heavy machine guns deployed on the heights on both sides opened fire at the same time, and more than a dozen soldiers who were blasting all died heroically.
Lin Zhenhua slapped his thigh in anger, but he had no choice but to suspend the bombing mission and destroy the boulder after dealing with the Japanese on both sides. Li Yunlong's face became even uglier after hearing the news. He had expected this just now, and even had a fluke. What if it succeeded?
However, the facts did not change because of everyone's fluke mentality. The Japanese soldiers stationed on the two high ground were extremely difficult to deal with. Li Yunlong even asked the monk to lead a small force to launch a sneak attack, but failed to achieve any results and lost a squad of soldiers in vain.
"Captain, the heights on both sides are more than 140 meters above the ground. It is quite difficult for the soldiers to climb up. We must find a foothold on the top of the mountain. Otherwise, even if we mobilize more troops, it will be useless and we will only become sitting ducks for the devils."
"College student, I need you to blast some grooves on the mountain to facilitate our rock climbing. I will lead some soldiers to climb up first and then lower the ropes. The soldiers below can use the ropes and grooves to quickly climb to the top of the mountain. This is the only best way at the moment. The most critical question is, can we blast grooves at a fixed location?"
Lin Zhenhua looked at the simple map drawn by Monk Wei, wrote and drew on the paper for a quarter of an hour, nodded seriously and said: "Monk, give me three hours, I can blow out these 200 grooves. I will use the method of fixed-point detonation and control the amount of explosives. As long as you can deliver the explosives I prepared, I can guarantee that the grooves will be blown out, and it will definitely not delay the offensive operation tomorrow morning."
Monk Wei replied with a look of joy: "College student, as long as you can blast out these grooves, I can guarantee that we will only need two hours to attack the enemy's position tomorrow, and the casualties of the troops will not be particularly large."
Li Yunlong interrupted at the right time and said, "Don't forget our Fat Baby ground attack aircraft. It can suppress the firepower of the devils. It is much more useful than fighter planes. With its help, our early operations are still very safe. As long as the troops can capture the devil's position within two hours, even if the devils fight ten of us, they can't hold the two high ground. Even if we have to fight with consumption, we can still win."
Lin Zhenhua and Wei Heshang acted quickly and spent nearly three hours to install the explosives. After waiting for Wei Heshang to lead his men to evacuate, Lin Zhenhua immediately pressed the detonator switch. Rumbling explosions sounded on the north side of the mountain, and grooves were blown out on the mountain peak. The size of the grooves was not as big as everyone imagined, only a little bigger than a bowl.
After the smoke from the explosion cleared, Lin Zhenhua took a quick look with a flashlight and nodded with satisfaction.
"Monk, logically, we should make the grooves bigger, but I calculated the amount of explosives and felt that it would be too dangerous. It is very likely to destroy part of the mountain structure. The bowl-sized grooves can be used directly for leverage. Let's detonate again later to make the grooves denser, so that more soldiers can climb."
Monk Wei put his fist into the groove, gestured for a while, nodded with satisfaction, and said excitedly: "College student, the size of the groove is very suitable, just enough to put a big foot in it. This kind of groove is very suitable. If it is too big, it will be inconvenient."
Lin Zhenhua and Wei Heshang worked for most of the night and opened more than 500 grooves in total, allowing three soldiers to climb up at the same time. This made Li Yunlong very happy when he heard the news. He was very worried that the troops would not be able to capture the two heights as soon as possible, but with these grooves, the troops' losses would be much smaller.
The night passed quickly. At six o'clock in the morning, the artillery battalion used artillery to bombard the Japanese on both sides of the heights. The heavy mortars bombarded for 45 minutes, scattering the rubble on the top of the mountain.
The Japanese soldiers stationed on the two high ground had never encountered such fierce firepower and were directly stunned. However, the Japanese soldiers' daily training played a big role at this time. The Japanese soldiers soon discovered the flaws and, relying on the terrain advantage, quickly launched a counterattack with the artillery in their hands. A fierce artillery battle broke out between the enemy and us.
The enemy had the advantage of height, and the distance between the two sides was too close, which made the artillery battle between the two sides very tragic. The heavy mortar that Li Yunlong had high hopes for did not play its due power. If it was not just outside the maximum range of the enemy's mortar, the loss this time would have been very serious.
In the close-range mortar duel with the Japanese, the artillery battalion lost the firepower of a light mortar company before it successfully suppressed the Japanese artillery squadron, giving the heavy mortar company a chance to perform.
"Commander, the mountain is covered with rocks. Even if we use heavy mortars, it is still difficult to cause huge casualties to the Japs. The Japs' hiding positions are too tricky and cannot be observed clearly from the ground. If we want to completely suppress the Japs on the two high grounds, we have to send out the Fat Baby to attack the ground. Otherwise, even if we bombard until night, it will be difficult to achieve much results. We will not be able to complete the fire suppression of the Japs, and we will not be able to cover the suicide squad to launch an attack!" Wang Chengzhu reported with a frustrated look on his face.