bookrandom Chapter 249: The Japs are setting a trap for us to fall into. I won't be fooled! 3-word chapter
Chapter 249: The Japs are setting a trap for us to fall into. I won't be fooled! 3-word chapter
The anti-aircraft machine gun company and more than 100 light machine guns were somewhat effective in intercepting the Japanese Zero fighters and dive bombers, but they were powerless against the Type bombers in the sky!
Major General Fujita was very cunning. He set the bombing altitude of the Type 2400 bomber to , which was just beyond the effective range of the anti-aircraft machine guns. This made Lin Zhenhua unaware that the anti-aircraft firepower on the position had no effect at all.
"Yoshi! Start dropping bombs immediately. Fortunately, we only brought large-caliber bombs this time, otherwise we would not be able to destroy the enemy's steel fortifications!"
Under the order of Major General Fujita, eighteen Type 96 bombers began to drop bombs. As the bombs were dropped one after another and landed in the defensive positions of the Independent Regiment, continuous explosions rang out, but the soldiers could not leave their positions because the Japanese infantry had already launched a charge. If they hid in the air-raid shelters now, they would most likely lose their current positions.
Li Yunlong was so angry that he started to curse: "Damn it, the Japanese are so damn accurate in timing that we dare not retreat at all. Fortunately, we have steel fortifications, otherwise our losses would definitely not be small!"
"Shen Quan, Zhang Dashan, pass on my order. Tell the brothers to hold on to our current position. As long as we can withstand this wave of bombing by the devils, we will be safe!"
Li Yunlong's curses were drowned out by the sound of bomb explosions. Only 60% of the Japanese's bombs hit the target in the first round of bombing. Six steel battle positions suffered heavy damage, while other places were not greatly affected. A total of more than a dozen people were killed and wounded in the independent regiment, which swept away Li Yunlong's previous worries.
Major General Fujita looked at the results of the bombing and was very dissatisfied. He decided to take the risk of lowering the bombing altitude, directly descending to an altitude of 1500 meters. Colonel Sasaki also received an order from Major General Fujita to suppress the firepower of the independent regiment's anti-aircraft machine gun company.
The anti-aircraft machine gun company was only equipped with protective shields, and its defense was very weak. It was no match for the Japanese Zero fighter group. The Japanese paid the price of two Zero fighters being shot down, and half of the anti-aircraft firepower of the anti-aircraft machine gun company was completely destroyed.
Major General Fujita seized this favorable window of time and started the second round of bombing. After the second round of bombing was completed, Major General Fujita ordered the fighter group to find a way to destroy all the anti-aircraft firepower of the independent regiment. The anti-aircraft machine gun company had to withdraw from the battle after holding out for more than 20 minutes!
Major General Fujita's third bombing operation did not encounter any obstacles. He risked his life to descend to an altitude of one thousand meters and carried out the final round of bombing. This time the bombing achieved a satisfactory effect. The three rounds of bombing by the two bomber squadrons destroyed about three layers of steel fortifications on the front line of the independent regiment.
Then, ten Type 16 dive bombers of the Japanese appeared and dropped bombs in a row before withdrawing from the battle sequence. Compared with the Type bombers of the Japanese, the Type dive bombers of the Japanese posed a greater threat to the defense position of the independent regiment. Fortunately, the steel fortifications were very strong. Even if they were bombed by large-caliber bombs, % of the fortifications were still not destroyed.
The battle had been going on for more than two hours, and although Junichiro Hatoyama had used all his reserve troops, he still failed to break through the independent regiment's defensive position. In addition to the earthwork that Li Yunlong had used before, Junichiro Hatoyama also arranged two squadrons of soldiers to dig out several hundred meters of tunnel fortifications. It was precisely because of these tunnel fortifications as cover that the Japanese did not suffer too much loss this time, only losing more than 400 people.
"Yoshi! The earthwork is going very well. We only need to dig to 300 meters away from the enemy's defensive position. It's a bit dangerous to be too close. The cunning Li Yunlong may have set up an ambush at the front of the position. We'd better be careful!"
It was precisely because of the support of the tunnel fortifications that the Japanese lay directly in the tunnels and started a shootout with the independent regiment. Although the fight was quite fierce, neither side lost many people and the battle situation fell into a stalemate for a while!
This was a good thing for the independent regiment, but a very bad thing for the devils. If the stalemate continued, the Second Mixed Brigade would not be able to break through the independent regiment's frontline before nightfall.
Seeing that Junichiro Hatoyama had been unable to make a breakthrough, Ichiro Katayama originally planned to ask Colonel Miyata to dispatch the heavy artillery. However, when he learned that all the heavy artillery had been destroyed, he sighed deeply. He had no better solution at the moment and could only fight with human lives bit by bit.
Especially after receiving the telegram from Major General Fujita, he understood Li Yunlong's purpose, which was to delay time. In order to allow the headquarters to give him some time, Katayama Ichiro reported the difficulties he encountered to General Tada. General Tada did not listen to Katayama Ichiro's one-sided words and immediately sent a telegram to Major General Fujita. After learning that Katayama Ichiro's words were true, he agreed to give Katayama Ichiro more time.
Because of this, Katayama Ichiro did not order Junichiro Hatoyama to attack, but maintained the current intensity of the attack and continued to delay time. With the departure of Major General Fujita, the battle this morning ended. Considering that the bomber group could not carry out the bombing mission again in the afternoon, Katayama Ichiro stopped the attack plan, which was just right for the soldiers to have a good rest. After all, the soldiers were very tired after several days of fighting, and they could take this opportunity to recover their physical strength!
Li Yunlong and Lin Zhenhua did not expect that the Japanese would stop the attack so early and withdraw from the tunnel fortifications. This made the two of them feel a slight sense of crisis. They always felt that Junichiro Hatoyama was planning something bad, and the problem lay in the tunnel fortifications of several hundred meters.
"Old Li, the Japanese gave up the tunnel fortifications so generously without leaving any troops. I think there must be an ambush inside. We must be extremely careful about this!" Lin Zhenhua said with a worried look on his face.
Li Yunlong nodded in agreement and said, "College student, I share the same view as you on this matter. The Japanese devils definitely have no good intentions and have deliberately dug a trap, waiting for us to jump into it! If we don't fall for it, I want to see what other tricks the Japanese devils have to use."
"Since the Japanese are not planning to attack, we should hurry up and repair the defensive fortifications on the position and replace all the steel plates that need to be replaced. It will only take a few hours to complete!"
Lin Zhenhua, however, looked at the tunnel fortifications left by the Japanese and fell into deep thought. He was afraid that this was an empty city tactic played by the Japanese, so he thought it would be better to give it a try.
"Old Li, no matter what tricks the Japanese are planning, I think we should fire a few shots at their tunnel fortifications. That way I'll feel more at ease!"
Li Yunlong did not stop Lin Zhenhua's approach. He also felt that this was safer. The two called Wang Chengzhu over and ordered the Second Artillery Company to choose a suitable position and mobilize 18 artillery pieces to bombard the Japanese's tunnel fortifications!
However, after ten minutes of bombardment, the effect was not obvious. Lin Zhenhua directly used the heavy artillery in his hands. After several trajectory corrections, he finally fired the shell into the tunnel fortification. Then a violent explosion sounded, which directly detonated the explosives buried by Junichiro Hatoyama. The shock wave generated by the explosion directly blew up the barbed wire that was relatively close, which made Lin Zhenhua and Li Yunlong's eyelids twitch.
"Old Li, the Japs are so damn cunning. If we send troops into the tunnels, we will fall into their trap. Fortunately, we are more cautious. It seems that we can't be careless in the battle against the Japs!"
Li Yunlong replied with a gloomy face: "College student, I have a hunch that the Japanese intend to fight a long war with us, and want to use up our troops bit by bit. If we really drag it on, we may not be able to outlast the Japanese. The Japanese fighter planes in the sky are too troublesome, and we have basically lost all our anti-aircraft firepower. Facing the Japanese fighter planes, we are now powerless to fight back. The Japanese have gained absolute air supremacy on the battlefield!"
Lin Zhenhua had no good solution for this. The air defense force suffered heavy losses this time, with only more than 80 people able to continue fighting. Even if they were all equipped with anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns, they could not stop the sudden attack of the Japanese aircraft group. If things went wrong, even this few people might not be able to be saved. Lin Zhenhua could only harden his heart and stop the air defense counterattack!
"Lao Li, at this point, we can't hold on any longer. I plan to let Sanwazi retreat to the rear to rest, and the air defense forces won't be allowed to participate in the next battle. The air defense forces lost 14% of their strength, but they shot down a total of Japanese fighter planes in two days. The Japanese pilots have experienced two bloody battles and have grown rapidly. Today they lost two fewer planes than yesterday. But in comparison, our air defense firepower has not weakened, but has been strengthened. As a result, we achieved this record, which is exactly what I said before, nine out of ten anti-aircraft guns will fail. From now on, we can only rely on us to hold on!"
Li Yunlong knew this was the truth, and the air defense forces had suffered heavy casualties today, so he nodded in agreement. Just at this time, the kitchen staff brought the food up, and Li Yunlong immediately invited everyone to eat, and after eating, he had to clean up the trenches.
"College student, I think we can launch a night attack tonight. The Japanese have no heavy artillery, so this is our chance. I plan to use six anti-aircraft guns and six 105mm heavy artillery, plus two tanks and two armored vehicles to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese. Even if we cannot capture the Japanese camp in the end, as long as we can consume a large number of their manpower, it will be of great benefit to us!"
"The gap in strength between us and the Japanese is too big. If we don't find a way to weaken the Japanese, it will be really hard to defend this position. Fortunately, you dealt with the Japanese heavy artillery today, otherwise our losses today would be very large, and the fortifications on the position would be destroyed by the Japanese heavy artillery. With one strength decreasing, we may not be able to defeat the Japanese!"