bookrandom Chapter 240 If I had built a fortress before, I wouldn't have to feel so frustrated! 1-characte
Chapter 240 If I had built a fortress before, I wouldn't have to feel so frustrated! 1-characte
When Ichiro Katayama received the telegram from Colonel Sasaki, he already knew that it was impossible to take the independent regiment's defensive position this morning. He did not continue fighting foolishly, but asked the artillery regiment to provide artillery cover to help the attacking infantry retreat.
It was because he gave the order in time that greater losses were avoided. By the time the Anti-Aircraft Company 1 joined the battle, most of the Japanese had withdrawn from the front. The remaining small group suffered heavy losses, with only two squads surviving.
Junichiro Hatoyama bowed and apologized with a frustrated look on his face: "Commander, we suffered heavy casualties in this morning's attack. If it weren't for the fighter planes in the air, we really couldn't hold on. We would definitely be able to capture the Chinese army's position! I have failed the trust of the commander, and I ask the commander to punish me!"
Ichiro Katayama did not punish him. He knew that Junichiro Hatoyama had tried his best. Even if he was in that position, he could not do better. After all, no one had expected that the fortifications built by the Chinese army would be so strong. Fortunately, most of the fortifications had been destroyed, and it would be much easier to attack in the afternoon.
"Hatoyama-kun, one failure is nothing. Report the casualties immediately!"
Junichiro Hatoyama reported in a tone as weak as an eggplant hit by frost: "Brigade Commander, in this morning's attack, we suffered more than 2200 infantry casualties, including 1600 killed, 200 slightly injured, and more than 400 seriously injured. Now the brigade can use about 3500 infantry for the attack. The casualties of the artillery regiment today are not too heavy, with a total loss of more than 20 artillery pieces and about 600 casualties! The two tank squadrons suffered the biggest losses. Except for the two logistics support teams, the rest were all destroyed!"
Katayama Ichiro had expected that the casualties this morning would not be small, but he did not expect them to be so serious. He said in a bleak tone: "I never thought that we would suffer casualties of three and a half battalions today. It seems that we have underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army before! However, even though we have the advantage in firepower, we still have such heavy casualties. Then the casualties of our enemy, the independent regiment, must not be small either!"
"Originally, when it was afternoon, I was planning to slow down and wait until tomorrow to launch the attack! Now it seems that we can't wait any longer. No matter how hot the weather is, we have to find a way to overcome it. Otherwise, once the Chinese army's reinforcements arrive, we will pay a greater price if we want to capture the Chinese army's position!"
Katayama Ichiro immediately contacted Taiyuan Airport and requested to send fighter jets in the afternoon to provide air fire support for the attacking troops, but he did not receive a reply, which made him feel depressed. But just in case, he still ordered all troops to take time to rest and prepare for the attack in advance!
Inside the command post of the independent regiment's frontline, Lin Zhenhua and Li Yunlong each drank a bowl of mung bean soup, and ate it with black-faced steamed buns and pickles. They had really consumed a lot of physical energy from the battle this morning. They had fought until 12 noon, a full four hours, and were already starving.
As soon as the battle ended, the kitchen team brought up the food. Li Yunlong immediately arranged for the soldiers to eat. It was extremely hot in the morning. If it weren't for the mung bean soup, people would have been stricken by the heat!
Lin Zhenhua took a bite of the steamed bun, chewed it quickly for a few times, and swallowed it down with the mung bean soup. He said with a melancholy tone: "Old Li, this morning's battle really broadened my horizons. It was so frustrating for us to fight this battle. I had heavy artillery but I didn't dare to use it. I was always suppressed by the damn Japanese devils. It was so hard to breathe!"
"The heavy artillery on the position has been basically lost. The remaining one will also need to be dismantled soon, otherwise it will become a trophy of the Japanese. If we dismantle it now, it will be just in time for the counterattack. This means we have lost all the heavy artillery. When the Japanese use heavy artillery to bombard our position in the afternoon, we will have no way to stop it and can only withstand it with our flesh and blood!"
Li Yunlong also replied with a grim expression: "This morning's battle also made me understand a truth. Although our independent regiment has heavy artillery, the artillery under our command is not up to standard. Today's artillery battle with the Japanese devils has taught me a vivid lesson. Compared with the Japanese devils, our artillery level is not a little bit worse. The mortars are better, and even the Type 75 infantry guns are about the same. But the real gap is the artillery above mm!"
"Wang Chengzhu and his gang suffered from their lack of education. Asking them to calculate a trajectory is like asking them to die. They didn't take it seriously, but once they got to the real battlefield, they showed their true colors one by one! If the Japanese hadn't taken Zhuzi and his gang seriously at the beginning, we wouldn't have been able to save our heavy artillery today. To be honest, the artillery position you built before was really solid. If we hadn't been short of cement later and were busy transporting weapons and ammunition, we should have listened to you and built a solid fortress directly, then we wouldn't be so frustrated like today!"
Lin Zhenhua also sighed with a melancholy face, "It doesn't mean that once you enter the artillery camp, you will become a real artilleryman. Wang Chengzhu and his men are still far from being real artillerymen! This is why artillerymen are more valuable than infantrymen. They have higher cultural requirements and need to know some physics and mathematics. Otherwise, except for those who are highly talented and born to do this job, others have to learn from scratch honestly and cannot afford to be perfunctory or lazy!"
"This incident has sounded a wake-up call for us. After this battle is over, I plan to organize an artillery training class. We will never start a class until we reach our goal. Zhuzi and his gang of bastards must be properly trained. We must not lower our standards for them, otherwise it will only hurt others and ourselves!"
Li Yunlong also nodded in agreement and said, "College student, I will set up a literacy class for our independent regiment after we go back. You are also allowed to select people from the entire regiment to train a group of capable artillery troops as soon as possible. As we have more and more artillery in the future, artillery will become our most scarce technical branch. The brigade commander can't give us any help in this regard. We can only rely on ourselves for everything!"
"And the Japs' fighter planes. Relying solely on anti-aircraft guns for air defense is not very useful. We fought for so long this morning before we shot down six Japs' fighter planes. We wasted a lot of ammunition, but we didn't achieve much. Fortunately, I listened to your advice and didn't pull out all the anti-aircraft battalions. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for us to hold our positions today. One anti-aircraft battalion needs two battalions to carry ammunition. This anti-aircraft battle is really not easy to fight!"
Just as Li Yunlong was about to continue speaking, Shen Quan came over with a frustrated look on his face. He reported in a heavy tone, "Commander, a total of five and a half battalions of us participated in the battle this morning. The casualties were very heavy, with a total of 3200 casualties, including more than 1800 killed, more than 200 seriously injured, and more than 1100 slightly injured. There are more than 2300 people who can continue to participate in the battle, including all the slightly injured. Now we only have three battalions of troops available for defense. If we remove the slightly injured, there will be less than two battalions of troops left!"
Although he had expected the number of casualties to be very large, this number still scared Li Yunlong. Four battalions suffered casualties in just the morning, and all the reserve troops were mobilized. This really made Li Yunlong panic.
You must know that this time, except for two garrison battalions of the base, Li Yunlong used up all the reserve troops. Once the front line position could not be defended and was broken through by the Japanese, the gate of the entire base would be open to the Japanese. The two garrison battalions responsible for guarding the safety of the base were relatively scattered, and the garrison troops at various key points could not even withstand the attack of a Japanese squadron. If the Japanese really took over the current defensive position, the consequences would be disastrous.
It is for this reason that Li Yunlong said solemnly: "College students, we no longer have a reserve force, and the second line of defense is useless. Now the second line of defense has only one company of soldiers, which can't stop the Japanese army at all. No matter how much it costs, we must defend the gate of the base. As long as we defend this place, the Japanese will never be able to enter our base!"
"Compared to the huge pressure we are under here, the situation over there is much better. The Japs have put together a regiment and have already launched an attack on Lao Zhao's defensive position this morning. In addition, the Japs' fighter planes have been keeping a close eye on us. Lao Zhao and his men used anti-aircraft guns to deal a heavy blow to the Japs. This morning, they only suffered less than half a battalion of casualties, but they have fought off several attacks of the Japs in succession. I have already called them and asked them to find a way to squeeze out half a battalion, which will greatly reduce our defensive pressure!"
"Before, I have been trying to avoid a war of attrition with the Japs, but the damn Japs only want a quick victory. However, the weather is quite hot today. I am sweating profusely in just a short while. If it continues to be this hot, the Japs can only launch an attack at night. In the afternoon, they can only fire a few shells at most to destroy our fortifications!"
Lin Zhenhua took a look at Li Yunlong's eyes and immediately understood his idea. He assured confidently: "Old Li, the arsenal is cutting the steel plates. They will deliver the steel plate parts tonight. I will personally lead people to cast and install the anchor bolts. By the evening, they will definitely not be delayed in use!"
"With a simple anti-aircraft position, we can not only protect against bullets and shrapnel, but also effectively reduce the casualties of soldiers. This time, I have increased the thickness of the armored steel and plan to combine several pieces to reinforce it firmly. Next, we will fight the Japanese bit by bit! If there is any suitable opportunity at night, we will use heavy artillery to beat the Japanese and vent the humiliation we suffered during the day!"
"Anyway, we have the base behind us, so we have no shortage of food and ammunition. The longer it takes, the better it is for us. I want to see how long the Japs can last!"