usatvline Chapter 673: As long as we get two more battalions of new recruits, I will have the confidence to ho
Chapter 673: As long as we get two more battalions of new recruits, I will have the confidence to ho
The lights were on in the temporary command post for the counterattack at Niangzi Pass. Miyamoto Ichiro and Asano Ichiro saw for the first time how difficult Li Yunlong was and how powerful the independent regiment was. In just three days, they suffered casualties of one and a half brigades, plus two complete pseudo-army divisions.
The huge casualties made the two men put aside their contempt for Li Yunlong, and also made them realize how ridiculous they had been before. They took the initiative to admit their mistakes to Yoshio Shinozuka and asked for more assistance.
"Asano-kun, the commander has not responded yet. I believe he will not act rashly at this time. If we cannot take down Niangzi Pass, the commander will not be able to report to the headquarters. Not to mention that Niangzi Pass is the gateway to Taiyuan City. If we cannot take it down, the counterattack on Taiyuan City will be an empty talk!"
"Your Excellency the Commander absolutely cannot bear such a huge responsibility. Taiyuan City is related to the safety of the Zhengtai Line. A long-term railway interruption will bring huge material pressure to the attacking troops in the front. The headquarters will never sit idly by!"
"What really worries me is how to smash the turtle shell of Niangzi Pass. Li Yunlong also suffered a lot of casualties when he attacked Niangzi Pass before. It will definitely not be an easy task for us to take Niangzi Pass from Li Yunlong who has sufficient troops."
"We don't have the strength to fight the enemy for a long time. As the weather gets colder, our supply will soon become a problem. Once the soldiers don't get enough rest and food, there will be large-scale non-combat casualties, and there is a greater possibility of a large-scale rout!"
"I propose that we intensify the attack on Niangzi Pass tomorrow, put all the remaining troops in our hands into action, and adopt a rotation-based approach. We must recapture Niangzi Pass and the main position at all costs!" Miyamoto Ichiro proposed with gritted teeth.
Asano Ichiro put down the sake in his hand, drank the wine in the glass, and replied calmly: "Miyamoto-kun, I don't think there is any need to be too anxious. The more anxious you are, the easier it is to reveal your flaws! Li Yunlong has not had a good time these two days, and the casualties are also very heavy. As long as we maintain the current offensive rhythm, Li Yunlong can only hold out for another day at most, and then he will face the situation of annihilation of the whole army."
"What we should really consider now is how to block the enemy's reinforcements. Yamamoto Ikki is no longer reliable. He has been besieged in the Pingding Gold Mine and cannot help us at all."
"The real threat to us is the enemy's fresh troops. We should let the air force destroy the enemy's ammunition and supplies and intercept the enemy's reinforcements. There is no need to seize air supremacy on the battlefield. Moreover, we cannot seize it in a short period of time. The troops still have to endure the bombing!"
"But I have already thought of a solution, which is to send out suicide squads one after another to fight the enemy in close combat. The enemy's air force will not dare to launch an attack at this time. Even if the enemy has an air advantage, we don't need to be afraid, because we have countermeasures!"
After an in-depth exchange of views, the two men once again reached a consensus and prepared to reduce the intensity of the attack and fight a war of attrition with the defenders of Niangzi Pass bit by bit. This was exactly what Li Yunlong wanted!
The attack on the position weakened a lot, allowing Li Yunlong to finally sleep and rest. The night attack of the devils lasted all night, but did not achieve much results. On the contrary, the independent regiment recaptured two high grounds.
After daybreak, the two sides started a fierce battle for the heights. After two hours, the two heights were recaptured by the Japanese.
"College student, something is wrong with the Japanese today. There are only three battalions of Japanese who really came to attack, and the rest are all puppet troops. Could it be that the Japanese are short of troops? Otherwise, when they have an advantage in troops, the Japanese shouldn't reduce the intensity of their attack, which will only make the battle more stalemate! Any normal commander will not do this, unless something unexpected happens to the Japanese!"
Li Yunlong put down the binoculars in his hand and said in confusion: "College student, I plan to send two companies of troops to launch a counterattack to see how the Japanese react. What do you think of my proposal?"
Lin Zhenhua stood up from the artillery observation equipment, carefully adjusted the equipment, focused on observing the situation in the enemy camp, and arranged a small team of transport planes to fly over the enemy camp for observation. After obtaining accurate intelligence, he replied meaningfully: "The Japanese are really cunning. They secretly let some of them change into puppet army clothes. They are trying to make the fake look real!"
"As long as we accept the surrender of the puppet army, the Japanese will follow the puppet army to our position. As long as we pay a little price, we can successfully seize our position. Their intentions are extremely vicious!"
"If we didn't have enough intelligence and reconnaissance means to see through the devil's conspiracy, we might have really fallen into the devil's conspiracy and put our troops in danger!"
"Old Li, tell the soldiers to increase their firepower. No matter if they are the devils or the puppet army, they should be treated equally. Anyone who dares to attack our Niangziguan position is our enemy. There is no need to treat them differently!"
"College student, I agree with your suggestion. We have to be more ruthless when dealing with the enemy. Let the Japanese see how powerful the independent regiment is, so that they won't think about our position every day. We have to hurt them this time!"
Under the orders of Lin Zhenhua and Li Yunlong, all the firepower at hand was used to launch a fierce counterattack against the Japanese. Booming explosions rang out one after another. Even the Air Force Regiment came over to join the battle, inflicting huge casualties on the Japanese and puppet troops.
The Japanese were very unwilling to give up and launched wave after wave of attacks. The two sides fought fiercely until 6:30 in the evening. After four consecutive days of high-intensity fighting, the soldiers on both sides were exhausted. Many soldiers lay down on the battlefield and fell asleep after the battle. Seeing this, Lin Zhenhua felt very distressed.
"College student, our losses today are also very heavy. We have lost four battalions of troops. Counting the fresh troops of two battalions, we only have two battalions left that can really fight. Fortunately, Lao Zhao has arranged air transport. As long as we can get two more battalions, we can hold on until the new regiment arrives!"