vrcanaries Chapter 176: Becoming a Thorn in the Kwantung Army
Chapter 176: Becoming a Thorn in the Kwantung Army
The Japanese 108th Division was already stationed in the area near Chengde and mobilized troops to support the Wucheng Independent Mixed nd Brigade.
As a result, the 108nd Independent Mixed Brigade was fine, but the th Division was gone first.
Who is supporting whom?
The news of the division's destruction first reached the Third Front Army of the Kwantung Army.
I doubted the accuracy of the news at the first moment.
How could an entire division be destroyed? And was it destroyed in just one day?
It's impossible, absolutely impossible. We received a request for help from Iwai Torajiro yesterday. The main force of the division is relying on artillery to hold on and wait for help.
How come it disappeared early this morning?
The second battle report arrived, confirming that the main force of the 108th Division was destroyed and the logistical troops suffered heavy losses.
The Rehe area where the division was stationed was easily recaptured by Ding Wei, and the division was almost completely wiped out.
It can be said that blood flowed for thousands of miles.
The division's horses, vehicles, baggage, artillery, and guns were all lost, and the main combat wing was completely wiped out.
The cavalry, infantry, and tank regiments of the Northern Shanxi Column pressed into Rehe and launched an assault on the remaining troops.
The security forces were weak in combat and could not resist at all.
Judging from the current situation, the situation in Rehe will get out of control.
The Kwantung Army Headquarters was shocked!
This was like a magnitude 3 or earthquake, sweeping across all the divisions within the Kwantung Army, especially the rd Front Army responsible for the Rehe area, which was hit hardest.
The Pangjiabao area was a bloody mess, with scattered Japanese soldiers' bodies and guns and bullets thrown in the mud everywhere.
Even the Jinbei Column, which was good at cleaning up the battlefield, started scratching its head.
More than 3,000 soldiers were arranged to stay behind, and tens of thousands of people were recruited to help.
They spontaneously used carts to help push and transport wounded soldiers and deal with the battlefield.
The bodies of the Japanese were burned together, and black smoke filled the sky. The captured vehicles, horses, canned food, etc. were transported to the warehouse in the rear, one truck after another.
Gao Qing's First Detachment held its ground outside Wucheng and took over a group of captured personnel. After cleaning them, they brought them to the Wucheng Independent Mixed Second Brigade, either to show off their power or to kill them.
Let them see that the 108th Division that came to support has been destroyed by the Shanxi-North Column.
All the captured cannons, machine guns, and armored vehicles were transported from the vicinity of Wucheng and sent to the Datong Arsenal for repair.
The defenders in the city were in a state of distress, except for the commander of the Second Mixed Brigade, who remained silent.
It seemed that he had also seen his own end.
Their current situation was similar to being surrounded by enemies. The puppet troops in the city kept spreading the news of the defeat of the Japanese division.
Especially seeing the spoils of war and the mountains of supplies seized by the Eighth Route Army with his own eyes, further verified the news of the demise of the 108th Division.
People were in a panic, especially the traitors, who were so nervous that they felt like stones were stuffed in their hearts.
If the Japs are defeated, they will definitely be liquidated.
The Eighth Route Army treated prisoners well, so they had to find ways to redeem themselves from their crimes and earn meritorious service in exchange for being treated well.
The more afraid a person is of death, the more nervous he becomes when faced with the threat of death.
The more I think about how to find a way to survive.
They now have two choices. One is to follow the Japanese to the end, guard Wucheng, and stay outside the city.
The second was to find a way to get in touch with the Eighth Route Army, support their attack, and seek lenient treatment.
Originally, most people chose the former. After all, there were still three to five thousand Japanese troops, and the idea that the Japs were invincible was deeply rooted in people's minds.
Today is different. The destruction of the 108th Division swept across the northwest region, the Kwantung Army, and the North China Expeditionary Army like a storm.
This was the destruction of an entire division, which was extremely rare on the Chinese battlefield.
If we were fighting the Allied forces in the Pacific battlefield, it would be understandable that the enemy had strong firepower and the troops suffered heavy casualties.
How could a mere inferior Chinese army, a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers, quickly wipe out the Type B division of the Japanese?
Let the news fly for a while.
The victory at Pangjiabao was so unbelievable even within the Eighth Route Army that they could not accept it for a while, let alone the Japanese and the National Army.
The 3rd Front Army's general, Hou Gongjun, wanted to confirm the news as soon as possible and arranged for reconnaissance planes to patrol the combat site.
How to describe the Japanese pilots? An idiom suddenly came to my mind: "terrible".
You can see the devastation on the battlefield and a large number of Japanese soldiers' bodies being burned.
There were more than a dozen burning mass graves, emitting black smoke, which wafted onto the plane with the smell of human scum.
They wanted to get close for reconnaissance, but were forced back by anti-aircraft guns. There was an anti-aircraft unit lying in ambush in the mountains to cooperate with the tank regiment's operations.
These troops were resting in the mountains, especially the tank regiment, which had lost a batch of tanks and was directly replenished with more than a dozen tanks.
After being repaired, the damaged tanks were able to continue fighting.
The artillery regiment seized the most spoils, and Wang Chengzhu obtained a large number of artillery pieces.
I am considering expanding the artillery regiment. In addition to the howitzer regiment, I will form a standard field artillery regiment.
After all, Ding Wei took out more than 20 cannons at once, all of which were 76mm field guns and 122mm howitzers.
Soviet artillery is sturdy and has good range and firepower.
The artillery played an indispensable role in our ability to quickly defeat the Japanese division.
If the artillery fire had not been in place, the tank regiment would not have been able to charge so recklessly, and Zhang Dabiao would not have been able to quickly divide the enemy forces.
In modern warfare, artillery is the key.
Zhang Dabiao forgot another thing. Zhang Renjie served as the captain of the commando team, but he was killed by a heavy machine gun as soon as he left the trench.
Afterwards, his identity was confirmed by the Soviet-style watch on his arm during the military uniform, as the part above the chest was unrecognizable.
"We should deal with it as it should be, and handle it impartially. It's a pity that he died on the way to the charge. After all, he was good at large-scale mechanized combat."
Ding Wei didn't take it seriously. His own men had lost two or three thousand men, and Zhang Renjie was nothing.
To use his famous saying, there is no war without sacrifice. We should give full play to our army's bayonet tactics and dare to fight and fight hard.
Use his sacrifice to inspire comrades to charge bravely, report to the headquarters, and then arrange for other political commissars to come.
The Third Detachment is the largest, so it is indeed time to assign a political commissar to Zhang Dabiao. We can also consider arranging Zhao Gang to come and work with Zhang Dabiao.
Take root in the Rehe line, stabilize the Chicheng and Luanping lines, and defend the Yanshan base.
"The Third Detachment fought well this time and showed the temper of the Jinbei Column. I, Ding Wei, am not a stingy person. I will allocate 20 Soviet tanks to you, plus a field artillery battalion."
Da Biao immediately smiled, as he had been staring at that batch of Soviet tanks for a long time.
The Soviet Union provided support with two divisions of Soviet weapons, truck artillery, and two light tank companies.
The T26 tank is equipped by the second-line troops. Overall, it is a level stronger than the Japanese Type 95 tank.
This light tank is reliable and easy for troops to maintain, making it very suitable for the Chinese army with poor armor levels.
Although it became obsolete early on in the European battlefield, it was also a level weaker than the Japanese Type 97 medium tank, with both weak armor and firepower.
No matter who you compare your scores with, it will definitely be fun for the Eighth Route Army.
Looking at Zhang Dabiao’s grinning mouth, you can tell how happy he is.
The current size of the Third Brigade is enough to be considered as a separate field column.
After the tank company and field artillery battalion are fully trained and the troops have rested, we can consider pulling out the third detachment to form a separate column.
Da Biao is a talented person and worthy of Ding Wei's training.