Chapter 60: The Great Victory at Pingxing Pass 2
Although the 348th Regiment was originally assigned to cooperate with the 685th Regiment in sniping at Pingxingguan, the mission of the Japanese 21st Brigade's reinforcements, when Commander Lin saw the equipment of the 348th Regiment, he wisely adjusted it to join the attack on the enemy convoy. After all, the large number of shotguns equipped by the entire regiment would be very advantageous in close combat, and the assault team composed of submachine guns, pistols, and big knives was simply a killer in close combat. This kind of troop is simply wasted if sent to snipe at the enemy's reinforcements.
Moreover, the engineer battalion brought out the most precious explosives from their storage, and made ten electrically detonated landmines, spaced 15 meters apart, each loaded with 20 kilograms of black gunpowder or 10 kilograms of yellow explosive. Then they sprinkled a large amount of small stones on top. It was simply a nightmare for the enemy to recall. And considering the terrain around Pingxingguan Highway, which is densely covered with stones, it was very convenient to hide these electrically detonated landmines.
However, what made Lin Shuai even more astonished was the large iron barrel with a caliber of 400-500 mm, also known as the "Heavenly Thunder Cannon" or "Cruel Cannon", which was notorious during the Liberation War. With a range of 50 to 100 meters, it fired 30 kg shells, 20 kg of propellant wrapped around a spherical explosive package, and up to 10 kg of stones. Lin Shuai was utterly astonished by the thought of such a massive object falling from the sky and exploding amidst the enemy's ranks in an astonishing scene.
A massive black shadow descended from the sky with a whistling sound, and the intense explosion shook the Japanese hiding under the car to the point of dizziness. Then, small stones imbued with great kinetic energy by the explosive blast flew out rapidly from the black smoke cloud, creating unparalleled slaughter and bloodshed among the enemy ranks. Lin Shuai thought to himself, "How could Gaoquan come up with such a powerful weapon?" At the same time, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the miserable Japanese: "Who told you to dare invade China? This is your fate!"
The Japanese 21st Brigade, which was fiercely attacking the Pingxingguan front line, suddenly let out a sneeze. Miura Toshizō's whole body felt a chill run down his spine. He tightened the tawny-colored woolen military coat wrapped around him, and his stiff hands still held onto the German 8x Zeiss binoculars, gazing at the Nationalist Army's position in Pingxingguan, which was engulfed in explosions and smoke. The relaxed expression on his face, as well as the disdain hidden deep within, revealed the pampering of the Japanese army during the early stages of the war of resistance.
It's not surprising that Miura Sensuke was spoiled, it's because the 73rd Division easily lost Guangling County at the beginning, and under the pursuit of two Japanese regiments, they collapsed and were unable to fight back, making Miura Sensuke extremely disdainful of the Jin-Sui Army's combat effectiveness. Moreover, with the Nationalist Army resisting step by step, but never launching a surprise attack on the enemy from behind, they had spoiled the Japanese army. Even in their tenacious defense, in the eyes of the Japanese, as long as their artillery and aircraft provided support, they would collapse immediately. Therefore, Miura Sensuke was very happy to calculate the time it took to break through Pingxingguan, even though he had already lost more than 300 men and over a thousand wounded at the pass.
At this moment, Gao Quan has led the troops to rush straight to Lingqiu County along the mountains and valleys in Shanxi Province. According to the battle plan reported by Gao Quan to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, Gao Quan will lead the 349th Regiment Snow Team, as well as the special operations battalion, reconnaissance battalion, guard battalion, artillery battalion and other units under the 116th Brigade, to ambush the enemy reinforcements coming from Yu County, Laiyuan and Lingqiu. However, what Gao Quan did not report was that there were only two Japanese companies with more than 300 people stationed in Lingqiu County.
Because of the successive retreats of the Nationalist Army, they had become accustomed to only defending and not attacking. The Japanese army, with its strong momentum, could not have imagined that there would still be Chinese troops surrounding this invading army attacking Shanxi. They could not have anticipated that more than 20,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers would infiltrate through the gaps between the Japanese army units and penetrate deep into the rear of the occupied territory. And they certainly did not expect someone like Zhang Guoqiang, who was completely unafraid of the Japanese army's powerful combat capabilities, to dare to attack a city!
As a small county town in Shanxi that was not valued, the city wall of Lingqiu had been damaged after hundreds of years of wind and rain, with weeds growing on the broken walls. Most of the walls had collapsed, with broken stones and bricks piled up at the bottom to form a gentle slope of about 30-40 degrees, making it easy to climb. Although this might cause the sound of stone and brick friction leading to collapse, the Japanese army was not concerned. The Japanese army hastily built twelve machine gun emplacements in areas where the city wall had a clear view.
Inside the telescope, a small patrol of Japanese soldiers was clearly visible, as well as those machine gun firing positions made of wood, sandbags and broken stones, which were extremely fragile. The county town of Lingqiu was like a beautiful woman wearing a thin veil, faintly visible in an absolutely beautiful posture, exposed to the 116th Brigade, attracting an unparalleled "romantic interest".
Although the Japanese army had more than 300 people in two squads within the city, and Gao Quan didn't take them seriously, there was also a logistics team from the Japanese 21st Brigade, led by Major Hashimoto Shunsho (the chief of staff is just below the chief of staff, with a high position, often directly leading three or four thousand people in a brigade), with more than 400 good soldiers and horses. In addition, there were also Mongolian puppet troops following the Japanese army's motorcade and mule team. Adding them up, there were more than a thousand people. Gao Quan didn't want to startle the enemy, nor did he want to attack the Japanese army head-on, which would be difficult to swallow in one bite. Then, facing the Japanese army at Pingxingguan, they would be attacked from three directions by the enemy forces at Liyuan and Guangling.
The next morning, a large Japanese army luggage team (the Japanese army's logistics unit at the regimental level, with large luggage belonging to the station and small luggage belonging to food, ammunition, medicine, etc.) set out from the wide-open city gate, forming a long convoy heading towards Pingxingguan Pass.
Gao Quan, on the one hand, informed Lin Shuai Ling Qiu's army through radio that the Japanese army's logistics unit had set out. On the other hand, he began to adjust his troops and prepare for the attack. The heavy rain last night made the officers and soldiers of the 116th Division who were camping outdoors suffer greatly. The pouring rain mixed with an extremely cold air, and the thin military uniforms were soaked through, causing many soldiers to catch a chill. As a result, early in the morning, many soldiers began to feel feverish and catch colds.
However, Gaoquan had already reminded Lin Shuai of the heavy rain at night, and the 687th Regiment did not delay its march due to the rain. They arrived on the battlefield in a timely manner and entered a state of ambush. In addition to one regiment from the 116th Brigade and half an engineer battalion, Lin Shuai now had nearly 17,000 troops under his command. Even if he sent out one regiment to intercept the enemy's reinforcements at Pingxingguan, and another regiment as a reserve force, Lin Shuai still had almost 10,000 troops available to ambush the enemy's convoy and logistics units.
The Xinzhuang Motorcade, which carried a large Japanese army, drove from Pingxingguan to Lingqiu. The so-called Xinzhuang Motorcade was the motorized unit of the Japanese army. Although this type of troop was still in its infancy at the beginning of the war, the Japanese deeply recognized the great tactical value of motorization and the preciousness of such units. Would they be willing to use their precious motorcade to transport supplies? This is not like the wealthy American military; just look at the thin-skinned tanks of the Japanese army to see how stingy they are in terms of land forces!
The Japanese army on one side was a motorized unit of over 1,000 people, and the other side was a logistics unit of about 400-500 people. Both were heading towards their graves at Pingxingguan Pass. In the early morning mist, both units were advancing cautiously along the winding mountain road, which was not very wide, with deep gorges on either side. Neither side dared to let their soldiers take that risk, and at a speed of about 10-15 kilometers per hour, both units continued to advance rapidly towards Pingxingguan Pass.
Last night's heavy rain filled the morning air with a chill, and Hashimoto Shunpei was fortunate enough to get a military overcoat from the large luggage unit preparing for winter combat. He used it to ward off the biting cold that was quietly seeping in through the misty dawn. On the other hand, Shinjō Akiyoshi was unlucky - despite being the commander of the elite motorized unit of the Japanese army, there wasn't a single military overcoat available at the front lines. The cold wind kept blowing into the driver's cabin through the poor-quality doors and windows, his immobile body stiff and cold, seemingly foretelling an unfavorable outcome.
