Chapter 46: I'll kill the chicken to scare the monkey
According to the Security Bureau's report, Kang Fan's three robberies against Japan caused huge losses for the Japanese side. The indemnity from the First Sino-Japanese War alone was one-fourth of what he had robbed. Not only did this cause great indignation among the Japanese people, but it also made a laughing stock of Japan internationally, having an extremely adverse impact on the entire Japanese government and its international image. As a result, several high-ranking Japanese officials either resigned or committed suicide, but even so, they were unable to calm down the angry emotions of various parties at home. The Japanese intelligence agency had already been ordered to take action against Kang Fan, first trying to capture him alive, and if that failed, then killing him directly. This led to the incident where Kang Fan was ambushed in Beijing. After this, the Japanese side organized several more actions targeting Kang Fan, but they all failed under the joint attack of Security Bureau intelligence personnel and Interior Ministry troops, so they did not dare to sneak into Shanxi again. This time, as soon as the Japanese side learned that Kang Fan had come to Tianjin, the Japanese military stationed in the Tianjin Concession would definitely cause trouble.
In fact, the Japanese side's destructive activities against the Tianjin base have never stopped since its establishment. On the one hand, Shanxi took a step ahead and occupied the land that was originally in their sights. On the other hand, it was due to economic interests and resentment towards Kang Fan himself. However, because the base's defense has never been lax, the Japanese side did not gain any advantage. But both sides understand that the conflict will eventually surface. This time, Kang Fan led his troops to Tianjin with the purpose of eliminating the re-established Japanese concession in Tianjin and its intelligence agency, demonstrating military power and training the Shanxi army.
Since its establishment, the Shanxi Army has been executing some sporadic tasks to support local authorities in maintaining social order and suppressing bandits. With the rapid improvement of the social environment in the province, even such opportunities have disappeared. Therefore, a real battle is urgently needed to test the true combat effectiveness of the Shanxi Army.
Kang Fan analyzed that if the Shanxi Army clashes with the Japanese army, Western countries like the United States will intervene to mediate due to their respective interests in China. In this case, the Tianjin base rented by Du Lihong on behalf of the US government would involve the US and Japanese governments, making its relationship with the Qing government less important.
Japan would not dare to go to war with the US easily, as its main enemy is Russia, which competes with Japan for interests in Northeast China. Japan does not have full confidence in defeating Russia, so it cannot afford to affect its war preparations against Russia due to conflicts with the stronger US. As a result, Japan will only negotiate.
Moreover, although the construction of the Shanxi Army's standing army is not yet complete, with its current military strength, it has nothing to fear from the Japanese on land.
The troops brought by Kang Fan were part of the initial 10,000-strong army, with more than 2,000 people. Although they were all infantrymen, they were newly equipped with advanced portable wireless communication equipment and precision optical instruments, which were allocated to each company's duty squad. In particular, the Type 96 sniper rifle, Type 96 machine gun, and 82 recoilless cannon were all fitted with 6x magnification optical sights, and high-precision large-caliber artillery sights and rangefinders were also equipped for the artillery units, greatly improving the long-range precision strike capability of these weapons.
The security bureau's working group sent to Tianjin arranged for Kang Fan to live on the 5th floor of the Tianjin base office building, which is also the highest level. The guards were arranged separately on the 5th and 4th floors to provide protection. All the Jin army officers and soldiers who came together were stationed in the expanded base camp, ready to respond at any time. Under such strict protection, the Japanese side's multiple assassination attempts against Kang Fan all ended in failure, losing several special agents' lives in vain.
After completing the combat preparations, Kang Fan launched a long-planned counter-Japanese operation, codenamed "Heavy Hammer", while entrusting Duonowan to carry the evidence of destruction obtained from the Japanese side against the Tianjin base and report to the US embassy.
Operation Heavy Fist began with a raid on the Japanese military intelligence agency, strongly unfolding and luring the Japanese army to take the initiative to attack. If the Japanese army didn't fall for it, then the Jin army would have gained an advantage. But Kang Fan understood that the arrogant Japanese army wouldn't let this opportunity pass, even if they didn't have enough evidence, they would still provoke a conflict with the Jin army as revenge, and now they had this perfect excuse?
At midnight on March 5, 1900, a group of Jin army scouts and a working group from the Security Bureau infiltrated the Japanese concession area and launched a surprise attack on the Japanese intelligence agency's office building in the center of the concession area. They quickly eliminated this evil Japanese military intelligence agency and blew up the three-story brick and wood structure before withdrawing.
As expected, at dawn, the Japanese army first launched a cannon attack on the Tianjin base, without considering whether it was a military or civilian facility, and brutally bombarded it wildly. The 24 82 field guns of the Jin Army, which had been waiting in the base, immediately gave a fierce counterattack to the Japanese artillery position. The 82 field gun has a brand new concept of recoil/counter-recoil system, with stable, fast and accurate shooting, a firing rate of up to 20 rounds/min, and a range of over 10 kilometers. Moreover, at this time, the Jin Army had begun to use safer, more powerful black powder/trinitrotoluene mixed explosive, which, combined with improvements in shell fuses, structure, shape, materials, high-performance gun steel, high-energy propellant, and precision optical sights, greatly increased the destructive power of the artillery. Before the Japanese artillery could conduct a second round of firing, the Jin Army's artillery fire came pouring down, and the dense and accurate artillery fire immediately covered the entire Japanese artillery position. Kang Fan clearly saw through his binoculars that the Japanese army's limbs, cannon parts, and various objects were bursting out like a volcanic eruption! A few minutes later, the Japanese artillery position was completely destroyed, and not a single shell could be fired back.
The artillery battle was in full swing, and the Japanese army gathered a large number of infantry to launch a fierce human wave attack on the Tianjin base. In the open field, there were dense rows of Japanese soldiers wearing black uniforms and holding long Village-style rifles, like a group of mice that had just crawled out of a chimney, swarming across the ground. However, as soon as they rushed out of the concession area, they were hit by the pre-buried Shanxi army scouts using 99-style line-controlled anti-personnel landmines, causing severe casualties! This new type of anti-personnel landmine was a long, thin iron box bent at a certain angle, weighing 2 kilograms. After being detonated by an igniter through a wire, the explosive on the back of the mine body exploded violently, shooting out 600 steel balls arranged in front of the mine body at a 120-degree angle, effectively killing people within a range of 100 meters. It was a powerful area-killing weapon. Since the Japanese army had just rushed out of the concession and was still far from the Tianjin base, they were not yet in a dispersed formation for charging, but were instead advancing in dense queues. After 22 such landmines exploded one after another, the steel rain instantly knocked down all the Japanese soldiers within the killing range to the ground, with hundreds of Japanese soldiers covered in blood holes and wailing like ghosts, creating a terrifying scene!
After the Japanese army suffered this setback, they did not give up. They retreated to the concession and made a brief adjustment before launching a new round of impact on the Tianjin base. This time they learned their lesson, dispersed early, carefully searched and advanced, and slowed down significantly, giving the Jin Army scouts who ambushed them enough time to escape safely. A squad of scouts returned to the Tianjin base to report the battle situation to Kang Fan without any damage, which made Kang Fan quite satisfied, and this news calmed his restless heart a lot.
The Jin army officers and men stood silently in the newly dug trenches on the outer perimeter of the base. The Type 96 machine guns were all mounted on tripods, in a heavy machine gun state, with the ammunition chain inserted into the barrel, and the neatly arranged yellow-orange machine gun bullets on the chain gleamed in the morning sun. The 82mm mortars had all been set up for firing, and the mortar men held the large-caliber shells with fins, their faces solemn, ready to insert them into the muzzle at any time.
A ranging team behind Kang Fan continuously reported the distance of the Japanese army, the optical rangefinder stretched out in the morning wind, and the black barrel had a solemn feeling: 1 kilometer...800 meters...600 meters...
When the Japanese army approached within 200 meters, Kang Fan waved his hand and shouted: Open fire!
In an instant, the dense machine gun fire rained down like a sickle harvesting wheat, cutting down the Japanese troops in rows. The 82mm mortar shells came down one after another from the sky, and the intense explosions almost overturned the ground under the feet of the Japanese army. The Japanese column was instantly shrouded in fierce flames and smoke, and nothing could be seen.
Seeing this situation, Kang Fan calmly gave the first order to the Jin army's counterattacking force, which had been waiting for a long time: Soldiers, fix bayonets!
The officers and soldiers all pulled out the 96-style military knife from their combat vests, inserted it into the muzzle of the 96-style rifle with a "click", and then all turned to face Kang Fan, waiting for his next command.
Kang Fan stood up straight, holding his own 96 rifle with a 96 military knife attached, and scanned his officers and men with a slight smile: Today, the principal is going to take you to kill Japanese devils, are you afraid?
Don't be afraid! The officers and soldiers were stirred up, their voices shaking the fields.
Kang Fan waved the rifle in his hand, and a fierce look immediately appeared on his face. He suddenly shouted: "Follow me!" Before he finished speaking, he agilely jumped out of the trench and was the first to charge towards the Japanese army that had already fallen into chaos!
The Jin army officers and men immediately let out a majestic roar, rushing out of the bunker in a hurry, taking turns as combat units, and launched a fierce counterattack against this Japanese army.
Kang Fan's personal bravery directly boosted the morale of the Jin army, and the well-trained and well-equipped Jin army soldiers were even more unstoppable! The 96-style machine gun, as the firepower backbone of the infantry battalion, showed excellent performance: this gun can be used as both a light machine gun and a heavy machine gun. With the two-legged tripod connected to the gun body for use as a light machine gun, the gun weighs only 10 kilograms and can be carried by a single soldier for mobile shooting, providing close and continuous firepower support to the infantry battalion, with an effective range of 800 meters; in the state of heavy machine guns using a three-legged tripod, the effective range is 1200 meters. This gun uses a gas-operated automatic principle, a offset bolt closure method, and continuous firing, with a theoretical rate of fire of up to 650 rounds per minute. Moreover, when the barrel is overheated during continuous shooting, the spare barrel can be quickly replaced and continue shooting. The Markov heavy machine gun used by various powerful countries in the world at that time was the same type of machine gun used by Kang Fan in the Taihang Mountain campaign, which adopted a cumbersome water-cooled barrel and an old-fashioned structural design, with a gun body weighing over 40 kilograms, plus a tripod, making it even heavier, and it is impossible for a single soldier to carry it. The performance of the French-made Hotchkiss heavy machine gun equipped by the Japanese army was not as good as that of the Markov heavy machine gun, and this type of machine gun was also very rare in the Japanese army's equipment sequence, with only about one per 10,000 people. The reason is probably that they did not fully recognize the role of this new automatic weapon that had just appeared; secondly, Japan's military industry may not have been able to meet the large amount of ammunition consumption required by this weapon. Shanxi has advanced industrial technology and uses modern concepts, new equipment, new materials, and new processes to produce a high-efficiency production line that can produce a large number of guns, artillery, and ammunition to supply the Jin army, with the basic conditions for equipment. Therefore, the Jin army can equip the 96-style machine gun quite luxuriously to the infantry battalion, that is, one gun per 15 people. Even so, Kang Fan did not use firearms as the main killing weapon of the Jin army, but instead used various artillery with stronger firepower as the main force, that is to say, the Jin army was established from the beginning according to the standards of the artillery era. The Jin army has not only achieved the automation of firearms but also entered the artillery era more advanced. At that time, the major powers in the world had just begun to use machine guns and were still in the gun battle era, which is a huge difference compared to the Jin army. This gap was a real disaster for the Japanese army!
Kang Fan first used his Type 96 rifle to fire continuously, knocking down several Japanese soldiers. He then charged into the cluster of Japanese troops, using his bayonet and gun butt to engage in close combat. Taking advantage of the chaos, he discarded his rifle, pulled out his Type 92 handgun and Type 95 military knife, and continued to charge left and right through the Japanese troops with one hand holding a gun and the other holding a knife, like a tiger charging into a pack of wolves! The Japanese soldiers were all holding long rifles and were crowded together in disarray. To avoid injuring their comrades, they dared not fire their guns. Even if they tried to use the bayonets on their rifles to stab Kang Fan, he was wearing a bulletproof vest, making it impossible for them to penetrate his vital organs. As a result, this group of Japanese soldiers went from being puzzled and frightened to panicked, and for a time, they were completely helpless against Kang Fan, who was alone. However, Kang Fan had quickly switched to using a handgun and military knife suitable for close combat, relying on his swift and agile movements to shoot and slash his way through the Japanese troops. Under his attack, a cluster of dozens of Japanese soldiers was thrown into complete disarray, with the enemy forces in a state of utter chaos!
Both the enemy and our side were stunned by Kang Fan's bravery. In the midst of the smoke, the Jin army officers and soldiers all looked up at Kang Fan with reverent eyes, who was a head taller than the Japanese army. This man, who would definitely make a Japanese soldier's brains burst open with one shot, and make another Japanese soldier's blood splatter everywhere with one swing of his sword, was he the humble and meticulous principal in their impression? Was he their benevolent and honest governor? At this moment, what was he if not the legendary god of war?!
Many Jin army officers and soldiers were excited by the rush of adrenaline, tears streaming down their faces, instantly turning into raging beasts and killing devils. Wherever they passed, Japanese troops fell to the ground, retreated, and fled in all directions...
The guards and soldiers rushed up in time when Kang Fan was about to finish the 15 bullets in his Type 92 pistol magazine, and after a brief and fierce bayonet fight, they killed the Japanese troops in front of them and immediately surrounded Kang Fan. The Jin army officers and soldiers beside him immediately surpassed them, one after another shouting and charging towards the enemy... Just this moment's delay made Kang Fan lose the opportunity to continue fighting!
Kang Fan only cared about himself, and the scene he had dreamed of many times finally came true today. Although the era was different, the Japanese devils were still Japanese devils, and they should be killed even after a thousand or ten thousand years! But what he did scared the soldiers of the guard battalion, who followed him closely, fighting the Japanese army while carefully thinking about using their bodies to block bullets for Kang Fan. Everyone was nervous and busy.
The Jin army officers and soldiers, who had the advantage of firepower, faced the Japanese army with village-type single-shot rifles. The 96-style semi-automatic rifle's combat firing rate of 60 rounds/min and magazine capacity of 15 rounds provided the Jin army officers and soldiers with rapid and sustained firepower. In combination with the powerful 96-style hand grenade, the combat effectiveness was surprisingly good. Additionally, the protective performance of the bulletproof steel helmet and bulletproof chest armor exceeded expectations, especially the bulletproof chest armor inserted in the tactical vest's interlayer, which was quite effective against the Japanese army's handgun fire and bayonet thrusts. After this battle, there were no longer any Jin army officers and soldiers who refused to wear bulletproof steel helmets and bulletproof chest armor due to their weight affecting tactical movements.
The Japanese army first had to face the hand grenades in the hands of the Shanxi soldiers. If they were not blown up, they would then face the continuous fire from the Type 96 rifles. If they were not shot dead, the Shanxi soldiers would have already charged forward, with their sharp bayonets right in front of them. And if it came to hand-to-hand combat, the Japanese bayonets could not even penetrate the protective vests worn by the Shanxi soldiers. Moreover, all the Shanxi soldiers who took part in the battle were crack troops, and every one of them was an expert in close combat.
The Japanese commander, looking at the almost slaughtered appearance of his own officers and soldiers, realized that fighting against the Jin army, which had a huge advantage in all aspects, would have no chance of winning. He immediately abandoned resistance and led the remaining officers and soldiers to retreat back to the concession. Where to run! The Jin army artillery, which had solved the Japanese artillery, quickly turned their guns around, and the dozens of urgent, fierce and accurate volleys formed by the 24 82 field guns were like a row of dominoes, pushing forward one after another, chasing the Japanese army, almost wiping out the unprotected Japanese army on the retreat route. The incomplete, blood-soaked bodies were laid all the way back to the Japanese concession!
Kang Fan led the Jin army infantry to annihilate the charging Japanese troops, then ordered the Jin army to suspend their attack, dig trenches and build fortifications, surround the Japanese concession, cut off all channels of communication between the concession and the outside world, and deploy snipers outside the encirclement to conduct sniper warfare, disrupting Japanese actions.
