Chapter 025 Northeast Army

  Not far from the county town, a small contingent of Japanese troops had appeared, but they did not immediately launch an attack, instead waiting for the main force behind them.

  This time Li Shouxin mobilized a small number of troops, although claiming to be a three-division army, the actual strength was only over 3,000 people.

  However, they have a cavalry division, with over a thousand war horses and possessing formidable combat power, which is Li Shouxin's trump card.

  To show their sincerity, the Japanese army would naturally not let Li Shouxin go on the attack alone.

  A battalion of artillery, two tank companies and a cavalry squadron were mobilized.

  The officer in charge of directing the Japanese troops was Major Sato, a senior staff officer at 26th Division Headquarters.

  This was Lieutenant Colonel Sato's first time leading troops into battle and his first time commanding troops in combat.

  Major Sato's performance seems to be okay, except for the scouts, all units have opened up distance between each other.

  "Report, the county town occupied by the Chinese guerrilla is just ahead. Except for the looting in the past few days, they have taken no action. According to our observation, this Chinese force has at least over 3,000 men, but the situation inside the county town is unclear." A Japanese lieutenant ran to Sato's side and reported the situation quickly.

  Sato raised his binoculars and carefully observed the position in front of him.

  Although it is still some distance from the county town, Sato's telescope can still observe the contents of the position very carefully.

  "It seems they are not simple opponents, the reconnaissance unit stops scouting, the artillery and tank units get ready, we must teach these Chinese troops a lesson." A hint of pride appeared on Sato's face, although he valued the enemy in front of him, but deep down, he still looked down on the Chinese troops.

  Li Shouxin, who was standing by, also walked over wearing a Japanese military uniform.

  Although he was in charge of all Mongolian military affairs, he had no status at all in front of the Japanese.

  "Major Sato, shouldn't we launch an attack immediately and teach these Chinese troops a lesson?" Li Shouxin jumped off his horse and said to Sato not far in front of him.

  Sato nodded, at least he wanted to see what this unit was capable of.

  Inside the county town, messengers were constantly running inside, reporting the latest situation.

  Everyone sat in the chairs of the conference room, waiting for Yang Junran's command.

  Looking at his subordinates around him, Yang Junran's mood became somewhat complicated.

  The situation of the Northeast Army was the worst, although there was a complete establishment of troops, but morale was very poor.

  If we want to wipe out the Japanese puppet army's troops, it would probably require the Northeast Army to take action, but under current circumstances, that is almost impossible.

  "Commander, how are we going to fight? Give us a straightforward order!" Liang Fei, the captain of the Firepower Volunteer Team, seemed somewhat anxious as he said to Yang Junran.

  The captain of a team next to Kang was hesitant and didn't say a word from start to finish.

  The team has just gone through several operations and morale is very high.

  "The Third Battalion continues to defend the county seat, I will temporarily reinforce the Firepower Support Regiment and Artillery Support Regiment to the Third Battalion. The First Battalion and Second Battalion will bypass from both wings, I will lead Commander Xu Da's Northeast Army to directly cut off the Japanese army's retreat route, the Instructional Regiment will be the reserve team, all troops will be unified under the command of the Command Center, any questions?" Yang Junran looked at everyone and said seriously.

  "No." Everyone stood up and said to Yang Junran.

  "Get ready immediately, report any situation to headquarters." Yang Junran said, looking at everyone.

  The crowd did not hesitate and bowed their way out towards the outside.

  Xu Da stood still, waiting for Yang Junran's command.

  "Summer can consult, you immediately lead the Northeast Army of Commander Xu Da to change equipment, all weapons and ammunition must be the same as other branches." Yang Junran said to Xia Ke after seeing Xu Da.

  Xia Ke nodded and left the command center with Xu Da.

  "Commander, the Northeast Army is not a reliable force. I didn't mention it earlier because I was considering your face and Xu Da was also present. But now I must remind you that their troops are likely to collapse at the first blow and have no combat capability whatsoever. You need to think carefully about this." Fang Hanqin immediately said to Yang Junran after seeing Xu Da leave.

  Yang Junran shook his head and smiled, "Originally I wanted to transfer the Northeast Army to the left wing for an attack, but thinking about their troops, I can only lead them personally to cut off the Japanese army's retreat route. They are not new recruits, nor are they weak soldiers without any combat effectiveness, it's just that they have been without any fighting spirit for a long time, which cannot be restored in a short period of time. The enemy has more than 4,000 people, and three brigades can't solve them at all. According to intelligence, most of them are Mongolian troops. I just let the Northeast Army practice and regain some confidence."

  Fang Hanchen looked at Yang Junran and finally understood his intention.

  Outside the county town, the Japanese army has unfolded its artillery fire.

  But obviously it didn't work out very well and basically posed no threat to the enemy's position at all.

  The positions here are all fortified, and Yang Junran knew that the Japanese puppet army would not let him go easily. Since occupying the county seat, he has been emphasizing the solidity of the position.

  The troops of the three brigades remained silent, waiting for the arrival of the Mongolian army.

  Li Shouxin seemed eager to share credit with his Japanese commander, a division of over 1,000 men had already formed a combat formation.

  These men were obviously seasoned veterans formed through long periods of combat and were not comparable to those Mongolian troops who stayed behind.

  As a fellow Northeast Army general like Deng Ziyu's troops, they were obviously more spirited than Xu Da's troops.

  Deng Ziyu carried a big knife on his back and personally went to the front line to boost morale.

  "Brothers, give me some spirit! This is our unit's first battle, we must make it a brilliant one. Our equipment is no worse than that of the Mongolian army. Today, let them know what their ancestors' surname is!" Deng Ziyong shouted loudly, holding a rifle.

  The warriors' morale seems fine and they don't seem to be afraid of the distant artillery.

  The position was mainly constructed in a semi-arc shape, with the main position in front guarded by seven battalions of troops, and the two sides were respectively guarded by eight battalions of troops.

  On the position of each squad, there is a light machine gun on the position between each row to provide firepower support. On the position of a company, with the defensive center point of the company, two light machine guns and ten grenade launchers are deployed to support the overall defense battle.

  Behind each connected body, there was a hidden 92-style infantry cannon, supporting the front-line combat and striking the Japanese machine gun firepower.

  Two hundred meters behind the Seventh Camp, there were ten 92-style heavy machine gun positions deployed by the Machine Gun Battalion. One hundred meters behind the heavy machine guns, there was a position deployed by the Mortar Battalion.

  The eight Type 94 90mm mortars of the mortar battalion were scattered and deployed in mortar pits, waiting for orders from the front line.

  Such a firepower deployment is quite tenacious and can completely resist the attack of a Japanese army corps.

  The Mongol army in the distance is getting closer and closer, but the troops are very scattered.

  "Get ready for the whole body, don't expose firepower easily." Deng Ziyong also found it strange that at a distance of 300 meters from the position, some Mongolian troops stopped advancing, and only a few Mongolian troops slowly rushed towards the front position.

  "Damn it, they want to test my firepower." Deng Ziyu only then realized the intention of the Mongolian army, they wanted to rely on a small number of troops to expose the fire points of the defending army, in order to facilitate their own machine gun and artillery strikes.

  "Each squad pay attention, don't expose your firepower points, enter the shooting range and use rifles to shoot." Deng Ziyong quickly gave orders.

  At Deng Ziyu's command, some of the soldiers began firing.

  The Type 38 rifle has a high accuracy, and with excellent marksmanship, soldiers can hit targets at a distance of up to 500 meters.

  In fact, the Japanese army's troops could easily open fire at a distance of 400 meters. At a distance of 200-300 meters, the Japanese single-shot shooting level was almost perfect, and almost every bullet could take away a soldier's life.

  However, the Mongolian army is not the Japanese army and they obviously don't have such a level.

  As the warriors fired, except for a few Mongolian soldiers who hid, most of the Mongolian soldiers were shot down to the ground by the warriors.

  Sato continued to observe the situation behind him, he couldn't believe that the defending army's position only had such firepower.

  "Order the troops to launch a forced attack, with light and heavy machine guns providing cover, and mortars targeting exposed firepower points." Li Shouxin was not one to waste time, having fought in many battles over the years, he quickly issued the order to attack when he saw that the troops were unable to advance.

  In order to make a good impression in front of the Japanese commander, Li Shouxin did not hesitate to launch a strong attack with his own troops.

  As soon as the messenger left, the troops in front began to launch an attack.

  Three hundred meters away from the position, on the ground, light and heavy machine guns relied on cover to rapidly fire bursts at the position.

  Bullets kept flying over the position, sometimes stirring up clouds of dust.

  "Attention, each company's mortar platoon will strike the enemy's light and heavy machine gun positions. The heavy machine guns are responsible for suppressing the light and heavy machine gun fire, while the light machine guns will target individual Mongolian soldiers." Deng Ziyong gave the order decisively, without exposing the machine gun battalion and howitzer battalion behind them, nor did he give the order to fire even the Type 92 infantry cannons behind each company.

  The light and heavy machine guns continued to fire incessantly, and the dust on the position began to fly up.

  In the distance, the Mongolian army pulled out a long parachute line and launched an attack on the position.

  The atmosphere of a great war was approaching, and every warrior gripped their rifle tightly.