“Boom!”
As all the Japanese soldiers entered the Zhai Jiu Ao, Li Yunlong pulled out his Mauser pistol and fired a shot into the air.
The soldiers who received the order immediately detonated the explosives they had buried beforehand. In an instant, the rocks on both sides of the entrance to Zhai Jiu Ao were blown to pieces and rolled down, trapping the Japanese soldiers inside.
At the same time, the soldiers of the Independent Regiment and the New First Regiment, who had been ambushing, poked their heads out of the trenches, aimed their guns at the Japanese soldiers below, and pulled the triggers.
Bullet after bullet, filled with rage, relentlessly rained down on the Japanese soldiers.
However, due to the long distance and the fact that the soldiers’ combat skills were inferior to those of the veteran Red Army soldiers of the 811th and 812th regiments, which had regular designations, the first round of attacks only resulted in the deaths of over 60 Japanese soldiers, without achieving significant results.
“Baga! Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Counterattack, quickly!”
The Japanese soldiers reacted swiftly and immediately sought cover under the command of their officers.
“Baga! There is an ambush! I didn't expect these filthy Eighth Route Army to dare to ambush the Imperial Army!”
Yamamoto Yuichi wiped the dust off his face, his expression extremely grim.
“Yamamoto-kun, the roads on both sides of the pass have been blocked by rubble. It will take at least an hour to clear them, and we can’t be disturbed. These ambushing Eighth Route Army will definitely not give us that chance.
What we can do now is to eliminate these ambushing Eighth Route Army!”
Watanabe Ichiro hid behind a rock, dodging the bullets flying everywhere, and suggested to Yamamoto Yuichi.
“Yose! Do as Watanabe-kun says!”
..........................
Under the command of Yamamoto Yuichi and Watanabe Ichiro, the Japanese soldiers below quickly set up light and heavy machine guns, as well as grenade launchers.
The surviving Japanese soldiers from the artillery squad quickly found suitable positions and prepared to assemble the two Type 92 infantry guns.
The rest of the Japanese soldiers continuously fired back with their Type 38 rifles.
The Yamamoto and Watanabe detachments were standard Japanese infantry detachments, with a full complement of 181 Japanese soldiers each.
They were equipped with 139 Type 38 rifles, nine Type 92 light machine guns, and nine grenade launchers.
The two detachments combined totaled nearly 400 Japanese soldiers, with 18 Type 92 light machine guns and 18 grenade launchers, making their firepower quite impressive.
Furthermore, these two detachments were specifically reinforced with four Type 92 heavy machine guns.
Such powerful firepower immediately suppressed the offensive of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment.
In particular, the Japanese grenade launchers, in the hands of skilled veterans, were as accurate as mortars.
They inflicted heavy casualties on the soldiers of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment.
Taking advantage of the lull in the Eighth Route Army's firepower, the Japanese artillery squad quickly assembled their Type 92 infantry guns and adjusted their firing parameters.
In the early stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Japanese army was incredibly formidable. The heavy firepower of a Japanese detachment was already comparable to that of a miscellaneous Eighth Route Army regiment.
Furthermore, with ample ammunition, it often took a whole regiment to pay a heavy price to eliminate a single Japanese detachment.
In addition, due to the prolonged duration of battles, and the fact that the Japanese soldiers would deliberately destroy their weapons when they realized they were about to be wiped out, the number of captured weapons sometimes even fell short of the number consumed.
Therefore, in the early stages of the War of Resistance Against Japan, very few Eighth Route Army units would target Japanese detachments, and they would only ambush Japanese transport teams and small squads at most.
.................................
“Zhang Dabiao! Zhang Dabiao! Quickly order the brothers to enter the artillery shelters! The Japanese artillery bombardment is about to begin!”
Li Yunlong ducked back into the trench, avoiding a burst of bullets, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Understood, Commander!”
Zhang Dabiao immediately gave the order to his soldiers.
Kong Jie’s Independent Regiment also made preparations for artillery bombardment.
As the Japanese soldiers’ two Type 92 infantry guns fired their shells, screaming towards the positions of the New First Regiment and the Independent Regiment, the soldiers had already taken shelter in the artillery shelters.
Only a small number of soldiers remained in the trenches to keep an eye on the Japanese, preventing them from sneaking up during the bombardment.
This was a common tactic of the Japanese army: infantry charge, artillery bombardment, infantry charge after artillery bombardment, artillery bombardment after infantry charge.
Many National Revolutionary Army troops were overwhelmed by this tactic, and once one point was breached, the entire line of defense would quickly collapse.
Coupled with the Japanese encirclement and flanking maneuvers, a retreat could easily turn into a rout.
This was why, many times, a single Japanese regiment could chase after several divisions of the National Revolutionary Army and beat them up.
..........................
A shell landed near the artillery shelter where Li Yunlong was hiding, kicking up a lot of dust and covering Li Yunlong in dirt.
“The Japanese Type 92 infantry guns are indeed powerful!”
Li Yunlong spat out the sand in his mouth, sighing in admiration.