RPAGF Chapter 136 The super-heavy howitzer arrives, and the Japanese armored forces are deployed.
Chapter 136 The super-heavy howitzer arrives, and the Japanese armored forces are deployed.
"Yes, there are 12 heavy howitzers and 4 240mm super-heavy howitzers."
Sakamoto Jun said with considerable certainty.
He did not believe that these artillery pieces had the ability to change the course of the battle.
During the battle in Linyi, Jun Sakamoto had already realized that the enemy was much more troublesome than he had imagined.
Both attacks on Linyi ended in failure.
"That's great!"
Rensuke Isogai clapped his hands, then looked at Takehira Sei and Keido Sei:
"With these heavy artillery pieces providing fire support, are you confident you can take Taierzhuang?"
Kei Seya remained cautious.
"It's still difficult, but it's worth a try."
Upon hearing Seya Kei's words, Yasuoka Masaomi of the First Independent Mixed Brigade sneered:
"Why don't we do it? Our First Independent Mixed Brigade is getting a little impatient."
These past two days, he has been observing the battle in the direction of Taierzhuang. It is normal for him to feel a bit contemptuous of Seya Kei's troops, knowing that they have made almost no progress.
"Hmph, do you think your troops will have any good results if they attack the West District where Li Jianghe is stationed?"
I suspect that underestimating the enemy and being careless might lead to the loss of our main force.
Kei Seya expressed his dissatisfaction with Masaomi Yasuoka, who was too arrogant and thought that his mechanized troops were superior to them, the infantry.
"At least it's better than you are now, cowering and timid like a sea turtle."
"Yasuoka Masaomi slammed his hand on the table and said."
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing, Isogai Rensuke cleared his throat and said:
"Don't argue."
As he said this, he was also thinking that after the battle of Teng County, Seya Kei had indeed become much more cautious in his military tactics, as if he had been frightened out of his wits by Li Jianghe.
He looked at Yasuoka Masaomi and said:
"Starting tomorrow, the main attack mission in the western district will be taken over by the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade, and the Setani Detachment will temporarily withdraw to the Liujiahu area for rest and reorganization."
Kei Seya wanted to say something, but Chief of Staff Suzuki Kitano grabbed his arm and gave him a look.
He glared angrily at Yasuoka Masaomi and said:
"You will pay the price for your arrogance sooner or later."
Upon arriving, Sakamoto Jun looked around the room and thought to himself that these enemies seemed even more troublesome than the 59th Army in Linyi.
Sakamoto Jun had a bad feeling. He thought that if the situation changed, he should withdraw as soon as possible, otherwise he might suffer a crushing defeat like before.
It's normal to have this idea. After all, during the first battle at Linyi, Zhang Zizhong's 59th Army covered the distance that took the Japanese army three days in just one day and one night, catching the 5th Division off guard.
This left him with lingering fear, knowing that the Chinese troops in the Fifth War Zone were quite different and that he had to treat them with utmost care.
At the Fifth War Zone Headquarters, Sun Lianzhong stood in front of Commander Li, his expression not good.
"Commander, the 20th Division's offensive is fierce, and we are fighting hard on the outskirts of Hanzhuang."
Another piece of bad news is that Sakamoto's detachment has arrived in the vicinity of Taierzhuang and may launch a fierce attack on Taierzhuang at any time.
The Second Army Group he led originally numbered only over 20,000 men, but in the past few days, it had suffered unprecedented heavy losses in fierce battles with two reinforced Japanese divisions.
Currently, besides the area around Taierzhuang, they have also achieved some victories.
In other regions, the situation was one of continuous defeats.
Even in Taierzhuang, the 31st Division stationed there suffered heavy losses, because the Japanese artillery fire was so fierce that it almost leveled the entire east and west walls of Taierzhuang.
"I know the difficulties of your Northwest Army, but it's not the right time yet. Li Jianghe's suggestion is that we should at least inflict heavy damage on the Japanese Independent Mixed Brigade No. 1 before we can trap them and beat them."
Commander Li looked at the map and said.
Sun Lianzhong gets furious whenever the Japanese Army's 1st Independent Mixed Brigade is mentioned.
After all, this unit had crippled three of his main regiments in just three days during previous battles, demonstrating formidable combat power.
Especially in such flat plains, the Japanese tank units moved freely and rampaged without hindrance.
"That's true, but if we don't get the chance, our entire Second Army Group might be wiped out."
Sun Lianzhong said with some helplessness:
"Trust Li Jianghe. He said he could severely damage the Japanese Independent First Brigade, but he just needs an opportunity."
Commander Li replied in this way.
He has no better option now. Given the current situation, a large number of troops need to be deployed to the Taierzhuang and Hanzhuang areas to contain the Japanese army.
This First Mixed Brigade must be eliminated; otherwise, even if Tang Enbo's troops cut off the Japanese army's retreat, this armored force will still tear a gap in their path.
Sun Lianzhong had no way to express his suffering, and finally sighed helplessly:
"We can only choose to trust Li Jianghe and hope he won't let us down."
As he said this, he looked out the window, towards the direction of Taierzhuang.
As the supreme commander of an army group, he never expected that the key to the current battle situation would fall on Li Jianghe.
As the supreme commander of an army group, he never expected that the key to the current battle situation would fall on Li Jianghe.
The morning in Taierzhuang was torn apart this time by the roar of Japanese heavy artillery.
Nothing happened last night, but everyone knew that the Japanese army was planning an even larger offensive.
The sudden loud noise caused the ceiling of Chi Fengcheng's command post to tremble violently.
"What's that noise? Why is it so loud?"
The Japanese army had bombarded with heavy artillery before, but the scale of the attack was never this large.
Li Jianghe knew that it was the roar of a Japanese 240mm caliber super-heavy howitzer.
"It was the Japanese 240mm super heavy howitzer. When I was fighting the Japanese in Nanjing, the Japanese 6th Division used this kind of artillery to bombard the city wall between Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate."
Chief of Staff Wang Huayu had been to Nanjing and knew that although the city walls were ancient, they were quite tall and sturdy, and ordinary artillery shells could not cause much damage when they landed on them.
"It's incredibly powerful to be able to blast down a city wall like that."
Wang Huayu sighed.
"These Japanese devils are really giving us face, they even brought over this super-heavy artillery."
Li Jianghe sighed.
Chi Fengcheng looked at the streets ahead completely engulfed in artillery fire and said:
"No matter what, we must hold Taierzhuang and prepare the reserves."
He knew very well that with the Japanese army's heavy artillery firepower, the attack would only be more intense, and today's battle would probably be more fierce than any battle he had ever experienced before.
Just then, Long Wenzhang ran into the command post and reported to Li Jianghe:
"Report: Our troops have spotted a large number of Japanese armored units outside the west city wall. It seems that the Seya Detachment on the other side has been replaced, and the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade has come up this time."