Liang Jian: Lao Li, I'm really not a military expert

Chapter 546 Let the rocket launcher company find the angle, aim at the Japanese position, and fire a

Li Yunlong put down the binoculars, picked up the intercom, and shouted loudly: "Hello, college student, I'm Li Yunlong. The artillery battalion's bombardment of the high ground on both sides is not going well. We need the Fat Baby ground attack aircraft to join the attack sequence. We will cooperate with the air and ground to suppress the firepower of the devils on the high ground on both sides. The monk will lead the death squad to launch the attack on time in 15 minutes."

Lin Zhenhua's voice came from the intercom: "Lao Li, our air force will arrive in three minutes. I will give them the combat mission now. We agreed to launch the attack on time at 8 o'clock in the morning."

Li Yunlong said "OK" and hung up the call. He ordered Wang Chengzhu beside him, "Zhu, let our remaining two light mortar companies withdraw and continue to suppress the Japanese's firepower with heavy mortars. Let the rocket launcher company choose a suitable angle and see if we can find an opportunity to fire a salvo at the Japanese."

Wang Chengzhu hurriedly left the communication command vehicle and returned to the artillery battalion headquarters, where he issued a retreat order to the two light mortars that were firing at the front line. The rocket artillery company conducted a small number of rocket test firings, but the rockets were too far away from the target and could not hit the enemy's position at all, thus failing to complete the task assigned by Li Yunlong.

Eight minutes later, the 72 fighters that were supposed to arrive five minutes ago finally arrived. After yesterday's battle, the strength of the air force battalion was greatly weakened, and many fighters needed to be overhauled. Originally, they planned to dispatch hundreds of fighters to attack Liangjia Pass, but the plan could not keep up with the changes. In the end, they dispatched a total of 24 fighters, 28 bombers, 18 Fat Baby ground attack aircraft, and 8 heavy transport aircraft.

At exactly eight o'clock in the morning, ground troops and air fighters simultaneously launched an attack on the two heights. 18 Fat Baby ground attack aircraft fiercely strafed the two heights where the Japanese were stationed. The intensive firepower made it impossible for the Japanese on the positions to raise their heads, and the morale of the army almost collapsed.

The monk led a 200-man commando team, and while the enemy's firepower was suppressed, they climbed from the bottom of the mountain to the top. Only sporadic enemy bullets were fired, but the soldiers easily dodged them. It took nearly an hour for the 200-man commando team to climb to the top of the mountain. Under the leadership of the monk, they simultaneously attacked the enemy's northern and southern heights.

The Japanese, who were firmly suppressed by the firepower of the air fighters, showed their heads despite great danger and opened fire on the attacking commandos. This did not scare the monk, he immediately ordered the soldiers to throw more than 300 grenades, and with the help of the smoke from the grenade explosions, they quickly approached the Japanese positions.

As for the follow-up troops, they were still climbing up. Only two squads had come up. As more and more ropes were lowered, the speed of reinforcements was also accelerating, and the situation became increasingly unfavorable to the Japanese. In order to break the current deadlock, the Japanese in the position jumped out directly from the position and fought a desperate battle with Wei Heshang's commando team, which forced the air fighters to suspend their ground attacks.

"Brothers, fight hard. Our commando team must take down the enemy's position. The commander has given me a death order. We must complete the mission even if the entire commando team is wiped out. I signed a military order to the commander when I came here. If the mission is not completed, I will twist my head off and let the commander kick it."

"Everyone in our commando team knows who I am, but we have to do what we say. Not to mention that our commando team is the elite of the entire regiment. Even if all of them die on the battlefield today, they have to fight to the death to avenge our artillery brothers who are covering us!" After running out of bullets in his submachine gun, Monk Wei waved the broadsword in his hand, roared as he rushed forward.

The most brutal hand-to-hand combat began between the enemy and our side. Someone fell down every minute. A quarter of an hour later, a platoon of reinforcements arrived in time, which boosted the morale of the commandos who were struggling to hold on. The momentum of the attack became fierce again. This brutal hand-to-hand combat lasted for an hour and a half before it ended.

In this battle, a total of 602 Japanese soldiers were killed, including three lieutenant colonels and four majors. More than 200 usable rifles, two mortars, three grenade launchers, one Type 30 infantry gun, two Type 300 light machine guns, one Type heavy machine gun, more than artillery shells, more than grenades, and more than bullets were seized.

The armored regiment suffered heavy losses in this operation, with a total of 428 soldiers killed, 126 of whom were slightly injured and 78 were seriously injured. Not counting the consumption of ammunition, it also lost a dive bomber and sacrificed a pilot.

The huge rocks at the bottom of the mountain were successfully destroyed by the dive bombers. Zhao Gang led the transport team and spent six hours to urgently clear a passable road. The soldiers did not even have dinner. They first passed Liangjia Pass quickly. Then the vehicles, driven by the drivers, began to pass Liangjia Pass slowly. It took nearly three hours for the entire armored regiment to pass Liangjia Pass.

"Old Zhao, hurry up and ask the kitchen staff to cook some hot soup so that the soldiers can have dinner as soon as possible. They have been busy all day. Give each person an extra can of food and a piece of chocolate in the evening so that the brothers can have a good meal. We don't need to continue marching tonight. Let the brothers have a good rest for one night and rush back to the base tomorrow." Li Yunlong made the arrangements with a tired face.

Zhao Gang and Lin Zhenhua did not refute. They had been busy since last night. They fought another battle this morning and spent the whole afternoon clearing rubble. Their physical and mental strength had indeed reached their limits. If they did not rest as soon as possible, there would be a high probability of large-scale non-combat casualties.

"Old Li, I have no objection to resting at Liangjia Pass tonight, but we must arrange for light and dark sentries in advance to prevent the Japanese from launching a night attack."

Zhaojiayuyu is the location of the independent regiment’s headquarters.

"Captain Chu, welcome to our Zhaojiayu base. There is really no need to say too much in the way of greetings. You and I are both very clear about the current situation. The enemy is strong and we are weak. The situation has not changed. Especially after the oil field was discovered near Shuiquan County, the Japanese 12th Army immediately became aggressive and drew a large number of troops from the front line to gather in Shuiquan County. It is too difficult for us to launch a surprise attack on the oil field from the ground."

"As for bombing the oil field extraction equipment through fighter planes, it is not as easy as we thought. According to the intelligence we just received, the Japanese have stationed two anti-aircraft artillery battalions near the oil field. It will be very difficult for us to break through the Japanese air interception network."

"Although the Japanese air force has suffered heavy losses in recent days and does not have the ability to penetrate on a large scale, and cannot even protect its own safety. But don't forget that the Japanese North China Front Army still has more than 200 fighter planes. This is a huge threat to us. Maybe when we don't know, the Japanese fighter planes have already begun to mobilize." Ding Wei said somewhat unconfidently.

The reason why he was a little unconfident was very simple. This was the speculation of Kojiro Hirata and others. Especially this time, the navy was also involved, which caused a huge loophole in their intelligence network. They could collect intelligence on the army, but they were completely in the dark about the navy. They could only use rough guesses to tell them, which made Ding Wei unable to make an accurate judgment.

Chu Yunfei replied with full approval: "Captain Ding, I understand what you said. Even if we go to blow up the oil field now, there is nothing to blow up. The Japanese smelter and mining equipment have not been delivered yet. That place is bare. Going there now will only waste ammunition and will not have any effect at all."

"Not to mention that the fighter planes you are equipped with now are no match for the Japanese Zero fighters. The Thunder fighters and Lightning fighters can compete with the Japanese Zero fighters. If a bomber without fighter escort encounters the Japanese Zero fighters, it will be like a sheep among wolves. Not even a bone will be left."

"My intention this time is for us to establish a joint command center and launch a large-scale counterattack. We must recover Shuiquan County at all costs. Only in this way can we sleep peacefully at night."

"We soldiers are well aware of the importance of oil, especially after we were equipped with mechanized weapons, our dependence on it has become more and more serious. I believe you have the deepest understanding of this. Until now, you still use the method of synthetic gasoline, and the quality of the gasoline produced is very poor. It is completely incomparable to that produced by oil refining."

"After the crude oil is mined, it can be directly transported to your Zhaojiayu base for smelting. The refined fuel oil will be distributed according to the ratio of 3:3:4. This is the fairest distribution plan at present. Shancheng will also strongly support our action. Our Jinsui Army will dispatch troops to launch a large-scale counterattack in the entire Shanxi Province, with the goal of seizing Shuiquan County."

"My 358th Regiment will establish a base in Shuiquan County. By then, we will help each other and will definitely be able to withstand the large-scale counterattack of the Japanese."

Kong Jie was a little undecided and said, "This matter happened too suddenly and involves many people. We need to wait for Li Yunlong and the others to come back and discuss it carefully before making a decision. Please give us some time to consider it, Captain Chu. After all, this is our current situation!"