Katsumura.

The starting point of the highway leading to Ping'an County from the base area, an important stronghold connecting the front-line positions and the rear base, several roads eventually converged here, where a large number of weapons, ammunition and various materials were stored.

It is second only to the warehouse area, Zhao Jiayu Machinery Factory, Zhao Jiayu League Department, etc.

In peacetime, there are two full battalions of troops stationed in high order, and they are heavily guarded.

But not long ago, the devil's army pressed the border, more than 20,000 devils attacked from the front, and the front line was tight, so they had to transfer two main battalions to the front line to support, and then urgently transferred a 1,000-strong recruit company from the rear to be responsible for the defense of Gecun.

At the moment, Katsumura's defenses are very empty.

And according to intelligence, there is a thousand-strong devil brigade that has approached Katsumura.

The situation is critical.

"Fuck ·····"

In the Gecun headquarters, the commander of the recruit company was anxious like a rabbit with a tail on fire.

Although he had a thousand men in a company, most of them had only been trained for less than three months, and they could shoot, dig cover, and run, but they had never experienced a single actual battle.

These people are all lifted up when they say they are stunned.

Let them defend against the thousand-strong brigade of elite devils who infiltrated them, and they knew that it was impossible.

Although Gecun is also a mountainous area, it is different from other mountainous areas, the surrounding terrain here is relatively flat, and there are vast valleys and flatlands between the mountains, which are not suitable for defensive warfare, and if you want to block these thousand elite devils, you need at least 3,000 troops.

Once a devil enters Ge Village, the supply line of more than 10,000 troops on the front line will be cut off.

But he sent the news back to the regiment headquarters and begged the regiment commander for reinforcements, but the regiment commander sent back the news and asked them to wait, but there was no specific news, and he scolded in frustration.

"Company commander, reinforcements are coming."

Just as the company commander was coming back and forth in the headquarters and scolding, a communications soldier rushed in outside the door.

"Where?"

"How many?"

The company commander asked as he rushed out.

Walking out of the headquarters, the recruit company commander was stunned when he saw the reinforcements.

I saw that on the highway in the direction of the base area, nearly 100 half-track vehicles were driving mightily, and judging from the rear body, these were all transport models, the kind that ran casually with five tons of goods.

The body was full of ammunition boxes.

Next to the convoy, there were hundreds of large mules carrying heavy anti-aircraft machine guns, as well as large jeeps towing 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, judging from their clothing, these people were soldiers of the anti-aircraft battalion.

"Air defense battalion?"

The commander of the recruit company did not understand very well:

"What are they doing here?"

The enemy facing Gecun is a brigade of devils, and this group of devils has infiltrated into the base area and is interspersing with Gecun at high speed, so why are they sending air defense forces? And it's not small.

Could it be that there are devil planes to bomb it?

However, when the commander of the recruit company saw Zhang Dabiao, who was in the lead, he did not continue to doubt.

Since the commander of the first battalion and the chief of staff have been dispatched, there is no need for him to worry about things.

But he couldn't help but be curious.

More than three hundred anti-aircraft heavy machine guns, more than a hundred twenty-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, oh, he even saw dozens of single-barreled forty-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, and then more than a hundred half-track transporters loaded with ammunition.

What is this going to do?

Moreover, with so many spare barrels.

The sharp-eyed company commander found that each heavy machine gun carried at least ten spare barrels.

"Bring your people over and help."

Before he could figure it out, he was called by Zhang Dabiao.

After deciding on the tactics, Grand Master Li simply decided to make a big move, and he not only mobilized the entire anti-aircraft machine gun company, but even transferred a lot of 20-mm anti-aircraft guns and dozens of 40-mm single-barreled anti-aircraft guns.

·······

That night.

Katsumura.

In the mountains on the left.

A brigade of devils lurks here.

It's 8:50 a.m....

Looking at the watch in his hand, Yamada Nakasa, who led the team, summoned five squadron leaders to a meeting, and after the five of them arrived, he spread out the map on the ground, pointed to Katsumura, and said in a low and gloomy tone:

"The village ten kilometers ahead is called Gecun, which is the starting point of the road leading to Ping'an County, and it is also an important front-line supply station for the independent regiment.

"I'd like to remind you here."

"Although the offensive on the front line has pinned down the defensive strength of the Independent Regiment, and the defense here is empty, the firepower of the Independent Regiment is very strong, far stronger than our Imperial Army, remember not to be careless."

"In this operation, the squadron was divided into units, and we gathered in Gecun."

As a former captain of the Imperial Army stationed in Xiyang, who has fought against Li Yunlong many times, and has been carefully trained by Yamamoto in special operations, Yamada knows the importance of this mission.

Arguably.

The final direction of this battle depends on his performance.

If they can cut off the supply line of the independent regiment, even if it is only for one day, it can have a decisive impact on the situation on the front, without supplies, the independent regiment's terrifying firepower will not be able to exert itself, they must shrink the defensive line, and the superior imperial army will immediately gain the advantage, maybe they can recover the fourth stronghold, or even further advance the position, and even occupy Gecun.

If he can't cut it off, the Imperial Army on the front line will continue to be pressed and beaten.

Li Yunlong already knew about their arrival, and must have prepared the troops to deal with them.

Therefore, Yamada abandoned the conventional option of concentrating his forces to attack and chose to do the opposite, dividing his forces before the attack. Of course, there is also a theoretical basis for this, the artillery fire of the independent regiment is fierce, there is a large number of artillery, and the attack can be separated to avoid being blocked by enemy artillery fire.

Gecun's defensive position is not strong, as long as one squadron breaks through Gecun, it can establish a position and block the supply line, but it really can't, and it can also blow up the road bridge in Gecun.

After speaking, he looked around and accentuated his tone:

"The stakes are very high in this mission, so please do your best."

"Hey."

The five squadron leaders bowed their heads in unison.

Then, the devil moved quickly, and the five squadron leaders, plus Yamada himself, each led a squadron along the mountain road to Katsumura. Five of the squadron leaders each carried a squadron of one hundred and sixty people, and Yamada himself led a squadron of two hundred people.

"Let's go."

With the captured submachine gun in hand, Yamada waved his hand and began to attack with his squadron.

The group went all the way along the mountain road, and when they passed a mountain road, suddenly, boom... An explosion sounded, and a ghost soldier stepped on a mine and was blown up directly into the sky.

"Keep going."

It was Yamada's men and horses who were bombed.

Although this group of devils who are interspersed with attacks are all elites, and they are the elite of the elite, and Yamamoto personally supervises the training, and some of the squad leaders and squadron leaders are even members of Yamamoto's special team.

But in the face of landmines at night, it is also difficult to prevent, and it is normal to be bombed.

Yamada was also prepared.

Although there is no specific information, General Yamamoto summarized it based on scattered information and can conclude that the total strength of the independent regiment, including new recruits, is close to 40,000.

Thereinto.

There are three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment in Heyuan County, with a total of 7,000 people, and there are artillery units and infantry on the front line The distribution is not clear, but the total strength is about 20,000 people, including a large number of recruits. There are also more than 5,000 troops in the Luliang Mountains, and the rest are scattered in the base areas, plus air defense units.

In this operation, the six elite brigades were interspersed with the base areas of the independent regiment, until the core of their base areas, such as the machinery factory, the warehouse group, the Zhao Jiayu regiment headquarters and other places, and the independent regiment could not send enough troops to support Gecun in a short period of time.

As long as a group of people breaks through to Gecun, then the supply channel of the independent regiment can be completely cut off.

The march continued, and as he had expected, although there were occasional mines and losses during the march, they were not met with infantry resistance.

But they could not be stopped by relying on mines alone, the slopes of the mountains here were low and gentle, the valleys between the peaks were wide like plains, the Imperial army did not need to follow the route on the march, the threat of mines was small, and only the infantry could establish positions to resist their advance.

And also a large number of infantry.

Suddenly·····

Bang····

On the nearby hills, more than a dozen flares were raised, illuminating the entire valley.

"Lie down."

Yamada quickly gave the order.

On the commanding heights near Gecun, the independent regiments were arranged with artillery positions and anti-aircraft positions, which were powerful in firepower and fortifications, and it was impossible for them to attack without heavy weapons.

But there were not many troops on the position, and it was impossible to stop them.

With Yamada's order, the squadron he led, the remaining one hundred and ninety-three devils at this time were hiding in the mountains and forests.

Knock knock knock······

As the flares were raised, a series of dense gunfire rang out on several nearby hills.

"So many machine guns?"

On the commanding heights of the nearby hills, Yamada's eyes widened as the muzzle fireworks erupted.

He was now hidden in a large basin formed by three mountain peaks.

Yamada saw more than a hundred muzzle fireworks on the top of these three peaks, and the fireworks were not small, either large-caliber machine guns or small-caliber anti-aircraft guns.

Dense bullets were sprinkled, and the existence of tracer bullets made the bullet rain like a series of horses swept wantonly, most of which were arc-shaped, like rainbows hanging in the sky, of course, these rainbows collectively fell into the hidden basin of the devils.

"Continue to hide."

Although he was surprised and even horrified, Yamada Nakasa did not panic at all and ordered the troops to continue to hide.

This basin is more than a kilometer wide, the slope is also gentle, and there is a small hill in the middle, not to mention that they are a squadron, even a brigade is more than enough to conceal.

Although the firepower on the commanding heights of the three peaks is powerful, but from a distance of nearly two kilometers, the possibility of hitting them is very small, the bullet is not an artillery shell, it will not explode, and it will not produce dense fragments.

This firepower seems ferocious, but it is meaningless, it is just wasted.

As Yamada had predicted, although the final landing point was between the basins, a minute later, the flare went out, and only three unlucky ghosts in his squadron were hit.

In the face of 12.7 and 20 caliber bullets, the two devils who were hit, one died on the spot, and the other was beaten to pieces below the knee.

And just as he was about to order the troops to move on, suddenly, more than a dozen flares took off again, illuminating the basin, and at the same time, on the three mountain peaks, dense muzzle fireworks rang out again.

Like a rainbow, the competition hanging in the sky reappeared.

Don't bullets cost money? Don't flares cost money?····· As if choked, Yamada froze for a long time, and then he took a deep breath and ordered in a difficult tone:

"Go on... Take cover. ”

The flares burned brightly in the sky and slowly fell, and the dense rain of bullets continued to fall like raindrops.

This time, there were obviously more unlucky devils, three devils were hit by the falling bullet rain, two died on the spot, and the remaining two died from excessive blood loss.

"Yaga."

The casualties made Yamada grit his teeth and be furious, but after almost crushing his teeth, he could only give the order:

"Continue to hide."

All he could do was wait.

But in the sky, the flares had not yet been extinguished and fell, and another round of more than a dozen flares rose into the air, and on the three mountain peaks, the dense rain of bullets like raindrops did not stop at all.

Only when the barrel is replaced, the muzzle fireworks will stop for a short time.

Time passed slowly, and after nearly an hour, the flares in the sky never went out, and the rain of bullets on the three mountain peaks never stopped, and at this time, the number of devils' jade shatters had reached fifty.

By this time, Yamada had become aware of the defensive tactics of the separate regiment.

Heavy machine guns, beyond shooting, barrage blocking.

Standard tactics of World War I.

But·······

"It's endless!"

Yamada only feels his scalp tingle now.

More than 100 large-caliber heavy machine guns or small-caliber machine guns were fired at them for nearly an hour.

Although the combat rate of fire of machine guns and machine guns is lower than the theoretical rate of fire, after all, the barrel needs to be cooled and it takes time to change the barrel, but it is almost about 300 rounds a minute, that is to say, in this hour, more than 2 million rounds of ammunition were fired from the independent regimental positions on the commanding heights of the three mountain peaks around him.

An average of 40,000 rounds of ammunition killed one person.

Moreover, they are all large-caliber machine gun bullets, one weighing as much as five Imperial 7.7 caliber bullets.

Even.

The shooting continued, without the slightest intention of stopping.

Oh yes, and hundreds of flares were fired.

"It can't go on like this."

Yamada decided to make a change.

The devil knows how much ammunition is still in reserve in the positions of the Independence Regiment around them, and if he fights for another hour, or two hours, then all of his men will really be shattered here.

"Charge, pass through..."

Yamada gave the order.

Instead of waiting for death here, it is better to rush out with a flare on the face of death.

Following his order, the remaining 140 devils rushed forward one after another, and the flares that slowly fell from the sky illuminated these devils, allowing the soldiers of the air defense company on the three hills to see clearly.

"40 guns ready."

Seeing this scene, the 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun crew, which had been waiting for a long time, shook the wheel, and the gunner's eyes were close to the sight, pointing the muzzle of the gun at the fleeing devils.

"Shoot."

With an order.

On three peaks, ten single-barreled 40 Bofors anti-aircraft guns opened fire.