Chapter 30: Turtle
When the gunshots rang out, Maeda Tsuyoshi and Ge Fugui were preparing to return to the road.
However, before the two men could raise their legs, a gunshot was suddenly heard not far behind them. When they looked back hurriedly, they saw a Japanese soldier falling straight forward about 300 meters to the left front.
The gunshot was like a drop of cold water dropped into a boiling oil pan. The Japanese and puppet troops on guard on the road and on the ridges on both sides were suddenly panicked.
"what happened?"
"Where did the gunshot come from?"
The ones who were in a panic were the puppet troops.
The Japanese army responded quickly.
"The Chinese Army is at ten o'clock."
"Machine gun crew, prepare for suppressive fire."
"The grenadiers and artillery squad are ready!"
The next moment, the sound of the Type 96 light machine gun's firing rang out, and many dazzling tongues of fire gathered from different directions on the hilltop at the ten o'clock position.
Grenade launchers and mortars were also set up.
But it was not launched at the first time.
The Japanese infantry did not attack immediately.
Because they haven't received any orders from Maeda Tsuyoshi yet.
Maeda Tsuyoshi immediately hid behind a rock.
According to the information provided by the puppet army, this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers are quite good at shooting.
After hiding behind the rock, Maeda raised the telescope in front of his chest. Through the six-fold military telescope, he could clearly see the scenery on the top of the mountain.
But all that came into view was the fallen grass and trees.
There was no sight of the Eighth Route Army, not even a ghost.
These Eighth Route Army soldiers moved really quickly. Maeda cursed in his heart and moved the telescope's field of view downwards, aiming it at the Japanese soldier who had unfortunately been shot just now.
Medical soldiers are giving first aid to the Japanese.
But soon, the medic gave up on rescuing the soldier and shook his head at a sergeant next to him, meaning that the soldier could not be saved.
With the sound of footsteps, a second lieutenant came up to Maeda Tsuyoshi.
"Captain!" the second lieutenant officer said solemnly, "Team 2 is ready. Do you want to give chase?"
Maeda Tsuyoshi did not respond in a hurry. Instead, he put down the telescope and estimated the distance from the hill where the Eighth Route Army was hiding to the Japanese soldiers who were shot. It was at least six hundred meters!
He was killed with just one shot at a distance of six hundred meters?
Thinking of this, Maeda Tsuyoshi felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
The marksmanship of this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers is indeed extraordinary.
Therefore, if you rashly chase into the mountains, you will definitely suffer great losses.
Having more people is useless because the Eighth Route Army is more familiar with the terrain.
At that moment, Maeda Tsuyoshi waved his hand and said, "No, no pursuit!"
"What?" This order was somewhat beyond the lieutenant's expectations. "No pursuit?"
"Yes, no pursuit." Maeda Tsuyoshi snorted, and then said, "Order all infantry squads, artillery squads and companies of the Imperial Army to withdraw to the Huting stronghold immediately!"
…
Let’s talk about the Wolf Warriors later.
After Wang Ye fired the shot, he turned around and retreated without hesitation.
Because according to past experience, the Japs will certainly retaliate with machine gun fire after suffering a loss. Should I not run away at this time and stay on the top of the mountain waiting to be shot by the Japs?
Retreating from the reverse slope of the mountain to the valley, the Wolf Warriors team split into two groups.
This was also a tactic that was used many times yesterday. One group deliberately slowed down to attract the attention of the Japanese, while the second group ambushed on the side and looked for an opportunity to shoot from behind. When the Japanese were attracted by the second group, the first group took the opportunity to get rid of the pursuers, then quietly ran to the front and set up an ambush, quietly waiting for the second group to lure the Japanese over.
In theory, this tactic can be used continuously.
Of course, some flexibility is needed in actual operation.
After all, the Japanese are not stupid and will definitely find a way to counter it.
For example, this time, a problem occurred and the Japanese did not chase us.
Wang Ye led the Spade Group and the Diamond Group to slow down and wait for the Japanese to chase them, but after running nearly a hundred meters, no Japanese appeared from behind.
"My king, isn't that right?"
Wang Xikui asked, "Why don't we see the devils?"
Li Sigen also said: "Yeah, it should be time for them to catch up, right?"
Wang Ye also felt something was wrong and immediately stopped running.
After waiting for a while, and seeing no Japs coming out from the ridge behind him, Wang Ye said, "Go back!"
Wang Ye immediately led the two groups back, but Wang Ye was also cautious and did not foolishly return to the hill where he had hidden before, but went around to another hill.
A moment later, Wang Ye and his team reached the top of the hill.
Looking down from the top of the hill, one could see the puppet troops gathering towards the highway.
The Japanese had already completed their assembly and were heading towards the Huting stronghold.
"What's going on?" Wang Xikui asked in confusion, "Why did the devils leave?"
"It's very simple." Wang Ye said coldly, "The Japanese are scared. They know they can't defeat us in the mountains, so they simply don't bother with us any more and just withdraw."
As they were talking, Wei Dayong also came over with two other groups.
"My lord, what's going on?" Wei Dayong asked repeatedly, "Where are the devils?"
Wang Ye pointed at the road and said, "Look, the devils are there."
Wei Dayong looked closely and was also stunned, shouting: "What happened? Why did the devil run away?"
Wang Xikui said, "The king just said that the Japs knew they couldn't defeat us in the mountains, so they became cowardly."
"What should we do?" Wei Dayong scratched his head and said, "If the Japanese hide in their base from now on, won't we never be able to defeat them again?"
Wang Ye smiled and said, “I’m afraid it’s not that easy.”
It's not easy to be a coward.
Then he turned to Li Sigen and said, "Ace of Diamonds, it's your turn to play again."
"Yes!" Li Sigen responded, turned around and left with Huang Dongsheng and Zhao Xiaohu.
After killing two groups of Japanese telephone soldiers the day before yesterday, Li Sigen and his men not only had special climbing tools, but also professional wire stripping, wiring and wire cutters.
So it is much faster to cut the telephone wires.
Wang Ye and Wei Dayong each led a combat team to advance towards Yangquan County and Huting stronghold respectively, so as to provide timely warnings when they spotted the Japanese. Wang Xikui stayed on the side of the road with the Spade Team to protect the Square Team in their operations.
…
At the same time, in Yangquan County.
The commander of the 4th Brigade of the Japanese Army, Maeda Hidemasa, was pondering over the map.
In view of the increasingly rampant activities of the Eighth Route Army in the occupied areas, the North China Front Army Command has decided to launch a large-scale security rectification campaign in the five provinces of North China.
The main target of the 1st Army stationed in Shanxi was the Taihang base.
As the trump card of the 1st Army, the 4th Brigade has a heavy responsibility this time.
So after returning from the meeting in Taiyuan, Maeda Hide began to formulate a battle plan in his mind.
Since the 11th Army failed to achieve its combat objectives in the Sui-Zao Campaign, it had to fight another battle with the main force of the National Army in the Zaoyi area. This resulted in a large amount of combat supplies allocated by the Japanese headquarters being transferred to the Zaoyi battlefield, and the combat supplies that could be transferred to the Shanxi battlefield became very limited.
Therefore, in the short term, the 1st Army is unable to launch a security crackdown.
However, Hide Maeda decided to make some preparations in advance as much as possible.
For example, strengthening the Imperial Army that cooperates in combat, organizing cavalry into each mixed brigade and increasing its firepower, and also stockpiling ammunition for them in advance.
After all, the Imperial Army does not need to be supplied with ammunition from the base camp.
There were still a lot of surplus supplies captured from the Central Army and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.
However, Maeda Hideya knew that the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army was extremely limited.
If we want to win this battle to rectify public security, we have to rely on the 4th Brigade.
There was a sudden knock on the door, and Shi Ji's voice rang out: "Report!"
Hearing this voice, Maeda Hide suddenly looked delighted, turned around and said, "Come in!"
A figure flashed at the door, and an officer with the rank of major walked in with a stern face.
However, after seeing Maeda Hide, the major could no longer hold back his smile.
Maeda Hideya quickly stepped forward, gave the major a tight hug, and said with a smile, "Jiro, are you finally willing to come and see me, your brother?"
Maeda Jiro said, "Brother, I really don't have time. Our special forces' training schedule is very tight. Colonel Yamamoto has objections to my taking leave to come to Yangquan to visit you."
"Yamamoto is still so inhumane," said Maeda Hide.
Maeda Jiro smiled and said, "If it weren't for Colonel Yamamoto's personality, with his ability and resume, he should have been promoted to the rank of general and served as a brigade commander like his brother."
"Let's not talk about him." Maeda Hide waved his hand, "How many days can you stay?"
"You can only stay for two days." Maeda Jiro said, "You have to go back to Taiyuan tomorrow."
"Nani, we have to go back to Taiyuan tomorrow?" Maeda Hide said, "Is it that urgent?"
"Yes." Maeda Jiro nodded and said, "So I have to go to the Huting base to see Gang in the afternoon. I haven't seen this guy for a long time."
Maeda Hide said: "Let Gang come to Yangquan County. I will call him."
After that, Maeda Hide picked up the phone and said, "Please connect to Huting Base."
