Chapter 45: Take Down
Ever since the main force of the independent regiment left, Zhao Gang has been calculating the time.
By two o'clock in the afternoon, it was estimated that the main force of the independent regiment had arrived at the battlefield and the battle had begun. At this time, even if the brigade commander knew, he would not be able to stop the independent regiment.
Zhao Gang then picked up the phone and said in a deep voice, "Connect me to the brigade headquarters."
After a while, the call was connected and the voice of the brigade commander came: "I am from the 386th Brigade, where are you from?"
"Brigade Commander, I'm Zhao Gang." Zhao Gang said in a deep voice, "I have something to report to you. Lao Li has led the main force of the independent regiment to the Dahuting stronghold."
“Bang!”
There was an explosion from the other side.
It seemed that an enamel teacup had fallen to the ground.
The brigade commander seemed to groan, as if he was scalded by the tea.
"Brigade Commander?" Zhao Gang immediately became nervous. "Brigade Commander, are you okay?"
"Zhao Gang, what happened to you?" The brigade commander's roar suddenly came from the other side of the microphone, almost shattering Zhao Gang's eardrums. Zhao Gang subconsciously moved the receiver away.
The brigade commander's reaction was more intense than he had expected.
"Why didn't you stop Li Yunlong? Om?"
"A regiment dared to attack the Huting stronghold. Is he crazy?"
"The Huting stronghold is well fortified, with more than 700 Japanese puppet troops, well-equipped. How can they be easily provoked?"
"You've only won a few small battles and seized some weapons and equipment, but you don't know your own weight? You dare to go to the Huting stronghold?"
"Why doesn't he go to heaven?"
"The Chief of Staff told me the other day,"
"Li Yunlong is a kid who doesn't like to be praised,"
"If you brag, something bad will happen. I didn't believe it at first."
"Today I finally believe it, I can't really brag about it!"
The brigade commander continued to roar in the microphone: "Zhao Gang, you have only been in the independent regiment for a few days? Why are you fooling around with Li Yunlong? The independent regiment is now responsible for the security mission of the headquarters. Instead of doing your job, you overestimate your own abilities and run to the Dahuting stronghold! This is simply outrageous!"
Zhao Gang was also a little panicked and asked, "Brigade Commander, is it serious?"
"The fortifications at Huting are extremely strong. Even if I send a brigade up there, it may not be possible to take it down in a short period of time. However, the main force of the Japanese 4th Brigade in Yangquan was able to arrive within half a day. Do you think this is serious?" The brigade commander said angrily. "The most important thing is the safety of the headquarters."
"If something happens at headquarters,"
"Even if we shoot Li Yunlong a hundred times, it won't make up for it!"
Having said this, the brigade commander hung up the phone, but he did not hang up, so the conversation between the brigade commander and the chief of staff could still be heard.
"Chief of Staff, you're back? You're back just in time."
"Let me ask you, which unit is closest to the Huting stronghold?"
"The New First Regiment! The New First Regiment is only thirty kilometers away from the Huting stronghold."
"Immediately order the new regiment to rush to the rescue of the Huting stronghold. Quickly, it is urgent!"
"Huting Stronghold? Brigade Commander, what troops do we have attacking Huting Stronghold?"
"Who else could it be? It's none other than that idiot Li Yunlong. This bastard took his regiment to attack the heavily guarded Huting stronghold of the Japanese!"
"My God, this kid really dares?"
"I told you this kid doesn't like being praised. If he's praised, something bad will happen."
"He's caused a big trouble this time. I'll shoot him later."
"But now we should quickly notify the new regiment and rush to the Huting stronghold to provide assistance."
While he was speaking, the microphone was picked up again and the signal was completely cut off.
Zhao Gang began to feel uneasy . Will anything happen to the independent regiment?
…
Huting stronghold.
Li Yunlong crouched down and entered the attack position.
Kong Jie was seen staring with his big eyes at the 1st Battalion Commander Guan Dashan.
The 1st Battalion's attack on the Huting stronghold was not successful. The outer trench defense line and the nine bunkers guarded by the puppet army were successfully captured, but the core position consisting of three artillery towers was guarded by more than fifty Japanese soldiers. The 1st Battalion failed to capture it after several attempts and instead lost more than a dozen officers and soldiers.
These were all veterans who had experienced hundreds of battles, and Guan Dashan trembled with heartache.
Li Yunlong didn't care how embarrassed Kong Jie was, and showed no mercy: "Kong Erlangzi, what do you do for a living? There are only a few dozen devils in the Huting stronghold, how come we haven't been able to take it down after fighting for so long? I have already killed more than 200 devils and more than 300 puppet troops in Laohuwan."
Kong Jie was extremely angry at the moment, but he couldn't vent his anger at all when facing Li Yunlong.
If you are not as skilled as others, you deserve to be beaten. If you fight poorly, you deserve to be ridiculed. There is nothing to say about this.
Guan Dashan said with a bitter face: "Captain, the three Japanese artillery towers are arranged in a triangular shape, which can form flank protection for each other. No matter which artillery tower we approach, we will be flanked by the other two. We have charged six or seven times before, but were always pushed back by the Japanese machine gun fire."
Li Yunlong got angry and yelled, "You are such a stubborn guy, can't you dig a tunnel?"
"Digging tunnels won't work either." Guan Dashan pointed to the top of the turret and said, "The Japanese have set up two mortars on top of the turret. As soon as our soldiers start digging tunnels, the Japanese artillery will immediately fire shells. The damn Japanese artillery is so accurate that they can hit whatever they point at. We don't have a chance to dig tunnels at all."
Kong Jie also said: "Besides, the soil here is hard and can't be dug."
"You son of a bitch, you only boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige."
Li Yunlong cursed: "Just because the Japanese artillery can fire accurately, we won't fight?"
Speaking of this, Li Yunlong turned around and yelled, "Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang?!"
Wang Ye quickly brought Wang Gensheng to Li Yunlong and asked with a smile: "Captain, do you want Gensheng to use grenades to smash the Japanese artillery tower?"
"You are so smart."
Li Yunlong chuckled and asked Wang Gensheng, "Gensheng, are you sure?"
Wang Gensheng estimated the distance and shook his head, "It's already over a hundred meters, I can't reach it. I can only throw it over ninety meters at most, and I can only throw it accurately within fifty meters."
Li Yunlong immediately called the commander of the 1st Battalion, Guan Dashan, and the commander of the 3rd Battalion, Wang Huaibao, to his side and said in a deep voice, "You two should organize an attack immediately to draw the enemy's attention to the two wings."
"Yes!" Guan Dashan and Wang Huaibao agreed and were about to leave.
"Wait a moment." Wang Ye quickly called out to the two battalion commanders.
Li Yunlong said: "Xiao Wang, do you have any good ideas?"
"I don't have a good idea." Wang Ye chuckled and said, "But I happen to know the weak point of the Huting stronghold, and I can send Gensheng safely to within fifty meters!"
"Weak point?" Li Yunlong asked, "Where is it?"
Wang Ye took out the defense map drawn by Liu Dongtang from his arms and said, "Captain, and Deputy Captain Kong, look, this is the defense map of the Huting stronghold."
"The fortifications at the Huting stronghold were actually built in two stages."
"The original fortifications only consisted of the three gun towers in the middle."
"These three gun towers were built very carefully. They can provide flank protection for each other, and the outer firing range is also very wide, so it is basically impossible to get close to them and blast them."
"But later the Huting stronghold was expanded."
"Nine more bunkers were built on the periphery. It seemed that the defense was tighter, but in fact it blocked the firing range of the three turrets in the center."
"There happens to be a blind spot in the shooting."
"Not only can the machine guns on the turrets not hit us,"
"Even the mortars on top of the turret can't hit it."
Li Yunlong laughed and said, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up!"
"Yes." Wang Ye agreed and immediately took Wang Gensheng into the blind spot.
It was indeed a blind spot. When Wang Ye and Wang Gensheng approached within 50 meters, the Japanese and puppet troops in the three artillery towers showed no reaction at all. They neither fired any guns nor artillery shells.
Next is Wang Gensheng’s solo show.
In order to increase the lethality, Wang Gensheng did not use the wooden-handled grenades made in the border area, but the Type 97 grenades captured from the Japanese. Among the five Type 97 grenades, four were thrown into the turret through the machine gun hole, and only one had a slight deviation and hit the wall instead of being thrown into the turret.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
After four consecutive explosions,
The Japanese and puppet troops hiding in the No. 1 artillery tower suffered heavy casualties.
The remaining ones who were lucky enough to survive were also stunned by the explosion and unable to react immediately.
The machine gun firepower in the No. 1 turret was destroyed, and the remaining No. 2 and No. 3 turrets could no longer form all-round flank protection. Guan Dashan and Wang Huaibao took the opportunity to launch a general attack with their respective assault teams.
This attack went smoothly. After paying the price of several casualties, they successfully reached the artillery tower and threw grenades and explosive packs directly into the machine gun holes.
The independent regiment used five-jin explosive packs made in the border area.
After two huge explosions, the No. 2 and No. 3 gun towers were directly blown down.
With the destruction of the three artillery towers, it also meant that the Huting stronghold was completely captured.
There might still be a small number of Japanese and puppet troops hiding in the rows of bungalows in the middle of the stronghold, but they can no longer cause any trouble.
Li Yunlong jumped up from his hiding place, raised his pistol and shouted, "Everyone, open your eyes wide and search every corner carefully. Don't let a single devil or puppet soldier go."
"Yes!" Hundreds of soldiers from the two camps responded loudly.
