"Considering what?"
Li Yunlong said, "What is there to consider?"
"Old Li," Zhao Gang said anxiously, "Don't forget that our independent regiment is now responsible for the security of the headquarters, so our priority is to ensure the safety of the headquarters!"
" Instead of combat operations against the Black Island Wing!"
"I know that." Li Yunlong said, "You don't need to remind me again and again."
"It's good that you know." Zhao Gang said, "So I think we should decisively move the troops to the vicinity of Zhaojiayu to ensure the safety of the headquarters' flank."
"Nonsense." Li Yunlong said, "We are also protecting the safety of the headquarters. It is a guarantee in Zhaojiayu, but it is not a guarantee in Fengxiangling? As long as the Japanese can't get through, the headquarters will not be attacked. Even if our independent regiment is 108,000 miles away from the headquarters, it can be regarded as completing the mission."
Zhao Gang wanted to say more but was interrupted by Li Yunlong.
"Okay, Lao Zhao, you don't have to say anything."
Li Yunlong said in a deep voice: "I have the final say on matters of military command."
"Old Li, this is a matter of principle," Zhao Gang said. "It's not about who has the final say. If something happens to the head of the headquarters, can you bear the responsibility?"
Li Yunlong lost his patience and said angrily, "I will bear the consequences if anything goes wrong. If the brigade commander, division commander, and the general want to kill or chop them up, it will all be borne by me, Li Yunlong. It has nothing to do with you, Zhao Gang!"
After saying this, Li Yunlong ignored Zhao Gang.
He said sternly: "All of them, target Fengxiang Ridge, run!"
Watching Li Yunlong leading his troops away, Zhao Gang sighed and could only follow.
…
The Wolf Warriors spared no effort and arrived at Teapot Ridge at 11 o'clock in the evening.
Wang Ye had been to Chahuling twice. The terrain here is very unique, like a big teapot overturned in the majestic Taihang Mountains. The huge teapot body is a mountain. Moreover, this mountain is very strange. There are steep cliffs all around. The lowest point is more than 50 meters high. It is impossible to climb up without professional climbing tools.
Teapot Ridge is a long mountain range extending from the body of the teapot. The two sides of the mountain range are very steep, and there is a small path on the top.
If you look down from the sky, it really looks like a long and thin spout of a teapot.
The main road leading from the Huting stronghold to Yangcun goes around both sides of Chahuling, forming an elongated U-shaped bay.
Therefore, as long as the Wolf Warriors hold the Teapot Ridge in the middle of the U-shaped bay, they can use machine gun fire to block the roads on both sides of the ridge, thus hindering the marching Japanese troops.
If the Japanese army wanted to destroy the Wolf Warriors, they had to seize the middle Teapot Ridge.
If the Japanese army wanted to seize the middle Teapot Ridge, they had two options. One was to find a way to climb up the "teapot body" and rush down from the base of the spout. The other was to attack upwards from the tip of the spout.
Due to time and condition constraints, the Black Island United will definitely have to attack upwards.
However, the narrow spout makes it difficult to deploy troops, and at most only one infantry squad can be deployed, which is very advantageous for the Wolf Warrior Squad.
This is also the reason why Wang Ye chose to launch a blocking attack here.
As usual, two members of the Wild Wolf Group were left in a hidden place to act as horse posts and be responsible for watching over the war horses.
Wang Ye led the remaining nine war wolves up to Huzui, and as he walked up he reminded them, "Watch your step, don't slip, there are cliffs dozens of meters high on both sides."
"Oh my god, it's so high?" Wei Dayong's expression suddenly frightened.
The other Wolf Warriors also became extra cautious. This was no joke.
It took more than half an hour for the Wolf Warriors to finally climb to the middle of the spout.
Here, the height of the cliffs on both sides has reached hundreds of meters or even higher.
Since the Kuroshima Regiment might arrive at any time, Wang Ye decided not to climb up anymore, but to build fortifications on the spot, which were actually two machine gun fortifications.
Of the only two machine guns, one was used to block the narrow path leading up the mountain.
The other one was specifically used to sweep the roads on both sides of the U-shaped bay to block the Japanese.
As for the other team members, including Wang Ye himself, they were free to choose their sniper positions.
It took almost an hour for Liu Dongtang and Wang Gensheng to build their own machine gun fortifications. Both of them chose the existing mountain as the main body, and then built a rock wall in front to block the Japanese firepower from bottom to top.
As for anti-artillery fortifications, there is no need to think about it. Chahuling is a solid piece of rock and cannot be dug at all.
But then again, it's pitch dark here, so the Japanese's mountain artillery and mortars probably won't work, and the accuracy of their grenade launchers will be greatly reduced since there's no way to aim.
The fortifications were almost completed when the Japanese arrived.
Wang Ye immediately shouted in a low voice: "All ready, get ready to fight!"
Wei Dayong and the other nine war wolves quickly took their respective positions.
…
As he rode his horse forward, Kuroshima Morita subconsciously looked up at the mountain on his left.
The moon had already set, but the outline of the mountain could still be vaguely seen in the starlight. I saw that the mountain was at least five hundred meters high, and was surrounded by steep cliffs, making it extremely precipitous.
"Changjun!" Kuroshima Morita asked in a deep voice, "Where are we?"
An intelligence staff officer with the rank of lieutenant rode over on his warhorse, checked the map with the light of his flashlight, and said to Kuroshima Morita, "Captain, this is Teapot Ridge."
"Yoshi." Kuroshima Morita asked again, "How far is it from Yang Village?"
This time the intelligence officer answered very quickly: "There is still fifteen kilometers to go."
"Fifteen kilometers?" Kuroshima Morita looked at the cavalry troops marching with torches beside him and his brows furrowed immediately. At this speed, it would take at least three hours!
It takes another three hours to get from Yangcun to Daxiawan.
It was already six o'clock in the morning when they arrived at Daxia Bay.
By that time, the Eighth Route Army had already gotten up, so it was impossible to launch a surprise attack.
At that moment, Kuroshima Morita said in a deep voice: "Order, all squadrons speed up, be sure to..."
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly noticed a faint light on the mountain on the left, and then the cavalry column in front began to stir, as if it had suffered an unknown attack.
Then, Kuroshima Morita finally heard the sound of light machine gun fire.
Czech type! This is an excellent machine gun that is equipped in large quantities by the Eighth Route Army!
"Da da! Da da da..." Amid the sound of Czech machine gun fire, the 1st Cavalry Squadron, which was at the front of the column, fell into chaos.
"idiot!"
"These damn Tubalu!"
"Why are you everywhere?"
"He really is elusive!"
Kuroshima Morita's face instantly fell.
Fortunately, the 1st Cavalry Squadron responded quickly.
After the initial chaos passed, the 1st Cavalry Squadron responded quickly, setting up light machine guns to launch fire counterattacks against the Eighth Route Army on the mountains.
The Cavalry Squadron also set up mortars.
The information that Naoto Asano provided to Wang Ye before was not very accurate.
The cavalry artillery squadron belonging to the Kuroshima Regiment has three artillery squads under its command.
Two of the mountain artillery squads were each equipped with two Type 41 75mm caliber mountain cannons.
There is also a mortar team, equipped with two Type 97 90mm caliber light mortars. This type of mortar also has a very famous nickname, which is the small steel cannon!
The assembly of the Type 41 mountain gun is quite troublesome.
But the assembly of the small cannon is very convenient.
The 20 artillerymen of the mortar team assembled the two guns in less than five minutes.
However, they encountered trouble when preparing to shoot because it was dark and there were no suitable reference objects. The observer could not determine the exact distance to the machine gun firing point on the mountain.
Finally, they fired two volleys of shells with great difficulty.
As a result, two shells flew over the mountain and two shells hit the mountainside.
When the squad leader of the mortar team didn't know what to do, the squadron leader and the regiment commander came over with dark faces.
"Bagayalu, what are you idiots doing?" The squadron leader yelled with a dark face, "I told you to attack the machine gun fire points of the Eighth Route Army, not to blow up the mountain!"
The squad leader said, "Captain, it's dark and we can't find a reference system, so we can't determine the distance."
"Baka!" The Black Island Squadron shouted angrily, "It's dark and we can't determine the distance. Why don't you fire flares?"
"Captain." The squad leader nodded to Kuroshima Morita again and said, "We only carry 200 instantaneous grenades and 100 chemical bombs. We don't carry flares."
After hearing this, Kuroshima Morita was speechless.
Because the number of mules and horses in the Black Island Corps is limited.
Therefore, the equipment and ammunition that can be carried are limited.
In order to ensure as much as possible of instantaneous grenades and poison gas bombs for combat, it is normal for the artillery squadron not to carry flares. Although flares are not heavy, they still require the power of mules and horses.
At this time, the captain of the 1st Cavalry Squadron, Yuichi Ueno, also came over.
"Captain of the regiment," Ueno Yuichi said, bowing his head, "The machine gun fortifications of the Tubalu were built very tricky. Our machine guns cannot effectively suppress them. I suggest launching an upward attack on foot."
Kuroshima Morita frowned and asked, "Is there no way to charge on horseback?"
"It's very difficult," said Ueno Yuichi, "because there is only a narrow and steep path, which makes it difficult for horses to climb. It's very easy to fall when riding uphill."
"I can only give you half an hour."
Kuroshima Morita looked at his watch and said, "We must wipe out this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers within half an hour!"
"Ha!" Ueno Yuichi nodded suddenly, turned around and hurried away. Kuroshima Morita also ordered the main force of the regiment to retreat a hundred meters and extinguish all torches and flashlights.
…
On Teapot Ridge.
Wei Dayong had just fired five bullets and had just reloaded the magazine. When he was about to shoot again, the torches and flashlights at the foot of the mountain went out one after another.
Now Wei Dayong was at a loss. What was he going to do without any light to guide him?
"Fuck!" Wei Dayong cursed, "These damn Japanese devils are really smart. They actually thought of extinguishing the torches and flashlights?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Wang Xikui angrily cursed: "If the Japs can't even think of this, then they are dumber than pigs."
"Hey, Black Wolf No. 1, don't insult the pig." Wang Ye said with a smile, "Pigs are not stupid. I tell you, Second Brother is much smarter than all of you."
"What second senior brother?" Wei Dayong asked blankly, "My senior brother is in Dengfeng."
"Oh, I was talking about Zhu Bajie." Wang Ye said, "Who said your senior brother?"
While they were talking and laughing, Wang Gensheng suddenly shouted, "The Japs are coming, fight them!"
Another imitation Czech light machine gun occupying the only narrow path up the mountain roared.
When he turned his head quickly, he saw a dozen Japanese soldiers holding loaded rifles and sneaking up under the cover of night, but they were blocked by Wang Gensheng's light machine gun.
I saw machine gun fire sweeping across the place.
More than a dozen Japanese soldiers fell to the ground.
Several Japanese soldiers rolled down the cliffs on both sides.
If you fall from this height, you will probably be smashed to pieces.
The Japanese's first wave of attack was quickly defeated.
Seeing that the last few Japanese soldiers were also shot dead one by one by Wang Ye and the snipers of the Black Wolf Group, Wang Gensheng immediately turned around and yelled: "Bai Er Bai San, reload the bullets quickly, there are no more magazines!"
Wu Sanxi and Xie Wei rushed forward, grabbed the 7.92mm caliber bulk Mauser bullets from the box and loaded them into the magazine. Soon, both of them loaded a magazine with 20 rounds each.
Wang Gensheng removed the magazine from the gun and replaced it with a full magazine.
The magazine had just been changed when the second wave of Japs rushed up with bayonets in hand.
Without any hesitation, Wang Gensheng pulled the trigger, and a dazzling tongue of fire immediately spurted out from the muzzle, like a flaming whip in the hands of the god of death, violently lashing at the Japanese on the mountain road ahead.
The Japs fell on the mountain path screaming in agony.
…
Half an hour passed quickly.
The captain of the 1st Cavalry Squadron, Yuichi Ueno, came up to Kuroshima Morita, covered in dust and dirt.
"Captain, the terrain here is too unfavorable for us." Ueno Yuichi said with a dark face, "The Eighth Route Army has built fortifications in advance, and it is too difficult to attack from above."
"Just now, our first squadron tried three times,"
"We only went up a hundred meters before we were pushed back."
"More than thirty imperial soldiers were killed or seriously injured."
"Baga! Idiot! Good-for-nothing! A bunch of good-for-nothings!"
Kuroshima Morita was not a man of good temper and he went berserk in an instant.
After Yuichi Ueno was slapped five times, his face immediately became swollen.
Kuroshima Morita said again: "I will give you another half an hour. If you still cannot destroy the machine gun fire point set up by the Eighth Route Army on the mountain in half an hour, you will commit seppuku and apologize to His Majesty the Emperor."
"Ha!" Ueno Yuichi nodded suddenly and walked away with a depressed face.
Watching Ueno Yuichi turn and leave, Kuroshima Morita also became anxious .
Time is passing by minute by minute, and it is already past one in the morning.
Every minute spent here means a smaller chance of a surprise attack.
Even without relying on surprise attacks, the Kuroshima Regiment has enough strength to destroy Daxia Bay, but it would be unlikely to capture the top leaders of the Eighth Route Army.
Because they delayed here for too long, the Eighth Route Army headquarters would definitely get the news in advance and move ahead of time, and then their Heidao Regiment would have made a wasted trip.
This was hard to accept for Kuroshima Morita.
His target has always been the Eighth Route Army Headquarters!
At that moment, Kuroshima Morita thought to himself, just half an hour!
If you still can’t take the mountain after half an hour, then force your way through.
Anyway, the Eighth Route Army on the mountain only had two machine guns, and the rest were rifles.
…
The barrel of Wang Gensheng's gun was already red.
The Japs launched a desperate attack from above, and his machine gun never stopped firing for a moment.
With the continuous firing, the barrel of the machine gun became red hot in less than five minutes.
"Water, pour water!" Wang Gensheng yelled as he fired fiercely, "It's going to explode!"
Wu Sanxi quickly took off the kettle, unscrewed the lid and poured water on the gun barrel. With a hissing sound, a large cloud of water vapor rose from the gun barrel and the red light was finally suppressed.
Wang Gensheng changed a magazine and continued firing fiercely.
Suddenly, there was no more Japanese soldiers to be seen on the mountain road ahead.
The Japanese soldiers who had just been howling and attacking suddenly disappeared, and even the bodies of the dead Japanese soldiers were dragged back by their companions.
The whole world suddenly became quiet.
Whether it is on Teapot Ridge or below Teapot Ridge.
Not only the sound, but the light also suddenly disappeared.
The whole world suddenly became silent and dark.
This sudden change made the War Wolves on the mountains feel a little uneasy.
Veterans are most afraid of silence. They can fall asleep soundly on the battlefield amid the deafening sound of artillery fire, but they can be suddenly awakened from their sleep in such a silent environment.
Wei Dayong asked in panic: "What's going on?"
Wang Ye remained calm and quietly took out a grenade from his waist.
Pull out the safety pin, knock the fuse hard on the stone, and then throw it hard down to the bottom of Teapot Ridge.
The grenade fell at a speed almost like a free fall. After five seconds, it had fallen about 120 meters and landed just on the ground, where it exploded with a loud bang.
With the red light from the explosion, the Wolf Warriors guarding Teapot Ridge saw,
The dark masses of Japanese cavalry were lined up in four columns, advancing from the foot of the ridge.
The cunning Japanese actually wanted to pass through quietly under the cover of darkness.
Wang Ye immediately shouted, "Coyote, wild wolf, fire at full force, don't save bullets anymore, everyone else, follow me and throw grenades down the ridge, throw all the grenades!"
Liu Dongtang immediately fired fiercely at the foot of the mountain.
Wang Gensheng also turned his gun around and opened fire at the foot of the mountain.
Wang Ye and the remaining few War Wolves also rushed to throw grenades down the ridge.
Although there were only nine War Wolves on Teapot Ridge, they had the advantage of terrain and the firepower they instantly burst out was still very fierce. The marching formation of the Black Island Brigade was instantly thrown into chaos.
Not to mention mules and horses, even well-trained war horses would inevitably be frightened when a grenade explodes at close range, and then lose control and run rampant.
Seeing this scene, Kuroshima Morita almost got angry.
At this moment, Kuroshima Morita could only order the main force of the regiment to withdraw.
The cost of forcing their way through the face of the Eighth Route Army's machine guns and grenades was too high.
Moreover, the Eighth Route Army guarding the mountains are unlikely to have too many bullets and grenades, and such firepower intensity cannot be maintained for too long, so it will not be too late to pass through after the Eighth Route Army's firepower weakens.
However, this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers were unexpectedly cunning.
As soon as the Hei Dao Regiment withdrew, the Eighth Route Army also stopped shooting.
As the Hei Dao Regiment moved forward, the Eighth Route Army began firing fiercely again.
This went on and on for almost half an hour. Just when Kuroshima Morita was about to lose his patience and was ready to force his way through at all costs, the Eighth Route Army on the mountain suddenly stopped.