Chapter 202 Assault on the East

Before 3 a.m. on the 3rd.

"The Pioneer Army is moving!" Chiba Kotaro, the captain of the 102nd Regiment of the 114th Division opposite the Weihe River, who was defending, received information from the investigators.

"What's the situation?" Chiba Kotaro asked the investigators.

"There were many people gathered across the street." The investigators hesitated for a moment and expressed their judgment, "It seems to be an engineer."

"Engineers? Do they want to cross the river?" Qianye said in confusion. Two days ago, he also learned about the vanguard army's operation in the south. Why was this activity near the Wei River? Is it really necessary to cross the river to attack?

"Fire!" At about 3 o'clock, with Kong Ci's order, he directly told him the answer he was thinking about.

The more than 100 artillery pieces on the Wei River plowed the positions of the 102nd Regiment one by one. Then there was another fire plow, which directly beat the Japanese to the point of being unable to raise their heads.

Several engineer battalions quickly built bridges and roads, and ready-made modules were directly erected. After more than two hours of erecting at any cost, three pontoon bridges were built on the Wei River that could be used for armored vehicles to pass through.

"Set out! Fight the Japanese!" Meng Xiang, who had not slept all night, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and waved his hand to the east and ordered.

At 5 a.m., the armored train started from Weixian Railway Station along the Jiaoji Line under the gaze of Meng Xiang and others. Two ordinary trains followed behind, pulling two full trains of soldiers.

At the same time, on the west bank of the Huai River, one hundred and fifty tanks roared slowly towards the floating bridge of the Wei River.

"I'm informing the division headquarters that the vanguard army is going to counterattack!" Chiba Kotaro, who was shocked by artillery, got up and shouted loudly as he shouted for staff. Only smoke from gunfire was seen on several positions of his regiment, and no news could be heard.

"The telephone line is different, and the telegram cannot be connected!" The communications consultant said anxiously. He didn't know that the guerrilla team is good at cutting telephone lines now, and he didn't know that there was a radar station not far from the Wei River that was constantly emitting interference radio waves.

"Baga!" Qianye grabbed the command knife and rushed out of the front line command center of the semi-underground bunker. But as soon as he walked out of the door, he saw a tank rushing past less than ten meters beside him and heading straight for a machine gun position that was still shooting.

The machine gun position saw the tank coming in, and hurriedly turned the gun muzzle, but the bullets hit the tank's armor and made a jingle sound, splashing sparks, but there was no damage to the tank.

The tank did not fire, but rushed up quickly and directly crushed the machine gun position. After the tracks, there was only one broken arm and three piles of blood mud left there.

Before Chiba was stunned for a long time, another tank was sailing towards him in the distance. Chiba hurriedly retreated back to the bunker, and a rain of machine gun bullets swept down a pile of earth and rocks behind him.

"The tank of the Pioneer Army? This time the Pioneer Army is probably not good!" Qianye breathed and ordered: "Contact the division headquarters quickly and invent the code!"

"Boom!" With a cannon, a shell hit the outlet of the bunker, and the surrounding earth and rocks fell one after another, and the outlet was buried.

"We are buried!" A staff officer next to him said panic.

"Don't worry, I'll issue a notice first and notify the division headquarters!" Qianye shouted.

In half an hour, more than fifty tanks cleared the battlefield, and the rest were handed over to the left-behind infantry to clean up the battlefield. These tanks continued to assault and chased the hundred tanks in front.

After crossing the Wei River, with the roar of the engines of the armored transport vehicles, more than 20,000 vanguard troops of the 50th Division went straight to their respective targets in two directions.

Follow the railway and go straight to Qingdao, following the armored train, and accompanying fifty tanks;

All the way, we went straight to the east, accompanied by 100 tanks, heading straight to Yantai and Longkou.

Most of the things the Japanese snatched were concentrated in these two areas.

This time, in order to fight the Japanese, Meng Xiang specially practiced a blitzkrieg that had been planned for a long time.

After Meng Xiang's narration for a long time, Fan Zhong thought a little bit and finally formulated this primary plan with the joint efforts of the General Staff.

After nearly two months of step-by-step teaching, more than a thousand ordinary drivers have passed the qualification.

With the guidance of the first and second instructor cloning instructor, more than 300 new novices were added. With some of the original veterans, the shortage of tankers was alleviated. Although it was impossible to produce thousands of tanks, 150 tanks were still driven. This does not include some of the tanks left behind.

As for self-propelled artillery, Meng Xiangniantao's No. 3 assault gun was much more expensive than the BT-7 tank after one-eighth price, so he finally chose the tank helplessly.

Since the beginning of spring, there has been little rain, which has caused dryness in the sky. The dust on the ground has been rolling into the air with the wheels, and smoke and dust are rolling all the way on several roads.

People from the villages passing by the road fled one after another, and the army passed by, leaving only those who were blind.

The Japanese in the towns along the way only had one small team of troops at most, and the tank troops in front ignored them, so naturally the infantry following behind were wiped out.

"Don't stop, continue to assault!" Huang Baitao stood excitedly on a convertible bucket car and shouted at the troops transport trucks passing by.

Although the shock in his heart had passed when he first came into contact with the Pioneer Army, he was still deeply moved at this time.

When he came, he was a little reluctant, but the establishment of a division could still allow him to show his skills in the Anti-Japanese War.

Even after hearing about the Pioneer Army, he thought he had boasted a lot. When he came, he was ready to face a group of militia recruits who were indistinguishable from each other. But when he saw the organization of the 50th Division of the Pioneer Army, he was shocked.

When he saw the artillery and tanks in the 50th Division, he was shocked and a little numb, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude for the young General Meng.

As a soldier, the greatest honor is on the battlefield. Since General Meng gave himself this opportunity, can he repay the death warriors?

"You have to hurry up and try to get into Gaomi County before the train!" he ordered.

The long-distance raid may have the advantage of armored trains, but the speed of tanks is not slow during the medium and short distances. They crossed the Wei River from Anqiu, which is much closer than the train route.

Almost at the same time, the vanguard of the tank ran wildly and reached Gaomi County. The armored train also broke into Gaomi Station with black smoke, but did not stop. It was just driving while firing several guns, bombarding the machine gun positions of the three Japanese, and then continued to drive southeast.

"It's not rare to have a small county town. Even in Jiaozhou, we will stop and rush to Qingdao!" Deng Dayan said passionately. He polished Kong Ci for a long time and finally became the cannon leader of this armored train. According to what he said, he had to play all the cannons.

Niu Shi, the chief of the armored train, agreed with him. Meng Xiang's instructions to arrive in Qingdao as quickly as possible.

"Leave an infantry regiment into the city, and the others continue to attack!" When Huang Baitao, who arrived, heard that the armored train was passing by the city, looked at the city gate that was bombed open by a few cannons, and then ordered.

"Speed! Quick assault is victory!" This is what Meng Xiang said when explaining the blitzkrieg. Although it is not completely correct, it is also one of the essence of the blitzkrieg.

"Huang Baitao is also very bold! Leave a regiment to deal with the 65th Regiment!" Meng Xiangwen laughed.

"One Japanese army has only a thousand people, but our regiment has nearly four thousand people." Fan Zhongtou did not raise his head and continued to check on the map.

"That 65th Regiment is not weak!" Meng Xiang stood up and took two steps, "that is the ace of the 114th Division."

But within two hours, Meng Xiang got the news that the 65th Regiment's corps command was captured and the corps leader Yamada Takata Nakasa was shot dead.

At the same time, Huang Baitao also reported that the vanguard army had invaded Jiaozhou County.

"Why are the Japanese devils so weak?" Meng Xiang muttered.

But he didn't think about what equipment the vanguard army was. It came a little suddenly. It broke through the gate of Gaomi County before 6 o'clock, making the unconscious Japanese really not much preparation. In two hours, it was slower to clear away the remaining enemies along the way. As for the Japanese positions outside the city, a battalion rushed back and forth with twenty tanks, and three positions outside the city were wiped out.

In this regard, Huang Baitao was still not used to using tanks to attack. The fifty tanks in his hand were also used separately. However, with the speed of thirty BT-7 tanks and many trucks, he rushed all the way to the city of Jiaozhou.

"What? The vanguard army has arrived in Jiaozhou? Bastard, look at it's already dawn outside!" Lieutenant General Momatsu Shigeji, the commander of the 114th Division, directly slapped the urgent electric shock in his hand on the table.

Just after midnight this morning, he personally asked Chiba Kotaro, who was located on the front line of Weihe River, that there was no movement on the Pioneer Army. Less than 8 hours later, the Pioneer Army's army could reach Jiaozhou? Chiba and Yamada were both idiots, which could make the Pioneer Army come easily? Besides, even by car, it would take two or three hours to get from Weihe River to Jiaozhou. Could it be that the Pioneer Army's army flew over? Small groups of people could still come by car. If the army wanted to attack, would they all take cars?

"What an idiot! Let's see who is playing tricks!" Momoji Moto ordered the adjutant.

"Anti-report!" Not long after, the adjutant of the staff hurried in and shouted.

"What's the matter?" Shigeji Momochi lit a cigarette and took a deep breath.

"Jiaozhou has fallen." The adjutant lowered his head and reported it to his eyes. He had already left the interference area of ​​the radar station.

"What? Who is this..." Momatsu Shigeji was about to be angry when he suddenly thought of something. He hurriedly picked up the telegram and looked at it carefully. After reading it, he hurriedly said: "Contact Chiba and Yamada United Team quickly!"

While buying in Jiaozhou, the armored train also encountered resistance.

The Japanese army also likes to arrange troops along the railway line, mainly for easy transportation.

The entire Jiaoji Line is also a lifeline of the economy, and some major economic development zones are also along the line, so it is also a key defense area for the Japanese.

Since leaving the interference range of the radar station, the information of the armored train has been transmitted to the back.

The Japanese also have armored trains. The new four-type train is equipped with 105mm caliber artillery, which is also very powerful, but it is not on the Jiaoji line at this moment.

However, they didn't care. On the front line of the railway, the Central Army, which lacked heavy weapons, was far from threatening them.

The original German artillery of the same caliber on the Pioneer Army, named Qidu, has undoubtedly become their nightmare. Although the armored train needs to attack quickly, for the safety of the personnel carriers behind, the Japanese along the way must be cleared as soon as possible.

Three 105mm caliber le.fh18 light howitzers kept bombarding to achieve the targets that had been investigated. Even the BT-7 tanks carried on the fourth carriage turned their guns to bombard them.

After a fierce artillery fire, the Japanese troops stationed along the railway were stunned.

"Storm up!" The quality of the Japanese veteran was still good. After a temporary panic, the officer led the fierce counterattack.

Their few artillery had long been reconnaissance and positioned by the Pioneer Army, and were directly bombarded into parts by fierce train guns and tank guns. The lack of the most important offensive assistance means, the Japanese grenade launchers and small-caliber mortars were just tickling for armored trains and accompanying tanks, let alone bullets.

The bt-7 tank drove off the train directly, chased the Japanese positions, and bombarded and fired at close range.

The m2 large-caliber dual machine guns on the car also opened fire. The 4-mounted flak38 20mm anti-aircraft gun had the same power as the flat fire, and the Japanese's simple fortifications were directly penetrated.

Under the strafing of artillery and heavy machine guns, the various firepower points of the Japanese quickly silenced. The soldiers on the chariots rushed down to do the final cleaning work in the third and seventh quarters.

Due to the urgency of the Xuzhou battle, the Japanese army left less than one division in this large area between the Jiaoji Line, and distributed everywhere. The arrangement of a guarding area along the Jiaoji Line was at most a brigade, and the scattered troops along the way made it impossible to organize an effective counterattack in front of armored trains and tanks. The fierceness and unretreatment of the Japanese could only make them fall down in front of the Iron War monsters, becoming gradually frozen and cold corpses.
Chapter completed!