readytorunbook Chapter 942 Captain Yamashita
Chapter 942 Captain Yamashita
Two voices came from the scene: Captain Wang's loud voice and Captain Li's deep voice.
There's nothing we can do. This time, the First Company has taken over the main attack again, and the Second Company is only responsible for supporting. No wonder we can't be happy.
Then, Deputy Captain Qian brought over the squad leader in charge of planting landmines.
"How's the landmine placement going from Languan to here?"
"Deputy Captain, don't worry. We've all been trained in mine-laying courses at the base. We know all the different ways to lay mines by heart. We'll definitely give the enemy a good beating."
"Along the way, we laid more than 600 landmines, including letter mines, anti-personnel bounding mines, anti-engineer glass mines, and so on."
"If it weren't for the fact that there are no armored vehicles here in Languan, I would like to try out the anti-tank mines developed in the base area."
"Alright, stop showing off your little bit of expertise. Go check it again right away, and make sure there are no mistakes."
Faced with this somewhat talkative fellow, Deputy Captain Qian was both amused and exasperated, but he still held this kind of technical talent in the highest esteem.
In fact, our tactics were quite simple: to cut off the enemy's connection between Goose City and Lan Pass by any means possible, and to absolutely prevent a single Japanese soldier, a single grain of food, or a single bullet from being transported there.
The method was simple and brutal: plant landmines.
According to intelligence, the Tuqiao Regiment stationed in Echeng was equipped with only one company of engineers. We laid a large number of landmines on the only road between Echeng and Languan. As long as the Japanese dared to come out to clear the mines, the guerrillas would specifically target the enemy engineers to interfere with the enemy's mine-clearing operations.
Anyway, time is on our side. Even if the enemy clears out an area, as long as we bury our burrows faster than they can sweep, we will be invincible.
About an hour later, the enemy's supply convoy came into view, and Deputy Battalion Commander Qian ordered everyone to prepare for battle.
Meanwhile, the enemy's transport convoy was unaware that they had fallen into a deadly trap.
The squadron leader, Yamashita, sat in the driver's seat of the military truck, his face grim, staring ahead.
He was living a good life in the county town, leading his men on patrols every day and then enjoying himself in the military camp.
But now he's being forced by his superiors to go to Languan, and to be stationed there long-term, which is going to kill him.
A great battle is coming, and Lan Guan will be the first to bear the brunt. He might even die in that wretched place.
In fact, over the years, he had fought against the Eighth Route Army guerrillas in Goose City many times, and had witnessed the growth of our guerrillas firsthand.
When they first captured this place, our guerrilla force was very weak. Although a guerrilla force had fifty or sixty people, or even a hundred, their weapons and equipment were extremely rudimentary.
Typically, a guerrilla force of over a hundred people might have fewer than ten modern rifles; most of them would be old-fashioned rifles, dating back fifty or sixty years.
Most of them were broadswords and spears, and even the musket was considered a powerful weapon.
Such a combination, no matter how many people it has, is easily defeated.
In the beginning, they could easily defeat dozens or even hundreds of guerrillas with just three or five soldiers, while suffering very few casualties themselves. In fact, they didn't even have a single wounded soldier after a battle.
But gradually, the situation changed, and our guerrillas' equipment gradually improved.
Those guerrillas, numbering a hundred or so, were also equipped with a number of old-fashioned rifles and Hanyang rifles. Although the guerrillas' marksmanship was average and they didn't have many bullets, any shot they took was fatal.
The guerrilla captains were also basically equipped with Mauser pistols, which greatly increased their firepower.
At this point, even one or two Japanese soldiers dared not easily enter the village, and even three or five soldiers would be in danger if they went out of the city.
At this point, the garrison of Goose City began to take the matter seriously and launched large-scale operations every few days to eliminate the guerrillas.
Furthermore, they supported a large number of traitors who used their Chinese identity to gather intelligence, and the results were quite remarkable.
At that time, the guerrilla forces we established were being chased everywhere, and a large number of comrades were sacrificing their lives every day. This tragic situation continued until our base area established an arsenal.
Large quantities of weapons and ammunition were delivered to Goose City through secret channels. In particular, the rifles that our main force had replaced were basically delivered to the guerrillas in the enemy-occupied areas as soon as possible.
The biggest advantage of doing this is that it can tie down a large number of the Japanese troops in Goose City, giving our base area time to develop.
The effect was really good. After our guerrillas and militias got their weapons and equipment, they kept launching ambushes against the enemy, keeping the Japanese troops in Goose City running around in circles.
What happened next is well known: after the guerrillas were equipped with a large amount of Japanese equipment, the vast countryside became our domain.
The company commander at the foot of the mountain had led his troops to besiege our fortified villages several times, but they were humiliated and suffered heavy losses at the hands of the county brigade. Since then, he has never dared to leave the city easily again, until yesterday when he received the military order.
Suddenly, he had a telepathic connection and sensed danger, so he quickly stopped the entire convoy.
He carefully observed the situation on both sides of the road through his binoculars. Based on his years of combat experience, he had already sensed a dangerous signal.
However, after looking around with his binoculars, he found nothing unusual, and the terrain was not suitable for an ambush.
This terrain is fair to everyone, with flat land on both sides and the nearest hillside more than 500 meters from the road.
The platoon leader's troops had been ambushed many times before and had relevant experience, but frankly, he couldn't understand the terrain in front of him, nor did he believe that the Eighth Route Army guerrillas would be so foolish.
Setting up an ambush point 500 meters away is simply impossible and violates common military knowledge.
However, a sense of unease lingered in his mind, so he ordered the communications soldier to send a telegram to the regimental command, explaining the situation and requesting that the transport team withdraw to Goose City.
Ten minutes later, however, they received a harshly worded telegram, which even directly reprimanded the company commander, Yamashita, for being cowardly and ordered him to lead the transport team to Languan as soon as possible, or face military law.
The squadron leader had no choice but to grit his teeth and let the convoy continue, while secretly praying that he was just overthinking things.
On Deputy Battalion Commander Qian's side, after seeing the enemy convoy stop advancing, he was worried for quite a while.
If the enemy stops advancing or turns back, the county brigade can easily overwhelm them with its current strength, but the casualties will be much higher, which is not something the higher command wants to see.
Now that the enemy convoy has continued its advance, that could be better.