Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 85 Mobile Warfare

Liujiazhai, the position of the 68th Regiment Kubota Battalion

In the temporary command center, Major Kubota was staring at the map and studying the Battle of Shanghai. Although his men were still in Baoshan, his heart had already drifted to Luodian. In his opinion, that was where they should go.

The squadron leader, Captain Kameda Sonji, was accompanying him in doing war game simulations. Since there was no war at the moment, they could only rely on this to pass the time.

At this moment, Captain Furukawa, who was on duty, rushed in and reported to Major Kubota:
"Captain, we have discovered a Chinese troop that is preparing to bypass our right wing. They are not carrying any baggage and their number is approximately one battalion."

Kubota instantly became alert and said:
"Yoshi, they are obviously going to support Baoshan City. They don't carry any baggage, so they can go around from the path on the right wing. The Ishii team can't stop them for long.

The main force of the regiment is attacking Baoshan City, and we must not let them pass.

Kameda-kun, you take the first and second squadrons with me to defeat the Chinese reinforcements, and Furukawa-kun will continue to stay behind."

Kameda and Furukawa responded with a shout. Major Kubota could no longer bear the loneliness, and after Kameda gathered his troops, he rushed out of the position and headed straight for the Chinese reinforcements.

They had not chased far when they heard dense gunfire ahead. Major Kubota shouted excitedly:
"Hurry up, the Ishii team is stopping the Chinese, we must not let them get away!"

He was not worried at all that the Ishii team's blocking position would be breached by the Chinese. The position they chose was easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as they sent reinforcements fast enough, they would be able to catch up with the Chinese, and then attack them from both sides and defeat them in one fell swoop.

I have to say that Kubota's plan was very good, but unfortunately this time they encountered the Second Battalion with extremely strong attack power, and dozens of Japanese devils really couldn't stop them.

The Second Company set up two flying thunder cannons and fired, killing more than half of the Ishii squad. Then more than 100 officers and soldiers of the Second Company charged and annihilated the Ishii squad. The entire battle took no more than 5 minutes.

The Chinese troops discovered by the Japanese were none other than the brothers of the Second Company and the Supplementary Team, with about 500 men, almost the strength of a battalion. Their mission was to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Major Kubota was worried that they might take a detour through the side road, so he led two main squadrons to chase them, leaving only one machine gun squadron and two infantry squadrons at the main position;
After the previous battles, all the squadrons of the Kubota Battalion were not fully staffed, with a total number of more than 700 people.

The two squadrons brought by Kubota were the most well-organized, with about 350 people. He was confident that he could annihilate an entire Chinese battalion with these few people.

What shocked him was that when they arrived, the Chinese had already broken through the defense line of the Ishii team, leaving corpses all over the ground. They were a step too late, and he was so angry that he screamed:

"Bagayalu, kill the chicken for me!"

The Japanese chased for about a kilometer, and behind them came the sound of dense gunfire and faint shouts of killing.
Major Kubota could only stop and listen to the gunshots, which obviously came from the direction of Liu's house. He suddenly realized that he had been fooled and said to Captain Kameda:
"Mr. Kameda, the Chinese are trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain. They have more than a few hundred people and are carrying a large amount of baggage. We can only take the main road."

Kameda also suddenly realized:

"These hundreds of people are all light infantry. They don't carry any combat supplies. Even if they go to Baoshan City, they will die. They are here to lure us away from the Liu family residence.

The Chinese are cunning and sly, so we must hurry back to reinforce Liu's house as soon as possible. "The two quickly reached a consensus and immediately ordered the troops to turn back to Liu's house and no longer pay attention to the second company.

Major Kubota really guessed it right. The Second Battalion carried a large amount of baggage and more than 200 mules and horses. They did not dare to take a shortcut and had to get rid of the Japanese in Liujiazhai first so that their retreat would not be cut off.

At this time, the first company and the mortar platoon attacked Liu's house. They made a big noise, but their real killer weapon was the rocket artillery platoon and the third company.
While the Japanese were chasing the Second Company, the Third Company quietly moved to the Japanese's return route. They had no time to build fortifications, so they just lay on the ground to block the Japanese, with the aim of making them stop.

The rocket artillery platoon has already ambushed them 500 meters away on the flank, waiting for them to stop. Only when they stop can they cover them with artillery fire.

Kubota, who was eager to return to Liu's house, did not notice anything unusual. After all, the rocket artillery platoon was ambushed several hundred meters away, and such a long distance was beyond their marching alert range.

When they arrived at the blocking position of the third company, the company's two Maxim heavy machine guns and nine Czech light machine guns suddenly opened fire, dealing a heavy blow to the Japanese.
Since the Japanese marching formation was two columns with a narrow cross-section, the casualties were not heavy. They quickly retreated after encountering strong firepower resistance.

During this period, the column changed into a horizontal formation, assembled 200 meters away, and switched to defense on the spot. It was difficult for the third company to hit them at this distance.

Major Kubota was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately called Captain Kameda and Captain Kawakami to discuss:
"The Chinese are really trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain. On the one hand, they are sending people to stop us, and on the other hand, they are forcing an attack on the Liu family's position;
There is a battalion behind us, and they can turn around and attack us at any time, so we must concentrate our forces and try our best to defeat the enemy in front of us.

Although their firepower is strong, their numbers are small. Kameda-kun, Kawakami-kun, please!"

It has to be said that Major Kubota is quite capable. He quickly thought of a solution in such an unfavorable situation. Captains Kameda and Kawakami agreed. They had no time to argue.

The blocking point chosen by the third company was the widest area on the flank. The front alone was two to three hundred meters wide, and they could barely hold it off.

The Japanese also saw that the Third Company's strength was relatively weak, and the blocking line had almost no depth, just a long horizontal snake formation. Kubota didn't take it seriously at all, and breaking through such a blocking position was just a matter of a charge.

The attack naturally required formations. They formed two parallel attack formations with squadrons as units, more than 200 meters wide and more than meters deep. Just as they were about to launch the attack, they heard the sound of a group of artillery shells breaking through the air from the flank. Major Kubota's face changed drastically, and he shouted in fear:
"Baga, heavy artillery group!"

"Boom boom boom..."

Dozens of 107mm rockets fell from the sky, covering the enemy's assembly area. Major Kubota had never seen such a fierce artillery fire. It was not an exaggeration to describe it as a devastating blow.
Almost all of his troops were engulfed in the smoke from the explosion. When the smoke cleared, more than half of his two squadrons were engulfed, and the ground was covered with the broken limbs of the Japanese.

Rocket artillery is most effective against field infantry groups. They don't even have fortifications and are bombarded head-on. One artillery shell can knock down an entire squad of Japanese soldiers. 72 shells are enough to give the Japanese a hard time.

At least 300 of the more than 200 Japanese soldiers were knocked down, and the rest were also dizzy from the explosion.

The third company took the opportunity to launch an attack, and the remaining Japanese soldiers were defeated in an instant. They turned around and ran back, but ended up running into the guns of the second company and the reinforcement team.

Under the pincer attack from the third and second companies and the replacement team, the remaining Japanese troops were quickly wiped out, and Major Kubota was also killed in a hail of bullets.

(End of this chapter)