HCB Chapter 356 Killing Shinozuka Yoshio
Chapter 356 Killing Shinozuka Yoshio
5 month 22 day,
The darkness before dawn shrouded the city of Taiyuan.
The soldiers of the 388th Brigade have made final preparations.
6 points in the early hours.
Senior commanders such as Gao Da, Qi Tongwei, and Sha Ruijin arrived at the Taiyuan front command headquarters one after another.
On the East Mountain, after an overnight effort, the artillery unit of the 388th Brigade finally transported more than 40 105mm howitzers to the top of the mountain.
The muzzles of these heavy artillery were pointed directly at Taiyuan City, ready to launch a thundering attack.
Dongshan is located at a high altitude, only 5 kilometers away from Taiyuan City. The artillery shells fired from here can cover all strategic points in Taiyuan City and its surrounding areas, providing powerful artillery support for the troops attacking on the entire front.
Inside the command center, the lights were on, and the sounds of telephones ringing and radios were heard one after another.
Gundam stood in front of the map, his eyes sharp.
He turned to Chu Yunfei and Li Yunlong.
"Li Yunlong, Chu Yunfei, listen to my orders."
"Yes, Commander!" Li Yunlong and Chu Yunfei immediately stood at attention.
"We will launch a general attack on Taiyuan City immediately. The Political Commissar and the Chief of Staff are looking forward to your performance."
"Yes, Commander!" the two responded in unison.
Afterwards, Li Yunlong and Chu Yunfei turned around and left the command center and headed straight for their respective troops.
After 10 minutes,
The artillery position on the East Mountain suddenly erupted with an earth-shaking roar.
There was continuous artillery fire and countless shells whistled towards Taiyuan City.
The defensive positions built by the Japanese in the city trembled under the fierce artillery fire, and dirt and rubble were thrown into the air.
Immediately afterwards, the tank regiment of the 388th Brigade launched an attack together with the infantry.
The tank tracks rolled over the ground, making heavy noises, and they rushed towards the city walls like steel monsters.
The Japanese soldiers stationed on the city wall fought desperately, but their resistance seemed insignificant under the powerful firepower of the 388th Brigade.
The tank's turret rotated, and every shelling turned the Japanese positions on the city wall into a sea of fire.
The infantry followed closely behind, their weapons spraying bullets.
The Japanese on the city wall were eliminated one after another under the offensive of the 388th Brigade, and their defense line began to collapse.
Gundam stood in the command center, his eyes fixed on the front battlefield through the telescope.
A look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
"Political Commissar, Chief of Staff, after these battles, the 388th Brigade
I clearly feel that their coordination and cooperation have become more and more proficient. I believe that after this battle, the combat effectiveness of the 388th Brigade will be further improved. "
Sha Ruijin nodded and agreed: "Commander, the 388th Brigade is now the strongest brigade in the country. Even the European powers are probably not as strong as the 388th Brigade."
Gaoda smiled and responded: "Chief of Staff, you are right. The combat effectiveness of the 388th Brigade is not much worse than that of a corps. Which brigade has more than 3 people? This is more than the number of an army."
Qi Tongwei on the side smiled and interrupted: "Commander, Chief of Staff, the combat effectiveness of the 388th Brigade has been tested on the battlefield, which is enough to prove that the new troop configuration of the independent column is very strong."
Everyone in the command center nodded in agreement.
Every battle of the 388th Brigade is a test of the unit's combat effectiveness, and this general attack on Taiyuan City will be a comprehensive display of their strength.
Then, everyone in the command center picked up their telescopes and turned their eyes to the battlefield ahead.
The battlefield was filled with smoke and artillery fire. The tank regiment of the 388th Brigade was like a steel torrent, rushing forward and constantly spewing out tongues of flame.
One shell after another, like the Grim Reaper's scythe, flew towards the Japanese on the city wall, blowing their fortifications into pieces.
Under such a fierce attack, the Japanese soldiers were so scared that they didn't even dare to climb the city wall. The 388th Brigade's attack speed was unusually smooth.
It took only three hours from the start of the war to the capture of the Japanese city wall. This speed surprised everyone in the command center.
Immediately afterwards, all the infantry of the 388th Brigade went out in full force and engaged in fierce street fighting with the Japanese defenders in the city together with the tank troops.
With the experience accumulated from the previous street battles, the soldiers of the 388th Brigade fought very adeptly.
The tanks charged, followed by the infantry, killing the Japanese soldiers hiding in the dark corners of the city one by one.
As defense points and positions were cleared one after another, the resistance in Taiyuan City became weaker and weaker.
Li Yunlong and Chu Yunfei personally led the team to launch the final attack on Taiyuan.
No one expected the attack to be so successful, but the Japanese did not give up easily.
The Japanese soldiers stationed in the city made their last desperate struggle. They formed dozens of suicide squads and died together with the tanks while holding explosives.
Under such circumstances, the tanks suffered heavy losses, with nearly seventy or eighty tanks destroyed by the Japanese.
"Commander, our tanks have suffered heavy losses!" a signalman hurriedly reported to Gundam.
"I see."
Gundam's expression was solemn.
"Notify Li Yunlong and Chu Yunfei and tell them to be careful of the Japanese suicide squad. We cannot let our guard down just because things are going smoothly for a while."
"Yes, Commander!" The signalman immediately conveyed the order.
On the battlefield, Li Yunlong and Chu Yunfei immediately adjusted their tactics after receiving orders.
They knew that although victory was in sight, the Japanese's frenzied counterattack would be equally deadly.
They ordered the tank troops to retreat temporarily, and the infantry used the urban terrain to build a temporary defense line. At the same time, they sent out snipers and special forces to deal with the Japanese suicide squad.
"Brothers, cheer up!
The Japanese want to fight us to death, so we will fight them to the end!" Li Yunlong shouted.
Chu Yunfei was not to be outdone. He stood beside a destroyed tank and shouted, "We cannot let our comrades' blood be shed in vain! For Taiyuan, for victory, charge!"
The soldiers reorganized under the leadership of the two commanders.
As the battle continued, the sound of gunfire rang out in Taiyuan City, and smoke filled every corner.
Chu Yunfei and Li Yunlong, two battle-hardened commanders, led the assault troops to forcibly attack the Japanese headquarters in the center of the city.
"Brothers, follow me! Take down the enemy's headquarters!"
After a fierce attack, the Japanese army's defense line was broken, and Yoshio Shinozuka led the officers' corps to make the final resistance.
He stood on the ruins of the headquarters with despair and madness on his face.
"Warriors of the Empire, the time has come to serve the Emperor and fight the enemy!" Yoshio Shinozuka roared.
All the Japanese soldiers burst into a final frenzy in desperation. They attacked the Eighth Route Army soldiers desperately, trying to die together.
On the battlefield, soldiers from both sides engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand fight.
In the melee, the commander of the Japanese First Army, Yoshio Shinozuka, was hit by a mortar shell and killed on the spot.
His death, like a signal, instantly collapsed the Japanese will to resist.
With the destruction of the Japanese officer corps, Taiyuan was gradually controlled by the 388th Brigade.
The battle lasted until 6 o'clock in the afternoon. The city was devastated, with ruins everywhere and the streets littered with the bodies of the devils and the Eighth Route Army soldiers.
The soldiers began to clean up the battlefield with grief in their hearts. They silently carried the bodies of their comrades with tears in their eyes.
This attack on Taiyuan was probably the one with the highest casualties for the 388th Brigade, but the results achieved were very brilliant.
Li Yunlong stood beside Shinozuka Yoshio's body and announced loudly: "Brothers, we have won! Taiyuan is liberated!"
Smiles appeared on the soldiers' tired faces and they hugged each other to celebrate this hard-earned victory.
Although the price was heavy, this victory was undoubtedly a huge encouragement to the entire war situation.
The liberation of Taiyuan City not only successfully killed the First Army Commander Yoshio Shinozuka, but also occupied the capital of Shanxi.
This is of great strategic significance for boosting morale and undermining the enemy's fighting will.
.........
As the sun sets,
The sky gradually darkened and turned blood red.
Gaoda led Qi Tongwei, Sha Ruijin and others and slowly entered Taiyuan City in a jeep.
On the streets, traces of fighting were everywhere, with broken walls and rubble piled up like mountains.
Gundam sat in the front seat of the jeep, his eyes sweeping over the ruins with heavy eyes.
His heart was filled with complex emotions. The damage caused by war to a city was too great, and the damage to ordinary people was immeasurable.
Suddenly, a system prompt sounded in Gundam's mind, and this sound lifted his spirits:
"Ding! Congratulations to the host's troops for successfully killing the First Army Commander Yoshio Shinozuka.
Eliminate 17,645 Japanese soldiers stationed in Taiyuan City, achieve a major stage victory, and receive 176,450 military merit points as a system reward. "
"Special rewards from the system: 1 tons of special steel, 10 tons of brass, 50 tons of potassium nitrate, ..., 1000 sets of machine tools, 100 tons of gold, 1000 tons of rare metals, and a set of blueprints for an armed helicopter."
Gundam was indeed stunned when he heard about the system's reward.
He sat in the seat of the jeep, feeling a little bit unbelievable for a moment.
This was the first time he had received such a high reward, especially 100 tons of gold.
Under the shadow of war, the Independent Column has been facing extremely tight funding. These 100 tons of gold are undoubtedly a timely help that can solve urgent problems.
Various other raw materials are also important to him. These materials can be used to manufacture weapons and ammunition to enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops.
The drawings of the armed helicopters made him even more excited.
This is a real killer weapon, especially when dealing with tanks and ground forces, armed helicopters can play a huge advantage.
In the absence of anti-aircraft missiles, armed helicopters are fully capable of slaughtering the Japanese.
In the future, when dealing with small groups of Japanese troops, we can send out armed helicopters to hunt them down quickly.
This will greatly improve the mobility and strike efficiency of the troops.
Gundam opened the system panel in his mind, and the military merit points on the panel had reached nearly one million.
As the independent column continued to expand, more and more Japanese devils were killed, and his military merit points continued to rise.
"I have used up a lot of military merit points in the development of the base ahead. I didn't expect to get back to a million points so soon." Gundam secretly marveled in his heart, it turned out that there is strength in numbers.
If it weren't for the efforts of so many people in the Independent Column, it would take him several years to get 100 million military merit points.
As for the supplies in the system space, they are simply inexhaustible. The raw materials alone have piled up into several high mountains. It is estimated that he will not be able to use them all up even after the war.