Chapter 148: Long Live the Japs' Charge The chaos caused by the Japanese because of their own orders naturally had no impact on the vanguard regiment's offensive plan. After the soldiers responsible for dropping bombs entered the attack position, Qin Yangming raised the signal gun in his hand. As Qin Yangming fired a red signal flare, the Eighth Route Army soldiers in the trenches picked up the grenades placed aside and prepared to start throwing grenades. The First Battalion of the Pioneer Regiment was reorganized based on the original Pioneer Battalion. It has the largest number of veterans and the longest training in the entire battalion, so the physical fitness of the soldiers in the First Battalion is much better than those in other battalions. Those who were chosen to throw grenades were all strong, so it was not a problem for them to throw grenades into the Japanese circular fortifications fifty meters away. As grenades flew towards the Japanese positions, Yamazaki Jihei, who had just issued a ceasefire order, looked at the grenades flying in the sky with shock on his face. "Dodge!" Even though Yamazaki Jihei gave the order to evade immediately, it was of no use. The total distance was only fifty meters, and it only took one or two seconds for the grenade to be thrown over. These two seconds were not enough for the Japanese to listen to Yamazaki Jihei's order.
Even Yamazaki Jihei himself didn't have time to dodge before the grenade fell into the Japanese position. Gao Mu Xixiong knew that the Eighth Route Army might throw grenades, so he hid next to an anti-artillery cave early. After the first grenade hit the ground and exploded, Gao Mu Xixiong hid in the anti-artillery cave. As grenades were thrown from the vanguard regiment's position, bursts of explosions continued to be heard from the Japanese positions. The Japanese soldiers who dodged the grenades either hid in the anti-artillery holes or ran straight behind the fortifications. At the vanguard regiment's position, grenade launchers drawn from various battalions and companies also stuffed wooden-handled grenades into the grenade launchers installed on the muzzles of their guns. The vanguard regiment's grenade launcher was specially selected by Qin Yangming. It is similar to the Japanese grenade launcher. In addition to being able to fire ordinary wooden-handled grenades, it can also fire special grenades. However, unlike a grenade launcher which requires the grenade to have its own propellant, a rifle grenade launcher uses blank ammunition. The high-pressure gas generated by the burning gunpowder in the blank cartridge is used to push the grenade out of the launcher. Of course, using live ammunition in an emergency situation is not a big problem, because the grenade launcher also has warhead guidance. However, if live ammunition is used, part of the gunpowder gas will leak out of the muzzle along with the bullet, and not all of it will act on the grenade. Moreover, the warhead can easily get stuck in the warhead guidance tube of the launcher. Therefore, soldiers will not easily use live ammunition unless they have no other choice. In order to make the grenade reach the longest range, the grenade launcher on the vanguard regiment placed the butt of the rifle directly on the ground and fired the grenade like a mortar. Anyway, what we are pursuing now is firepower coverage, not precision strikes. A grenade fired from a grenade launcher can travel much farther than one thrown by a person. Apart from Qin Yangming, the highest record among the soldiers of the Vanguard Regiment was that of Duan Peng who threw a grenade eighty meters away. The other veterans were basically about fifty or sixty meters away. The better ones can be seventy meters.
Even if the grenade launcher is fired directly, it can still launch a grenade up to 70 meters away with a high degree of accuracy. Now this kind of projectile is enough to hit a distance of one hundred and twenty meters. The Japanese rear fortifications that were not covered by grenades were directly covered by rifle grenades. "Time is up! Blow the charge! " Qin Yangming looked at his watch and saw that the time reserved for throwing grenades and firing rifle grenades had arrived, so he gave the order decisively. The bugler at the side listened to Qin Yangming's order and quickly walked out of the command post with the charge bugle. The inspiring and loud trumpet sounds quickly rang out on the battlefield. "Bayonet!" "Charge!" "Brothers, charge with me. Show the momentum of our vanguard regiment and rush forward to chop up the damned Japs!" As soon as the charge was sounded, Luo Chengwen, the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the Pioneer Regiment, stood up, put one foot on the sandbag in front of the trench, held a knife in one hand, took off his hat on his head with the other hand and threw it hard on the sandbag, pointed the knife at the Japanese position and shouted to the soldiers around him. Then Luo Chengwen took the lead and rushed out of the trench. After the first echelon rushed out of the trench, the second echelon followed closely behind and rushed up quickly. "Comrades, we can't let the First Battalion eat all the meat, our Second Battalion must also eat meat! Follow my steps, charge!" "Charge forward and kill all those damn Japs from the Yamazaki Battalion! This is the first battle of our second battalion. If anyone pees, get out of here and go back to the recruit camp!" The first paragraph was said by the instructor of the Second Battalion, and the second paragraph was said by the battalion commander of the Second Battalion. The cavalry company was in the middle attacking position. Sun Desheng saw that the troops in front had already charged and it was finally his cavalry company's turn. He quickly drew his saber. “Soldiers of the Cavalry Company, use your actions to tell others that even though we have no horses, we are still the fastest troop in the Vanguard Regiment! Get past the first battalion and get to the front!" Led by several military commanders, the soldiers of the vanguard regiment quickly rushed towards the Japanese positions. The remaining Japanese soldiers on the position also took out their bayonets and launched a charge against the Eighth Route Army under the organization of the remaining Japanese officers. "Kill him!" "Let the Eighth Route Army see how powerful our warriors of the Great Japanese Empire are!" "Kill these Tubalu!" "charge!" "Baga, retreat, retreat!" "Break out quickly!" "Send a telegram quickly to request the 4th Brigade to provide immediate support!"
The Yamazaki Battalion was originally composed of defeated soldiers, and the command structures at all levels were imperfect. It was only because of the presence of Lieutenant Colonel Jihei Yamazaki as the supreme commander that it was able to be organized in the beginning. Yamazaki Jihei was discovered by Xu Laoliu when the Eighth Route Army threw grenades, and was shot dead. Now that the Japanese have lost their supreme commander, none of the remaining lieutenants are willing to obey the orders of another lieutenant of the same rank as themselves. The command of the entire team is in chaos, and each one is issuing different orders. The charging Japanese soldiers, the retreating Japanese soldiers... were all in a mess. However, when the Eighth Route Army rushed up, the Japanese still reacted and prepared to fight back under the organization of the sergeant. When the Japanese soldiers who chose to charge first saw the Eighth Route Army rushing up, they showed cruel and disgusting smiles on their faces. They charged towards Xia from the hillside, while the Eighth Route Army charged from the bottom up. Charging down the mountain is easy and saves energy, but charging from the bottom to the top not only requires you to look up and pay attention to the target, but also consumes a lot of energy. These charging Japanese soldiers seemed to have seen the Eighth Route Army falling under their bayonets, and they all let out strange cries. "Long live His Majesty Tian Locust!" "Long live the Japanese Empire!" But soon, the Japanese soldiers at the front who launched the so-called Long Live Charge noticed the Eighth Route Army and their faces changed drastically. (End of this chapter)