Chapter 182 Yamamoto Ikki prepares to attack "I'm warning you, even though our assault platoon didn't get a suitable combat mission in this battle. Instead, like ordinary companies, they have to act as vanguard troops to conduct reconnaissance for the large forces in the rear. But I tell you, since the regiment commander has assigned the reconnaissance mission to our assault platoon, we must not allow this mission to fail! Put away all those little thoughts in your mind! If you are not happy about it and feel that doing reconnaissance missions is a waste of your abilities, you can raise the issue now. I agree that you will not participate in this mission." In the open space of Lijiazhuang, Duan Peng was giving his final speech to the soldiers of the assault platoon. Duan Peng was worried that some soldiers felt that it was a waste of his talents to carry out the reconnaissance mission, and he was somewhat unhappy about it. So he brought it up directly. If anyone felt that he was being wasted and was unhappy, he could stand up now and Duan Peng would guarantee that he would not let him participate in this reconnaissance mission. Of course, the other party will no longer need to participate in various tasks of the assault platoon in the future. However, Duan Peng didn't think that any soldier from the assault platoon would stand up. After all, the soldiers in the assault platoon are not new recruits who have just joined the army and are not yet mature mentally.
The youngest group of soldiers in the assault platoon are Duan Peng and other soldiers who came out of Duanjiaao. But even Duan Peng and others have been fighting with Qin Yangming for more than a year. Psychologically, he has matured a long time ago. Besides, when the assault platoon was first formed, a mission to attack a blockhouse could make the soldiers of the assault platoon excited. Not to mention that the reconnaissance mission is now obviously more important than attacking the artillery tower. How could the soldiers of the assault platoon stand up and not want to carry out the mission? In addition, the soldiers who can join the assault platoon are all smart. Anyone who stands up and says that being asked to perform reconnaissance missions is a waste of talent is definitely mentally ill. People with mental problems are not worthy of being in the assault platoon. After all, the soldiers of the assault platoon were not dissatisfied with having the assault platoon perform the vanguard reconnaissance mission that ordinary companies were responsible for. What really made the assault platoon soldiers unhappy was that they couldn't kill many Japanese soldiers during their reconnaissance missions... After all, the 4th Brigade has been surrounded now. How could it have the mind or ability to send out troops to launch an ambush? What's more, the Eighth Route Army did leave sentries in the area near Tongshi Town. If the 4th Brigade wants to launch an ambush, it will need to mobilize a force no smaller than a squadron. The movement of several hundred men in a squadron could be easily detected by the sentries. However, the Vanguard Regiment obviously did not receive any intelligence about the Japanese Fourth Brigade's troop mobilization. In other words, when the vanguard regiment arrived at the designated attack position, there was basically no need to worry about being ambushed by the Japanese. The reason why we have to send out the vanguard troops for reconnaissance is just to err on the side of caution. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry.
The soldiers of the assault platoon naturally knew these things. So they were just dissatisfied as to why there were no devils to kill. After all, when the war breaks out, the assault platoon will never be able to defeat those ordinary companies. All the members of the assault platoon only had about forty people. How could they possibly compete with ordinary companies of several hundred people to kill the Japanese? At most, a sniper can grab a few heads. After all, the assault platoon is mainly equipped with submachine guns, the characteristics of which are strong firepower, large ammunition capacity and short range. Although the Zhongzheng rifle of an ordinary company lacks firepower and has a small ammunition capacity, it can easily hit targets within three or four hundred meters. At medium and long distances, submachine guns have no advantage at all. Therefore, the soldiers of the assault platoon were only unhappy because they could not kill the Japanese, not because they felt that the assault platoon was wasting their talents on the reconnaissance mission. For the assault platoon, a mission is a mission, there is no big or small. The only difference is how many Japanese soldiers can be killed in this mission and how big the Japanese soldiers can be killed. Therefore, the soldiers of the assault platoon had no other ideas in their minds about this reconnaissance mission. At most he would complain that he couldn't kill that many little ghosts this time. With this kind of mentality, how could there be any soldier who would stand up and say that he felt that carrying out reconnaissance missions was a waste of his talents? Duan Peng saw that no one stood up and nodded expressionlessly. It would be right if no one stood up. If someone did, it would be a big problem. Seeing that no one stood up, Duan Peng continued to speak to the soldiers of the assault platoon. "No one came forward, I'm very happy, at least it means there are no crazy guys in our assault platoon. Now, let me be frank. Since everyone has no objection to this reconnaissance mission, then everyone should carry out this mission conscientiously. If someone is not clear-headed and causes problems with the mission, then I, Duan Peng, will kill him first without the captain's order!" Although Duan Peng has full confidence in the soldiers of the assault platoon. However, considering the importance of this battle, Duan Peng finally spoke and warned all the soldiers in the assault platoon. I hope the soldiers of the assault platoon will not carry out their mission with emotion. Otherwise, what if the soldiers of the assault platoon really made a mistake due to emotional problems while performing the reconnaissance mission, and then the large force in the rear was ambushed. By then, the assault platoon might really be disbanded... This is based on the assumption that no major problems occur. What if the vanguard regiment is ambushed and caught off guard, resulting in heavy losses for the vanguard regiment? By then, the assault platoon will be blamed for all the consequences. "Platoon leader, don't worry, everyone is just a little unhappy that our assault platoon may not be able to kill many Japanese in this mission. I will never look down on it just because it is a reconnaissance mission."
"Yes, platoon leader, our assault platoon has carried out so many missions. Don't worry, we promise to be serious and we will even count the number of grasses on the ground." "Platoon leader, if the mission goes wrong because of our carelessness, you don't have to do anything. We will find a rock to hit ourselves to death!" …… Listening to what Duan Peng said, the soldiers of the assault platoon responded one after another. Make sure this mission is completed beautifully. "Well, let's go!" Duan Peng listened to the responses of many soldiers, nodded, and then led the assault platoon out of Lijiazhuang to begin the reconnaissance mission. The soldiers of the assault platoon also knew that this reconnaissance mission was a very important mission in terms of importance, in addition to not killing many Japanese soldiers. They also knew what the consequences would be if the reconnaissance mission was not completed well. Everyone put in their utmost effort to carry out the mission. Although the reconnaissance mission is very important, it is not very difficult in terms of difficulty. The vanguard's attack route has been confirmed. The assault platoon only needs to conduct reconnaissance along the route taken by the vanguard regiment. The main thing is to conduct reconnaissance within a three-kilometer radius of the road, centered on the road, to ensure that there are no Japanese ambushes near the road. If there is an ambush, then notify the main force to prepare for the attack. If there is no ambush, the assault platoon only needs to wait for the vanguard regiment to arrive at the predetermined attack location. However, what Duan Peng and others did not expect was that the Japanese Fourth Brigade did not send any troops to ambush the Vanguard Regiment. However, a special forces team of the Japanese entered the area of Baihuling and prepared to attack the headquarters of the 386th Brigade in Baihuling. However, the special forces led by Yamamoto Ikki were circumventing the village and avoiding the main roads as much as possible. He is the type who would rather climb a mountain than walk. Duan Peng led the assault platoon to conduct reconnaissance along the road. So the two sides avoided each other perfectly and did not collide. While Duan Peng was leading the assault platoon to carry out a reconnaissance mission, Yamamoto Ikki on the other side was also leading his special forces team and advancing rapidly towards Baihu Ridge. On a cliff near Baihu Ridge, after several hours of travel, Yamamoto Ikki and his special forces team finally arrived smoothly to a place less than one kilometer away from Baihu Ridge. On a small hill about one kilometer away from Baihu Ridge. Because the hill is surrounded by cliffs, ordinary people cannot climb up at all, coupled with the distance and other reasons. Therefore, the Eighth Route Army did not arrange any sentries near this cliff. This also gave Yamamoto Ikki an opportunity. The cliff that ordinary people could not climb was just a piece of cake for Yamamoto Ikki's special forces team. Several Japanese soldiers who were good at climbing used grappling hooks to climb up the cliff and lower ropes, and then all of Yamamoto Ikki's special forces climbed up the hill.
Yamamoto Ikki led his special forces team up the hill, not only wanting to use the hill as a cover to observe Baihu Ridge. Another thing is to let the special forces soldiers take a rest on this hill. Seeing the last soldier climb up the hill, Yamamoto Ikki began to give orders. "Everyone take a ten-minute break. Ten minutes later, we will launch a surprise attack on the Eighth Route Army's White Tiger Ridge!" After giving the order to rest, Yamamoto Ikki and his adjutant climbed to the edge of the mountain and began to observe Baihu Ridge. "Hayamura-kun, where do you think is the best place for our special forces team to enter Baihuling?" Yamamoto Ikki used a telescope to observe Baihu Ridge, and then asked his adjutant Hayamura Tengshan who was holding a sniper rifle and observing Baihu Ridge through the scope on the sniper rifle. Hayamura Tengshan listened to Yamamoto Ikki's question, put down the sniper rifle in his hand and answered. "Colonel, I think we should enter Baihuling from the back mountain of Baihuling. The back mountain area of Baihu Ridge is a cliff that is extremely steep and hundreds of meters high. It is impossible for ordinary people to climb up that cliff. With the help of this dangerous terrain, the Eighth Route Army will most likely not deploy too many forces for defense in the back mountains, or even not deploy any defense at all. After all, Baihuling was originally just the garrison of a battalion of the Eighth Route Army. It is now only temporarily used as the headquarters of the 386th Brigade. But now the Eighth Route Army is overstretched in terms of manpower facing the attack of our three brigades. Therefore, the number of troops left behind at Baihu Ridge would not exceed one battalion at most, and might even be only one or two companies. However, in order to perfectly defend the entire Baihu Ridge, at least more than a thousand people are needed, or a regiment of combat troops to meet the requirements of defending the entire Baihu Ridge. Therefore, I believe that with such a shortage of manpower, the Eighth Route Army would definitely choose to guard several important locations on Baihu Ridge, such as the canyon area. After all, we only need to defend the canyon. Under normal circumstances, all the defensive troops will be eliminated, otherwise no enemy troops will enter Baihu Ridge. The cliff behind Baihu Ridge is due to the terrain, and it is impossible for ordinary troops to climb the cliff. Even if they could climb up the cliff, there wouldn't be many of them, and they couldn't carry heavy weapons. Just a few people and a few rifles wouldn't be a match for their defense forces. Therefore, the Eighth Route Army would definitely relax their vigilance on the cliffs in the rear, and even not prepare any defensive measures. However, the Eighth Route Army would never have thought that our Imperial Japanese Army also had special forces like the Special Forces. The cliff at the back of the mountain can indeed trap ordinary troops, but for our special forces team, although the cliff is dangerous, it can be easily climbed. In addition, every soldier in our special forces team is a brave warrior who has been carefully trained by Your Excellency the Colonel. It is destined that a warrior in the special forces is at least equivalent to five warriors in the ordinary troops. And a warrior in an ordinary unit is at least equivalent to three or four soldiers of the Eighth Route Army. In other words, in terms of personal combat effectiveness, the warriors of our special forces are at least equivalent to more than 100 soldiers of the Eighth Route Army! In addition, although the Eighth Route Army was better equipped, according to the Eighth Route Army's previous style, the troops near the headquarters were definitely the worst equipped.
So I think it is very likely that the Eighth Route Army defense forces at Baihuling had no other heavy weapons except the machine guns in the fortifications. Our special forces team is composed of members equipped with powerful submachine guns. As long as we can enter Baihu Ridge, our submachine guns will be able to exert great advantages due to the complex terrain of Baihu Ridge and close-range combat. In addition, the fortifications of the Eighth Route Army were aimed at the direction of the canyon. If we launched an attack from the back mountain, the machine guns of the Eighth Route Army would not be able to deal with us in a short period of time. We can even seize their fortifications and use their machine guns to deal with the Eighth Route Army defense forces outside who want to enter the interior of Baihu Ridge." After listening to Hayamura Tengshan's answer, Yamamoto Ikki nodded with satisfaction. “Yoshi, Hayamura-kun, your answer is excellent. I think so too. After the ten-minute break, we will launch an attack on the Eighth Route Army from the back mountain." Yamamoto Ikki patted Hayamura Tengshan on the shoulder and slowly stepped back. Now Yamamoto Kazuki could imagine the scene of himself appearing at the headquarters of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army with his special forces team half an hour later. Thinking that he would soon destroy the headquarters of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, Yamamoto Ikki began to get excited. Yamamoto Ikki seemed to see the rank of major general waving at him. (End of this chapter)