kingnovel Chapter 1240 Minefield
Chapter 1240 Minefield
Ludong Provincial Capital
Following orders from headquarters, Ma Leizi led the Fourth Army to withdraw from this area. Many people, including a large number of civilians, have already taken trains eastward. We've cleared a lot of wasteland in the east, which is perfect for these people to farm. We've also disseminated a lot of information: don't expect a good life after the Japanese arrive. If you retreat eastward with us now, at least your lives are guaranteed. We'll figure out how to settle you once you get there.
Of course, there were also a large number of people who were unwilling to leave their hometowns, but we couldn't just tie them to the truck. Ma Leizi glanced back at the provincial government building. They had held out here for so long, and the Yellow River defense line hadn't allowed the Japanese to cross an inch, but in the end, because of the nationwide retreat, they also had to retreat and consolidate their forces for defense.
According to some people in the General Staff, if we do not retreat now, we can still withstand the Japanese attack, but we will become a thorn in the side of the Japanese. The entire defensive line is too wide. Once the Japanese break through a certain place, we will become very passive. Therefore, we are now consolidating our forces in the Jiaodong area.
This will make our defenses much stronger, and it will be impossible for the Japanese to break through from here. Furthermore, we have a large number of rapid reaction forces. Once we understand the situation and the Japanese army is stationed in a certain area, our rapid reaction forces will immediately launch an attack. We don't care about the gain or loss of territory; we judge victory by the number of Japanese casualties.
During the retreat in southern Shandong, Zhang Haiguang's army had already tested this strategy. Two tank regiments, in a single night's raid, wiped out one and a half Japanese infantry battalions. In just over an hour, before the Japanese could even react, nearly 2000 men were gone. When they saw large numbers of vehicles retreating north, they wanted to organize troops to pursue, but the question was, could their legs outrun the wheels of vehicles?
Besides, there was another problem: the Japanese soldiers weren't familiar with the terrain of the area. Zhang Haiguang's troops were even less so; they had spent almost half a year navigating this region, knowing every nook and cranny, not just the main roads. So even if the Japanese caught up, they could only watch the taillights of the vehicles and curse them furiously, unable to capture the 72nd Army.
"Destroy them all!"
Ma Leizi led his engineering battalion as the last to evacuate. When they left the city, almost half of it was reduced to scorched earth. Many were heartbroken. But according to Li Shaoyi, "It's done now. If we hadn't bombed it, it would have been left to the Japanese anyway. What we've left them with is a charred city; they'll get nothing. This is the land they painstakingly occupied."
On the banks of the Yellow River, large numbers of Japanese soldiers erected pontoon bridges. They knew the 72nd Army was about to retreat, so they had to seize this land. In the Japanese minds, they hadn't been able to cross the river in all this time, and now they finally had their chance.
Little did they know that the moment these men set foot on the south bank of the Yellow River dike, they were immediately stunned by the landmines buried beneath the surface. They had never imagined that landmines could be buried so densely. Once ashore, they had absolutely no room to move and could only wait for the engineers to rescue them.
However, those bastards on the north bank weren't aware of the situation on the south bank and kept sending people over, making the area around the south bank extremely crowded. Many soldiers had to stand, with nowhere to sit. If they took another step outward, they would likely step on a landmine, and a dozen or so Japanese soldiers might be sent flying.
While the Japanese sappers were clearing mines outside, explosions kept happening one after another. They just couldn't understand how these people had laid the mines. Did they just dig a huge pit and throw a bunch of mines in? How many mines did they have?
The Japanese don't need to worry about that. Anyway, according to Zhang Haiguang, we should bury all our existing landmines along the south side of the dike. If they want to come this way, they'll have to clear all of them. If they can't clear them, then they can just sit on the dike and let the wind blow over them.
When a large number of Japanese troops gathered on the south side of the dike, Ma Leizi's mobile forces launched another attack. Numerous jeeps carrying heavy machine guns unleashed a barrage of fire on the dike. Of course, artillery was out of the question; if they accidentally breached the entire Yellow River dike, they would become criminals.
Many Japanese soldiers were restricted in their movement due to landmines and could only stand nervously in place.
Before they could even understand what was happening, a barrage of large-caliber bullets rained down from afar. These guys only saw their comrades spraying blood mist one after another, some even losing half their limbs. A 12.7mm bullet hitting a person meant they'd explode instantly. Forget about being a wounded soldier; you were destined to die there. You didn't even deserve to be a wounded soldier.
In the ensuing chaos, the thousands of soldiers on the south bank of the dike had no choice but to run into the minefield; otherwise, standing still would mean certain death. As soon as they entered, explosions began one after another. We had initially worried that we had planted a large number of mines here, making them difficult to clear after the war. Now, seeing these guys rushing in so densely, it's clear there aren't many mines left; they'll all have to be manually removed.
Although the Japanese officers shouted to stop these people from entering the minefield, it didn't have much effect. After all, standing still meant a quick death. These large-caliber bullets had a long range, and when everyone was standing together, their penetrating power was incredibly strong, often piercing through five or six people before stopping. Were they supposed to just stand there and wait to die? Going into the minefield and taking a gamble offered at least a chance of survival.
Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed the moment they entered the minefield. The density of landmines far exceeded their expectations, with almost two or more mines per square meter. In such a situation, was it even possible to fight your way out of a minefield?