The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 106: Colonel Takamoto Takuma was killed at the foot of this mountain ridge (seeking book rec

After receiving Zhang Chi's order, Hao Yi, the commander of the 1st Regiment who was responsible for blocking the enemy, decisively began to implement his ingenious tactics.

Hao Yi, who liked to listen to stories about the Three Kingdoms and the late Ming Dynasty, gradually weakened the intensity of his resistance and pretended to be retreating, trying to lure Takuma Takamoto to advance.

In order to make the illusion more realistic, Hao Yi deliberately left behind some very tempting "trophies".

Light weapons, canned food, dry food and other supplies were scattered on the abandoned positions, as if his troops were in a hurry during the retreat and did not even have time to take away basic military supplies.

These details will undoubtedly deepen the hint to Takuma Takamoto, making him mistakenly believe that the 1st Regiment was defeated due to depletion of resources and lack of morale.

His plan was not limited to superficial illusions. He also made full use of the terrain and deliberately relaxed resistance in some places with excellent defensive advantages, making it seem as if he had no time to organize an effective defense line and could only retreat continuously.

This made Takamoto Takuma think that the entire 1st Regiment was in a state of disarray due to insufficient manpower and ammunition after several days of resistance.

At the same time, since Takuma Takamoto himself was good at mathematics, he calculated that Zhang Chi's troops trapped in the northern mountains of Pegu could only rely on airdrops for supplies, and the artillery shells they had stockpiled in recent months must have been consumed by the 146th Regiment.

Therefore, he "rebelliously" refused the division commander's order to wait where he was and launched a pursuit of the 1st Regiment which was in a state of retreat.

In this way, in the two days after the destruction of the 146th Regiment, Takuma Takamoto, who was inexplicably confident, not only did not retreat, but continued to pursue for a distance and gradually entered the encirclement carefully designed by the 212th Division.

-----

On December 20, Takamoto Takuma's regiment pursued Hao Yi's 1st Regiment and arrived at the last ridge. Beyond this ridge, there would be a long stretch of flat road on the plain.

Takuma Takamoto was fully confident that by passing through here, he could advance quickly and directly destroy the tired enemy, but he didn't know that this ridge would be the place where he would die.

At this time, Hao Yi was standing on the ridge, and the cold wind blew across his face.

He stared at the Japanese soldiers opposite through the gun scope, feeling an indescribable sense of oppression in his heart.

He had been waiting for this moment for a long time - not only for the battle at hand, but also for a chance to prove himself.

With his inner restlessness, Hao Yi's fingers unconsciously tapped on the metal shell of the artillery scope.

At this moment, he had a fire in his heart - a fire that he had been unable to extinguish since he left the Ramgarh training base.

It was his anger at the contempt and disdain, and his obsession with not having his beliefs recognized.

Previously, after the independent regiment was expanded into the 212th Division, he flew to the Ramgarh training base in Sindhu to receive three months of accelerated officer training from the White Eagle instructors.

At the Ramgarh training base, which of the new 22nd and 38th Divisions, already undergoing training, was not directly affiliated with the White Party? Which regimental commanders and battalion commanders were not top graduates of regular military academies, or even Whampoa Military Academy?

And he was just a peasant from Guangxi province, who had fought his way up from a private to a platoon leader.

After meeting Zhang Chi, he followed him all the way and defeated the Japanese many times, and was promoted to colonel and regiment commander.

There, his every move seemed to be scrutinized with disdain by his self-righteous colleagues.

The regimental and battalion commanders of the new 22nd and 38th Divisions were all top graduates of the Whampoa Military Academy, glamorous and well-connected. And he? Just a peasant from Guangxi Province, who had fought his way to his current position step by step.

He recalled his time in Ramgarh, every day was accompanied by various subtle cold eyes and ridicules.

Some people called him "the lucky platoon leader" behind his back, implying that he was able to become a colonel and a regiment commander entirely because of good luck and meeting a benefactor, Zhang Chi, rather than because of his own ability.

These contempts and ridicules had already planted the seeds in his heart.

He knew that only the battlefield could prove his worth, and only victory built on the corpses of the devils could make those arrogant colleagues shut up.

He wants to prove himself and prove that Zhang Chi's vision is correct!

At this time, the signalman finally brought him the news he had been waiting for for a long time.

"Damn it, that brat Bai Minghui finally found his way back!"

-----

5 kilometers is the distance that a Japanese soldier would feel psychologically is "safe".

After years of fighting with the Qian Kingdom's army, the Japanese knew that most of the Qian Kingdom's troops were poorly equipped, with only various types of mortars and old-fashioned field guns with a range of 2-4 kilometers.

The few heavy artillery units that were available were also more willing to fire at close range due to their poor training. Therefore, the Japanese infantry were more accustomed to deploying their troops freely at a distance of 5 kilometers and then launching an attack at a leisurely pace.

However, today this habit cost Takuma Takamoto his life.

The 12 White Eagle M1A1 75mm light mountain guns (pictured by the author) of the mountain artillery battalion of the artillery regiment have been waiting for deployment in the gun positions on the mountain ridge.

这些史蒂文森空运来的M1A1式75山炮没有炮盾，全重仅600kg，射程却高达9km，恰好超过鬼子常用的九四式山炮1km的射程。

So Colonel Takuma Takamoto, who was giving a speech to the Japanese soldiers who were preparing to attack, got into trouble.

He and the two squadrons of Japanese soldiers preparing to attack were bombarded with several rounds of rapid fire before they could react.

Shells whizzed down like raindrops, hitting the open space they were in. Flames and explosions instantly engulfed their formation. Colonel Takamoto felt a sharp pain and the scene before his eyes began to blur.

The entire area, which served as the pre-planned battlefield, had already been mapped in detail by the artillery regiment.

Thousands of Japanese soldiers and their top commander were bombed in the face by 75mm high-explosive bombs in the artillery squares that had been drawn.

Of course, the bombardment of a mere 75mm mountain gun could not directly defeat the Japanese.

Although the commander, Colonel Takamoto, was seriously injured in the artillery fire, the other grassroots officers still demonstrated the good professional capabilities of the Japanese army at that time.

These sergeants, corporals and second lieutenants fully exerted their subjective initiative, directing the soldiers around them to find cover to avoid artillery fire while trying to organize a counterattack.

The regiment's four mountain guns and the field artillery battalion with 12 Type 4 75mm field guns also launched a spontaneous counterattack, trying to suppress the artillery positions of the 212th Division on the mountain ridge.

However, Zhang Chi did not give the Japanese any chance to breathe.

As countless radio waves shuttled through the air, the White Eagle B-24 bomber group coming from Sindhu took the lead and launched a bombing on the Japanese artillery positions on the ground.

Then Bai Minghui's troops from the 3rd Regiment, which had already made a detour into position, emerged from behind the main force of the Japanese army.

Hao Yi's regiment was like a tiger descending from the mountain, taking advantage of the Japanese's confusion to rush down from the ridge.

The Japanese were surrounded on both sides, and their formation collapsed in an instant. The soldiers fled in all directions, and the entire battlefield fell into desperate chaos.

-----

The seriously injured Takuma Takamoto, who was vomiting blood, was carried to a bunker by the Japanese soldiers under the hail of bullets.

"Your Excellency, the Captain!"

A staff officer rushed to Takuma Takamoto's side, grabbed his cold hand, and cried in a voice that was hard to conceal.

"Baka, this... this is totally impossible! This contradicts my judgment..."

The dying Takuma Takamoto could not accept the reality before him.

"Are the enemy's artillery shells and troops endless?"

He questioned with all his might, his eyes staring blankly at the sky, as if trying to find an explanation.

However, there were shouts and explosions everywhere.

Unable to get an answer, Takuma Takamoto spat out a mouthful of blood. He wanted to say something else, but his head tilted and he died.

The staff officer held his commander's hand and murmured painfully:

"The Colonel's wise advice...has led us all into a death trap meticulously designed by the enemy..."