Rise From Eight Hundred Chapter 1231

In fact, until the first batch of nearly a thousand Japanese troops jumped from the rafts into the river that was submerged in their calves and ran towards the land, the gunfire from the counterattack from the opposite defense line was not as fierce as imagined.

This allowed the Japanese army to successfully land ashore at a cost of less than double digits!

"Yo Xi! The legion's well-prepared artillery fire is really useful! The Chinese should have been blown up long ago. Send a signal flare to order the troops behind to speed up and get ashore. The wooden boat will return to meet the arrival of the follow-up troops. This time we will break through the Chinese position in one fell swoop. , I will never betray His Excellency Itagaki's trust." Standing on the gunboat, Xiaoxi put down the telescope in his hand, his face was cold and his eyes were determined.

As the captain of the 18th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Konishi Hayajian had just been ordered to lead his troops to Fenglingdu Town five days ago. He had not experienced the painful harassment experience of his colleagues in the Third Division during that period, and he still maintained his The Imperial Army's confidence in victory was one of the reasons why Susumu Fujita chose him as the frontline commander to forcefully cross the Yellow River.

Another reason is naturally that the 18th Infantry Regiment that just arrived is also the only infantry regiment with no battle damage. As the captain of the infantry regiment who took the initiative to take charge of the main attack, he should certainly have this honor.

Although he had heard that during the last forced crossing, the Chinese assembled a large number of heavy machine guns and caused heavy casualties to the 6th Infantry Regiment, Xiaoxi was still full of confidence when he saw the colonel early. After all, more than a thousand imperial warriors of the 6th Infantry Regiment used their own His life revealed the last strength of the Chinese, and the division also made corresponding arrangements for this.

Although the wooden rafts with thick sandbag roofs could not withstand cannonballs, the method of arbitrarily harvesting the lives of imperial officers and soldiers by throwing them was no longer feasible.

The only thing that makes Xiaoxi Zaijian a little worried is the Chinese heavy artillery hidden in the mountains. Can heavy artillery alone cover a landing site with a width of more than 10 kilometers?

The first batch of landing personnel led by Konishi Hayami was more than 4,200, consisting of two infantry brigades of his 18th Infantry Regiment and one infantry brigade each of the 7th Infantry Regiment and the 19th Infantry Regiment.

And this is just the first wave. There are still 2 infantry brigades and 2 artillery squadrons waiting patiently at the ferry crossings of Fenglingdu. Once the 8 infantry guns and 8 75 mountain guns are transported to the river bank, they will become more than 6,000 A huge boost for the Imperial Army to capture the city.

When he thought that the force he commanded might be larger than an infantry brigade, the fire in Xiaoxi's heart became even hotter.

A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. Konishi Hayami, who has been determined to become an imperial general since he was a child, was promoted to Army Colonel four years ago. He is only one step away from his dream of becoming a general, but this step is almost too difficult. He was desperate, but now he finally saw a glimmer of hope. As long as Tongguan was conquered, the probability that he, the top commander on the front line, would be promoted would be higher than 80%.

The fire in the heart of the Japanese Army Colonel in the river was blazing, but the Army Major General somewhere on the river bank somewhere in the Chinese position was extremely worried.

"The Japs are already landing, Deputy Chief of Staff Tang, should we fight back?" Brigadier Hu Da, who was on a high ground 1,300 meters away from the river bank, never put down his telescope, with a look on his face. Full of anxiety.

"Don't worry, there are only a thousand people here, wait until they gather more people!" Tang Dao, who was also holding a telescope, looked calm.

This time Tang Dao's title of deputy chief of staff of the Tongguan Defense Zone is no longer just for decoration. After the trio meeting ended at 10 o'clock, the two commanders appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the river bank defense line, responsible for commanding and deploying on the river bank line. Not only that, Tang Dao even had the third command of all artillery positions in the Tongguan Defense Area.

Therefore, even if all officers and soldiers in the first-line position more than 300 meters away from the river bank are ordered to evacuate to the second-line position 600 meters away, even when the Japanese ship approaches the river bank, only one-fifth of the machine gun fire points are allowed to fire, and the remaining machine gun fire points will not see red flares Brigadier Hu Da had no choice but to obey the almost ridiculous order not to fire.

Attacking halfway across the border is not just what history tells Chinese soldiers. The Japanese army also suffered heavy losses using this tactic 20 days ago.

As a result, Tang Dao actually abandoned this tactic that only consumed ammunition without paying many casualties, and watched as more than a thousand Japanese troops continued to advance on the tidal flats. They were able to dig a simple bunker for a single soldier in just a few minutes. You can establish a position to cover the subsequent troops entering the land.

Once thousands of Japanese infantry gain a foothold on the river bank, accompanied by the arrival of heavy firepower such as heavy machine guns and infantry artillery, plus fire cover from heavy artillery groups and aircraft, it will be the end of the 28th Division and the new Sichuan Army Corps.

Yes, this time the Sichuan Army's new regiment is no longer just hiding in the mountains behind the river bank positions and pointing heavy machine guns at the sky. More than 4,000 people have returned to the left-wing position in Tongguan City as early as two days ago when the Japanese army's various departments had abnormal movements.

　　However, the left-wing position at this time was slightly different from that after resisting the Japanese attack last time.

Ever since Tang Dao established his position as the deputy chief of staff of the Tongguan Defense Zone with a move of 'Beyond Shooting', coupled with the blessing of 30 heavy machine guns and 150,000 rounds of ammunition, Brigadier Hu Da was very interested in Tang Dao. It can almost be regarded as obeying his words.

Tang Dao believes that ordinary trenches and bunker positions can only protect against infantry assaults, but they are weak against heavy artillery and bombs. They cannot rely on flesh and blood to resist Japanese artillery fire, and the soil in the Tongguan area is most suitable for digging. The tunnels failed, so the concept of "hiding troops in tunnels" was proposed for the entire defensive position to prevent heavy artillery.

Brigadier Hu Da believed this, so when Tang Dao was constantly harassing the Third Division on the other side of the river, he called on more than 4,000 officers and soldiers of the entire brigade, plus more than 4,000 people from the Sichuan Army's new regiment, to stand on the original position. The plan to dig a 'rat hole' was launched.

Thanks to the clayey loess soil of the Guanzhong Plain and the use of thick wood as beams, the deepest tunnel is even nearly six meters deep. Each tunnel has several exits connected to the trenches, allowing soldiers hiding in the tunnels to enter in the shortest possible time. trenches.

One tunnel can hide an infantry company, and each tunnel is connected to each other. You can even evacuate from the first-line position to the second-line position without passing through the trenches. That is to say, the tunnel is not that wide and the speed is slower.

This thing is safer and more flexible than the Tibetan Soldier Cave. Even if the Japanese army invades the trench, it doesn't matter. As long as they don't control all the exits of the tunnel, the soldiers in the tunnel will have a way to enter the trench through the exit and engage in trench warfare with the Japanese army. Melee.

Even if all the frontline trenches are occupied by the Japanese army, or even the Japanese army enter the tunnels, it will not matter. There are specially reserved cross-fire points at the connecting positions between the tunnels. Only two rifles are needed to achieve the effect of one man blocking the barrier and ten thousand others unable to open it. .

Nearly 30 such tunnels were excavated in just 20 days, and the total length of the connections was nearly 10,000 meters, which is already an extremely amazing efficiency.

Except for Brigadier Hu Da's infantry brigade, other units of the 28th Division have basically done the same thing. It can be said that in the past 20 days, in addition to mobilizing the people of Tongguan to dig trenches, the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the 28th Division have also been idle. The excavated loess can raise the entire defensive position of the 28th Division by 30 centimeters.

That is a position covering an area of 4.5 square kilometers!

Even Commander Dong and Brigadier Hu Da placed their division and brigade headquarters in underground tunnels two days ago.

In Dong Zhao's words: “Sleeping in this tunnel, I will no longer be afraid of Japanese planes dropping bombs. Even if it is a heavy aerial bomb, can it bite off a hair on my head?”

This is also true. In the morning, when the Japanese army assembled dozens of artillery pieces and dozens of aircraft to drop bombs, the 28th Division suffered only less than a hundred casualties. Compared with the last time, the Japanese army did not use bombers and only used heavy artillery to inflict thousands of casualties. There are at least ten times fewer people left!

The main thing is that there must be enough observation posts on the surface positions, and machine gunners must be left in the machine gun bunkers. Otherwise, everyone will hide underground, and the Japanese artillery fire is just for keeping warm.

This made Brigadier Hu Da very proud. When Tang Dao returned from the three-person combat meeting, he insisted on pulling Tang Dao into the tunnel to boost the morale of the officers and soldiers hiding in it, despite the continuous artillery fire on the ground.

Actually, I just want to show off to each department: See if I am good or not. This trick I came up with made the Japanese heavy artillery explode in vain. Now you know that I let your baby dig holes day and night for your own good!

Tang Dao was dumbfounded and could only walk around with him, and then took the Army Major General, who had never enjoyed the pleasure of "tunnel warfare", back to the high ground behind the position.

This kind of tunnel that is only 10,000 meters long is nothing?

Not to mention the future Battle of the Five Sacred Mountains, a Chinese infantry army almost hollowed out the entire mountain, nor the Chinese army on the entire defense line dug more than 2,500 kilometers of tunnels, just a few years later The Battle of Brimstone and the breathtaking tunnels dug by more than 20,000 children on the small island can make this like a kindergarten play house.

Of course, although this level of tunnel is not awesome, it is enough to cope with the offensive of the third division in front of us.

What I have to deal with in my small life on Iwo Jima is the American Cowboys, who have 800 ships, 2,000 aircraft, and more than 60,000 troops. They have more than 500 large-caliber naval guns. A single salvo can cover the entire island. In the smoke of gunfire, if we don't dig more tunnels, how can we resist?

"Yo Xi, the Chinese are in trouble, order them to hurry up!" Xiao Xi, who had already arrived less than 300 meters from the river bank in the gunboat, could no longer suppress his excitement when he saw this.

As long as the four infantry brigades successfully boarded the river bank, based on his experience in fighting the Chinese army this year, the Chinese would never be able to pose a threat to them without two infantry divisions, and waiting for the subsequent two infantry brigades and artillery If it gets here, it will be the end of the Chinese people.

In today's battle, he has almost touched the edge of victory.

On the 6-kilometer-wide river bank in front of the Tongguan left-wing position, at least two and a half infantry brigades with more than 2,000 people poured in. Not to mention densely packed like ants, at least it was a surging crowd.

“Order, the front-line troops enter the trenches from the tunnels, use half of the heavy machine guns to fire and suppress the Japanese troops, and the mortar squad fires according to the previously formulated tactics and the number of red signal flares!” Tang Dao finally issued the order.

“Order the artillery battalion directly under the division headquarters to focus fire with 6 mountain guns in front of our left-wing position; order the 150MM heavy artillery battery to fire ten rounds of rapid fire 300 meters in front of our left-wing position!”

One minute later, fierce gunfire sounded from the Chinese position. The Japanese troops who were less than 200 meters away from the front-line positions fell to the ground and fought back desperately.

It is true that you can avoid the hot bullets by lying on the ground, but what really kills people is the overwhelming mortar shells and mountain artillery shells fired at them.

When a bomb explodes, a human body is often blown away.

Forget it, in a battle of this intensity, let alone dozens of people, even ten times more losses would be within the acceptable range of Xiaoxi Hayashi.

But the 150MM heavy artillery that followed was different. On the unobstructed river bank, the temporary bunker for a single soldier dug urgently to a depth of less than half a meter cannot be said to be ineffective against such heavy artillery that kills people with air waves. , it can only be said that half a dime has no effect.

The Chinese used at least forty heavy machine guns and a dozen mortars. The firepower indeed exceeded Xiaoxi's early expectations, but it was still within the controllable range.

After all, intelligence shows that the Tongguan area may be defended by one of China's main infantry divisions and several miscellaneous infantry regiments.

This should be the last strength they can show!

Seeing that the Chinese heavy artillery that had been cautious began to fire, Xiaoxi was not surprised but happy. After observing the entire battlefield, he decisively issued a military order: "Kill them! Attack with the whole army!"

Originally, the experienced Japanese army commander planned to wait until the next batch of reinforcements arrived. After having sufficient troops and infantry artillery, he would gather the infantry artillery to blast violently, first open a breakthrough in a certain position, and then invest A steady stream of follow-up troops ripped open the Chinese defense line along this opening.

By then, the morale of the Chinese will be as low as in the past, and even if they do not break up and escape, they will retreat to the second line of defense.

But that is just drinking poison to quench thirst. For the Battle of Tongguan, Fenglingdu Town is no longer just the third division. Commander Ban Yuan has quietly transferred a main infantry brigade of the fifth division to be stationed in Fenglingdu Town. Less than 10 kilometers into the mountains.

Once the Third Division can open up a forward position on the other side of the Yellow River, waiting for the Chinese will be more than 15,000 of the empire's most elite infantry.

The fertile Guanzhong Plain will be completely conquered by the empire, and the mysterious Qinling Mountains of the Chinese people are determined not to stop the imperial army.

It was only a matter of time before the whole of China was conquered. When he thought of this, Xiaoxi's heart became hot when he saw it early, and he could no longer hold back his vigorous fighting spirit.

'The enemy's more than twenty artillery pieces and dozens of heavy machine guns opened fire with all their might. In order to prevent the thousands of imperial officers and soldiers on the river bank from being passively beaten and suffering excessive losses, Konishi saw that the entire army of more than 4,100 men under his command had been ordered by the colonel. At 1:32 pm on January 1, 1939, an assault was launched across the entire Chinese garrison line. '

This is the battle report sent by the Third Division Division Headquarters to the Third Army Headquarters!

At the moment when the battle report was issued, the front line of the Tongguan Defense Zone could already be described as a hail of bullets.

In order to avoid accidental damage to our own side, heavy artillery and mountain artillery could only shell the river bank area. However, for the more than 4,000 Japanese troops who had begun to bend forward, the losses suffered had become very small.

The closest distance between the infantrymen on both sides was already less than 120 meters, and one could even clearly see the ferocious and twisted eyebrows under the opponent's helmet due to nervousness and fear.

The Chinese and Japanese soldiers are like two ferocious beasts fighting a life-and-death fight for survival. Nervousness and fear are not enough to describe their hearts at this time.

If you want to stay alive, the only option is to kill the opponent.

There were not only officers and soldiers of the 28th Division in the front-line trenches. The two infantry companies of the Sichuan Army's new regiment that performed best in the breakthrough battle also entered the front-line trenches under the leadership of Lu Sanjiang.

Those are also elite soldiers specially created by Tang Jili for his son. The performance of the recruits who have been trained for half a year is indeed much better than that of the recruits who were trained for only two months in Jinxi County.

The young Sichuan Army recruits no longer have big problems with their physical fitness and shooting skills. What they lack most is their psychological quality. This kind of psychological quality can still grit their teeth and lie down in the trench to shoot when faced with gunfire and blood.

After crossing this level, they are real soldiers, and they no longer need to use the word "new".

But, there is a price to pay.

The cost of life!

On the 6-kilometer front of the left-wing position alone, the Japanese army invested 30 heavy machine guns and more than 60 light machine guns, more than 60 grenade launchers, and 10 infantry guns.

With an average heavy firepower density of a heavy machine gun at a distance of 200 meters, even lying on the edge of a trench with sandbags as a bunker is extremely dangerous, not to mention the counterattack of Japanese veterans with accurate shooting skills.

In less than 3 minutes, 30 people of less than 300 people in the two recruit companies were shot and fell, and more than 140 officers and soldiers were killed and wounded across the entire line.

Fortunately, the 28th Division had already made full preparations and recruited nearly 2,000 local young men from Tongguan as stretcher bearers. They have been lying on standby in various frontline trenches. Once there are soldiers killed or injured in battle, two of them will The team carried it quickly to the second-line trenches.

This can not only provide quick first aid to the wounded soldiers, but also reduce the psychological impact of the wounded soldiers' screams of severe pain on the officers and soldiers in the trenches.

　　Not everyone is a tough guy who can endure bullets and remain silent.

The same goes for the Japanese. The Chinese officers and soldiers protected by trenches fell by more than three figures within a few minutes, and the Japanese troops who had to bend over and trot all the way to attack fell even more.

The 28th Division is affiliated to the Central Army, and is equipped with medium- and medium-sized rifles. The 7.92-caliber bullets imitated from the German Mauser rifles are far more powerful than the Japanese 6.5-caliber bullets. When those bullets hit the body, they usually create meat holes the size of eggs.

The jittery howls of the Japanese soldiers who were shot could hardly be covered up if the sound of gunfire had not been so intense.

Japanese medical soldiers became the busiest unit at that time, desperately dragging injured Japanese troops from the battlefield to the rear, but they still couldn't take care of everything because they were shot too many.

The Chinese heavy machine gun fire points set up more than 300 meters away from the front-line position were more powerful than the Japanese troops invested. The bullets that swept over like raindrops made the well-informed Japanese troops of the Third Division feel numb.

"Damn the Chinese, how come they have so many heavy machine guns? Send an order to the rear artillery regiment, and the artillery fire extends 500 meters forward along the river bank, suppressing the Chinese heavy firepower!" Xiaoxi had seen this situation through the telescope earlier. His face was filled with frost.

With the two main guns of the two gunboats and 10 infantry guns he currently has, it is simply impossible to suppress nearly 50 heavy machine guns. He can only risk letting the 75th mountain gun of the artillery wing fire. .

As for whether one of your own will be accidentally injured, it depends on the level of the artillery regiment and your own luck.

The level of the Japanese artillery regiment is quite good. Several rounds of artillery fire came and all bombed behind the Chinese front-line positions. The Chinese heavy machine gun firepower had to be withdrawn to avoid the artillery fire, resulting in extreme attenuation of firepower.

“Onboard!” The Japanese infantry began to charge straight up under the order of their own commander!

That was a charge of more than 2,000 infantry. In the telescopes of the two Chinese commanders standing on the high ground, they seemed to see a group of evil wolves charging hard towards the sheep they yearned for.

It's a pity that the Japanese are wolves, but the Chinese soldiers are by no means sheep!

“Three red flares!” Tang Dao ordered coldly.

As three red flares hit the sky, Colonel Konishi Hayami, who had been staring closely at the battlefield, finally realized that he was really too superficial.

Chapter end

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