Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1438: Sinking into Darkness (Seeking monthly ticket at the beginning of the month!)

"The Chinese are surrounding us from all directions. I will lead the 39th Division to fight the enemy to the end. I hope the division commander and Commander Isamu Yokoyama will send support as soon as possible!"

"We have no way to retreat. We must serve His Majesty the Emperor with our lives!"

"Please tell my wife Hanako that I will be watching over her and the children from heaven."

These are three telegrams sent by Masayoshi Yamada to the division headquarters and the 11th Army Command during the three days of the Battle of Hokutosan.

From this we can fully understand the entire process of this Japanese Army colonel's journey from hope to final despair.

On the morning of the 24th, the 40th Infantry Brigade was ordered to depart from Taishi Bridge and head to the Beidoushan area to meet up with the 231st Infantry Regiment. The two areas were approximately 30 kilometers apart. According to Murakami Kisaku's estimate, the two armies should meet at dusk.

But by 10 o'clock, the mountain infantry company of the Sihang Regiment stationed on Beidou Mountain blocked the last retreat route of the 231st Infantry Regiment.

If they did not pass through here, the 231st Infantry Regiment would be forced to abandon all their baggage, artillery and seriously wounded soldiers. For the 231st Infantry Regiment, it would no longer be a question of honor or dishonor, but a question of the survival of the entire unit.

Losing ammunition and artillery would only make them unable to fight, but losing food would mean that thousands of people would starve to death in such a vast mountain.

The 231st Infantry Regiment was forced to bombard Beidou Mountain for half an hour with its remaining 20 artillery pieces, and organized a terrifying Banzai charge, in which nearly 1800 Japanese infantrymen launched a suicide charge on Beidou Mountain.

Beidou Mountain, as the name suggests, has 7 small peaks arranged like a spoon. The main peak is 680 meters high and the steepest. The other peaks are much shorter, with the highest being only 418 meters.

Gu Xishui adapted to local conditions and deployed a total of 14 squads and 269 capable soldiers in the mountain infantry company on six mountain peaks.

The main peak position named Hill 680 has an infantry platoon from Longyan, which is the position with the largest number of troops. The smallest ones, like Hill 389, have only two squads.

Gu Xishui did not prepare any reserve troops. He knew that the Japanese army would not give up their fight for survival, and he did not have any shortcuts to choose from. He could only fight with all his might.

The morale of the Japanese army must have hit rock bottom. The so-called Banzai charge collapsed in just 25 minutes.

Nearly one-third of the 1800 attacking Japanese infantrymen lay on the hillside.

  In the critical moment, Platoon Leader Long once again demonstrated the myth of the "machine gun god". In the same simple fortifications, Long Yan used an MG42 machine gun and three ammunition handlers. In 3 minutes, he emptied two ammunition boxes, a total of 25 rounds of bullets!

The main peak position of Beidou Mountain, which firmly blocked the path leading to the outside world, was filled with feces-yellow corpses. Here alone, the Japanese army lost an entire infantry squadron.

Most of them were killed by Longyan's MG42 that was spitting flames like crazy. In order to quickly cool down the replaced barrels, the three ammunition handlers used up all the clean water they carried and actually urinated directly on the barrels.

After the war, the natural machine gun fortification, which was topped by a tilted boulder weighing several tons, was filled with a mixture of gunpowder and urine, which was extremely strange.

It was also Longyan's luck. If it weren't for this natural boulder used as the top of the fortification, his never-ending firepower point would have been blasted into pieces by the Japanese infantry artillery.

No one knew what the boulder, which weighed several tons, was made of, but it actually blocked several direct shots from infantry guns. After inspection after the war, six washbasin-sized dents were found on it, which meant that six infantry gun shells had directly hit it.

The nearest hole was no more than 1.5 meters away from Longyan's location, but fortunately, the boulder not only did not break, but also used its heavy body to block the invasion of all shrapnel and air waves, protecting the four Chinese soldiers inside.

After the war, Long Yan specially lit a cigarette and placed it on the boulder to share the rare peaceful moment after the war. In his words, "I am the son of the mountain, so Brother Shi loves me so much. It is so pleasant to smoke a cigarette and watch the sunset with Brother Shi!"

The 600st Infantry Regiment, which lost 231 infantrymen in just one battle, was completely scared. No matter how angry Yamada Masayoshi roared, it was difficult for the Japanese army to organize a decent attack. Even Yamada Masayoshi, who was eager to escape, could only pin his hopes on the more than 40 imperial officers and soldiers of the 6000th Infantry Brigade who were rushing to Beidoushan.

  6000 troops have arrived, and with the support of airplanes and artillery, they will attack from both inside and outside. No matter how many Chinese there are in Beidou Mountain, they will definitely defeat it!

All I can say is that Masayoshi Yamada’s imagination is beautiful, but the reality is extremely cruel.

In the afternoon, the 40th Infantry Brigade was the first to run into trouble. It was not that they were lost in the mountains, nor that they did not want to rescue their colleagues, but they still decided to return.

Because the Chinese 74th Army suddenly sent an infantry division to attack Taishi Bridge directly. If these more than 231 people captured Taishi Bridge, then the 40st Infantry Regiment would be in trouble, and even the th Infantry Brigade would be surrounded by the Chinese in this mountainous area, not to mention the escape of the st Infantry Regiment.

Seeing that the voluntary evacuation was turning into a chain of continuous reinforcements, Yokoyama Isamu could no longer sit still. He immediately ordered the 40th Infantry Brigade to return and defend Taishi Bridge. At the same time, he ordered the three independent infantry battalions stationed in Jingmen to immediately support the 3th Infantry Brigade. This was the only thing he could do for the 40st Infantry Regiment.

If they lose Taishi Bridge, the 231st Infantry Regiment will be completely surrounded by the Chinese army in the Wushan Mountains. Not to mention escaping, hunger and cold alone can make this elite force of several thousand soldiers collapse.

Therefore, upon learning that the 40th Infantry Brigade would not arrive as scheduled, Yamada Masayoshi suddenly came to his senses and immediately used the last of his strength to launch a massive attack on Mount Hokuto.

But the Japanese infantry who were still gathering finally gave up this action because the reconnaissance scouts brought news that made Yamada Masayoshi completely despair.

Chinese troops are pouring into this mountainous area, and their strength is unknown.

If he bet all his troops on opening up this road, it is very likely that the road will not be opened and he will not even be able to hold the existing 0.5-kilometer position.

In desperation, Masayoshi Yamada could only order the troops to hold their positions for the time being and wait for reinforcements.

Logically speaking, there was nothing wrong with the Japanese Army colonel's safe-haven tactic. After all, the 231st Infantry Regiment still had nearly 4000 troops. Not to mention Yokoyama Isamu, even General Nishio Hisahaya, the then commander of the China Expeditionary Army, did not dare to completely abandon the 231st Infantry Regiment for the sake of the overall situation.

And this is indeed the case. The battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion, Zhao Daqiang, and Gu Xishui are comrades who have a very good personal relationship. After receiving the order to reinforce the mountain infantry company that was fighting against the Japanese alone, the major battalion commander personally led his spearhead company, abandoned all the baggage, and the only extra equipment for each soldier, besides the necessary guns and ammunition, was a pot of water, and they began a forced march.

According to regulations, they had to complete the 20-kilometer journey within 6 hours. However, this infantry company, which did not even bring a grain of rice, reached the rear side of Beidou Mountain in just 5 hours.

More than half of the officers and soldiers of the infantry company that arrived burst into tears the moment they arrived at the battlefield. They were so tired that they cried.

Moreover, with the usual training intensity of the 2nd Battalion's spearhead company, 13 soldiers actually fell behind. You can imagine the intensity of this 20-kilometer mountain march.

It was an unprecedented forced march, with at least 5 kilometers of road without a road at all, and the only way to cross the mountain was to cut through the thorns with a sword. The time when the 2nd Battalion's sharp knife company arrived was just when Yamada Masayoshi was planning to attack again. If the 231st Infantry Regiment launched another long live charge, the Chinese side, which already had 500 troops, would definitely beat them to a pulp.

Without the threat of heavy artillery, if the Japanese army wanted to carry out a blocking operation with the light weapons firepower and mortars of the Fourth Regiment, they would need at least six times more troops to have any chance of success.

Of course, the Japanese army did not have heavy artillery at the moment, but they still had fighter planes to support them.

At Hengshan's personal call for help, the Japanese Navy gave him its greatest support. At 24 a.m. and 11 p.m. on the 3th alone, it dispatched 24 sorties of fighter planes to bomb the high ground occupied by the Chinese in Beidou Mountain.

However, the mountain infantry company had experienced such things many times, and as soon as they heard the roar of aircraft engines in the sky, they immediately organized the soldiers to retreat to the natural caves on Beidou Mountain.

The mountain infantry company is really lucky. Wushan is different from Taihang Mountain. Taihang Mountain is located in northern China, with dry weather and mainly granite, and there are few caves. Wushan is located beside a big river, with abundant rainfall all year round and enough water resources in the mountains. There are indeed many natural caves, and they are distributed on Beidou Mountain.

Some caves are so big that they can accommodate not only a dozen soldiers but even an entire infantry company.

The two consecutive waves of bombing by the Japanese Navy caused very little actual damage to the mountain infantry company, except for collapsing some trenches.

This is also the main reason why the mountain infantry company, which had experienced two consecutive fierce battles, was able to maintain 80% of its organization after the war.

You know, according to Commander Tang's estimation, it would take the mountain infantry company half a year to recover after this battle. Unexpectedly, they became the regimental unit with the least casualties among all the units of the Four-Line Regiment.

By 4 p.m., when another wave of Japanese planes attacked, 12 40mm anti-aircraft guns of the th Regiment Anti-Aircraft Battalion had arrived at the front line. Knowing Cheng Tieshou's character, no matter how many Japanese planes you have, our anti-aircraft battalion's job is to protect our own infantry in the sky.

Twelve anti-aircraft guns opened fire at full capacity, filling the sky within a ten-kilometer radius with small white mushrooms. Japanese fighter planes had to drop bombs at an altitude of 12 meters, where the power was much smaller.

But the fact that China still had anti-aircraft guns did not make the Japanese troops in the encirclement the most desperate.

The scene that made them truly despair happened 10 minutes later. Before the Japanese naval aircraft group that dropped the bombs had time to fly away, a huge Chinese fleet consisting of 36 Wildcat fighters came in from the direction of Yamashiro in an overwhelming manner.

The Chinese actually deployed all their fighter planes for their "small force" of less than 5000 people?

The Japanese infantrymen on the ground almost cried.

Then they still underestimate the current Chinese Air Force.

Half a year later, the Chinese Air Force is no longer the Chinese Air Force that had 100 Wildcat fighters and more than old fighters in the middle of last year.

After being repeatedly criticized by Japan's diplomatic department, the Japanese government's continued deployment of troops to Southeast Asia and its flirting with the Bear Country, the United States is probably in a state of "breaking the jar and throwing it all away".

  In just half a year, with China using three large mines in Yunnan Province as collateral and Rockefeller Company as a guarantee, the US actually approved two low-interest loans totaling 3 million US dollars to China. What was the 3 million US dollars used for? Apart from purchasing weapons and equipment, what else could it be used for?

Another 150 Wildcat fighters modified according to China's requirements and various accessories including a large number of Thompson submachine guns and ammunition were continuously shipped to India, and then transported to China via Myanmar by land.

In addition, through the recruitment of Colonel Chennault, a volunteer flying team composed of Chinese, overseas Chinese, and retired American pilots and aviators was established to aid China.

The flight team, headquartered in Kuncheng, Yunnan Province, has 200 pilots and more than 60 fighter jets and a dozen transport aircraft.

After the New Year, the Chinese Air Force was not so strong that even it scared itself, but at least it had improved greatly compared to a year ago.

In the First World War, 36 fighter planes were deployed, which could still be put together, and it was not necessarily the case that they were all China's fighter planes.

But no matter what, the might of 36 Wildcat fighters roaring in was extremely rare on the Chinese battlefield.

The 231st Infantry Regiment should be pleased to receive such treatment.

The commanders of China's Fifth and Third War Zones, who were destined to win this battle, jointly requested the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs to ask the Air Force to cooperate in keeping the enemy's 231st Infantry Regiment in the mountains, to deal a heavy blow to the 11th Army, and to put a successful end to the Battle of Shipai.

The man who had originally planned to hold a press conference in the evening to announce the great victory of the Shipai Defense Battle naturally nodded in agreement immediately when he heard about such a good thing.

Perhaps, it is not just him who would do the thing of pursuing the enemy with all his remaining courage. Anyone who encounters the situation of beating a drowning dog will be excited.

Although the losses of both sides have not been fully counted yet, according to the rough figures reported by various units, our losses in the Battle of Shipai were approximately 2.3, while the Japanese losses were at least 3. If the 231st Infantry Regiment and the Hariya Detachment were allowed to remain, the number would exceed 4.

A medium-sized battle with a casualty ratio of 1 to 2 was enough to push that person's reputation up a bit.

Moreover, the timing of the Chinese Air Force's attack this time was extremely clever. Through the intelligence agencies in the Jiangxia area, they observed the time when the Japanese aircraft took off and calculated the time when they would end the bombing. Just when the Japanese aircraft were not mentally prepared at all, the 36 Wildcats, which had a complete advantage, emerged from the clouds and chased the 24 Zero fighters.

One was well prepared, and the other was in a hurry. There was a difference of 12 fighter planes between the two sides, and the altitude difference was more than 2000 meters.

Needless to say, the outcome of this battle.

As thousands of Japanese infantrymen looked on, the Empire's naval fighter planes crashed one by one, with only less than 10 planes leaving the battlefield.

The loss of fighter planes didn't really matter to the Japanese infantry, but it meant that the last hope of the 231st Infantry Regiment was shattered.

The 11th Army of the Japanese China Expeditionary Army fell into its darkest moment since entering China.

  As many as 6000 troops were surrounded and killed by the Chinese side in the beautiful Wushan Mountain!

(End of this chapter)