Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1497 Reading more will help!

The war in Hengyang is getting more and more intense!

More and more Japanese infantrymen were thrown by Yokoyama Isamu into this meat grinder that had already started to grind meat.

Since the outbreak of the Battle of Leishui on June 6, until June 1 when Yokoyama Isamu issued the order for a full-scale attack, the city of Hengyang was actually surrounded on all sides. Fierce fighting was taking place in the south, west, and north of the city. The only reason the city remained peaceful was because there was the Xiangjiang River in the east of the city and the Xiangjiang River Bridge, which had just been built, was blown up by the 6th Army Engineering Company on the evening of June 3.

Especially since it was the flood season, the water level in the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River had risen, and the river surface had increased from more than 400 meters in winter and spring to 600 meters. The river was wide and the water was fast, and anyone who wanted to swim across without a boat would be courting death.

However, the 190th Division, which had withdrawn from Hengyang Airport into the city and was responsible for defending the river bank, did not dare to be careless at all. It was on guard day and night and was ready for battle.

The commander of the 190th Division, Rong Youlue, knew very well that Fang Xianjue was persuaded by Tang Dao when he went to plead for mercy in the battle to defend Hengyang Airport, but that didn't mean he had completely let the matter go. He must still have some reservations about Fang Xianjue not wanting to fight to the death and leaving.

This guy! As long as he has an opinion, a small mistake will be a big mistake in his mind, not to mention a big mistake. There have been countless cases of beheading generals in battle throughout history.

Since the evening of the 3rd when he took up garrison at the river bank, Rong Youlue placed his division headquarters in a bunker less than 150 meters away from the river bank. He told his subordinates through actions that he, as the major general, would fight with them on the front line. If the river bank's defense was broken, no one would have to retreat back to the city, as they would all die anyway.

Since the division commander was like this, his subordinates were of course even more vigilant. In the early morning of June 6, the sentries of the 6th Division who were on guard at Tielumen suddenly discovered that the usually calm surface of the Xiangjiang River seemed unusual today. There were suddenly many dark shadows in the haze. After firing flares and carefully identifying them, they saw that thirty or forty motorboats and wooden boats had appeared on the other side of the river. Many Japanese soldiers were gathering there. Judging from the shadowy figures, there were at least a thousand people.

After receiving the news, Rong Youlue dared not delay. He personally arrived at the iron furnace door and ordered the communications officer to report to the command center.

Fang Xianjue was also shocked. The Japanese were getting so anxious that they were going to attack from all sides. He immediately sent a telegram to Cai Rulin of the artillery command, asking him to adjust some of the mountain artillery and field artillery to prepare to meet the enemy. He also sent a telegram to the Zhijiang Airport in Huaihua, asking him to dispatch fighter planes to annihilate the enemy.

In recent days, the Chinese Air Force has been fighting fiercely with Japanese planes over Hengyang every day. Using fighter planes to attack motorboats and wooden boats is naturally an easy task.

But obviously, the Japanese also knew that they could not gain air superiority now. With so many ships and personnel left on the river during the day, they would be sitting ducks. The best opportunity would be at night.

At 5 o'clock, the surface of the river was still covered with a layer of thin mist like gauze. In the hazy fog, nearly a thousand Japanese soldiers crossed the Xiangjiang River in more than motorboats and wooden boats and quietly headed towards the west bank.

The Chinese soldiers on the shore were already on full alert. Rong Youlue personally commanded a battalion to meet the enemy at the Tielumen Wharf position, while Fang Xianjue, Tang Dao, Cai Rulin and others were looking at the river from the commanding heights of Yanhui Peak.

Although the Japanese army deployed heavy troops in the other three directions of Hengyang City, the Chinese side also deployed nearly 1.7 troops. After three days of fierce fighting, there were many losses, but the blow to the Japanese army was greater, especially at Huangchaling, where an infantry regiment of the Japanese army was crippled in a head-on manner. This undoubtedly gave the Hengyang defenders great confidence.

But the river defense had never been tested. Everyone knew that these thirty or forty motorboats might just be a test attack by the Japanese army. The larger-scale attack had not yet arrived. Even Tang Dao couldn't help but see how determined the Japanese were to attack this natural barrier.

  When China's million-strong army crossed the Yangtze River, they had a complete advantage in terms of manpower, yet it took them months of preparation before they dared to take action. Could it be that this bastard Yokoyama Isamu could mobilize the Japanese Navy's destroyers to participate in the operation?

However, Tang Dao really overestimated Yokoyama Isamu. Looking at the current state of the Japanese Navy in the Pacific, not to mention that its strength is no longer as strong as before, the Japanese Army also looks down on these millipedes.

This was purely a desperate attempt to find a cure. No matter whether there was any result or not, they would just try their best. Anyway, the 11th Army had enough troops, 7 people. Yokoyama Isamu was also very ruthless. He could kill all the Chinese in the city even if he used human lives.

  As it turned out, Yokoyama Isamu was overthinking!

When the Japanese boats were about to reach the center of the river, Cai Rulin gave an order while holding a walkie-talkie. The six new American mountain cannons and four field cannons deployed in the city made a deafening roar, and flashes of fire tore through the night sky under the mist, capsizing the Japanese fleet that was crossing the river and drowning the people.

The Japanese artillery on the opposite side of the river was not to be outdone and immediately fought back. For a moment, there were rumbling sounds of artillery on both sides of the river, and flames suddenly shot up into the sky in Hengyang City.

"Pang Dahai, don't just sit there. Find that damn artillery position and kill them." Tang Dao also picked up the walkie-talkie and notified the artillery battalion of the Sihang Regiment at the foot of Yanhui Peak.

Sun Mingyu looked at the walkie-talkie in Tang Dao's hand with envy. Although he also had this thing, it was also given by Tang Dao. The 10th Army received a total of 50 sets of this communication equipment from the Four-Line Regiment, realizing direct communication between the infantry battalion, the regiment, the division and even the headquarters.

  This was something that commanders at all levels of the 10th Division had never dared to think of before, but the Sihang Regiment achieved a direct connection between the infantry squad and the regiment headquarters. How amazing is that? How could Sun Mingyu, the chief of staff of the 10th Army, not be envious?

"Just watch, sir! I've been waiting for you for a long time. We haven't participated in the battle much these days, and our brothers are so frustrated." The senior commanders could hear Pang Dahai's shouting voice.

"Captain Pang is also a brave general! I have long proposed that he be appointed as the deputy commander of the artillery. Director Tang is too cautious. In such a wartime, the entire Hengyang army is united in hatred of the enemy. Why should we have so many concerns?" Sun Mingyu said with a smile.

"It doesn't matter whether I hold that position concurrently or not. Dahai still has a sense of the overall situation. Please rest assured, superiors." Tang Dao smiled slightly and took the initiative to avoid the subject.

According to the pre-war command order, all artillery units of the army were united as one, and the artillery battalion of the 4th Regiment was also placed under the command of the Hengyang Artillery Command. When the artillery organization of the artillery battalion of the 4th Regiment was reported, it almost blinded the eyes of several commanders.

The artillery battalion of the 10th Army complained to Minister He and fought hard to bring back 12 US 75mm mountain cannons. However, the artillery battalion of the 12th Regiment was equipped with not only 150 12-caliber heavy mortars, but also 9000 Bofors mountain cannons with a range of up to 10 meters. With this strength, they were able to defeat the entire th Army.

Regardless of whether the artillery can fire accurately or not, just looking at the equipment, this artillery battalion commander is worthy of the title of deputy artillery commander.

As a result, Tang Dao refused and his reasons were very good. As the head of the Four-Line Regiment, he was already the fifth-ranked commander in the Hengyang Command, ranking above many generals and lieutenant generals. If he also served as the commander of his subordinates, there would always be people in each division and unit who would not accept it.

This is actually the truth. The command sequence of all levels of personnel in the command headquarters established in Hengyang has been reported to the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs. If the defense of Hengyang is lost, everyone will probably die here, so there is nothing to say. But if this battle is won, then everyone present will benefit greatly in terms of merit and reward.

Fang Xian must be given the title of deputy commander of a group army, and even General Xue could not stop him. For someone like Tang Dao, as long as he did not cause any trouble, he would surely be promoted to major general of the army and serve as brigade commander. If he had connections in the court, he could be directly promoted to division commander and no one would say anything.

As for Cai Rulin, who was not only a theater commander but also an artillery commander, he should at least be given the rank of Army Colonel, and it is possible that he could even skip the rank of Colonel and become an Army Major General.

To put it bluntly, the more important the position you hold at this time, the higher the probability of promotion after the war. No matter when, the Chinese people's desire for official positions is engraved in their bones. This has a huge relationship with the continuation of the feudal dynasty for more than 2000 years. Even a hundred years in the future, the end of the universe will still be examinations.

The Japanese army organized at least two artillery battalions with a total of more than 20 cannons, which bombarded the city of Hengyang. The artillery battalion of the Fourth Regiment naturally could not show weakness. Twelve Bofors mountain cannons were lined up in a row in the mountains and forests. According to the guidance of the artillery observer on Yanhui Peak, they launched artillery retaliation against the Japanese artillery positions thousands of meters away.

The two sides were going back and forth, and it was hard to tell the difference for a while.

在河东的日军部队是日军第3师团的第6联队第32步兵大队，如今的第3师团早已不是当年在潼关的第3师团了，由于在潼关损失惨重，第3师团在华北足足休整了10个月才算是恢复了部分元气。

By 1941, taking the opportunity of establishing a large number of Type B and Type C divisions, the Japanese headquarters simply abolished the two brigades under this permanent division that had not yet recovered its combat effectiveness, and transferred the 18th Infantry Regiment to the 29th Division. The 3rd Division headquarters directly controlled three infantry regiments and four regiments of cavalry, artillery, engineering, and logistics. The total strength was reduced from 3 to 2.6. Coupled with the loss of a large number of veterans, the combat effectiveness was no longer the same as before, and it could only rely on the name of the permanent division to scare people.

Just like the 3rd Division that arrived in Hengyang, on the surface it was the size of a brigade, but in fact it was led by the 6th Infantry Regiment, with 2 artillery battalions, 3 baggage companies and two cavalry companies. The highest commander was Colonel Matsuyama Yoshimasa, the commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment.

If a real field battle broke out, the Four-Line Regiment would be able to defeat this old opponent, which has only more than 6800 soldiers, and make them look like a fool.

Matsuyama Yoshimasa was also forced to do so. The main force of the division, led by Lieutenant General Yamamoto San'nan, set up defenses 30 kilometers away from Hengyang, waiting for the main force of China to come to support, in order to achieve the strategic goal of the military headquarters to "encircle and attack the reinforcements" and seek a decisive battle with the main force of China. He was originally responsible for the battle in the north of the city, but the military headquarters changed its orders every day, and felt that encircling three sides was not enough, and it was necessary to attack from four sides to make the Chinese side unable to support themselves in order to find a chance to fight. So Matsuyama Yoshimasa had to cross the Xiangjiang River with his troops to the Hengyang Airport in the east of the river, which had been destroyed to the point of being useless, and planned to cross the river to fight.

After much difficulty in gathering thirty or forty ships, Matsuyama Yoshimasa sent three infantry squadrons in the first wave of exploratory attacks to prepare for any eventuality.

Who would have thought that the Chinese artillery fire was so fierce, with more than ten guns firing at ships in the middle of the river, and a dozen guns launching retaliatory bombardments at their own artillery positions.

Fortunately, the ships were very sparsely distributed, and only about three were lost, while the rest were relatively intact. However, the Chinese defense line on the river bank was not to be trifled with, and they opened fire from a heavy machine gun point over 3 meters away, causing sparks to fly from the bow of the motorboat.

Although preparations were made on the motorboats and wooden boats, and a lot of sandbags were piled up as fortifications, the Chinese side relied on probabilistic shooting, firing at the dark shadows in the night. Many bullets directly penetrated the hull and entered the cabin, shooting the infantry hiding inside and making them bleed.

Because of the Chinese artillery retaliation, the artillery positions did not dare to stay where they were and fire at the Chinese artillery in Hengyang City. They often had to run away with pack horses after firing a few shots and move to another place to fire again, which greatly affected the continuity of the artillery fire.

The Japanese army had to retreat temporarily and wait until daybreak when they could accurately determine the Chinese artillery positions before launching an attack.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, under the command of Matsuyama Yoshimasa, the remaining 34 Japanese ships set sail again.

This time, the large amount of smoke rising from the artillery positions in Hengyang City was discovered by the high-altitude reconnaissance balloons released by the Japanese army, and the Japanese artillery positions immediately launched artillery fire.

Although this is a double-edged sword, when they discovered the approximate area of ​​the Chinese artillery positions, the Chinese side on Yanhui Peak could also see them. Pang Dahai immediately commanded the mountain artillery company to fight back.

However, this time the Japanese artillery learned their lesson and took advantage of the vast terrain of Jiangdong to distribute 24 guns on the vast plain, with a distance of 300 meters between each gun. Unless the Chinese artillery fire was as accurate as a sniper rifle, or unless they had hundreds of artillery pieces to carry out a blanket attack on the area, it would be difficult to inflict serious damage on them.

This is indeed the current weakness of the Chinese artillery, but it also carries a huge risk. The prerequisite for all this is that there are no more Chinese infantry in this area. Otherwise, with the protection of only two infantry squadrons in these two artillery battalions, it is impossible to defend such a large artillery position.

Fortunately, until the end of the battle, the 400 Japanese soldiers responsible for guarding the artillery did not see a single Chinese infantryman.

I don't know about other directions, but at least in Jiangdong, the Chinese should have been scared and retreated back into the city. This was the general conclusion reached by the Japanese infantry.

They would pay a heavy price for this conclusion later, but at least they were safe for now.

As the artillery was suppressed by the Japanese artillery fire, the intensity of the defenders' artillery fire on the center of the river also became sparse, and Matsuyama Yoshimasa saw an opportunity for victory.

This time, he stuffed five infantry squadrons into the cabin so that there would be enough infantry for the landing operation.

"Forward!" Lieutenant Colonel Kakutaro Yamamoto, the major commander of the 32nd Infantry Battalion who personally boarded the motorboat, howled excitedly.

Suddenly, a huge explosion was heard in the air. The Japanese soldiers looked up and saw a dozen small black dots flying rapidly in the sky, diving towards the river from high altitude.

You don't even need to look at the paint on the planes, just look at the direction they are diving, you know that these are not imperial fighters. Yamamoto Kakutaro shouted in fear, "Scatter! Scatter!", but it was too late. As the 12 P40 fighters dived down and fired at the wooden boats on the river with full fire from the heavy machine guns on board, the heavy machine guns were riddled with holes.

Although the P40 fighter, nicknamed "Kitty Hawk", had poor high-altitude combat performance, it was equipped with a total of six 6mm Browning heavy machine guns on its left and right wings and could carry two 12.7kg bombs. It was a standard fighter-bomber and was very popular with the Chinese side, which was in urgent need of fighter planes. Since 500, two flying squadrons began to equip this type of fighter.

The P40 squadron that took off from Zhijiang Airport was under the command of the 4th Brigade of the Chinese Air Force. They took off from Zhijiang Airport in western Hunan an hour ago and had already flown over Hengyang. They had been hiding behind the peaks of Hengshan Mountain 40 miles north of the city, waiting for the best time to attack.

When the Japanese army was halfway across the Xiangjiang River, people in Hengyang city sent them a signal, and this flying squadron leapt into the sky. When they arrived near Hengyang, they even boldly turned off the engines of their aircraft and glided quietly. They did not turn on the engines again until they reached medium and low altitudes, and suddenly dived towards the river, catching the Japanese army off guard.

None of the 12 fighter planes carried auxiliary fuel tanks. All of them carried two 500-pound bombs and were fully loaded with machine gun bullets. They poured all their firepower on the Japanese troops in the Xiangjiang River.

That would have been fine, but the Japanese probably didn't expect that this Chinese Air Force team would be so determined. When they ran out of fuel and ammunition, they pulled their planes westward, and in just 10 minutes they reached Lingling Airport, which was still under the control of the Chinese side. There they refueled and replenished their ammunition, and made a comeback.

For more than an hour, except for the heavy machine gunners who were still firing hard, the rest of the infantrymen of the 190th Division were clapping and shouting "The Air Force is mighty" and "The Air Force is awesome" while watching the show.

There was a time when they had to hide in trenches or anti-gun holes under the crazy attacks of Japanese fighter planes, not even daring to raise their heads. They never dreamed that there would be a day when they would be able to see with their own eyes their own fighter planes killing the Japanese and making them bleed.

That feeling of comfort can only be understood by soldiers who have personally experienced the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Matsuyama Ryosuke just stood there in the temporary command post, watching helplessly as the number of more than 30 ships was reduced from tens to single digits under the attack of 12 crazy Chinese fighter planes.

Due to the weak Chinese Air Force, the Japanese infantry were rarely equipped with anti-aircraft weapons. At the infantry regiment level, they were only equipped with four 4mm machine guns.

These four broken things are only good enough to deal with one or two fighter planes, but there are 12 of them at once. The four 4mm machine guns deployed on the river bank may not fire at all, but once they open fire, not to mention that 25 fighter planes carrying heavy bombs will swarm over and turn the area into a wasteland, even the Chinese artillery is not there to just sit there and do nothing.

  The Chinese are poor, but not blind!

In this way, only five fast motorboats escaped the disaster, and the rest of the wooden boats were destroyed in the Xiangjiang River by bombs or machine guns.

As for how many Japanese soldiers inside can swim ashore alive by relying on their swimming skills, that depends on luck. Anyway, with the current water level of the Xiangjiang River, the water is basically enough to feed fish and shrimps.

"No matter how great the losses are, we must continue the attack!" Upon receiving the news that the 6th Infantry Regiment's attack had been thwarted, Isamu Yokoyama issued the military order in an extremely cold manner.

In essence, Yokoyama Isamu and Fang Xianjue actually belong to the same type of people. In order to achieve strategic goals, thousands or even tens of thousands of people are just a number in the eyes of commanders like them.

Even if it only distracts the opponent's energy or consumes enough of the enemy's energy, they won't even blink an eye if thousands or even more numbers disappear.

They only care about the results, not the process.

Matsuyama Yoshimasa has not reached that level. Even though he is a colonel, in the eyes of Yokoyama Isamu, he is just a chess piece that looks a little big. He would not think for ten seconds before discarding him.

Faced with this almost cruel military order, Matsuyama Yoshimasa, with a frown on his face, came up with a plan in mind. Chinese history and culture are profound and extensive. Reading more Chinese books will open the door to wisdom.