Rise from eight hundred.

Ever since he learned that the position in front of him was garrisoned by the Shixing Regiment, the commander of the 27th Division, Jinjiurō Ochiai, began to feel a surge of ambition in his heart.

He finally had a chance for revenge.

If we were to say which division suffered the worst defeat at the hands of the Four-Line Regiment on the battlefield in North China, I'm afraid no less than six Japanese divisions would come forward and say that they were qualified.

Among them must be the 109th Division. This unlucky group has been beaten to pieces by the Four-Line Regiment together with its unlucky brother the 108th Division since it was stationed along the Chang-Handan Highway. In the end, let alone the question of whether to carry out a mopping-up operation or not, they would be very satisfied as long as the Four-Line Regiment did not join forces with the 683rd Brigade of the th Army to covet the county town where they were entrenched.

Even until the end, the 109th and 108th Divisions were terrified by the Four-Line Regiment. Even when they caught some guerrillas or intelligence personnel who claimed to be under the leadership of the Four-Line Regiment, they did not dare to hang them at the city gates as they had done before. Many of them were simply released.

  The Four-Line Regiment is a devil to other divisions, but it is even more of a nightmare to the two divisions stationed closest to them!

Unfortunately, Shinjiro Ochiai, who graduated from the Imperial Army Academy in 1914, was serving as the colonel chief of staff of the 109th Division during what he considered to be the darkest period of his life.

  Can you imagine? An outstanding imperial soldier who had served as the major battalion commander of the Chinese garrison at Shanhaiguan since 1934 and had always regarded China as a piece of fat meat, actually watched helplessly as a Chinese infantry regiment overwhelmed the imperial division and was unable to do anything. How aggrieved was that?

But everything on the battlefield depends on strength. The 109th Division just can't win and will lose every battle. Even if it is frustrating, they have to endure it.

Fortunately, Jinjiro Ochiai had someone behind him, and he only spent a year in that extremely dark period. He was then transferred to the position of senior staff officer of the Eastern Defense Army Command and then to the position of deputy director of the Central China Liaison Department of the Asia Development Board.

The Asia Development Board was a specialized agency responsible for handling affairs of aggression against China. It was the commanding body for Japan's economic aggression against China. The Prime Minister of Japan served as the president, and the Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, Army Minister, Navy Minister and others served concurrently as vice presidents.

正因为有着这个经历，2年前落合甚九郎升任中国派遣军参谋部担任参谋次长，直到2个月前至27师团接替竹下义晴出任第27师团代理师团长，并于6月10日晋升陆军中将后正式出任师团长。

What Jinjiurō Ochiai didn't expect was that the first opponent he met as a division commander was the one who woke him up from nightmares countless times.

But times have changed. This time, the Four-Line Regiment no longer had the rugged Taihang Mountains as a barrier, nor did it have the powerful 10th Army to rely on. Instead, they had to face a siege from imperial troops.

But at this time, he was a lieutenant general and a division commander with an army of 2.2.

  There is an old Chinese saying: Cause and effect go hand in hand!

Therefore, the Japanese Army Lieutenant General, who was extremely excited but still remained calm, sent out four infantry battalions in the first attack.

On the front battlefield of Huangchaling, two infantry battalions, with two infantry squadrons as one round, for a total of four rounds, launched uninterrupted attacks on the front battlefield.

An infantry battalion was deployed on each of the left and right wings of Huangchaling, and four rounds of infantry squadrons were formed to launch attacks on both wings.

而为他们做火力掩护的，是48挺92式重机枪和160挺96式轻机枪以及16门步兵炮、24门迫击炮、130具掷弹筒。

当然了，还有日军最引以为傲的战车部队，隶属于战车第3师团13联队的12辆97式坦克和6辆95轻型坦克。

There were about 3600 infantrymen rushing towards Huangchaling from three sides. They looked like a group of locusts just as Li Jiujin saw them!

Just as Jinjiurō Ochiai had thought, the Japanese strength had been greatly enhanced at this time, but Huangchaling had already been completely changed after being hit by at least 1000 heavy artillery shells, more than 20 heavy aerial bombs and more than 4000 other large and small artillery shells.

The 3000-meter-long man-made cliff was collapsed in dozens of places, and the collapsed loess formed a slope that people could climb at will. The deep trenches that buried 3000 Japanese soldiers are now intermittent. It is no longer possible to drive the Japanese infantry into the deep trenches and kill them at will by relying on these fortifications as before.

The position was dotted with craters of varying sizes. Many trenches supported by logs were blown down by the 150mm heavy artillery. Even three 3mm heavy machine gun bunkers were hit by heavy bombs, leaving only a large black pit.

If Li Jiujin had not judged long ago that the Japanese army would not take a short time to prepare for this artillery attack and would not launch an infantry charge in a short time, thus transferring most of the personnel and guns on the position to the reverse slope tunnels, the 10-hour artillery bombardment alone would be enough to half-cripple the powerful 3rd Battalion.

Even so, the observation post that remained on the front line lost 6 people and seriously injured 8 people. They were all in permanent fortifications that could defend against 105 howitzers. This shows how terrible this round of artillery preparation by the Japanese army was.

To some extent, the defensive strength of the Huangchaling position's fortifications was less than half of what it was before.

Faced with the Japanese army's terrifying firepower cover and the successive attacks of 3600 infantrymen at one time, Li Jiujin, a veteran who had been in the army for nearly 20 years, felt a little unsure.

This feeling was the first time since the Four-Line Regiment had completely established its foothold in Taihang Mountains.

On the other side of Zhangjiashan, Yan Yongwang personally went to the front line. This time, the Japanese Army Lieutenant General once again prepared 15 infantry battalions with nearly 1.1 infantrymen.

To some extent, Iwanaga was more eager to capture the position in front of him than Ochiai Jinjiurō, who had just arrived here.

After all, the humiliation deep in Ochiai Jinjiurō's heart was left over from five years ago. Time is the best medicine that can heal any pain. As his military rank rose higher and higher, Ochiai Jinjiurō did not immediately put all 5 infantry battalions of his division on the gambling table. It was obvious that although he also wanted to take the position in one wave, he still had some reservations.

For Yan Yongwang, it was this position in front of him that claimed the lives of nearly 116 people from his 1th Division in less than a month. This was the biggest failure he had ever experienced in his military career.

The Japanese Army Lieutenant General knew very well that if the Army Headquarters had not wanted to avoid further low morale caused by the temporary replacement of generals, he, as the division commander, would have reported to his homeland long ago.

If he wanted to have a good place to stay after the war instead of returning to his hometown to retire, his only chance was to capture the southern position of the city and break through Hengyang City.

Therefore, Yan Yongwang chose to go all out and pulled all the main forces of the 116th Division that had been replenished to the front line, forming 6 terrifying waves of attack groups. That could ensure that within 2 hours, there would be continuous infantry attacks in front of the Zhangjiashan heights.

Yan Yongwang didn't believe that there was any unit that could withstand such a high-intensity and large-scale infantry advance after a day of bombardment by large-caliber howitzers such as 150 and 105.

Indeed, at this time, the high ground of Zhangjiashan was already in ruins. The bushes that originally covered the hillside had long been blown into pieces. Looking around, there was nothing but black.

  The soil on the hillside has long been soft, and when people walk on it, the loose soil can reach their ankles!

预10师在张家山、虎形巢等一线的主阵地上总共放了3个步兵团，28团、30团、31团共6300兵力，在这一天的炮击中就损失了超过800人，兵力已经锐减到5500人，只有即将开始冲击日军兵力的一半。

而用于防御的重机枪不过30挺，轻机枪90挺，各类火炮不会超过30门，远不如116师团投入用于掩护步兵冲锋的40门步兵炮、40门迫击炮和超过130挺重机枪及290挺轻机枪。

It can be said that at this time, the Chinese soldiers on the southern position of the city had no more than 6600 troops, and they were lagging behind the Japanese army in terms of light and heavy firepower. Their only advantage was that they were in a commanding position and had trenches that had not completely collapsed.

At this time, the Hengyang Artillery Command was stretched to its limits in the face of the Japanese army's three-sided attack on Hengyang, and had to use all its mountain and field artillery to provide fire support to the plains in the west and north of the city. The only weapons left for the south of the city were the 32 Type 81 mortars.

If it is an infantry division-level battlefield, having the artillery support of 32 mortars is definitely a very happy thing for a commander. However, when Master Ge, who was at the division command headquarters, heard that there was no mountain artillery support, his face was full of bitterness.

"Connect me to Director Tang." Ge Youcai said in a heavy voice.

The artillery command was no longer reliable, so Ge ​​Youcai could only see if Tang Dao could help. Although the 12 mountain guns of the Sihang Regiment were under the unified command of the artillery command, the artillery battalion of the Sihang Regiment still had a heavy mortar company. Even if the 12 150mm heavy mortars were distributed to the Zhangjiashan area, it would be a great help. "The heavy mortar company cannot be moved. I promised Li Jiujin and his 4rd Battalion that whenever the Japanese army launched an infantry attack of 3 people, the 3000 mortars of the heavy mortar company would fully support them with firepower." Tang Dao, however, rejected the request for help from Master Ge on the phone with a rare firmness.

There was even more bitterness in Ge Youcai's eyes, but he knew that Tang Dao also had his difficulties. The Japanese army had deployed more than 3000 troops in the direction of Huangchaling, and the total strength of the 3rd Battalion of the Sihang Regiment that was replacing guard at Huangchaling was only more than 1100 people. The ratio of troops between the two sides was 1:3, which was even greater than the ratio of more than 10 Japanese troops that his th Division faced.

If he were Tang Dao, he would definitely make the same choice.

"However, my artillery battalion had just imported several new artillery pieces from the Americans before the war, but I had never been willing to use them. Now that the Japanese have invested heavily in them, I certainly can't hide them any longer. Since you, Division Commander Ge, have spoken, I promise you that nine guns and six salvos will attack the six Japanese positions from Zhangjiashan to Huxingchao respectively.

However, this new type of artillery has poor accuracy. When reporting the coordinates of the artillery fire, it is best to be 300 meters away from our position, otherwise it is easy to accidentally injure our officers and soldiers! "Tang Dao changed the subject and said.

"Thank you, Director Tang. I will request artillery support from your regiment's artillery battalion based on the real-time battle situation." Ge Youcai's eyes were still bitter as he tried his best to express his gratitude.

Although they finally got the promise of artillery support from Tang Dao, what great use could 9 small-caliber artillery pieces and 6 salvos be? It was just better than nothing.

After hanging up the phone, Ge Youcai did not call Fang Xianjue. He knew the commander's personality well, and he also knew that the positions in the west and north of the city must be extremely difficult. Otherwise, he would not have chosen to place the 30 most powerful mountain and field artillery on those two battlefields when he knew that the Japanese army in the south of the city had deployed so many troops.

"Damn it! Let's do it! Tell Zeng Jing and other regiment commanders that Zhangjiashan is our cemetery. They don't have to worry about being alone when they die. I, as the division commander, will never live in vain. I will stay here with them." Ge Youcai, who was furious, threw his helmet on the table and issued a battle declaration for the 10th Reserve Division to fight to the end.

The Second Battle of Hengyang had reached its climax just one day after it began.

第3师团，投入兵力4000余；第27师团，投入兵力4000余；第116师团，投入兵力1.1万余；第68师团，投入兵力6000余。

This is just the infantry. If auxiliary arms such as artillery and armored troops are included, the Japanese army deployed more than 7.9 troops in the attack at dusk on July 3.

It accounted for nearly one-third of the total Japanese troops besieging the city, but far exceeded the total Chinese troops.

The Hengyang Garrison Regiment, which was originally responsible for the defense of the city, was forced to gather in the north of the city to serve as the reserve of the 3rd Division. The 2nd Battalion of the Sihang Regiment also arrived in the west of the city to serve as the reserve. The 1st Battalion of the Sihang Regiment and the Taihang Independent Company, which had completed their rest, had also assembled at Yanhui Peak, ready to support Zhangjiashan at any time.

On this day, the Hengyang Command was forced to use 90% of its strength under the heavy pressure from the Japanese army.

The first to enter the attack line were the 27th Division. There were still some machine gun bunkers on Huangchaling, and the flames spewed out by the MG42 machine guns were still a nightmare for the Japanese infantry.

However, as an old rival of the Four Lines Regiment, Ochiai Jinjiurō had anticipated this, and his response was not to let the infantry launch a "board charge". He knew that in the face of this kind of German-made high-rate machine gun, using military orders to drive the soldiers to charge would undoubtedly be suicide.

He transferred almost all the infantry artillery of the entire division and placed them in an area 1300 meters away from the front line to cover the Chinese firepower points with artillery fire. He did not expect this direct-fire artillery to destroy those annoying machine gun bunkers, but only hoped that continuous artillery bombardment could interfere with them and prevent them from continuing to fire, even if it was just to block their sight with gunpowder smoke.

As for the Chinese infantry in the trenches who had rapid-fire firepower from submachine guns and assault rifles, Ochiai Jinkuro also used tactics from the Western battlefield.

Of the nearly 1000 heavy machine guns he deployed on both wings, only one-third used direct fire, while most of them used projectile fire from meters away.

There is no need for accuracy, just rely on the large number of machine guns and the probability to kill the Chinese soldiers in the trenches. Even if they cannot be killed, they must prevent the Chinese soldiers from lying on the edge of the trenches and shooting at their own infantry without scruples.

These two tricks are indeed useful. Facing the continuous bombardment of dozens of infantry guns, even if the bunker is strong enough to withstand the direct attack of the 70mm infantry gun, the flying shrapnel is no joke, and the constantly produced thick smoke blocks the vision. It is difficult for the soldiers in the machine gun bunker to maintain continuous firing.

Even if the soldiers in the trenches were not afraid of death, they would still be more or less wary of the rain of bullets thrown by the Japanese army from thousands of meters away.

The casualties of the Japanese infantry at a distance of 300 meters were greatly reduced, and the speed of advance was also greatly increased.

Fortunately, the Four-Line Regiment was no novice on the battlefield. When they saw that the Japanese were playing this way, they did not hesitate. All 60-meter mortars and three 3-meter mortars were combined to bombard the infantry artillery positions and heavy machine gun positions a thousand meters away, completely giving up on suppressing the infantry.

Smoke continued to rise from the mountains and forests where the Japanese troops were located. In the first 20 minutes of the battle, the losses of the Japanese artillery and heavy machine gun positions exceeded that of the front-line infantry.

"Order them to continue suppressing the Chinese positions with firepower at all costs. This is the last desperate effort of the Chinese." After receiving the casualty reports from the infantry artillery positions and heavy machine gun positions, Jinjiurō Ochiai's face remained grim.

He knew very well what kind of army his opponent was. If they couldn't even fight back, then how could they suppress the two major divisions in the Taihang Mountains and keep them trapped in the county town and unable to move?

To defeat such a formidable opponent, having more people alone is useless. The Imperial Army has proven this in the Taihang Mountains with several years and the blood of tens of thousands of Imperial soldiers.

  Need to consume!

Yes, that is, to use the advantage of numbers and materials to wage a war of attrition!

No matter how strong a bison is, if its wounds are allowed to bleed, it will eventually fall down and become the lion's dinner.

If a complete Shimokyo Regiment was here, even though Ochiai Jinkuro is now the commander of the 27th Division, he would not have the confidence of winning.

But here, there is only a part of the Four-Line Regiment, while he is facing the enemy with a division of 2 soldiers. He has enough manpower and material resources to fight with the enemy in a consumption contest.

Moreover, he was still waiting, waiting for the large-caliber heavy armored vehicles of the Fourth Regiment.

He knew that was the Four Element Group's trump card. Only when that thing appeared could he force out the Four Element Group's true strength.

Just as the revengeful Japanese Army lieutenant general wished, 12 150mm heavy mortars appeared on the battlefield, shells landed on the battlefield, black smoke rose, and Japanese soldiers flew up from time to time accompanied by violent explosions.

However, compared with the attack line of Huangchaling with a total width of 3800 meters on three sides, the firepower of these 12 150mm heavy mortars is still too weak.

Ochiai Jinjiurō could fully afford this loss, and he could even accept it if 12 more mountain cannons were added.

Then, a strange whistling sound suddenly sounded in the air. It was a sound that had never been heard on the battlefield. The sound was so loud that it overwhelmed the already extremely intense sound of gunfire on the battlefield.

The Japanese Army Lieutenant General looked up involuntarily and saw dozens of white traces flashing in the air, like the waves stirred up by a school of sharks swimming hard in the sea to fight for food.

  What is that? The Japanese soldiers who looked up at the strange sight in the sky had the same thought in their minds!

The next moment, dozens of white traces streaked across the sky and slammed heavily towards the ground. (End of this chapter)