The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 281 Annihilation of the st Regiment (Part )

In the command post in the Japanese army's position, Colonel Yamada Tetsujiro, the commander of the 41st Infantry Regiment, the highest commander of the Japanese army in the position, looked attentively at the line of Chinese army skirmishers rushing in front of the position like a tide, with a look in his eyes. He showed a bit of disdain and harshness, completely missing the panic he felt when he was bombarded by the thunder cannon.

However, he does have the capital to be proud, even though due to the division of troops for support, the only ones he can control now are two infantry brigades of the 41st Infantry Regiment and one infantry brigade of the 38th Infantry Regiment, plus The artillery squadrons directly under the two regiments above,

With these forces, it is indeed beyond the power to continue attacking the deep positions of the Chinese army.

But defensively, Tetsujiro Yamada has absolute confidence!
Looking at the Chinese army's line infantry offensive formation with a strong First World War style, Yamada Tetsujiro shook his head disdainfully, as if he had seen swarms of Chinese soldiers being cut into pieces under the intensive firepower of his own side. A scene of being swept away like rice.

"Pass my order. Each group enters the position and reports on the situation in each position! The wing's artillery also enters the firing position."

Yamada Tetsujiro ordered fiercely to the wing adjutant beside him.

"Yes!"

The battle order to enter the position quickly spread throughout the Japanese army's position. The Japanese troops who had been hiding in the hidden part of the position got out of the hidden part one after another and rushed to their respective combat positions in the position.

The three infantry brigades took action almost at the same time and began to set up defenses in the position. Two artillery squadrons equipped with Type 41 mountain guns also entered the predetermined artillery positions.

The Japanese army's tactical sophistication was most vividly reflected in its speed of deployment. It took only a few minutes for three infantry brigades and two artillery squadrons to basically complete their deployment.

The Japanese army not only made use of various fortifications and bunkers left by the original 48th Division, but also took advantage of the intervals between shelling by the Chinese army to build a large number of emergency fortifications on the position.

These fortifications include the shooting fortifications of light and heavy machine guns and regiment artillery. All the emergency machine gun position fortifications are covered with solid sand above the firing line, leaving only the most basic directional firing boundary and the firing position of the regiment artillery. It is based on the foxholes left by the 48th Division and reinforced with logs and sandbags to form a semi-concealed shooting position.

The Japanese troops emerged from the hiding place carrying various light and heavy firearms into the various shooting fortifications and emergency fortifications left by the 48th Division. Thirty-six Type 92 heavy machine guns, six Type 92 7 Ten-millimeter infantry guns, two squadrons of wing guns, more Taisho 11-year-old crooked light machine guns and Type 89-type 50-mm heavy-throw grenades turned the entire position into a hedgehog covered with thorns.

However, the Japanese army's defense process was not smooth sailing, because in the center of its position, a large area of ​​about 300 meters long formed by the concentrated shelling of the Chinese army could not be defended at all due to the intensive shelling.

However, Tetsujiro Yamada quickly came up with a solution after learning about it. He strengthened the troops originally deployed in this area to both sides. As for the vacuum zone left behind, Tetsujiro Yamada was not worried at all.

Even if no one is deployed there, the front of this vacuum zone can be completely covered by side fire from both sides.

The only thing that puzzled Tetsujiro Yamada was why the Chinese artillery that was shelling concentrated the artillery fire that was originally all-out shelling in all directions and instead concentrated the shelling on the central area of ​​its own position?
But at this moment when the Chinese army was about to attack, he had no extra energy to think about this problem.

Therefore, when the two infantry regiments of the 103rd Division charged rapidly, the Japanese troops in the position were also ready to open fire to meet them.

"Kill!"

In front of the Japanese position, more than 4,000 brave Chinese officers and soldiers shouted to kill and launched a group charge with rifles with bayonets. The skirmisher lines of the two infantry regiments were about 100 meters away from the Japanese position when the Japanese defenses in the position were completed. There is only less than 700 meters away.

More than 4,000 athletes from Guizhou and more than 4,000 elite officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division who have undergone thorough training are fearlessly attacking a nearly full Japanese field infantry unit position.

Rows of gray figures with sharp bayonets pointed out, charged in groups, and rushed towards the Japanese positions. This army, which had once been a laughing stock due to its smoking and low combat effectiveness, finally stood with its head held high today. On the battlefield to defend the motherland, he launched an active attack on the heavy Japanese army!
Before the attack, the attacking officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division immediately carried out pre-war mobilization and combat discipline regulations of killing those who retreated and those who escaped. With a supervising team behind them, the morale of the attacking troops had been greatly mobilized. .

After the troops attacked, the two attacking infantry regiments received another order, which was proposed by He Wei, to attack the impact point of the artillery shells of their own artillery, with the help of the cover of their own artillery, and at the same time, they risked being covered by their own artillery fire and quickly A helpless and cruel order to break into the enemy's position.

Of course, when this bloody battle order was issued to the two attacking infantry regiments, it had already been modified by the staff under He Shaozhou's order into a brief and less bloody sentence - "Send our artillery to our army." The impact of the shot."

This modified battle order, which almost completely concealed the cruelty and danger, was also well implemented by the grassroots officers of the 103rd Division.

Many people even thought that the inner meaning of this order was that charging towards the impact point of the Chinese artillery shells on the Japanese position would be covered and shielded by their own artillery.

Many officers and soldiers then accelerated the pace of the attack with hope, and rushed towards the center of the Japanese army's position, which was bombarded with darkness.

Because this battle order was modified and beautified, the already high morale of the assault troops was further boosted. Two infantry regiments and multiple skirmisher lines composed of more than 4,000 officers and soldiers gradually moved toward the Japanese positions during the assault. The center was close to the area where the Chinese army's artillery bombardment was most intense.

As the attacking troops assaulted and moved closer, the roaring sound of artillery fire became closer and closer, becoming heavier and denser.

He Wei, who proposed such cruel and bloody tactics, was not wrong, and He Shaozhou, who deliberately concealed it from the attacking troops, was not wrong either. What was wrong was only this dog-like war and the dog-like invaders.

In an instant, the skirmisher line of the 103rd Division's attack force gradually approached a distance of 500 meters from the Japanese position. In the Japanese position, Tetsujiro Yamada closely counted the distance between the enemy and ourselves.

Suddenly, I saw that the skirmishing lines of the attacking Chinese army gradually began to move closer inexplicably, and moved closer to the direction where the Chinese army's shelling was the most intensive.

Yamada Tetsujiro couldn't help but have a doubt again in his heart, but in the face of a group charge of more than 4,000 Chinese troops, he could no longer think so much.

After all, Tetsujiro Yamada and his more than two thousand officers and soldiers faced a Chinese army that was almost twice their size.

Putting the telephone transmitter he was holding tightly in his hand in front of him, when he saw the Chinese army's attack forward rushing about 500 meters in front of the position, Yamada Tetsujiro hesitated for two or three seconds, and then coldly ordered: : "Fire!"

The brief order was transmitted by telephone lines to various Japanese troops in the position. Almost instantly, various light and heavy firearms in the Japanese position began to fire volleys. Dozens of light and heavy machine guns fired red muzzle flames at the same time, converging into streams of fire. The dense rain of bullets sprayed deadly steel at the rushing officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division at extremely fast speeds. .

Immediately afterwards, the Type 41 75mm mountain cannon of the Japanese wing artillery squadron, the Type 92 70mm infantry cannon of the infantry artillery team directly under the brigade, and the Type 89 50mm heavy grenade in the hands of the infantry were the most powerful. Ordinary Type 38 rifles opened fire one after another.

All of a sudden, guns and artillery fired, artillery roared, the fire ejected from various Japanese firearms and the torrent of the 103rd Division's attacking troops began a bloody collision, which also declared the cruelty of this annihilation war. With violence.

The skirmishers of the 103rd Division charging at the front were like wheat being crushed together, being swept down by the light and heavy firearms fired by the Japanese army.

Under the Japanese army's dense firepower net and the close range of only 500 meters between the two sides, rows of brave officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division were mopped down by the Japanese army's firepower net. The officers and soldiers behind them stepped over the bodies of the fallen brothers in front one after another. , continuing the brave charge.

"Kill!"

"Fight the devils!"

Soon, densely packed corpses of officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division were lying in front of the Japanese position. Hundreds of officers and soldiers wearing gray military uniforms stained red with blood fell in disorder in front of the Japanese position.

The Japanese army's continuously roaring Type 41 mountain artillery and Type 92 infantry artillery, as well as the dense artillery shells and grenades fired from the Type 89 grenade with a longer range, exploded the gray corpses in front of the position and flew them to pieces.

All kinds of stumps and broken arms rolled up into the sky along with the hissing white gas soil. The Hanyang-made rifles with bayonets left behind by the fallen officers and soldiers were scattered in front of the position. The bright bayonets were shining in the sunlight. There was a sparkling reflection underneath.

The officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division suffered heavy casualties under the massive amounts of steel and explosives thrown by the Japanese army. Hundreds of officers and soldiers were killed soon after the two sides exchanged fire. This Guizhou army unit, once known as the Sheep Soldiers, faced the Japanese army. The fire net did not flinch, but was extremely brave and continued to charge forward one after another.

The Japanese light and heavy machine guns spit out red tongues of flame, and strings of red bullets flew towards the rushing officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division. Artillery shells of various calibers also accurately landed on the impact of the officers and soldiers of the 103rd Division. In the line of troops.

The cruelty and tragedy of the war are vividly reflected at this moment. The air, the land, and the smoke are filled with the smell of blood everywhere.

Behind the skirmish line of the 615th Regiment of the 103rd Division, Lieutenant Colonel Wang Shuhuai, the commander of the 615th Regiment, looked at his subordinates who were swallowed up by the Japanese fire net with red eyes, and his heart felt like a knife.

However, among the two attacking infantry regiments, compared with Wan Shijiong's 618th Regiment, Wang Shuhuai's 615th Regiment suffered relatively small losses. Although the two regiments attacked in parallel, the 615th Regiment The front of the Japanese army's position was the most violent area bombarded by Chinese artillery.

Although the Japanese army also blocked the front of this area with side fire, the pressure and casualties of the 615th Regiment were still smaller than that of the 618th Regiment, which met the enemy fire from the front.

However, this is only relatively speaking. Within a few minutes of the Japanese opening fire, the 615th Regiment lost almost two infantry companies.

Seeing the piles of corpses of his brothers in front, Wang Shuhuai felt extremely sad in his heart, but he kept shouting loudly: "Brothers, don't retreat, don't retreat, charge forward, Gouri's position was bombed by our artillery Rush somewhere!”

Just as he was shouting, Wang Shuhuai took a step forward, stepped forward bravely, stepped over the bodies of the fallen brothers in front, picked up a Czech light machine gun, and looked at the soldiers in front of him with sorrow and hope. Seeing the Japanese position completely shrouded by his own artillery barrage, Wang Shuhuai remembered the order he had just received and charged towards the Japanese position where it was shelled by his own artillery!

Since the higher-ups gave this order, there must be no problem in rushing towards the place where the bombardment is the most intense!
With this idea in mind, Wang Shuhuai took the lead and rushed to the front. The officers and soldiers of the 615th Regiment who were surrounded by the Japanese army's intensive firepower saw that the regiment commander was already at the front, so they gathered their energy again. , bayonet pointed, shouting to kill, and rushed towards the place where the Japanese army's position was most heavily bombarded.

"Brothers, don't embarrass the Guizhou people, come on!"

Wang Shuhuai raised his arms, held a Czech light machine gun, pulled the trigger towards the Japanese position shrouded in gunpowder smoke, and rushed forward.

At this time, he and the skirmisher line of the 615th Regiment were only more than 300 meters away from the Japanese position. Wang Shuhuai and the officers and soldiers charging behind him could already feel the shells fired by the Chinese artillery towards the Japanese position. The heat flow and jet produced after the explosion.

In fact, the shrapnel produced by the explosion of some artillery shells that hit closer to the point had scratched the heads of these officers and soldiers, tearing the air and making a terrifying sharp whistling sound.

Facing his own artillery fire not far away, Wang Shuhuai felt a sense of fear and doubt in his heart. He had realized that if he continued to charge forward, he and his officers and soldiers would be accidentally injured by his own artillery, or even be covered by his own artillery. But this fear and doubt were immediately suppressed by determination.

Facing the hot wind and shock wave after the shell exploded, Wang Shuhuai grasped the machine gun tightly and rushed forward with all his strength. There was only one thought in his mind, rush over! Rush over! Rush towards the explosive spot hit by your own artillery on the Japanese position! Only by rushing over can we capture the Japanese position!
The same was true for the officers and soldiers of the 615th Regiment following him. The regiment leader took the lead, and the soldiers were naturally willing to risk their lives to fight. Moreover, the 615th Regiment's attack road had become a bloody road.

The Japanese troops on both sides of the shelling zone saw the Chinese troops rushing towards them desperately, and fired at the approaching officers and soldiers of the 615th Regiment with more intense side fire.

Countless bullets and artillery shells flew in, knocking down row after row of officers and soldiers of the 615th Regiment, and their torn bodies flew away with rain of blood.

A mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood are no longer enough to describe the attack of the 615th Regiment.

In such a desperate attack, the fallen officers and soldiers of the 615th Regiment did not die in vain. After suffering hundreds more casualties, the leading troops of the attack had arrived less than 200 meters away from the center of the Japanese position.

At this time, the regiment commander Wang Shuhuai and the leading officers and soldiers who were rushing in front not only felt the heat flow generated by the explosion of their own artillery shells, but some officers and soldiers had been hit and injured by the shrapnel generated by the explosion of their own artillery shells. Wang Shuhuai's left face A large bloody gash was also opened by a shrapnel.

However, the officers and soldiers of the 615th Regiment, who were already fighting hard, completely ignored the risk of accidental injury.

Everyone only thinks about one thing - rush up, rush up, rush to the Japanese position that is being violently bombarded by their own artillery!

(End of this chapter)