Age of Rebirth

"Boom—boom!" Groups of shells flew across the river with piercing screams, and landed on the opposite bank. Clusters of mushrooms suddenly surged up, suddenly turning into pillars of soil, accompanied by With clusters of flames and huge explosions, echoing in the field, blowing up the bushes, turning the lush grassland into mottled black pits, the morning sun in the middle of the Liaodong Peninsula was shrouded in a layer of gunpowder smoke .

The Japanese bombardment was fierce and intensive. The broken wooden bridge over the river was the correction point for the bombardment target. The place where an infantry brigade of the Xinqiao Regiment was wiped out was the target of the Japanese artillery bombardment. The shells of the large-caliber artillery, roaring They flew continuously, as if venting the anger of the Japanese commander.

Major General Kono, head of the 21st Brigade of the [-]th Division, was indeed full of anger. As the main brigade of the division, he took on the important task of occupying Zhuanghe County and opening the passage to Lushunkou for the division. Well, on the north bank of the small river, it was attacked by the independent division. Almost half of the regiment suffered casualties. Therefore, after Major General Kono arrived on the north bank of the river, the first thing he did was to destroy the new bridge that had lost his face. Da Zuo was dismissed and sent to the supply unit to serve as a captain.

The grumpy Major General Kono punished Colonel Shimbashi in this way, which was unexpectedly lenient. Officers who are familiar with the brigade commander all know that Major General Kono is naturally bloodthirsty and has a bad temper. On the Southwest Pacific battlefield, he used a saber , personally cut off the head of a commander who was disadvantaged in combat, so the fate of Colonel Shimbashi should also be miserable, but the result surprised the officers.Just sent to the supply unit.

This ending surprised the officers of the No.20 [-]st Brigade.However, Major General Kono didn't care about the thoughts of the officers. He had his own plans. This guy Shimbashi was his most capable team leader, and he had a very good personal relationship. The strength of the army defeated a division of the Allied forces in the United States and the Philippines.Killed thousands of people, for such a general, Major General Kono was reluctant to cut off his head.

In the eyes of Major General Kono.The loss of the Xinqiao Wing was the result of the lack of heavy fire support. If there were dozens of field artillery to provide fire support and cover when assaulting the Hemu Bridge.Those independent division positions on the other side.It fell apart a long time ago. After all, it's not that Xinqiao is incompetent.

Therefore, the second thing Major General Kono did was to order the Field Artillery Wing of the brigade to completely use artillery shells to overturn the ambush area of ​​the independent division just now. The 21st Brigade is the number one main force of the [-]th Division.The firepower is also very fierce, with artillery equipped by a brigade.It is more than double that of other brigades. In addition to a field artillery regiment, there is also a mountain artillery regiment. With such strong artillery firepower, Major General Kono is full of confidence!

The front of the 21st Brigade is not only in the direction of Wulu Town on the south bank of the river, but also in the direction of Xuling to the north of Wulu Town. River, can be regarded as closer to Zhuanghe County.

However, Major General Kono took a deep breath in his heart, and took Wulu Town on the south bank of the river as the main assault target. Didn't the Xinqiao Regiment lose troops here? The defenders were completely annihilated, not only the bridgehead of the river bridge, but also the small town not far away. Therefore, he ordered the troops in the direction of Xuling Town to suspend their advance and rest on the spot. The artillery firepower is concentrated here, and he wants to cross the river with a tough posture!

Major General Kono's decision was opposed by almost all the officers in the brigade and regiment headquarters. Such an order is both incomprehensible and unnecessary. If the blocking force of the independent division only exists in the direction of Wulu Town, then Xu Ling It is a waste of time for the troops in the direction of the town to suspend their advance. Moreover, after the troops cross the river, they can turn around. In the direction, what about wasting a lot of troops and ammunition?

In the face of disapproving voices, Major General Kono fully showed his arbitrariness, and roared angrily: "Enough! Shut up! The dignity of the imperial army of the Japanese Empire cannot be offended. It is a shame for our 21st Brigade to be ambushed by the Chinese army here, and I just want to use this method to tell those Chinese that the advance of the Imperial Army is unstoppable!"

You have a lot to say, Your Excellency, the head of the brigade, who is in a rage, will kill people. All the Japanese officers shut up collectively and kept silent. Therefore, on the ten-kilometer-wide front from Wulu Town to Xuling Town, only Wu In the direction of Luzhen, the sky was full of artillery fire, the earth was shaking and the mountains were shaking, and the fighting was very lively!

Major General Chen Mengqiao, commander of the [-]st Brigade of the Marine Corps at the Command Post of the Third Regiment in Xuling Town, listened to the sound of cannons in the direction of Wulu Town, and then looked at the Japanese soldiers on the other side of the river, resting in place and eating rice dumplings, I was puzzled in my heart, "It's strange, why did the little devils in this direction stop moving forward, but fought in the direction of Wulu Town? Could it be that Wulu Town was used as a breakthrough?"

Chen Mengqiao thought for a while, not at ease. He picked up the phone and prepared to talk to Meng Jianzhu to find out the situation, but after picking up the phone, he put it down again. The Wulu Town position was attacked. It is very likely that the Japanese army retaliated after killing an infantry brigade of the little devil. Another possibility is that the Japanese army has not noticed that the first brigade troops in other directions.

"Since the command of the first and second regiments has been handed over to Meng Jianzhu, don't interfere with him!" Chen Mengqiao put down the phone as he thought this way, but anxiously listened to the fierce artillery fire from the direction of Wulu Town. Voice.

"Good guy, Brigadier Meng, the little devil is ruthless enough. In this battle, at least a heavy artillery regiment has used dozens of heavy artillery pieces, which is enough to respect us!" Colonel Sun Zhiyuan, the head of the first regiment, slapped the dirt off his body, and said to him. Meng Jianzhu said.

Meng Jianzhu withdrew his gaze from observing the Japanese shelling, and said, "Commander Sun, our fortifications around the bridgehead of the Nahe River must have been destroyed. Brigadier Chen's decision is wise. I think that the little devil must concentrate his firepower on the ground. As a breakthrough here, there is no movement in the direction of Xuling Town, and we are under great pressure!"

"This battle needs to be fought differently. When the little devil starts to cross the river to attack, he must adjust the deployment of the counterattack. The heavy artillery battalion attached to the brigade headquarters cannot show up for the time being. It will still use mortars to fight back. Wait for the little devil's artillery fire to extend. At that time, the mortars were moved to the area around the bridgehead of the river, and we were caught by surprise. The area after the bombardment by the little devils, we never thought we would dare to enter, and then the mortars retreated quickly, otherwise, we would definitely be bombed!"

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Sun Zhiyuan excitedly went to make a phone call, and Meng Jianzhu said to a staff officer, "An order for the First Regiment of the Brigade, has it been issued?"

The staff officer replied: "Report to Brigadier Meng, the order has been issued, and the people in the first regiment and Wulu Town have all withdrawn to the surrounding areas to hide!"

Meng Jianzhu was relieved. Wulu Town is the only way to Zhuanghe County after crossing the river. The Japanese commander will not let it go. This town can become a blocking point, and he is very familiar with the range of Japanese artillery. Meng Jianzhu knew that the range of the Japanese field artillery shelling now could completely cover Wulu Town. If the First Regiment of the Brigade directly under there and the people in the town were not moved out, they might be covered by the Japanese artillery fire!

A field artillery regiment of the Japanese army, with dozens of large-caliber artillery, shelled for more than 40 minutes. Tens of thousands of shells poured into the area around the Nahe bridgehead. No matter how strong the fortifications are, under such fierce shelling, they will be completely destroyed. "The violent shelling began to spread, completely covering Wulu Town on the south bank of the river. I don't want to see a building that is intact!" His tone The plain order arrives.

To reach Zhuanghe County, one must pass through Wulu Town. For such an important point, the commander of the independent division will not fail to send troops to defend it. Erase it from the map, destroy a town that may become an obstacle, and destroy the independent division troops in the town, killing two birds with one stone. Major General Kono is very happy to issue such an order!

As the Japanese artillery fire spread, shells fell like raindrops in Wulu Town on the south bank of the river. The houses collapsed and immediately fell into a cloud of gunpowder smoke. The Japanese infantry on the north bank of the river began to move towards the river. Meng Jianzhu looked through the telescope. When they arrived, the Japanese soldiers dragged all kinds of tools that could cross the river, huddled together in a hurry, and were about to start crossing the river.

Although the water in that river is not deep, it can cover the heads of the short Japanese soldiers. Otherwise, Major General Kono would have ordered his troops to wade across the river. Next, there is no threat to the south bank of the river!

"The little devil's capital is not small, and at least two regiments have been dispatched!" Meng Jianzhu said to himself. At the same time, he also saw teams carrying mortars along the traffic trenches that were blown beyond recognition. , A group of soldiers carrying shell boxes, trying to cover the traffic trenches as much as possible, quickly approached the front position, moving briskly and agilely.

On the north bank of the river, Japanese soldiers began to cross the river using various tools. The river surface tens of meters wide was full of piles of Japanese soldiers. Fortunately, the water in the river was not too fast. At least one-third of the people used to cross the river will be washed to the North Yellow Sea!

(to be continued) (to be continued...)