Age of Rebirth

When the order to continue the attack was issued, it was already past four o'clock in the afternoon. Although the scorching sun had lost the power of noon, it was still hanging high in the sky like a fireball. The fire burned the air so hot. Under such weather, the Japanese soldiers who supported the march suffered a lot. The clothes on the front and back were like being fished out of the water.

Dry mouth and hunger, the air is so stuffy that you feel panicked, and from time to time, soldiers who were burnt and couldn't stand the high temperature fell to the ground. Soldiers who passed out from heat stroke were hastily carried to the shade of a tree, like dead dogs. Put it on the ground, and the military doctors are behind, busy rescuing the wounded soldiers. These heatstroke soldiers are left unattended. There are not many troops in the first place, and it is impossible to leave too many people to take care of them. Whether they are dead or alive, By fate!

The Chief of Staff of the [-]th Division, seeing this situation, worriedly said to the division commander, Lieutenant General Shinyuemon: "Division commander, if we continue to take pictures, the troops will be dragged down. Would you like to ask Commander-in-Chief Umezu The officer explained the actual situation faced by the troops, and asked His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief for approval that the troops should rest at the same place for one night, so as to treat the wounded, wait for the supplies from the rear to come up, and launch an attack at dawn tomorrow?"

Lieutenant General Shinyouemon saw all this in his own eyes. In fact, he didn't need to say anything to the chief of staff. He knew in his heart that if the gas bombs really played a role in the current state of the troops, everything would be easy to say. It turned out to be contrary to expectations. In the blocking position, the soldiers of the Independent Division were alive and well. Then, in the current situation, the [-]th Division would definitely suffer a disastrous defeat, perhaps including the last remaining troops.All jade broken in this attack that is almost at the end of the crossbow!

The head of Division Shinyouemon shook his head, trying to get this bad premonition out of his mind.He could not send such a telegram to the commander-in-chief of Meijin, "Order the troops to gather together the soldiers who are suffering from heat stroke or exhaustion, leaving a brigade for protection, and the rest of the troops, move on!" He firmly told the staff Long said.

General Umezu Yoshijiro, commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army in Liaoyang.I also know that it is difficult for me to force the heavily injured troops to continue attacking.However, he had to do it, time, time was the worst thing.He has no reason to waste any more.On the line from Zhuanghe to Bayuquan, whether all the troops of the Independent Division were hit by gas bombs has not yet been ascertained. Moreover, the effect of the No. [-] special gas bomb only lasts for eight to ten hours.

Now, more than eight hours have passed.If the effect of the gas bombs disappears, only one-fifth of the soldiers of the independent division should be there.Restoring combat effectiveness is a gap that cannot be crossed for the four divisions of the Third Army and the two detachments of the Kwantung Army who are extremely exhausted and have been attacked by new bombs from independent division bombers. , No matter how tired the soldiers are, they must continue to attack.

After the order was issued, General Meijin strictly ordered the supply troops to send supplies, ammunition, and medicines needed to treat the wounded to the front line immediately, otherwise, the commander would cut himself open, so the line from Liaoyang to Andong to Gaizhou , On the mountain road, the cars of the Japanese army's supply unit loaded with supplies, ammunition, and supplies ran like crazy.

General Meijin personally sits in the war room, and the frontline troops will report the progress of the advance every half an hour. At this moment, General Meijin's heart is extremely tense, and all the blocks have been cast. !

However, the Japanese soldiers who were exhausted and downsizing one after another, but stubbornly advancing towards the Zhuanghe-Bayuquan line, the independent blocking position, ushered in another disaster from the air. After the first round of bombing and returning, the independent bomber fleet was filled with fuel , After replenishing the bombs, the Japanese army was bombed a second time.

However, this time, instead of the "Buddha Light" napalm bomb, aerial bombs were used. The exhausted Japanese soldiers on the ground once again became the targets of bombs. There was an explosion, and on the ground, the fire was shining, and thick pillars of soil rose up, once again covering the Japanese soldiers in the roar of steel fragments!

The telegram that was once again bombed by the bombers of the Independent Division quickly flew into the hands of General Meijin. He just glanced at it and put it aside. At this moment, he didn't want to know what kind of bomb the soldiers were being baptized by. What he cares about is whether he can break through the blocking line of the independent division troops before the gas bombs fail.

After more than 40 minutes of bombing, the bombers of the Independent Division lined up in a neat formation, easily climbed to the altitude, and then returned. With a lot of soldiers missing, the complexion was as dark as the bottom of a pot. His Excellency, the division commander, was not spared from the bombing just now. A piece of shrapnel scratched his arm and cut a deep gash.

The beloved war horse is lying on the ground covered in blood at this moment. The fragmented corpses of several guards are mixed with the war horse. If there are no war horses to block the shrapnel that exploded at close range, several guards will protect the division commander under him. At this moment , It is estimated that the commander of the Lieutenant General, I am afraid that he will be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor and the Empire of Japan!

The head of the Shinyuemon Division, with a thick bandage on his arm, looked back at the soldiers, and said to the division chief of staff expressionlessly: "Continue to attack and move forward!" He knew very well in his heart that since the independent division The bomber can carry out the second bombing, then there will be a third and fourth time, and it will not stop until it is completely dark. Even at night, those damn Chinese bombers and fighter jets, It will also come out to drop bombs and strafing.

The [-]th Division will suffer several waves of bombing before seeing the blocking position of the Independent Division. The head of the Shinyuemon division is like a mirror in his heart, but retreating is impossible. At this moment, the only way to play the imperial The soldier's samurai spirit, relying on tenacious will, continued to attack and advance, but he was even more convinced of General Umezu's order, "There is no obstacle ahead!"

"The bombers of the Independent Division have carried out such intensive bombing over and over again, are they covering up the fact that the poison gas bombs thrown by the Kwantung Army's First Aviation Squadron have played a role. In front, there is no independent division that can stop the Imperial Army troops. Are you a soldier?"

"Otherwise, the imperial army has suffered such heavy losses, and they are exhausted soldiers with no control over the air. Why didn't that cunning Chinese devil, Tang Qiuli, organize his troops to fight back? If it were me, I would never let go of such an opportunity. It is very easy to defeat or even seriously damage the three-way attacking imperial army!" At this moment, Lieutenant General Shinyuemon's thinking fell into a blind spot, and he firmly believed that General Meijin's order was correct. Only in this way can he overcome the uneasiness deep in his heart!

The Japanese soldiers were bombed twice, and continued to advance numbly. What they didn't know was that on the front line of more than 180 kilometers from Zhuanghe to Bayuquan, the Liaodong Peninsula Blocking Force of the Independent Division lined up seven main forces According to the order of the division commander Tang Qiuli, the field brigade took out all the artillery of all calibers, and deployed all the rocket launchers to the firing positions, and even the mortars were deployed on the forward positions.

Every direction of the Japanese attack was within the coverage of artillery fire. More than a dozen [-]mm caliber howitzer regiments, more than [-] regiments belonged to the artillery battalion, plus all the mortars. There are thousands of large, medium and small caliber artillery on the ground, waiting in full force, the muzzles of the guns are black and pointing to the north, just waiting for the Japanese soldiers to appear within the range of the artillery fire!

No.20 Ninth Corps First Brigade Commander Jing Zhanqi, using artillery intensively, almost beat the third brigade of the Japanese [-]th Division, which was attacking on the northern front, to a half-mutilated style of play. After the attack, he was greatly appreciated by the division commander Tang Qiuli, and then he was pushed away by all the troops. According to the different calibers and ranges of the artillery, several artillery groups were formed to form an all-round, indiscriminate, and dead-end area in the Japanese attack area. Artillery coverage.

On the defense line of Wulu Town in the east, Colonel Meng Jianzhu, the commander of the brigade directly under the Liaodong Peninsula theater, just put down the phone call to the commanders of several artillery groups, and was so happy from ear to ear. If it is artillery firepower, Meng Jianzhu is now better than that brigade. In his own position, in addition to the heavy artillery regiment of the first brigade of the Marine Corps, Major General Chen Mengqiao, the commander of the first brigade, supported him with two heavy artillery battalions and two rocket launchers. In place, just right, used in this battle!

Sun Zhiyuan, the head of the first regiment, looked at the smiling Meng Jianzhu and said, "Brigade Commander Meng, tell me, isn't our brigade commander's intestines green with regret now? He gave us two heavy artillery battalions and two rocket launchers! "

The corner of Meng Jianzhu's mouth twitched, and he said, "It's too late to regret. Our Wulu Town is the key target of the little devils. Naturally, we need to strengthen the artillery fire. I didn't see the little devils on the opposite side of us. That's a lot. Without so many artillery, can it be done?" ? Besides, those who can do more work!"

"Report to the head of the division, the river is ahead, and not far from the other side of the river is Wulu Town, which is the only way to Zhuanghe!" A Japanese army staff officer ran up to the head of the Xinyouweimen division, Report back after the salute.

"That river!" The corner of Shinyuemon Division Commander's mouth twitched. He was familiar with it. In this place, the No. 20 Brigade, the vanguard of the 21th Division, lost almost one regiment's strength at first. , Then, the main force of the [-]st Brigade was attacked by mortar fire from the Independent Division when they were crossing the river. They suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat.

The sun is slowly setting towards the west, but there is still a period of time before the night falls. For some reason, Lieutenant General Shinyuemon looked at the sun that had already slanted to the west. The sun was as red as blood. Suddenly, a trace of Bad omen!

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