Age of Rebirth

Lieutenant General Shinyuemon, the head of the [-]th Division of the Japanese Army, forced himself to calm down, but he couldn't get rid of the panic in his heart. It wasn't the sunset, but he saw the blood-red light. Could it be a sign of What?

"Division commander, the troops are waiting for your order!" The division chief of staff reminded.

Lieutenant General Shinyouemon exhaled and said: "Order the 21st Brigade and the 23rd Brigade to cross the river from the two directions of Wulu Town and Xuling Town. , follow up one by one, and the vanguard team entered Zhuanghe County at the fastest speed!"

The chief of staff of the major general of the division did not take it seriously, and said: "Division commander, are you being too cautious? The distance between the wings is three kilometers, and it is easy to be defeated by the independent divisions. Since the commander-in-chief is ordering Here, it has already been emphasized that the independent division troops on the front line of Zhuanghe have been hit by the imperial army's gas bombs, why don't we start advancing across the board?"

Lieutenant General Xinyouwei's face darkened, "Be careful, there is no big mistake!" He said coldly, the lingering ominous omen in his heart prompted him to make such a deployment. If there is an ambush, then, The only loss is the troops in front, the troops following behind, and the chance to escape. The [-]th Division will not be in a desperate situation, but these cannot be said to the chief of staff.

Meng Jianzhu put down his binoculars, frowned, and picked up the phone, "Is it the heavy artillery group? I am Meng Jianzhu. The Japanese soldiers coming from the north bank of the river seemed to be alert and extended the marching distance. I ordered your heavy artillery group to attack Distance. Expand to the maximum, and make sure to keep all the little devils within the coverage of the artillery fire!"

Then, Meng Jianzhu grabbed another phone. "Front-line mortar troops? When you start shelling, you have to wait for the order from the headquarters. Yes, even if the Japanese army is under your nose, what? What if the little devil rushed to the position? So many light and heavy machine guns, what are they for? What? Intensive firepower interception, after the order to fire is given, the shells must be fired at the fastest speed!"

A regiment of Japanese soldiers appeared on the north bank of the river and began to cross.Until the first Japanese soldier boarded the muddy beach on the south bank of the river, the fields blown by the south wind in the afternoon were still silent.soon.More Japanese soldiers waded across the river, boarded the south bank, began to organize their teams, and came towards Wulu Town.

Lieutenant General Xinyouwei, who had been observing the movement, put down the binoculars, and he couldn't help but secretly heaved a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "Maybe I was too cautious and careful. It seems that the gas bombs have played a role. Otherwise, let the natural There is no reason for the independent division not to block the river at the barrier! The first regiment to cross the river is of a tentative nature."

On the high ground, in the headquarters overlooking the entire battlefield, Meng Jianzhu never took his eyes off the binoculars, calculating the advancing speed of the Japanese army in his mind. Withdrew to the surrounding area of ​​Wulu Town, the beachhead of the river where the firepower used to be dense is now empty, and now it seems that the decision is correct, otherwise, once the fight is started on the riverside, the little devils behind will be killed run away!

The tired faces of the Japanese soldiers could be clearly seen through the binoculars. Meng Jianzhu stared at the direction of the river and said without turning his head: "Order, the heavy artillery group will start shelling!"

The troops of the three multi-regiment crossed the river without any surprises. The head of the Shinyuemon division, leading the division headquarters, was also approaching the river when suddenly, "Hiss... ...! In the sky where the sun was already on the west side, there was a harsh screaming sound, sounding from the direction of Wulu Town on the south bank of the river, a burst of light blue smoke rose, and then, there was a loud noise like heavy thunder, which suddenly exploded In the wilderness that was still silent just now.

The head of Division Chief Shinyouemon's head boomed, accompanied by the loud explosion of the shells, and the battle-tested Lieutenant General Shinyouemon could naturally hear that it was hundreds of soldiers. Caliber artillery, the sound of salvos, the screech of shells piercing the air.

"Boom! Boom!——Boom!" The flames were shining, shrapnel flew across, and the first round of hundreds of shells from the heavy artillery group of a brigade landed behind the [-]th Division, blasting out a diffuse cloud of gunpowder smoke and dust, and was already heading towards the [-]th Division. The Japanese troops approaching from the direction of Wulu Town were unexpectedly not hit by a single shell. The sound of explosions from behind made these Japanese soldiers panic and fell down quickly, and the formation became chaotic.

The head of the Shinyuemon division immediately understood that the combat effectiveness of the independent division was not lost at all, and the poison gas bombs of the imperial army did not work at all. These cunning Chinese people were digging traps, waiting for themselves, and bombarded the rear with heavy artillery The army is to cut off the retreat of the [-]th Division, and the firepower blocking the front will be even more fierce!

"Order the avant-garde troops to attack Wulu Town immediately, and destroy the artillery positions of the Independent Division at any cost! The other troops retreat immediately! Hurry up!" Lieutenant General Shinyuemon shouted loudly. Although he was shocked and flustered, he still gave the correct order. It is obvious that the troops who have already crossed the river cannot be withdrawn, so they will launch a desperate attack!

Cannonballs, countless shells, smashed over the sky and covered the sky. Meng Jianzhu, who was waiting with a net, would allow the Japanese army to retreat as desired. The heavy artillery was behind the Japanese army, forming a three-dimensional wall of fire. There were fireworks everywhere, and after a burst of fierce howling of light and heavy machine guns, mortar shells fell like locusts, covering the Japanese army desperately attacking Wulu Town in the bloody wind of shrapnel flying!

The battle was still in the direction of Zhuanghe on the eastern front, and it started first. Later, from east to west, it ran through the line from Zhuanghe to Bayuquan in the central part of the Liaodong Peninsula. On the front line of more than 180 kilometers, the independent division troops fired a thousand artillery pieces. The howling shells shrouded the Japanese army in deadly artillery fire!

The large-scale bombardment began, and in less than 10 minutes, the bomber group of the Air Force of the Independent Division joined the ranks of strikes against the Japanese army. On the ground, artillery shells were as dense as flying locusts, and in the sky, heavy aerial bombs fell like raindrops. The fragments of Japanese soldiers' corpses, mixed with mud and gunpowder smoke, scattered in the air. The density of firepower strikes was rare in all previous battles of the Independent Division!

Cannonballs all over the sky, bombs falling from the sky, the [-]th Division seemed to be on the bottom of a red-hot pot, the head of the Shinyouemon division, under the protection of the guards, just hid under a rock, a few large-caliber shells, There was a whistling, "Boom!" A few loud bangs, where the gunpowder smoke rose, shrapnel swirled, the aroused soil fell, a cloud of black smoke rose, and several almost overlapping bomb craters appeared on the ground.

The Chief of Staff of the Major General of the [-]th Division was lucky. When the shells came, he was at the radio station, busy giving orders to the commander of the Shinyuemon Division. Did the shock wave make you half-conscious? He crawled out of the soil half-buried in himself in a dazed way, shaking his dazed head, and hurriedly searched. The place where the head of the division was hiding just now is now a few huge monsters. crater.

All the officers of the division headquarters, including the commander of the division, disappeared. A few officers who were still alive braved the artillery fire and crawled over. The chief of staff stumbled to the side of the bomb crater. A few stumps and broken arms, a collar patch with two gold stars, half covered in the soil, and the rest, nothing can be seen.

The Chief of Staff of the Major General of the [-]th Division, his complexion was sallow at that time, and everything on the scene showed a cruel fact. , mixed together, the soul has returned to the Yasukuni Shrine, there is not even a trace of existence!

Under the protection of several guards, he climbed to the radio station, grabbed the communication soldier who was almost fainted from fright, and shouted hoarsely: "Quick! Send a telegram to Commander-in-Chief Umezu Yoshijiro, my [-]th Division, On the front line of Wulu Town to the north of Zhuanghe, it was violently attacked by the artillery and aviation of the Independent Division. The density and intensity of artillery fire and bombing were unprecedented. , The retreat route has been blocked, and the troops have been unable to withdraw from the battlefield!"

From Zhuanghe to Bayuquan, covering a front line of more than 180 kilometers, there are thunderous cannons everywhere, the roar of bombers diving and dropping bombs, the sunset, the sky full of artillery fire, the bombs falling from the sky, and the flames that explode are brighter than the sunset. It should be red, half the sky, if it is as bright red as fresh blood, and the smell of gunpowder smoke in the air, even the evening wind can't blow it away!

It wasn't just the [-]th Division that suffered such bad luck. The brigade commanders on the front lines of the Independent Division, who were determined to give the Japanese a fatal blow, took out all their family resources and fought happily. Showing off their skills, the infantry on the forward positions had nothing to do, so they just leaned on the trenches, watching the shells screaming and flying over their heads, and the bombers circling and dropping bombs, they were so happy!

The bombardment and bombardment were so fierce and dense that every inch of the land was blasted, and the ground could only be heard the sound of explosions that shook the ground. More than half of them had already been damaged. The four of the Japanese Third Army, who were already exhausted soldiers, The division, the two detachments of the Kwantung Army, could no longer resist the joint attack of ground-air firepower, leaving corpses everywhere, countless stumps and broken arms, retreating across the board, losing their organizational system and command system, and the retreating Japanese army was gone. Any fighting spirit.

Under the artillery fire and bombing of this sudden attack, not only ordinary Japanese soldiers suffered heavy casualties, but even some senior officers were killed here. The troops that lost their command system can no longer be called troops. The rout quickly turned into an escape.

"Master, the brigade commanders on the front line have sent telegrams. Under the fierce artillery fire and bombing of our army, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties. Now, they have retreated across the board. According to the descriptions of the brigade commanders, the Japanese soldiers at this moment are already desperately fleeing for their lives. Order the troops to pursue immediately?" Ge Zhenzhuang, chief of staff, with a flushed face, said excitedly to Tang Qiuli with a few telegrams.

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