The heavens start from Changjin Lake

"I am here to reinforce you on the order of the commander." Xia Yuan glanced at the position and asked, "How is the situation on the position?"

"The forward position was captured by the Japanese army. The Japanese wanted to continue to capture our position, and a company of troops came. Fortunately, you are here. Otherwise, in this hand-to-hand battle, it is very likely that we will not be the opponents of these Japanese troops."

The third company commander recalled what had just happened. The Japanese attack was very fierce. The third company faced the strength of one Japanese company and was definitely no match for the Japanese. Fortunately, Xia Yuan dared to come in time.

If not, the Japanese troops could further threaten the positions of the [-]th and [-]th companies by seizing their positions.

The fourth company and the fifth company are located on the left and right of the third company respectively.

Xia Yuan glanced at the soldiers of the Third Company who were cleaning the battlefield, and said: "The Japanese army has been annihilated. They will not launch another attack on the battlefield in a short period of time, but we cannot stop. We must take advantage of the time when the Japanese have not reacted." , counterattack forward positions.”

The focus of the Japanese attack is the Three Company. As long as the Japanese army lays down the Three Company position, builds a solid defense, and blooms from the center, it can attack the Fourth Company and Fifth Company positions. The Three Company position cannot be lost.

If you want to not lose the three consecutive positions, it is necessary to counterattack the Japanese troops in the forward positions.

"What do you say, we will cooperate with your actions." The third company commander agreed with Xia Yuan's counterattack plan. One company of Japanese troops were wiped out by them. This was a great victory, and a lot of Japanese equipment was seized, especially Japanese equipment. Type grenade can be used in subsequent battles.

Xia Yuan's attack ability is very strong, which was witnessed a few nights after the national army stopped attacking.

Being able to be called a ghost and being noticed by the commander-in-chief of the group army, its combat capabilities are quite impressive.

This is no secret in the military.

Xia Yuan thought for a moment and then said, "Just prepare enough grenades for me."

He could shoot down the Japanese machine gun firepower with a gun, but if he wanted to completely destroy it, he still had to use a grenade.

When he came, he didn't bring many grenades, but he did bring a lot of bullets.

"That's no problem. I'll prepare more grenades for you."

The third company commander immediately asked someone to carry a box of grenades for Xia Yuan, and continued: "If the number of grenades is not enough, I will prepare more."

"One box of grenades is enough."

Xia Yuan opened it and took a look, then closed the lid and motioned to the second idiot to carry it, and then said: "Third company commander, you should lead the people to prepare for a counterattack now. I will watch the Japanese machine gun firepower, and they will not dare to take the lead."

"it is good!"

After seeing Xia Yuan's terrifying shooting ability, the third company commander was convinced of his ability. If he said to attack the Japanese positions, he would attack the Japanese positions.

He strode forward, summoned his soldiers, and began to prepare for a counterattack.

"One row, two rows, assemble!"

The third company commander left the third platoon on the position, responsible for watching, and moved forward with two excrements.

The Japanese army still didn't know that the attacking troops in front of them had been wiped out by the Chinese army. The gunfire in the front was intermittent. Captain Akita in the rear thought that the battle on the front line should be over soon. Maybe their troops had already penetrated into the Chinese position. .

Sudden.

There was a burst of piercing gunfire from the direction of the forward position, accompanied by bursts of roar. In just a short time, the battle at the forward position became intense.

A Japanese communications soldier ran over quickly.

"Major, the Chinese are coming!"

"Nani!? The Chinese are coming? How is it possible, where is the second squadron!?" Captain Akita stood up in shock, with an incredible look on his face.

"The Second Squadron was wiped out by the Chinese." The communications soldier said quickly.

"idiot!"

When Captain Akita heard this, he cursed and calmed down. He immediately thought: "Impossible, the Chinese do not have the ability to destroy the second squadron, even if the Chinese have more troops than us!"

"Major, it's true. After the Second Squadron attacked, only one unit retreated back, and the other unit was missing. The Chinese that attacked have officially disappeared from the Chinese that attacked." said the communications soldier.

When Captain Akita heard the news, his eyes narrowed slightly, "How could the Chinese destroy them? Baga, hurry up, I'm going to take a look!"

As soon as he walked out of the brigade headquarters, he saw another scout running over in a hurry, "Major, the forward position is lost!"

"Nani!"

At this moment, Captain Akita just felt his eyes turning black.

It all happened so fast.

From the time the news was received to the loss of the forward position, everything happened too fast.

On the forward position, there is a squadron of troops. Even if they are sent to continue to attack the national army positions, this forward position should have the strength of an infantry squad and a grenade squad. In the face of the Chinese attack, no matter how difficult it is, they can still hold on. half an hour.

But only a few minutes had passed from the time the first message was received to the time the position was lost.

He led his people to the village, stood in the ruins of the village, and used a telescope to observe the Chinese position. He indeed found that the position had been lost. The disgraced Chinese could be seen on the position, cleaning the battlefield.

"When did the Chinese have such powerful offensive capabilities? No, this is impossible."

Captain Akita suddenly thought of another fact, "Could it be that a ghost appeared on the battlefield?"

Ghost has powerful shooting ability, bomb-dropping ability, and the ability to attack fortified positions. He is the number one enemy of the Japanese army. With him, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese people has increased several times. The Chinese people who previously attacked the Japanese positions only had more than [-] people, but He accomplished something that even a regiment of Chinese people had not accomplished.

The commander of the No. 11 Division once said that ghosts are the biggest enemy of the Japanese army. Once there are ghosts in the Chinese position, even if they pay huge casualties, they may not be able to defeat them.

"The ghost is not in the southern position. He appears here to support the Chinese in the northern position."

Captain Akita calmed down and began to think seriously.

The casualties of one squadron reached 80.00%. Such casualties were very shocking. In anger, Captain Akita had the idea of ​​revenge in his mind, but he did not dare to send troops to attack the Chinese positions again. He sent two squadrons of With the strength of the troops, Captain Akita was confident of knocking down the Chinese positions, but equally, the Japanese troops of these two squadrons would face huge casualties and pay a heavy price.

Even if the Chinese positions are defeated, strategically speaking, victory may not be achieved.

Their mission was to contain the Chinese, not to make huge sacrifices in order to occupy the Chinese positions.

At this time, a signal soldier came from the wing and informed Captain Akita: "Major, the wing captain ordered to stop the attack on the Chinese. The focus of our attack is not on the 51st Division."

"it is good!"

Captain Akita received the order.

He no longer had any intention of attacking. The casualties of a squadron made him feel quite hurt. It was not worth it to cause greater casualties in order to take revenge, thereby delaying the main business.

It is their task to contain the 51st Division, not to attack.

The battle on the north side is basically over.

The Japanese army did not do what Xia Yuan thought. If he appeared in the northern position, the Japanese army would attack the southern position. Even if they captured the 51st Division's position, it would not have much strategic significance.

The Japanese army stopped attacking, which was not within the scope of Xia Yuan's thinking. After returning to the position, he determined that the Japanese army stopped attacking because the 51st Division was not their main target. Since the 51st Division was not the Japanese target, then the Japanese army Where is the focus of attack?

The focus of the Japanese attack was on the southeast side.

The 11th Brigade took over the defense line of the 33rd Brigade of the 21th Division of the National Army. On the morning of the [-]st, the defensive positions in Xunjiazhai, Jinjiacun, and Zhujiazhai were attacked by fierce Japanese artillery fire.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the Japanese infantry began to attack.

The second battalion of the No. 40 Fourth Regiment launched an attack from the northwest side of the west side of the [-]th Brigade, quickly captured Maqiao, and continued to advance westward along the Lianqitang embankment. The national army established a position at the bend of the river on the north side of Xunjiazhai. Once the Japanese troops had reached their positions, they used mortars and artillery to advance and shoot, breaking down the national army's defenses and launching an attack on the national army's positions. The national army's resistance was extremely tenacious.

The 40th Squadron of the No. [-] Fourth Regiment began a coordinated attack on the national army from Luodian Town southward.

The fighting lasted until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the second brigade of the Japanese No. 40 Fourth Regiment occupied the Xun family house.The Chinese army blocked the Japanese army at Li's house and at the bend of the river to its north. The two sides fought fiercely until sunset.

The third brigade of the Japanese No. 40 Fourth Regiment on the south side also launched an attack on the [-]th Regiment that morning and quickly approached Dingjiazhai and Zhoujiazhai. However, the [-]rd Regiment of the [-]th Brigade of the Chinese Army was at Dingjiazhai. , Zhou Jiazhai resisted tenaciously, and the Japanese attack was blocked. The fierce battle lasted until the afternoon, with heavy casualties and loss of positions. They retreated to set up defenses along the river.

There was a barbed wire position on the creek defense line. The Japanese army tried to cross the river to attack. However, the creek was very deep and could cover the whole body. It was very difficult to cross the river and the Japanese army had no way at the moment.

从北侧强攻小河沿岸的日军No.40四联队No.12中队伤亡不断，44联队又增派No.11中队继续强攻，同样未能取得突破。南侧No.40三联队第二大队强攻整日也毫无进展。

Although the [-]rd Regiment resisted the Japanese attack, its casualties were very heavy. Eight-tenths of the front-line soldiers were lost that day, and all company and platoon leaders were killed or injured.

The two sides fought fiercely until dark, but the Japanese army was still unwilling to give up the attack and sent additional engineering troops to coordinate operations.

Until the frontline combat troops of the 40rd Regiment were exhausted, leaving thousands of corpses behind, they began to retreat westward. At around [-] o'clock that night, the second brigade of the Japanese No. [-] Third Regiment launched a night attack along the creek, and finally captured the banks of the creek. position.

On this day, something like what happened to the [-]rd Regiment happened to the defenders in the southeast of Luodian. The Japanese army launched a fierce attack, causing heavy casualties to the troops. Dead bodies were everywhere on the position, and blood was flowing in the trenches, mixed with soil. That was not The rain was mixed with mud, but it was blood.

The national army positions across the entire line were basically lost.

The position of the [-]th Regiment of the [-]th Brigade had been lost in the morning. The regiment counterattacked several times a day. The combat troops suffered heavy casualties and were unable to regain their position. The Chinese army also dispatched the [-]th Regiment of the reserve force to counterattack the Japanese army, but they were still unable to repel them. The Japanese army fought until sunset. The remaining remnants of the [-]th Regiment re-established defensive positions in the rear to block the Japanese army.

That night, the No. 90 Division of the Guangdong Army's local troops rushed to the rear of the 59 Division. The [-]th Brigade supported the [-]th Brigade, and the [-]th Brigade supported the [-]th Brigade.

That night, after the 59th Division and the remnants of the [-]th Division reunited, they learned about the situation on the front line and decided to immediately launch a counterattack against the Japanese positions.

The 40th Brigade used the 12th Regiment to cooperate with the remnants of the [-]th Brigade of the [-]th Division to counterattack the [-]nd and [-]rd Battalions of the Japanese No. [-] Fourth Regiment. The [-]th Brigade used the [-]th Regiment to cooperate with the [-]th Brigade of the [-]th Division. The remnants of the fifth brigade launched a counterattack against the Japanese No. [-] Regiment.

The national army's counterattack lasted until three o'clock in the morning the next day.

Interestingly, on the north side, the [-]th Regiment, which cooperated with the [-]th Brigade in attacking the Japanese army, reported that they captured the Japanese position but were recaptured by the Japanese in the morning.

The remnants of the [-]th Brigade broke into the Japanese positions many times, but were suppressed by Japanese counterattacks and failed to occupy the Japanese positions.

Regardless of the differences in the reports of the two troops, in short, the counterattack that night made no progress. By the early morning of the next day, the troops began to retreat to the rear and re-establish their positions.

By the next morning, dark clouds enveloped Songhu, but it didn't rain.

After a whole day of fighting yesterday, the 59th Division stationed on the southeastern line collapsed. Two-thirds of the officers were killed. The command was in chaos. There were only more than 200 people in the [-]th Regiment. The [-]th Division thought about it overnight. After arriving and stabilizing the front line, the national army's defense line would not collapse, otherwise the battle would have ended last night.

To the south is the Japanese No. 20 Second Regiment, defending the Guangdong Army Teaching Brigade. Compared with the smooth attack of the Japanese No. 40 Fourth Regiment to the north, the Japanese No. 20 Second Regiment has made almost no progress. , the Japanese No. 20 Second Regiment entered the southern position late, and its total front was the widest.Not to mention the situation faced by the national army, the No. 20 Second Regiment failed to complete the reconnaissance of the forward position before attacking.

When launching the attack in the morning, the No. 20 Second Regiment of the Japanese Army had to bite the bullet and attack the national army positions in the Zhoujiaxin area with the strength of the First Battalion and the Third Battalion.

Braving the autumn rain, the Japanese army advanced through the muddy fields and captured the national army's outpost position two hours later. However, they were immediately blocked by the main force of the teaching brigade and were unable to move in place.

The teaching brigade fought extremely fiercely, and the Japanese No. 20 Second Regiment had to call for artillery support. However, due to poor communication with the artillery, the Japanese artillery only provided short-term fire cover and did not use tracer bullets or other instructions. Means, indicating the completion of the bombardment.

The infantry of the No. 20 Second Regiment failed to coordinate with the artillery to launch an attack. It was worthwhile to bite the bullet and charge to the National Army position. The teaching brigade used bamboo forests and houses to build a cross-fire stronghold. The Japanese artillery bombardment failed to suppress the National Army's firepower. Under machine gun fire and mortar fire from all directions, the attacking Japanese troops were unable to move forward.

No. 20 Second Wing attacked until nightfall, but still made no progress.

That night, the Japanese aerial reconnaissance photos were sent to the wing headquarters. The Japanese No. 20 Second Wing was more certain that the position of the teaching brigade was very strong and kept asking the division to send more artillery.

The Japanese army immediately transferred an additional heavy artillery squadron to the 22nd Regiment. Since the 22nd Regiment's attack made no progress that day, the staff of the No. 11 Division even suspected that the 22nd Regiment was fighting passively because the national army's position in front of them was too strong. , the division staff repeatedly asked the 22nd Regiment to step up the attack, but the 22nd Regiment repeatedly complained about the lack of artillery.

In addition, the brigade commander Naojiro Amaya was hospitalized due to dysentery. At this time, the commander of the No. 12 Regiment, Adachi 23, was acting as the commander of the brigade. Since Adachi 23 and Nagatsu Sahiki of the 22 Regiment were the same commanders, Although the acting brigade commander of Anda 23 commands the brigade, he cannot command the 22nd Regiment at will like the real brigade commander.

This also further led to the disjoint in command of the Japanese No. 20 Second Regiment.

However, although the 22nd Regiment made no progress in the offensive, compared with all the units attacking in the southeast, the No. 20 Second Regiment suffered the lowest casualties.

On the 21st, the focus of the Japanese attack was on the southeast side of Luodian, while the 51st Division and the 58th Division located on the west side of Luodian were only attacked by the Japanese Chongteng Detachment from the front. The Chongteng Detachment dispatched two brigade troops. Divided into two groups, they surrounded the 58th Division from the north and the south respectively. The troops on the south side touched the position of the 51st Division and were violently attacked by the 51st Division. The attack was frustrated and made no progress.

In the afternoon, after receiving the order from the division commander, they entered the west side of Luodian and cooperated with the main force of the No. 11 Division to conduct operations south of Luodian. Therefore, the Chongteng detachment hastily ended the offensive on the west side of Luodian and the main force withdrew to Luodian. nearby.

Since then, there has been no large-scale fighting between the two sides, and only small-scale troops exchanged fire.

The 74th Army, the tiger and wolf division in the Songhu Battle, has a very tenacious combat capability. Even without Xia Yuan's presence, it is by no means an easy task for two Japanese regiments to attack the 74th Army's positions and capture them. .

After ending the position on the west side, the Japanese army never attacked the 51st Division's position, and the two sides fell into a confrontation.

Near Yang Xing, the battle situation is still tense, and fierce position battles are still taking place. Every moment, Japanese and Chinese soldiers die.

Especially the national army suffered huge casualties.

The Japanese army not only has armored units, but also field artillery and heavy artillery units. When deployed in positional operations, they are an absolute killer.

That night.

The 77th Division and the 77th Division of the Hunan Army arrived southeast of Luodian. The 60th Division of the Hunan Army was assigned to the No. [-] Sixth Army and entered between the Teaching Brigade and the [-]th Division.

The Eighth Division of the Hunan Army was assigned to the 69th Army and entered the south side of the highway to take over the No. 70 Eighth Division. The No. 70 Eighth Division retreated to the rear that night to rest.

It is already night.

Bonfires were lit on the battlefield.

Xia Yuan has figured out the Japanese army's thinking. It has nothing to do with whether they are exposed or not. In fact, when the Japanese army pressed on the border, they were already exposed to the Japanese guns. The main reason why the Japanese army did not attack was for two reasons. .

First, the focus of attack is southeast of Luodian. Whether or not to attack the west side of Luodian has no strategic significance.

The main reason for attacking the southeast of Luodian is that the Japanese troops near Yang Xing have to advance forward. By opening the passage to the southeast of Luodian, they can join up with Yang Xing's Japanese troops. At the same time, if they attack the southeast of Luodian, Yang Xing's Japanese troops on the flanks can also coordinate the attack. Yang Xing, the best of both worlds.

Second, attacking the west side of Luodian will cause huge casualties.

On the one hand, the existence of Xia Yuan made the Japanese army fearful. On the other hand, the combat capabilities of the 74th Army were obvious to all. The ace army of the national army was very tough and tenacious in combat capabilities and style. In addition, Xia Yuan was able to defeat an entire army. , the Japanese army naturally gave up attacking the national army positions.

Xia Yuan has been participating in the Luodian battle for a long time. Until now, he can basically guess what the Japanese army is thinking.

The veteran took off his clothes, hung them on a wooden stick, roasted them on the fire, and looked up at the gray sky.

"It's probably going to rain tomorrow, company commander, have the Japanese really given up on attacking us?"

"If so, that would be great."

Platoon Leader Li rubbed his heated palms with a smile on his face.

"It's not a good thing that the Japanese have given up attacking us." Xia Yuan frowned slightly, feeling quite uncomfortable thinking about the outcome of the Songhu Battle.

Looking at history, if you turn a page at random, it will be their life. When you see the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of figures, you will not feel any emotions in your heart.

It wasn't until I was on the battlefield and saw such a living person risking his life for the victory of the war that I felt that those numbers were terrifying.

Tens of thousands of people sacrificed their lives. The pile of corpses alone could create a mountain on the plains of Songhu, and their blood could flow out like a river.

Tens of millions of people sacrificed their lives, and millions of troops participated in the war. Just relying on one's own strength could not change anything at all. Xia Yuan thought, although he had an understanding of the direction of the war from the future, but in the face of the Japanese army's massive pressure, he still had a deep feeling. have no choice.

It's still the same problem as the [-]th Division, command decision-making.

At the expense of itself, the [-]th Division covered the evacuation of the Ninth Corps and delayed the Huachuan Blockade.

In the Battle of Songhu, the sacrifices of these 30 people changed the Japanese army's offensive policy and successfully dragged the Japanese army into the quagmire. Just for such a goal, the price paid was too high.

In front of the cow, a few wooden sticks were set up on the bonfire, and a helmet was tied with a rope. They were hung on the bonfire, collected some rainwater, and put in the cans seized from the Japanese.

"Company commander, isn't it a good thing that the Japanese don't attack? Why do you say it's not a good thing?"

The first five bulls are big and the third thick, but I can’t figure out how powerful they are.

"The Japanese army's attack target is elsewhere, not the 51st Division. The Japanese army in front is just to contain us."

The veteran could guess some, but he didn't know whether his guess was correct or not.

Platoon Leader Li thought for a long time and quite agreed with the veteran's words.

"What the veteran said makes sense. Otherwise, why did the Japanese take so much trouble to occupy the surrounding villages? They just want to watch us."

Ushiumae stared at the company commander.

Xia Yuan said: "The target of the Japanese attack is not here, but somewhere else. Even if we can defeat it here, it will not have any strategic significance."

After fighting for such a long time, the goal of whether a battle can be fought, whether it can be fought, and whether it should be fought is to see whether the battle has strategic significance in the overall situation, and whether it will have any impact on various lines of defense.

Throughout the day, the Japanese army only dispatched small groups of troops to cause friction with the 51st Division, and no large-scale battles occurred.

Separated by a contact area, the two sides seemed to be at peace with each other.

The bonfire was swaying, reflecting the red faces of the three platoon leaders. About two o'clock, it began to drizzle again. The veterans collected the clothes hanging outside and arranged for scouts to keep watch. , everyone slept in the damp and cold tunnel.

The bedding was very thin and the ground was damp. After lying down for a while, I felt that my whole back was soaked. After a good sleep, I felt quite uncomfortable.

I slept hazily until the next morning and had a comfortable sleep.

The Japanese army came hard. They bombed the 51st Division's position and then flew away. The Chinese soldiers who rushed out of the trenches with their guns took a look and saw that the Japanese did not come. They were so angry that they cursed at the Japanese positions. .

The Japanese did not attack, they just let the bombers fly over, dropped a few bombs and then flew away.

Early in the morning, communications troops came from the division headquarters, ran to the newly formed company's position, and called Xia Yuan to go to the division headquarters.

The atmosphere in the division headquarters was a bit solemn. Wang Yaowu was reading a telegram. After reading it, he raised his eyes and looked at Xia Yuan and threw the telegram to him.

Xia Yuan took a cursory glance and understood why Wang Yaowu called him here.

"The southeastern position of Luodian was lost, the 51st Division took you in, but the Japanese army did not attack, leaving you with nowhere to use your strength."

"Master Wang wants me to go to the southeast of Luodian to assist the [-]th Division in setting up defenses?"

"Well, the 59th Division was crippled by the Japanese army. It is said that it has been defeated and the command system is in chaos. I would like you to take over the 59th Division, but the appointment order is not in my hands. You still have to make some achievements to attract the attention of the Commander-in-Chief. "

Xia Yuan shook his head: "My heart is not in my official career, I just want to fight the Japanese."

"Then I read you right. The war in the southeast of Luodian is related to the entire Luodian situation. The 51st Division and the 58th Division cannot move. There are two Japanese regiments in front of them. If one moves, the other will be surrounded by the Japanese. , or even total annihilation, in this case, only you can act."

Wang Yaowu had a thorough understanding of the current situation. Xia Yuan was a big killer. If used well, he could even change the situation of a position.

Although sending Xia Yuan to the southeast of Luodian made him feel very sad. The future of such a fierce general was immeasurable, but faced with the deteriorating situation of the war, when the 51st Division and the 58th Division were unable to move, the Japanese army pressed heavily. The only one who can move is Xia Yuan. Coupled with his combat ability, one person can take charge alone.

Only he is more suitable to replace the 51st Division to support the operations in the southeast of Luodian.

"I can't send you more troops. After the Japanese army completes the battle southeast of Luodian, they will definitely attack the 51st Division. However, I have sent people to fill up your previous company. You can take yours now. The company sets off to support the [-]th Division southeast of Luodian."

In this way, Xia Yuan thought that he would stay in the 51st Division for a stable period of time, but he only spent a few days before setting off again.

There were many new faces in the new company. Xia Yuan chatted with a few of them. These people were all defeated soldiers from Jiading. The 51st Division was recruiting troops in Jiading under the banner of Xia Yuan. There were many of them. People who joined the 51st Division came because they admired Xia Yuanfang, but there were very few people who actually joined the new company.

Xia Yuan was well-known in Jiading, and there were many people who wanted to fight with him, but most of them joined the 51st Division and were dispersed to units that needed to replenish their troops.

There were very few people assigned to the new company, but they were all close to Xia Yuan.

There was no doubt that he was very happy to see Xia Yuan.

"The Japanese army wanted to drive away the national army in the southeast of Luodian. They had been fighting for a day. The 59th Division was crippled by the Japanese army, its position was lost, and countless soldiers died under the Japanese heavy artillery."

"Our mission is to assist friendly forces and seize positions!"

Without too many exciting words, Xia Yuan simply told everyone about the situation on the front line. He also did not hide this mission. The more he concealed it, the more the gains would outweigh the losses.

It was a hazy morning with drizzle.

A team of [-] people started from the west side of Luodian, left the small town, and headed southeast of Luodian.

The advancement of the Songhu Battle was still related to the national war of resistance. Reinforcement troops from various provinces began to reinforce the Songhu Battle, with the number of troops reaching a terrifying number of more than 70. (End of chapter)