The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 263 Bloody Strangulation
On the Japanese artillery position, the captain of the third independent mountain artillery regiment of the Japanese army, who served as the temporary artillery group commander of the two detachments, saw through the artillery mirror that the target had turned into a sea of ​​flames, as if looking at his own masterpiece, revealing A look of satisfaction and pride.

As a captain of the Mountain Artillery Regiment, he currently commands the artillery of the Sasaki Detachment and the Kunisaki Detachment. In addition to the two artillery brigades under his command, he also commands a field artillery brigade of the friendly forces. At the same time, Not every artillery officer has the opportunity to command artillery units from two different units equipped with different types of artillery.

The artillery captain left the telescope, held the command knife in both hands, showed a contemptuous smile to the Chinese army position in front, and said to the adjutant behind him: "Order the friendly field artillery to carry out extended shooting at the enemy's deep position. The two mountain artillery brigades concentrated their firepower and fired at the enemy's first line positions at the maximum rate of fire! Pay special attention to the enemy's firepower points obtained by the infantry in the exploratory attack yesterday, and be sure to focus the attack!"

Boom boom-
Boom boom-
After the latest combat order from the artillery team captain was conveyed to the Japanese artillery positions, the formation of the Japanese artillery fire network and shooting targets quickly changed.

Twelve modified 38-type 75mm field guns took advantage of their range advantage with the addition of new sharp bullets, and began to extend suppressive fire towards the sides, rear and depth of the 48th position.

The twenty-four Type 94 75mm mountain guns of the other two brigades took advantage of their high rate of fire and concentrated their firepower on the forward positions of the 48th Division to launch destructive fire and suppress the first-line trench positions. shooting.

The rumbling sounds of artillery came one after another, and the Japanese artillery in the artillery firing position were all projecting firepower at the 48th Division's position at the maximum speed.

In just a few minutes, the 48th Division's positions were dominated by smoke, flames and flashes from exploding artillery shells.

For the officers and soldiers of the 48th Division who were suddenly attacked by artillery fire, the cruelty and suddenness of this artillery attack were unimaginable. The total number of twenty-four mountain guns and twelve field guns was thirty-six. Regardless of the Whether it is the artillery organization of the Chinese army or the artillery organization of the Japanese army, it is the number of artillery pieces in a field artillery regiment or a field artillery regiment.

The volley of artillery fire from an artillery regiment fully equipped with sufficient ammunition shocked the 48th Division, which was unprepared and was almost at the bottom of the Chinese army in the Xiaguan Defense Circle, in terms of combat effectiveness. .

At this time, the front line position of the 48th Division was turned into a mess amidst the fierce shelling.

Boom boom - boom boom
The first line of communication trenches of the 48th Division were full of soldiers running around in panic, some with weapons, some with bare hands, and some not even wearing clothes.

Compared with the soldiers in the cooking squad who were killed in a confused manner and the soldiers queuing up for meals, the only thing that these soldiers in the trenches on the front line were thankful for was that they were still in the trenches.

These people were also unprepared and were hit by overwhelming firepower. Most of the soldiers of the 48th Division were recruits with little combat experience. Their combat experience was only a few battles fought in Jinling. The opposite side suddenly launched an artillery regiment-level cluster shooting. These people could not resist it, and many people became chaotic on the spot.

The trenches were full of soldiers dragging their guns together to find cover or fighting for cover. The Japanese artillery shells seemed to have eyes, and they fell into the trenches one after another.

boom

boom

As long as a shell falls and explodes, at least a dozen soldiers of the 48th Division will be involved in the shock wave and rain of shrapnel. Then, a dozen lives will disappear, and a dozen bodies will be shattered into pieces.

Various human body parts and flesh and blood were swept together by the shock wave along with various broken bricks and weapons parts in the fortifications, flying everywhere in the position and sweeping away.

The Japanese army's intensive bombardment was not only aimed at the soldiers of the 48th Division running wildly in the trenches. Many shells also accurately hit the bunkers, machine gun positions and firepower points in the 48th Division's positions, as well as various Concealment section and ammunition storage area.

In yesterday's battle, the position of the 48th Division was easily captured by a Japanese squad. Although later, under the leadership of He Wei, the Special Agent Battalion counterattacked with the 48th Division and regained the position.

But the position was actually lost after all, and the location of various firepower points and concealed parts, the ammunition storage station and the firepower equipment in the position were naturally controlled by the Japanese army.

This valuable information was also brought back by the Japanese troops who fled yesterday in the form of simple on-the-spot drawings, and these targets have naturally become the focus of Japanese artillery attacks.

Amidst the roaring explosions, there were more and more distinctive banging explosions. A large number of 75mm mountain artillery shells accurately hit various firepower points in the 48th Division's position. For early As far as the cement concrete fortifications that have been constructed and reinforced are concerned, it is obviously impossible for the 75mm caliber artillery shells to cause structural damage to them, but the successive shellings have removed a large number of shrapnel and even shells from the fortifications. The shooting port and even the entrance were shot in.

Artillery shells and shrapnel penetrated into the fortifications and exploded. The roof of the fortifications made a thud echo that was different from the sound of artillery shells exploding in the open space.

Amidst these unusual explosions, many soldiers of the 48th Division hiding in the fortifications and the light and heavy machine guns equipped in the fortifications were also annihilated and torn apart in the explosion.

In the command post of the 48th Division, the Chief of Staff of the 48th Division looked at his position with dizzy eyes. The position was full of soldiers running around, and there were bombed corpses everywhere. , the rolling and wailing wounded soldiers and the broken limbs, and many new soldiers were so frightened that they stood still in the position where explosions and bullets were everywhere, holding their rifles and crying and shouting.

The entire position was filled with dense falling bombs, as if the entire position was overwhelmed by the intensive firepower of the Japanese army and the flash produced by the explosion of the artillery shells.

"Hurry up and drive your soldiers into the fortifications. Hurry up. Even if you go in person, you have to control them. Control the troops for me. Don't let your soldiers run around like headless flies."

"You guys, hurry up and gather your troops, hurry up!"

The chief of staff had red eyes and kept shouting at the telephone that he didn't know if anyone answered. More than a dozen orderlies, adjutants and staff officers had already been sent to various brigades and regiments to convey orders.

And so far, he still has not received any response from his subordinate brigades.

The chief of staff knew that the division under his command had too many new recruits, and most of the officers were roughnecks from the Zhili Allied Forces or even bandits. Their command skills were extremely poor. Once such a unit was attacked by the fierce Japanese army, Large-scale chaos occurred under artillery fire, and it was impossible to quickly restore order by relying on the organization of officers. After contacting all the subordinate brigades and regiments as much as possible, the chief of staff of the 48th Division moved away from the observation port of the command post and closed his eyes in pain. He could not bear to watch the bloody tragedy that happened on the position anymore. He could only Wait, wait until the Japanese shelling ends, wait until your troops slowly restore order on their own.

Boom
The rumbling explosions kept coming, and the screams from the 48th Division's position were still heard. The whistling sound of the artillery shells was like the low roar of death, pressing down on the 48th Division's position one after another. Occasionally, a bomb storage site stocked with bullets and grenades was hit by Japanese artillery shells and detonated, exploding clouds of gray-black smoke into the sky.

This is a true portrayal of the current Chinese army, which has the worst combat effectiveness. The troops with old warlord origins and full of new recruits are fighting against the Japanese army with modern firepower.

This is the most realistic but not the most tragic scene on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War.

Half an hour later, the Japanese artillery fire gradually became sparse. It was only then that the officers of the 48th Division, who had been beaten to pieces by the Japanese artillery fire, began to gather their troops in shock.

In the position, the two brigade commanders and four regiment commanders of the 48th Division were in hot contact with their respective subordinate units. The company and battalion commanders of each regiment rushed out of the hidden fortifications with guns in hand, kicking and pulling the Japanese soldiers in the trenches. The artillery fire blasted the dizzy soldiers under control.

After the order calmed down, the anxious Chief of Staff of the 48th Division finally received reports from his subordinate units at the command post.

"Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff, this is the 144th Brigade. Our brigade has more than 300 casualties. One battalion commander and two company commanders were killed in the shelling."

"Chief of Staff, our 142nd Brigade suffered more than 480 casualties. One major and three company commanders were killed in action. One company was bombed while fetching food. It's all over!"

In the command post, the chief of staff of the 48th Division listened to the reports of the two brigade commanders under his command. He punched the table in grief. In just a few dozen minutes of shelling, the division's nearly 1,000 troops were killed. human loss.

"The Japanese artillery fire is no longer fierce. Hurry and get the troops into position. When the artillery fire weakens, the Japanese troops will definitely launch an attack. Hurry up and get the troops into position."

The chief of staff shouted loudly into the phone. As the chief of staff of the 48th Division, he had learned many lessons from the 48th Division's limited combat experience with the Japanese army, which could also be said to be a defeat. He knew very well that what was more terrifying than the Japanese artillery bombardment was the weakening of the Japanese artillery bombardment.

Because the weakening of the shelling is a signal for the Japanese infantry to charge, and the extremely fierce Japanese infantry can even be said to be more terrifying than the Japanese shelling.

After the battle order from the Chief of Staff of the 48th Division was conveyed, officers at all levels of the 48th Division who had just gathered and controlled the troops drove their soldiers who had not yet recovered from the fierce shelling into the position.

"Fuck, get up quickly, get up quickly!"

"Copycat, forget about those dead ones and fill them in quickly."

"Bring the machine gun up to me. The Japanese will rush up soon."

"Damn it, the Japanese infantry are going to charge forward, so cheer up."

"Come here, doctor, doctor, please carry the wounded soldiers down."

On the position, the urgings, roars and curses of the veterans and officers of the 48th Division came one after another. The officers and soldiers of the four infantry regiments of the 48th Division hurriedly grabbed their weapons and were surrounded by wounded soldiers and soldiers. In the trenches with corpses, they panicked and entered the fighting position.

The medical doctors and nursing staff of the 48th Division's better-than-nothing field hospital began to treat and carry back the wounded soldiers scattered throughout the position, while the officers and soldiers of the four infantry regiments who had not been injured or killed during the shelling were lined up in the position. , hurriedly prepared for battle.

Under the urging of veterans, sergeants, and officers, the new recruits who were not yet proficient in weapons were able to escape from the panic of the Japanese bombardment. They unfamiliarly and clumsily placed the Hanyang-made rifles in their hands on the position, while the officers and Veterans and sergeants tried to stay calm, operating precious automatic firearms such as light and heavy machine guns, preparing for the coming Japanese infantry attack.

A few kilometers away, Japanese commanders Sasaki Toichi and Kunizaki Noboru looked at each other with satisfaction. Then, Sasaki shouted an order to the staff officer behind him: "Order the forward infantry units and armored vehicle units to proceed according to the scheduled plan. The armored vehicle launched an attack for the forward, the field artillery of the artillery unit stayed put, and the mountain artillery unit immediately completed the transition from shooting to marching state and followed up!"

The two staff officers immediately repeated the orders through the field telephone and conveyed the battle orders for the infantry and artillery respectively.

After receiving the order, the Japanese artillery quickly began to change the combat status. The twelve bulky modified 38-type 75mm field guns remained in place, firing at the 48th Division with the maximum rate of fire and blazing firepower. deep positions to suppress fire.

The twenty-four Type 94 75mm mountain guns of the two brigades immediately stopped firing. Under the command of the Japanese artillery officers, the Japanese artillerymen skillfully stopped firing and began to close the artillery and the artillery moved from combat firing state to Changes in marching maneuver status.

Each lightweight Type 94 mountain cannon was quickly broken down into several parts and mounted on a special saddle on the back of a pack horse. As each Type 94 mountain cannon was prepared, the two brigades The Japanese mountain artillery slowly began to move.

In front of the Japanese artillery position, which can also be said to be in front of the 48th Division position, the Japanese infantry who had been lurking all night in the cold winter night also began to move. The 38th Infantry Regiment from the Sasaki Detachment The Japanese troops from the 41st Infantry Regiment of the Kunisaki Detachment, a total of five infantry brigades, got out of the simple concealment positions built overnight and rushed towards the 48th Division's position.

In the front of the center of these five Japanese infantry brigades, the new forwards were not the Japanese infantry, but the 17 Type 94 light armored vehicles of the 8th Independent Light Armored Vehicle Squadron of the Sasaki Detachment.

(End of this chapter)