The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 94

Early in the morning, at eight o'clock, outside Yanzhuang, the sixth company's position

The Sixth Company's position was quiet, terrifying, and unusual. Especially under the sound of gunfire and gunfire from other directions in Xinkou, the calm here seemed a bit strange.

The restless night yesterday did not affect or delay the combat preparations of the Sixth Company. The entire garrison inside and outside Yanzhuang completed all combat preparations before the time of eight o'clock in the morning in accordance with the combat orders issued by the military headquarters. The Sixth Company, which is located on the front line outside the village, perhaps should be put another way. In terms of its actual strength, the current Sixth Company may be more appropriately called a company-level battle group.

Because the actual combat force deployed on the position is far from an infantry company. At this time, there are a total of three complete infantry platoons, two heavy machine gun platoons, a tank defense artillery platoon, and an 300 mortar platoon on the position. Platoon, a total of seven platoon-level units with a total strength of more than 37 people, possesses intensive firepower composed of fifteen heavy machine guns, nine light machine guns, two [-]mm tank defense guns, and two [-] mortars. net.

And He Wei, who was a lieutenant platoon leader yesterday, became the acting company commander overnight, and was also the commander-in-chief of all combat units on the battlefield. At this moment, he was sitting calmly in the largest seat. Inside the bunker, there was a half-kettle of white wine on his command platform.

Last night, He Wei was inspecting the position. A deputy squad leader of the second platoon was caught secretly hiding in a traffic trench to drink. There is no order in the army to prohibit drinking. It is common for veterans to fill wine bottles with bottles during marching operations. When something happened, He Wei did not punish the deputy monitor, but asked him for half of his drink. He thought that maybe he also needed a moderate amount of alcohol to relax and help him sleep.

The night passed, and not a drop of the wine he planned to use to help him sleep was in his mouth. He Wei just smelled the aroma of Fenjiu, poured the wine from the kettle into the lunch box, and then poured the wine from the lunch box back into the kettle. The cycle continued like this. All night long, not a drop of wine, the same wine, was spilled.

No one among the company officers and soldiers in the bunker knew what He Wei was thinking.

Several soldiers from the newly arrived regiment communications company from Yanzhuang are nervously debugging the telephones and field switches in the command post. The ordnance sergeant is maintaining He Wei's weapons, and the ammunition soldier is sorting and counting boxes of six-point weapons seized from the Japanese army. [-] mm caliber and [-] mm caliber machine gun bullets, while the clerical staff sergeant squatted in the corner writing and drawing.

The messenger Tao Heiwa was like a curious baby, lying on the bunker's machine gun nozzle and looking out. From time to time, he was playing with the Type [-] [-]mm heavy machine gun that was captured from the Japanese army and placed at the nozzle. Finally, the quartermaster sergeant walked to He Wei's side, took out a bag of peanuts from his arms and placed it on the table in front of He Wei.

He Wei continued his seemingly boring job of pouring wine. He smiled and thanked the quartermaster sergeant, then opened the oil paper bag containing peanuts, picked up a fried peanut and threw it into his mouth.

The time point of eight o'clock in the morning is also of great significance to another group of people. In Yongxing Village opposite Yanzhuang, the Infantry No. 16 Regiment was ready before eight o'clock in the morning after a night of reorganization and preparations. Attack preparation.

Goto Juro, captain of the Infantry No. 16 Regiment, was standing in the command post that originally belonged to the Tsutsumi Detachment, looking at the Chinese army's position through the Type [-] artillery mirror. In fact, when he arrived at Yongxing Village and learned about the Tsutsumi Detachment's After the battle, he was quite dissatisfied with the Di Detachment. He originally thought that the Chinese army had invested some heavy troops, but when he saw the size of Yanzhuang and the situation on the battlefield, he immediately concluded that the Chinese army's defenders The strength will not exceed the conclusion of an infantry regiment.

Facing the Chinese army with less than one regiment, the Di Detachment, a combat unit with a reinforced infantry brigade as its core and equipped with a tank brigade and artillery, suffered continuous setbacks. Not only did it fail to capture the Chinese army's position, it also lost more than a squadron. The strength of the troops was destroyed, and many tanks were destroyed. Apart from the two words "incompetent", Goto Juro couldn't think of any other adjective to describe the Tsutsumi detachment.

In his opinion, the only value of these failed attacks by the Di Detachment may be to test that the Chinese army may be equipped with chemical weapons.

Because of this, during the handover of command, Goto Juro basically did not take a serious look at Tsutsumi Fuzaki. After understanding the basic situation and completing the handover of command, he did not say a word to Tsutsumi Fuzaki again. He said that similar situations also occurred among the grassroots troops. The officers and soldiers of the No. 16 Regiment that drove to Yongxing Village also had the same attitude towards the lower-level officers and soldiers of the defeated Di Detachment.

The ethos of the Japanese army is to admire the strong and despise the weak, and the Second Division of the No. 16 Wing is among the best among the Japanese Army divisions. Together with the Sixth Division, it is known as the two strongest divisions. Soldiers He has always been tough, but how could he look down upon the newly defeated officers and soldiers of the Di detachment?

After the No. 16 Regiment arrived in Yongxing Village, the strength of the Japanese troops gathered here can be described as strong. The infantry alone reached four infantry brigades, two suppressing artillery squadrons, and a tank brigade. The total strength of the troops has exceeded 4000. The abundant strength gave Goto Juro ample space and capital to play. He still considered the damn chemical weapons, so Goto Juro determined the policy of this attack as: quick battle, quick decision, one fell swoop. Annihilation.

This policy also has another consideration. Although the Di Detachment is looked down upon very much, the Chinese troops guarding Yanzhuang can cause such heavy losses to the Di Detachment and the Fourth Tank Battalion. One can imagine the combat effectiveness of the Chinese troops guarding Yanzhuang. He is by no means an ordinary person, and the ability of his commander should not be underestimated. To deal with this kind of enemy, it is best to fight quickly and solve it as soon as possible. Otherwise, there will be long nights and many dreams, and new situations may arise.

After integrating the forces under his command, Goto Juro divided the troops under his jurisdiction into several parts. The first part was the artillery team, consisting of the Type 16 Mountain Artillery Squadron assigned to the Tsutsumi Detachment and the Type [-] Type [-] brought by the No. [-] Regiment. It is composed of a [-]mm howitzer squadron, and its commander is Captain Isao Kakihara, the squadron leader of the Type [-] Mountain Artillery Squadron.

The second part is the infantry team, which is also the main force of the attack. There is no doubt that his Infantry No. 16 Regiment plays the main role. The third part is the tank convoy, which is composed of Murai Toshio's [-]th Tank Battalion and the Tsutsumi Detachment. Armored convoy.

As for the Tsutsumi detachment, which had suffered repeated defeats and was looked down upon by Gotojuro, it could only serve as a reserve team.

"Reporting to the commander of the regiment, the first-line infantry attack team and artillery unit called and are fully prepared for combat."

Wing Adjutant Major Ohashi I ran into the command post and reported to Goto Juro.

Goto Juro nodded and said softly: "Tell the first and second brigades that they must move quickly when attacking. Try to attack the enemy's position in the first round of assault. Then urge the tank brigades to cooperate with the second brigades. The attacking tanks of the [-]st and [-]nd Battalions shall be ready to attack as soon as possible.”

The troop deployment of the No. 16 Regiment has well implemented the combat policy of quick battle and quick decision. A total of two infantry brigades, the First Infantry Battalion and the Second Infantry Battalion, have been deployed on the front line of attack. In order to strengthen the front line infantry The firepower of the rapid-fire artillery squadron directly under the wing has also been strengthened to the front line. The four 37-type 16mm rapid-fire cannons have been assigned to the two infantry brigades. During the attack, these rapid-fire cannons will advance together with the assaulting infantry. Cooperate with the infantry artillery directly under the brigade to eliminate the machine gun fire points of the Chinese army.The tanks of the [-]th Tank Battalion, under Goto's order, pulled out more than a dozen tanks to cover the infantry attack of the No. [-] Regiment. Goto learned about the previous combat status of the [-]th Tank Battalion. Later, I also regarded Shukichi Hyakutake, the captain of the Fourth Tank Battalion, as a coward in my heart.

Because they were afraid of the Chinese army's tank defense guns and anti-tank traps, they stopped participating in the battle after launching only one attack. In Goto's view, the Fourth Tank Brigade was even more shameless than the Tsutsumi Detachment, which was not It's a matter of cowardice, a matter of ability, but at least it still retains the martial ethics and Yamato spirit of the Imperial Army, and at least has the courage to attack the enemy's positions. On the contrary, the Fourth Tank Battalion has a complete attitude issue. .

In order to provide corresponding cover for the attacking infantry, and to help the cowardly officers and soldiers of the Fourth Tank Battalion recover their Yamato souls, Goto ruthlessly ordered the Fourth Tank Battalion to go into battle, and asked by name that he had Shukichi Hyakutake, the captain of the second squadron of the Fourth Tank Battalion, who participated in the first attack and failed, personally led the team.

In Goto's view, these chariot soldiers who have no martial virtues, martial souls, and no shame can only become qualified Yamato men and imperial soldiers with full martial virtues only through the tempering and tempering of blood and fire on the battlefield. .

The wind was particularly strong in the morning. Through the artillery mirror, Goto saw the sky full of yellow sand. The Chinese army positions behind the yellow sand gradually became blurred.

Just as the wing adjutant was about to walk away, Goto suddenly stopped him.

"and many more."

Goto looked at his watch. There were still a few minutes until the scheduled attack time. According to the scheduled attack plan, all preparations for the attack were completed at eight o'clock, and artillery preparations began at ten minutes past eight. After ten minutes of artillery cover, the infantry At the beginning of the impact, perhaps it was the yellow sand in the sky that made Goto feel more uncertain and cautious. In the end, Goto decided to temporarily modify the attack and fire preparation plan.

"I sent a telegram to the commander of the regiment, saying that the wind and sand in Yanzhuang are strong. In order to achieve good bombardment effects, it is necessary to wait for the wind and sand to subside. Therefore, I request to extend the artillery preparation time for half an hour. This order is notified to the artillery positions as soon as possible by phone, asking them to be prepared."

The wing adjutant who received the order immediately ran to carry out the order. Goto looked at his watch again. The yellow sand in the sky and the unknown chemical weapons of the Chinese army still cast a shadow on his heart. After all, People will eventually be afraid of unknown and terrifying things. This is human nature. Goto cursed in his heart, dispelled the feeling he shouldn't have, and focused all his attention on the artillery mirror in front of him again.

"We must win it in one fell swoop!"

Looking at the unknown distance, Gotojuro murmured.

.........................
Next to Yongxing Village, artillery position

Captain Kakihara Kosei, who received the extension of artillery preparation time, felt that his mood at this moment could not be described in words. If I must say it, then in his heart at this moment, besides being excited, he felt unparalleled heroism.

All this stems from Goto Juro's encouragement to him. After the No. 16 Regiment arrived in Yongxing Village, Goto Juro's attitude towards him was completely different from that of Tsubuzaki and Hyakutake Shukichi. Not only did Goto treat him Instead of looking down on him, he was directly appointed as the captain of the artillery team that attacked the left bank. Even the light howitzer squadron assigned to the No. 16 Regiment was handed over to Kakihara Isao by Goto Juro.

Now, on the artillery position behind Isao Kakihara, there are not only four Type 75 [-]mm mountain cannons belonging to his mountain artillery squadron, but also a squadron of [-]mm howitzers.

这四门榴弹炮均为为日本大阪炮兵工厂造91式105毫米榴弹炮，是日本20世纪30年代从法国购买并自行生产的陆军师团炮兵的野战压制火炮。口径105毫米，战斗状态长4.64米，行军状态长9.3米，战斗全重1500千克，行军状态重2137千克，使用91式尖榴弹1号装药初速454米/秒、用4号装药初速230米/秒，最大射程10900米。

With four mountain cannons and four howitzers, Isao Kakihara was extremely excited to be able to command eight artillery pieces at the same time. The eight artillery pieces were equivalent to the number of artillery pieces owned by a dissatisfied Japanese artillery brigade during peacetime. Being able to command these eight artillery pieces in combat operations , which made Kakihara Isao feel like he was promoted to Major Captain in advance. Naturally, Kakihara Isao was extremely grateful to Goto Juro who gave him this opportunity.

And he did not live up to Goto's expectations. Although there was a lot of wind and sand in the morning, which greatly affected the artillery observation, Kakihara Isao was worthy of being a top student in the artillery section of the Japanese Army Sergeant School. Based on various shooting parameters in yesterday's battle, he was re-ranked as a fourth The Menshan Cannon calculated more accurate shooting elements, and calculated various shooting elements for the [-]mm howitzer based on its various combat performance and parameters. Now, the eight artillery pieces have completed all combat preparations , the first shell was loaded into the barrel.

As time passed, the time for firing was getting closer and closer. In the mirror of Kakihara Isao's artillery team, the smoke, dust and sand in front of the Chinese army's position were becoming less and less.

"Your Excellency, squadron commander, it's time for the bombardment."

Following the reminder from the sergeant beside him, Kakihara Isao left the artillery team mirror and picked up the phone next to his hand. At this time, he only felt extremely high-spirited and heroic filling his body. Kakihara Isao concentrated all his strength. , shouted at the field telephone transmitter at hand leading to each gun emplacement.

"Every gun, open!"

(End of this chapter)