The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 95 Attack and Defense 1
boom

A Type [-] explosive grenade fired by the Type [-] mountain gun was the first to come out, kicking off the bombardment and the prelude to this bloody battle. Then, the [-]mm howitzer of the light howitzer squadron fired, and four Two Type [-] mountain guns and four Type [-] [-]mm howitzers opened fire one after another, projecting shells one after another onto the Chinese army position outside Yanzhuang.

For an artillery command officer like Isao Kakihara with a professional background, this artillery attack no longer has any technical content after it is fired. Yesterday, the battle embankment detachment failed to win even though it cost a squadron to be wiped out. Even if there is even an inch of Chinese army's position, this attack is not worthless. At least, these artillerymen understood the general structure of the Chinese army's position outside Yanzhuang while watching the infantry struggle to support until the entire army was destroyed.

Therefore, before the bombardment, Kakihara Isao and the artillery officers carefully designed a firepower plan of eight artillery pieces based on the position structure of the Chinese army. In the scheduled artillery bombardment plan, the temporary artillery group composed of these eight artillery pieces would only attack the Chinese army. A symbolic and simple bombardment was carried out in the obstacle area. There were [-] mm caliber howitzers. These Japanese artillery officers believed that in the face of the simple obstacles of the Chinese army, it did not take too many artillery shells to open a gap for the infantry. .

The real key areas for shelling will be the two wings of the open field in front of the Chinese army's position and its main position. Needless to say, the importance of bombarding the main position, and the reason why both sides of the open field will become key bombardment targets is because of the ones set by He Wei. The two oblique positions were really eye-catching in the last battle!
If it were not for the sudden attack by the Chinese army hidden in the two oblique positions, the attacking dike detachment would actually have a great chance of breaking into the front position of the Chinese army. Unfortunately, after the oblique positions opened fire, the battlefield situation changed. A complete reversal occurred, and the terrifying crossfire from both sides directly blocked the retreat of the attacking infantry.

On the other hand, the reason why Isao Kakihara proposed that the Chinese army may have used launchers capable of launching chemical weapons was because he first observed the explosive packets ejected from two oblique positions. Therefore, the oblique position in front of the open area was of the utmost importance. It became a key target for Japanese artillery bombardment.

boom boom boom

As the impact point of the artillery shells advanced further, the artillery fire that raged in the obstacle area of ​​the Chinese army for 10 minutes finally pointed its finger at the diagonal position in front of the open field. In the artillery team's mirror, Isao Kakihara's eyes also moved forward. Barrage and shell impact points moved.

After the first artillery shell hit the oblique position, the Japanese gunners obviously accelerated their firing speed. One after another, the 75mm mountain artillery shells and the [-]mm howitzer shells hit the two oblique positions for free, setting off a wave of fire. There were two barrages soaring into the sky.

For today's attack, the Japanese army prepared a hundred rounds of artillery shells for each artillery fire involved. What the Japanese gunners had to do was to dump all the artillery shells onto the Chinese army's positions within the specified time.

Isao Kakihara listened to the rhythmic sound of artillery and looked at the two boundaries formed by the mixture of thick smoke and yellow sand in the artillery team's mirror. He seemed to be expecting something. Soon, the results of a new round of fierce shelling were revealed. He answered that his expectations had not been disappointed. He saw a large number of corpses and broken limbs blown into the air, torn into countless pieces by shrapnel, split in the air, and scattered.

Of course, Isao Kakihara believed that these dead bodies were Chinese troops hiding in the diagonal positions. Isao Kakihara could not help but smile. He was now very satisfied with the firepower plan and the final bombardment effect he had made. However, he did not know that those who were killed were What his artillery fire exploded into the sky was not the Chinese army at all, but the corpses of all the officers and soldiers of the First Infantry Squadron of the Japanese Army's Embankment Detachment.

After yesterday's battle, the Chinese troops cleaning up the battlefield were faced with more than 200 Japanese corpses scattered in front of the open field. If these corpses were left in front of the position, they would first block the firing range of various firearms in front of the position. It is very likely that these corpses will be used as bunkers when launching another attack.

Secondly, these corpses would rot and stink if left in the open for a long time. The officers and soldiers of the Sixth Company who were cleaning the battlefield simply buried these corpses in the trenches of the diagonal position abandoned by He Wei. By the way, it was also a humanitarian act. The principle is to do a good deed and give these lonely ghosts who were buried in a foreign land a place to lie down.

These corpses were hastily buried and covered with a layer of soil. How could they withstand the direct bombardment of 75mm mountain artillery shells and [-]mm grenades?

In other words, the results of the shelling that now make Kakihara so proud are actually the corpses of the Japanese soldiers themselves, but he still doesn't know it.

After projecting more than half of the artillery shells in this key shelling area, the Japanese artillery group finally began to move forward, and the blazing firepower began to attack the main position of the Chinese army...
.................. ..
Outside Yongxing Village, infantry position

The infantry forward starting position used by the dike detachment to attack has now been completely taken over by the Infantry No. 16 Regiment. The Japanese troops of the two infantry brigades are quietly waiting in the trenches, waiting for the order to start the attack. After passing the previous large To increase the scale, all parts of the No. 16 Wing have been fully staffed.

Those new recruits were worthy of coming from the Sendai area in Northeast Japan, which has the highest voluntary military participation rate in Japan. After only simple training, they integrated into the No. 16 Regiment. Most of these new recruits were farmers and farmers at the lowest level. Fishermen are at the bottom of Japan's social strata, and they are also the class most exploited by Japan's militaristic war machine.

A Japanese peasant family has worked hard for a year, and most of the food they grow has to be handed over to the government for launching a war of aggression. They can only keep a little to feed themselves. It is difficult to be self-sufficient, let alone make a fortune. To get rich, for them, the only chance to make a comeback and gain more wealth is to serve as soldiers and go to war.

Those people from Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya and Utsunomiya who have been engaged in business, white-collar and handicraft industries for a long time, once they receive the enlistment notice, it will be like a death certificate. On the battlefield, just one bullet will make them lose Life makes them lose everything they own, but people like farmers and fishermen who have nothing to begin with, how can they lose it?To die is to die, and to live is just a bad life.

The officers and non-commissioned officers of the No. 16 Regiment were naturally happy to see this, and were even better at taking advantage of it. During the pre-battle assault training, they bluntly said to these recruits: Just kill and defeat those damn Chinese troops. In China, On the land, you can do whatever you want, whatever you want, as long as you can win the battle, everything will be possible.

This is not a lie. In fact, the No. 16 Regiment itself has a long history and participated in the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-]. Many celebrities and wealthy businessmen in the regiment's area are veterans who participated in the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-]. This is something that the supplementary soldiers do not have. I saw it with my own eyes in my hometown when I joined the army, and the first pot of gold they got into their fortunes was almost all the wealth and treasures plundered from the land of China that was still called the Qing Dynasty during the war. Real war dividends.Under this naked temptation, the evil thoughts, desires and bestiality in the bones of these new recruits were inspired to an unlimited extent, and this most primitive evil thoughts and desires will be directly transformed into combat effectiveness on the battlefield, as long as After winning the battle, they can plunder and do whatever they want. Many new recruits even took the initiative to fight and asked to be the vanguard of the assault. Under the flash of the sun's reflection, the densely packed bayonets in the trenches were full of bloodthirsty and desire. s eyes.

In order to capture Yanzhuang in one fell swoop, Captain Juro Goto of the Infantry No. 16 Regiment deployed two infantry brigades at once, and these two infantry brigades each deployed two infantry squadrons on the front line. An infantry brigade with a total of four infantry squadrons connected on the left and right sides of the front line and advanced hand in hand.

The 37mm Type [-] rapid-fire guns reinforced by the brigade's artillery and the wing's rapid-fire artillery squadron all moved forward with the first-line squadron. The number of troops directly engaged in the attack was more than four times that of the dike detachment yesterday.

If the strength is calculated in terms of numbers, the total number of Japanese troops directly attacking the Yanzhuang position will exceed 1000, which is equivalent to the number of infantry squadrons on the front line, plus the attached heavy machine guns, infantry guns, flat-fire artillery and other support firepower and technical weapon operators. Yu invested nearly half of the combat soldiers of an infantry regiment.

In the trench, Major Terada Akizo, captain of the [-]st Infantry Battalion, and Major Oyama Suketa, captain of the [-]nd Infantry Battalion, stood side by side in the center of the trench, holding binoculars high and watching the fireworks display of the artillery.

"Osan-kun, it seems that the artillery has eliminated hidden dangers for us."

Terada Akizō, the captain of the First Battalion, put down his telescope and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the bombed-out diagonal position. Next to him, the captain of the Second Battalion, Suketa Oyama, had the same reaction. The two responsible persons The officer who was in charge of the attack concluded that the two biggest obstacles to the attack were the diagonal positions of the Chinese army and the chemical weapons of the Chinese army.

The stumps and broken arms all over the sky now show that the artillery has solved a lot of troubles for them.

Oyama Suketa nodded and said: "The artillery did a good job. It will be up to our infantry soon. I hope the chariot soldiers who are cooperating with us will have some courage this time and not wet their pants."

Oyama Suketa and Terada Akizo turned towards the dozen or so tanks next to the infantry position in unison, with mockery in their eyes.

...............

The tank of the Fourth Tank Battalion that cooperates with the Infantry No. 16 Regiment is parked not far from the starting position of the infantry. Baiwu, the captain of the Second Squadron of the Fourth Tank Battalion, is standing on the turret of the Type [-] medium tank. Junji seemed to feel the strange look from Ruoyouruowu coming from the infantry position, and he cursed softly as an asshole.

There was no way, after the bastards of the Infantry Regiment No. 16 came up, the Fourth Tank Battalion quickly became the lowest creature in the chain of contempt. Even the captain Toshio Murai was treated well by the captain of the No. 16 Regiment Goto Juro. After a meal of sarcasm, Toshikichi Hyakutake inevitably received a lot of eye-rolls and contempt.

If something like this happened, Hyakutake Shukichi would definitely not be able to openly express his dissatisfaction or confrontational attitude. He could only scold the infantry in his heart. These country bumpkins don't understand what armored tactics are. The coordination of infantry and tanks is not a tank. The troops must blindly meet the needs of the infantry. When encountering a position that the infantry cannot rush into, the tank is naturally obliged to clear the way for the infantry. But correspondingly, once anti-armor weapons are encountered, the infantry must also help the tank solve the problem.

The Fourth Tank Battalion suffered heavy losses in the first attack and chose to postpone the attack in the second attack after discovering that the Chinese army had anti-tank guns and anti-tank fortifications. Now it is defined as cowardice!
Hyakutake Shunkichi was completely unconvinced, but he could only curse in his heart. What was more important was how to successfully carry out this attack. Counting the car of Hyakutake Shunkichi, a total of eight or nine types of combat were used in this attack. vehicles, five Type 16 heavy armored vehicles, and five Type [-] light armored vehicles. Under the leadership of Shukichi Hyakutake, these fifteen tanks will cover the infantry of the No. [-] Regiment and launch another attack on the Chinese army's position. .

Hyakutake Shukichi jumped out of the car holding back his dissatisfaction and began to conduct mechanical inspections on the attacking tanks one by one. This time, not only was the fourth tank group forced to attack, but he was also named as the leading officer. He was sure , this battle must be dangerous and dangerous. Judging from the failure of the infantry attack yesterday, the Chinese army's terrible anti-tank guns must still be hidden in the position. The Fourth Battalion of First Attack Tanks told him with heavy losses that now None of the various tanks they have on hand can completely block the anti-tank guns of the Chinese army. This attack will probably cost a lot of tanks.

"Your Excellency, squadron commander, the artillery position has sent out signal flares."

Suddenly, a chariot soldier ran up to Hyakutake Toshiyoshi and pointed his finger towards the sky. Hyakutake Toshikichi raised his head and saw two red flares fired from the direction of the artillery position. At the same time, the barrage of artillery bombardment landed. It also began to roll forward and began to cover the main position of the Chinese army.

Soon, the infantry of the No. 16 Regiment, who also saw the signal flares emitted from the artillery position, blew a whistle in the direction of the tank troops. Toshiyoshi Hyakutake knew that this was the signal to start the attack.

Putting aside all kinds of resentment and anger in his heart, Hyakutake Shukichi quickly returned to the tank and waved the flag command to attack. The fifteen tanks that had already been launched slowly started to move out and drove out at the front of the attack queue. After the vehicle formation, the 16st and [-]nd Battalions of the No. [-] Infantry Regiment began to climb out of the trenches at the starting position, followed behind the tank formation, and slowly advanced towards the Chinese army's position under the cover of artillery barrages. .

(End of this chapter)