Chapter 88 Chapter 88: Fighting Again 1

On the Tianma Mountain position, the Japanese officers and soldiers fought fiercely all day long, and miraculously 9 people survived. In addition to the 5 people on the machine gun position and those who were on standby in the Orangery, there were less than 20 people left in the squadron of more than 150 people.The Chinese army has built fortifications on the opposite north slope, and a new attack may soon be launched, and new deaths are inevitable.The brigade headquarters ordered that the cover fortification work must be completed before midnight.In order to defend against the rear firepower of the national army, the Japanese engineers filled bamboo baskets with sand and soil on both sides of the raid road, and built a two-foot-high bulletproof wall; stepping steps were also dug on the cliff to facilitate the charge.

The night was getting deeper and deeper, and at the time of the shift, Captain Watanabe ordered the position currently occupied by the 10th Squadron to be handed over to the 1st Battalion for defense; but the position must still be secured before the defense troops arrive. Izaki was secretly happy: There is such a good thing!It's great!But then, he wondered again: Where is the No. 1 Brigade now?Is it Hotan's No. 2 Squadron?Qin Ye's No. 4 Squadron?Or Ueda's No. 1 Squadron? Soon, it was the No. 1 Squadron who came to take over the defense.Lieutenant Izaki used to serve in the squadron, but he didn't see an old acquaintance officer. Didn't any of them survive?The person who came to handle the defense turned out to be a corporal who had served in the army for 5 years, and the person who asked was the squad leader Tanaka.Finally, Izaki understood what was going on, and a feeling of desolation surged from the bottom of his heart!But both sides were tacitly aware that in the dark night, only the outline of the recipient could be seen, so they had to use a very low voice to state the situation of the enemy and us and the status quo of the position to the other party.

This No. 1 Squadron, which has no officers but is commanded by a corporal, will replace the No. 10 Squadron at the Tianma Mountain position from tomorrow morning and become a live target for the Chinese army.There is nothing else to do but pray for them.Izaki was full of sadness, and walked down the mountain dejectedly on the road full of his companions' corpses and blood.It is necessary to do a good job of changing defenses before dawn, and complete many tasks such as burial of the dead and evacuation of the wounded. After Izaki and Captain Watanabe silently shook hands, Fang exchanged greetings.Watanabe said: "Izaki-kun, you have worked hard. The battles in the future will be even more difficult. Your combat experience is very valuable and should be summarized and promoted. It is worth learning from the brigade headquarters and the regiment officers! Waiting for your report. !"

Looking at the remnants of the defeated general, Izaki said with shame on his face, "I'm ashamed! With the blessing of the Emperor, it's just my luck! It's very lucky to be able to leave the position! I didn't lead the troops well." Captain Watanabe said with concern: "Don't talk so much. First go to the military doctor's office for bandaging and treatment. The combat logistics is very busy, and Sergeant Kakizaki is in charge; the wounded are treated by the second-class medical soldier Oura. You go to them!" " About 150 meters to the left of Tianma Mountain, the 120th Wing attacked Xichan Temple, and the battle was also very fierce.However, at this time, 100mm and 105mm heavy artillery had been shipped from Wuhan, Yueyang, Changsha and other places.Heavy artillery bombarded the positions of the national army continuously, and the explosion of Japanese gasoline incendiary bombs was earth-shattering, the mountains and rivers changed color, and everywhere they went was a piece of scorched earth.Nationalist soldiers were covered in flames and were often burned alive.But he still fought tenaciously, without flinching.

The attack of the 120th Wing also suffered a disastrous defeat like Tianma Mountain.Several attacks on the bunker surrounded by multi-layer fortifications on the north side of the Xianggui Highway failed. Instead, they suffered heavy casualties. Seeing the situation was not good, they retreated.The tenacious spirit of the national army guards of Xichan Temple made the arrogant Japanese officers and soldiers have to admire.The heavy artillery of the Japanese army kept bombarding the forest position behind the Xichan Temple. The dense forest was blown to pieces, some were uprooted, and the fire was burning.The position was gained and lost in repeated struggles, lost and regained, and changed hands many times.The flanking firepower of the Xichan Temple position is still effectively intercepting and sniping the Japanese army on Tianma Mountain, and the counterattack of the national army often works.

At noon, under the cover of crazy artillery fire, the 120th Wing broke through many obstacles and was about to break into the bunker on the north side of the road.But in less than 20 minutes, he was driven down by the national army's grenades, bayonets and ghost swords.In the panic, just like Izaki was defeated, whether it was a dead body or an injured person; whether it was a wrist, collar, belt, trouser leg, or ankle, he pulled it up and dragged it away.Of the 800 officers and soldiers of the entire alliance, only 43 remained.It had to be withdrawn to make up for it, and the task of attacking the Xichan Temple position was changed to the 218th Wing.

When will this miserable Hengyang offensive and defensive battle come to an end! On August 4, Isamu Yokoyama, who was wearing the "Amaterasu Emperor Daijingu" talisman, personally directed the last attack of the Japanese army.Before the infantry attack, the Japanese army concentrated more than 100 heavy artillery pieces and more than 40,000 shells to focus on the fortifications of the national army positions; Direct fire at the witnessing fortification shooting points; Japanese Air Force aircraft carried out carpet bombing on all areas of the city. The 10th Army of the National Army was about to run out of shells and was unable to organize a counterattack.Fang Xianjue had no choice but to order the artillery to look for the opportunity and focus on the camera to fight back; the infantry tried to hide as much as possible, and the commanders at all levels accurately grasped the timing of the fight back, preserved their strength, and fought back!During the saturated bombing and shelling, the positions of the national army were completely covered by the rain of gunpowder and bombs. Many soldiers were stunned and even suffocated by the smoke.The violent explosion made many people's eyes bleed and their ears deaf.The bunkers were completely destroyed, the outer trenches collapsed, the barbed wire was blown away, the wooden fences caught fire, all the targets on the position were wiped out by artillery fire, and most of the heavy weapons erected by the defenders on the position were destroyed. When no shooting target could be seen, the Japanese charge was fully launched from the north to the west, and then from the southwest to the south.

The senior generals of the Japanese army watched the final battle from a distance.They were surprised to see that the bravery and tenacity of the 10th Army of the National Army still remained the same at this point in the battle.As soon as the Japanese soldiers rushed to the position, the flames of machine guns spewed out from the remnants of the bombed-out bunker; in the dust, in the crevices of the buried trenches, and under the burning cliffs, dust suddenly flew up, and the whole position seemed to be boiling. , Boiling everywhere, the Japanese soldiers fell one by one, one after another was maimed, and when they rushed to the center of the position, the entire Japanese army disappeared, and they were swallowed up by the sudden rise of smoke.

The always proud senior Japanese commanders put down their binoculars in frustration.They knew that, like the previous attacks, these soldiers would never come back. The commando captains who led the charge were just promoted from non-commissioned officers, so they couldn't come back either.In the past, under the leadership of grassroots officers who lacked the experience of fighting in front of the battle, the combat power of the troops dropped significantly, and the casualties increased day by day. Those officers who participated in the previous Changsha battles and Changde battles almost died in the previous two general offensives. .The troops have suffered such a heavy sacrifice, and their attack skills have not improved much. This is all because there are no experienced grassroots officers to sum up and improve their tactical literacy.Seeing this, Lieutenant General Mori, the head of the 13th Division watching the battle, and the following generals sighed.