Chapter 7 3. Beacon fires on the outskirts of Teng County

At dawn on March 14th, the east was just showing its white belly, and the surroundings were quiet, with no crowing of cocks or barking of dogs.All the officers and soldiers of the 45th Army guarding the front line have long been aware of the movement of the Japanese army on the opposite side. They are constantly increasing their troops and mobilizing frequently, and they are bound to invade Teng County on a large scale.The atmosphere before the battle was calm, and the frontline was suffocatingly peaceful. There was a breeze passing by, and the leaves made a slight sound.Soldiers lying in the trenches of their positions can still hear the breathing of their comrades and their own heartbeats.

Chen Kaishu was then the company commander of the 8th company of the 746th regiment of the 125th division. He watched the front of the position vigilantly.He squatted under the ditch, and took out a cigarette purse from his bag. The cigarette purse was made by his wife. When he left Sichuan, his wife embroidered the words "Defense the Family and the Country" on it.He tore a note, rolled up the few tobacco leaves in his purse, and licked the seal of the cigarette with the tip of his tongue.If only there wasn't this damn war.These Japanese devils are full of food. It's okay, what kind of battle do you go to other countries to fight?Chen Lianchang became angry when he thought about it.It is a jackal that will hurt people. It is impossible for jackals and beasts not to eat people. Now this jackal in Japan has run into our home, what should we do?Pick up the gun and fight them.Chen Kaishu took two puffs of cigarette vigorously.

While Company Commander Chen was smoking, shells fell on their positions.The shells hit the position densely from the sky like raindrops.The soldiers who were too late to hide in the bunker were blown to pieces.Get into the bunker!Get in the bunker!Battalion commanders, company commanders, and platoon leaders shuttled through the artillery, ordering soldiers to avoid the fierce enemy shells. Tens of thousands of troops from the 10th Division of the Japanese Army launched a full-line attack on the Kuomintang troops on the outskirts of Teng County at the same time.The artillery fired for nearly an hour, followed by indiscriminate bombing and low-altitude strafing by more than 30 aircraft.The semi-permanent fortifications built by the 125th and 127th divisions on the first line of defense were severely damaged, and more than 300 officers and soldiers were killed or injured.

The Japanese aircraft and artillery did not frighten the brave officers and soldiers of the 22nd Army. They got out of the bunker, slapped the dust on their heads, and re-stacked the collapsed sacks and buns. Here come the tanks.Someone shouted loudly on the ground, prepare the grenade, and the demolition team is ready.The soldiers on the ground bundled the grenades and put the bayonets on the guns.Their weapons are too bad, not only the troops are miscellaneous, but even the weapons in their hands are miscellaneous.There are single-shot rifles and triple-shot rifles of different calibers and lengths.Some of them still held old guns from the Qing Dynasty, and they malfunctioned after a few rounds of bullets.Most of the rifle barrels had their rifling lines worn out, and the bullets would fly off to one side, not to mention not being able to travel far.Therefore, the defenders on the ground did not shoot, and it was useless to shoot. The guns in their hands were used for hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

Only the mortar companies of the regiments held back the enemy's advance.They fired mortars at the attacking enemy.Then bring the enemies closer and shoot them with old-fashioned heavy machine guns or bomb them with grenades.The blasting team attacked 3 times, 9 people fell down, and finally blew up an enemy tank.The Japanese soldiers trailing behind the tank rushed up, and were blasted by hand grenades one after another in front of the position, crying their fathers and mothers. More than 30 Japanese soldiers rushed to the position, and all the officers and soldiers of the 8th Company swung their swords and rushed towards the Japanese soldiers like wolves.

The battle was extremely fierce, with the deafening sound of shells and grenades exploding violently, and the flames soaring into the sky.The sound of killing on the ten-mile-long position was loud, the surrounding trees were broken, and the burning flames rolled up thick smoke.The corpses of the two armies were piled up in front of the position, one after another. The soldiers of the 22nd Army used grenades and big blades in their hands to fight against the mechanized Japanese invaders armed to the teeth, and blocked the Japanese attack with their own flesh and blood. Today's performance of the 45th Army's defense line outside Teng County really surprised the commander of the division commander Isoya Rensuke. He has never encountered such a tough opponent since he came to China to fight.The head of the division, Rensuke Isoya, saw through the binoculars that the Chinese army was able to stop the attack of the Japanese elite troops by planes, artillery, and tanks only with broken guns and broadswords in their hands.The deadly attack fought recklessly all day, and his troops just couldn't move forward.The captured position was also taken back by the motley army in front of them.How can the small Sichuan army be so capable of fighting?Later, Isoya Rensuke discovered that this army was a group of desperadoes.That was when Isoya Rensuke discovered this when he went to see the Japanese army burn the corpses.He saw that many soldiers had their noses bitten off, or their ears were knocked off, and most of them had their stomachs exploded by hand grenades.The muscles on Isoya Rensuke's face twitched a few times, and he realized that his opponents were a group of desperate guys.

Sun Zhen, commander-in-chief of the 22nd Army, drove over when the outer defense line of Teng County was fighting the Japanese army most intensely.He hurriedly went to the front to visit his soldiers, condolences to the wounded, and inspected the terrain. He made further adjustments and deployments to the defense of Teng County, and convened a meeting of divisions, brigades, regiment leaders, and surrounding local government officials in Beishahe, and conveyed to them Chiang Kai-shek's order transmitted by Chief Li Zongren, requiring the 22nd Army to stick to Teng County For 3 days, the enemy army was delayed, waiting for the rear Longhai Railway to transfer reinforcements to consolidate Xuzhou.Commander-in-Chief Sun Zhen firmly said that for the sake of the overall situation of the War of Resistance, all officers and men of our army must fight to the death with the determination to be invincible and invincible!

The call of "Where there is an enemy, there is no one, and there is no enemy", greatly inspired the patriotic enthusiasm of the entire army. With the confidence of victory, they want to fight the invading enemy on this land.Even if you die, you have to let the Japanese invaders see that the Chinese nation is invincible.Even if you die, you have to let the folks all over the country know that there are no cowards in Sichuan soldiers, and they are all heroes who are not afraid of death. After a day of fighting in the frontline positions of the 45th Army, the fortifications were seriously damaged.The soldiers of the whole army rushed to repair overnight, and reinforced the key routes. Some of the guns and ammunition consumed were replenished. At the same time, some rifles, machine guns and grenades of the Japanese army were seized in front of the positions.Soldiers who had been busy all day had time to take a break in the bunker.They are indeed tired, and it is time to sit down and rest for a while. No one knows what will happen tomorrow.The soldiers didn't think too much about it, anyway, another fierce battle would be inevitable tomorrow.Now that he is on the battlefield, he doesn't think about so many things, the worst thing is to die.They rested quietly in the tunnel bunker.

Isoya Rensuke saw the tenacity of his opponent, and learned to be smart.So he redeployed overnight for tomorrow's attack.The purpose of the 10th Division is to occupy Teng County as soon as possible, quickly join Seishiro Itagaki of the 5th Division, and attack Xuzhou together, open up Jinpu Road, and connect the two major areas of the north and the south.This Isotani Rensuke is eager for merit, he wants to express himself too much.He wants to show the Japanese base camp on the battlefield of Xuzhou. The 10th Division he leads is invincible.His arrogance and arrogance eventually hurt him a lot.

Sure enough, Isoya Rensuke's cunning tricked him.No matter how cunning a fox is, a hunter can see it clearly. The Japanese army organized more than 10,000 people to attack the main frontal position of the 45th Army of the Kuomintang Army.In order to cover up his insidiousness, the Japanese army made a fuss about the main frontal attack direction, and the attack and bombing intensity of artillery, planes, and tanks was even more violent than yesterday. More than 30 heavy artillery, more than 20 sorties of aircraft and 40 tanks and chariots bombed the main formations of the 125th and 127th divisions in turn.The shells they fired almost turned the soil on the position over.The green wheat field in front of me lost its green color in a blink of an eye, and it looked like a wasteland, as if nothing had ever been planted on it.The surrounding big and small trees also disappeared, and the position became scorched earth.

The attacking Japanese army adopted a group charge, and there was a large black mass.Repel wave after wave, like an unstoppable scourge.To be honest, the Japanese soldiers tamed by Bushido spirit were not afraid of death.Even when they were hugged and hugged by Chinese soldiers, they did not flinch when they saw Chinese soldiers slamming their own grenades.In the Japanese army, the 10th Division is known as the Iron Army.Today, this iron army is meeting its opponents and meeting the iron man. The 45th Army of the 22nd Army did not show weakness, and did not have the slightest fear in the face of a powerful enemy.They were not conquered by enemy planes, artillery, tanks.It doesn't matter if the rifle can't fire, then use the grenade. After the grenade is finished, there is still a big knife on the back.Whole rows, companies, and even battalions of Chinese soldiers on the battlefield fought hand-to-hand with the enemies who rushed to the battlefield, and often fought to the death. Isoya Rensuke was very proud of watching the offensive and defensive sides fight so fiercely. He thought that his frontal attack had attracted the opponent's attention.This way he can implement the next action plan. So Isoya Rensuke increased his frontal attack force, and at the same time sent two wings, divided into left and right sides, quietly detoured to the back of the main position, and directly attacked Teng County.His move is too insidious. Fortunately, when Commander-in-Chief Sun Zhen was observing the defense work in Teng County, he appointed Wang Mingzhang, commander of the 122nd Division of the 41st Army, as the commander-in-chief of the second line. battle. Lieutenant General Wang Mingzhang has rich combat experience. When deploying the first line of defense, he considered the safety of the 125th Division's position.For this he placed the 127th Division on the left and right flanks of the main position. On the afternoon of March 15, more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers detoured to the right wing of the main position and suddenly appeared in front of the 127th Division of the Kuomintang Army.It is the main force of the 127th Division who is guarding the Longshan position on the right wing. Relying on the favorable terrain, they concentrate their strength and struggle to resist the enemy's sneak attack.The two sides fought all afternoon, but the Japanese army failed.In front of the main force of the 127th Division, they could not take a step forward, and their plan to directly attack Teng County could not be completed.The situation in Longshan was relatively stable that afternoon. Another unit of Isoya Rensuke was a unit of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. They quickly detoured to the left flank and attacked the Kuomintang army guarding the place named Shenjing by means of a surprise attack.The 370th Brigade of the 124th Division guarded the deep well.The strength of this brigade is weak and the defense has not been long, and the fortifications are relatively simple.Even so, they resisted desperately.When a powerful enemy attacked, the whole brigade fought hard, suffered heavy casualties, and the situation was quite critical. Commander Wang Mingzhang urgently transferred the 372nd Brigade of the 124th Division, which was responsible for the urban defense mission of Teng County, to Chitouji, south of Shenjing, to support the 370th Brigade.After half a day of fierce fighting, the enemy was finally repelled, and repairs and fortifications were built in the deep well. When the head of the division, Rensuke Isotani, learned that the two roundabout regiments had been blocked and failed to realize his proud roundabout outflanking plan, he was so angry that he screamed.The frenzied Isoya once again increased the force of the frontal main attack, and asked the captains of each branch and regiment to personally supervise the battle.At the same time, more than 10,000 mechanized troops were dispatched to make a detour from the east of Longshan.At dusk, they reached Fenghe and Longyangdian, more than 10 miles northeast of Teng County. Wang Mingzhang realized that the purpose of the enemy's heavy detour was to ignore the main position of the Kuomintang army and directly attack Tengxian County, a strategic location north of Xuzhou, and force the frontal positions of the 22nd Army to abandon themselves without fighting.