ushernet Chapter 181 Attack (3)
Chapter 181 Attack (3)
The first to open fire were the suicide squad officers and soldiers who were in the pocket formation near the artillery position. When the Japanese army was only more than 20 meters away from them, with an order, all the officers and soldiers of the suicide squad started shooting at the Japanese army that was running towards them. Soon after, there was a burst of gunfire on both sides of the road. At the same time, many officers and soldiers also threw grenades. The Japanese army who were running forward on the road were a little disoriented by the sudden burst of gunfire and grenades.
More than 100 Japanese reinforcements fell in the first round of attacks by the officers and soldiers of the th Brigade, including the squadron leader. His position was too conspicuous, so he was targeted by the ambushing officers and soldiers and was shot more than ten times, killing him beyond belief.
The remaining fifty or so Japanese soldiers lay on the ground and fired indiscriminately in both directions. They did not know where the ambushing Chinese soldiers were. The attack just now was too sudden, and they had lost the command of their officers. Now they could only gather in groups of three or five, lying on the ground and shooting forward on their own.
When Xu Fusheng, the commander of the 811th Regiment, saw that there were not many Japanese soldiers left, he shouted and led his officers and soldiers to charge at the Japanese army. The distance between the two sides was too close. The ambushing officers and soldiers were less than 100 meters away from the road where the Japanese army was marching. The Japanese soldiers only had time to fire two or three bullets at most. The more than officers and soldiers of the th Brigade who were in ambush rushed to the front of the Japanese army. The battle ended without suspense. The Japanese soldiers sent by Colonel Fukuei Shinpei were completely wiped out on the way to reinforcement.
After the battle, the officers and soldiers of the 811th Regiment carried all the bodies of the Japanese soldiers to the place where they had just ambush, and threw them into the weeds at the back. At the same time, they sent dozens of dead and wounded brothers to the back and hid them. Now they need to continue the ambush to see if the Japanese army will send reinforcements to rescue the artillery position.
Not long after the battle here ended, a member of the suicide squad ran to Zhang Wenwu to report the battle situation here. After Zhang Wenwu heard that the Japanese reinforcements were completely wiped out, he asked the soldiers to pass the news down so that all the soldiers on his side would know the good news and at the same time boost the morale of the troops.
The commander of the Japanese artillery position was now very anxious. He only had more than 60 infantrymen who could fight. As a last resort, he gathered all the artillerymen, distributed the guns of the dead or wounded soldiers to these artillerymen, and asked them to participate in the guarding of the position with rifles. At the same time, he sent two soldiers to ask the regiment commander, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei, for reinforcements. He felt that the regiment commander should send reinforcements here as soon as possible, as his own people could not hold on any longer.
The Japanese messengers reached the main position where Colonel Fukuei Shinpei was located very smoothly. This was entirely due to the order issued by Zhang Wenwu before. As long as there were scattered Japanese troops running towards the main position from the artillery position, they should not be stopped by shooting. He had to rely on these messengers to lead the Japanese troops out little by little.
After listening to the report from the newly arrived messenger, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei was completely confused. Didn't he send out a reinforcement force of 200 people? Why did the artillery position also need to send reinforcements? Could it be that the number of Chinese sneak attack troops had increased?
"I have already sent out a reinforcement force of 200 people. Can't you with so many people stop the attack of the Chinese army? Has the scale of the Chinese army's attack on the artillery positions increased?" Colonel Fukuei Shinpei asked the two soldiers in charge of communication a little annoyed.
The two soldiers were stunned. Reinforcements? Where were the reinforcements? Captain Jiro Aso, the commander of the garrison squadron, had not told them before. They were artillerymen and did not know that reinforcements had arrived at the position. However, they had to answer Colonel Shinpei Fukuei's question. Looking at the furious commander, one of the soldiers reacted and said quickly, "Captain, we are artillerymen. We are not sure whether reinforcements have arrived at the position. But Captain Jiro Aso of the garrison squadron asked us to request reinforcements. I think the Chinese army must have invested more manpower in the attack."
After hearing what the soldier said, Colonel Fukuei Shinpei also became nervous. Jiro Aso had already asked the artillery to participate in the battle. It seemed that the Chinese army should have increased its attacks on the artillery positions. The reinforcements he had sent before seemed to be insufficient.
However, the current situation made him feel a little uncomfortable. He had only 1,500 people in total in the main position and artillery position, of which 300 were garrisons and artillery personnel in the artillery position. There were only 1,200 people in his main position. He had just sent out 200 people. Now there were only 1,000 officers and soldiers guarding the main position. Moreover, most of these 1,000 officers and soldiers were baggage soldiers and wounded soldiers. If he sent more reinforcements, the defense of his main position would be seriously insufficient.
Colonel Fukuei Shinpei thought for a while in the command center, a little impatient. Finally, he decided to send people to reinforce the artillery position. Those two heavy howitzers were his support for guarding the main position. Without those two howitzers, it would be difficult for him to defend his main position for long against the attack of an elite Chinese army-level force.
"I will organize another 200-man reinforcement force to follow you to reinforce the artillery position. You tell Captain Jiro Aso to defend the artillery position for me. Also, tell Taro Aso that I have no more reinforcements. If the artillery position is lost, let him commit suicide by seppuku." Colonel Fukuei Shinpei ordered the two soldiers harshly. He really couldn't send more reinforcements to Jiro Aso. If he sent more people, he would have to let go of his main position. If he didn't need the howitzer to help with the defense in the back, he would have wanted to retreat to the artillery position with everyone.
Division Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong also climbed up the wall of Taierzhuang after the battle on Zhang Wenwu's side began. They used binoculars to look at the main Japanese position in front of them which was being bombarded by artillery.
"Tsk tsk, this kid Zhang Wenwu is such a loser in fighting. In just a short while, the artillery has fired at least two hundred shells. I estimate that after the battle, there will only be a few shells left of the Japanese artillery that we captured with great difficulty." Chief of Staff Zhao Dong sighed as he looked at the explosions on the Japanese positions in the distance.
Commander Huang put down the telescope in his hand, shook his head, and said to comfort himself: "Wenwu has no other choice. He only has so few people. If he charges hard, there will be countless casualties. There is nothing we can do about it."
Chief of Staff Zhao Dong did not put down the telescope in his hand. After hearing what Commander Huang said, he couldn't help but curl his lips. He understood the truth, but when it really came his turn to face it, that was another matter.
"Report, division commander, Commander Li from the war zone sent a telegram." The communications staff officer of the division headquarters came to Division Commander Huang breathlessly, stood at attention and saluted, then handed him a telegram paper.
After taking it and looking at it, Division Commander Huang said to the staff officer, "Reply to Commander Li of the theater. Our troops are organizing forces to attack the Japanese troops outside Taierzhuang. However, according to investigation, there are still more than 1,500 Japanese troops outside the city. Our officers and soldiers are bravely advancing to attack the Japanese troops. According to the theater's order, these Japanese troops must be eliminated within three days."
After hearing what Commander Huang said, Chief of Staff Zhao Dong put down the telescope in his hand and said uncertainly: "Commander, isn't three days too tight?" He felt that even if Zhang Wenwu's tactic of besieging the point and attacking the reinforcements was successful, there would still be hundreds of Japanese soldiers left to defend the main position, and the Japanese army would not always fall for this trick.
Division Commander Huang also helplessly handed the telegram to Chief of Staff Zhao Dong and said, "You can also take a look. Commander Li has already given us a time limit. I guess the pressure from the 20th Corps is too great. We can only execute this order."
Commander Tang of the 20th Corps is not under great pressure now, but extremely great pressure. The Japanese army is now launching non-stop attacks like crazy. The Japanese planes in the air have never stopped attacking the defensive positions of their own troops. On the ground, the Japanese army not only has artillery to cooperate with the infantry attacks, but also dispatched a large number of tank troops to attack the guard troops of the 20th Corps.
Now his 102th Corps was under attack from three sides, and the losses of the defending troops were quite heavy. To resist the crazy mechanized attack of the Japanese Army in such a plain area, his troops could only fill the gap with human lives. He now truly felt the mood of the 102nd Division when it was defending Taierzhuang. As a last resort, he could only keep sending telegrams to the Fifth War Zone, urging the nd Division to quickly eliminate the Japanese Army in Taierzhuang, otherwise, his th Corps would be wiped out.
As expected, the second wave of reinforcements sent by Colonel Fukuei Shinpei were ambushed by the 811th Regiment which had been lying in wait for a long time. However, this ambush also allowed Colonel Fukuei Shinpei to clearly hear the gunshots coming from the rear.
When Colonel Fukuei Shinpei sent out the first wave of reinforcements, he had already sent a telegram to the brigade commander, Major General Seya Kei, requesting tactical guidance and air support. Until just now, four Japanese planes finally arrived over Taierzhuang. As soon as the Japanese planes appeared, all the artillery of the 102nd Division hurriedly stopped firing and quickly moved the artillery to a hidden position that had been selected long ago to avoid the artillery being discovered and destroyed by the Japanese planes.
As the artillery ceased fire, the sounds of gunfire and explosions from the rear that were encircling and annihilating the second wave of Japanese reinforcements became very clear. Colonel Fukuei Shinpei judged from the gunfire and explosions that this was the reinforcement force he had sent out that had exchanged fire with the Chinese troops on the way. He knew that either the troops he had sent out were attacking the Chinese troops' blocking positions, or the Chinese army was ambushing the reinforcement force he had sent out.
But no matter which situation it was, it was not good news for Colonel Fukuei Shinpei, because his reinforcements could not quickly reach the artillery position for reinforcement, but what could he do? Apart from praying to Amaterasu, he could not send any soldiers to the artillery position. Everything depended on when the reinforcements could break through the Chinese army's blockade.
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(Thanks to Wei Sen who loves to eat matsutake mushrooms, Wang Shi. Unbearable to look back, Chu Huang who loves to eat big glutinous rice cakes, Mr. Bean is also crazy, the handsome guy from the next village, the Enderman of Qixuan Mansion, Piao Yi Feng, Lu Yilin who likes to chop melons, Xiang Cangtian who likes to watch peppers, Yue Fangfei from Muni Island, Han Feng Luo Ye, Chen Jixian who loves to eat Huiru Soup, Tianle, Erha Bu Erha, Zhi Xia Xia, Kuaimao, for their gifts and support! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)