Rise From Eight Hundred

And this is just a small microcosm of this tragic battle.

The armless second lieutenant platoon leader named Zhang Wanmu also created his own glory after washing away his shame.

For two consecutive days, the infantry company on the position had rotated seven times, but the second lieutenant platoon leader never left the position once.

In his own words: "This is my position, my brothers are watching me here, I can't leave them behind again."

However, his life also ended at the 7th rotation!

A heavy bomb dropped by a Japanese plane hit an area less than 30 meters away from the position, and an egg-sized stone blown up by the bomb hit him.

Sometimes human life is very tenacious, so tenacious that it can survive several rounds of artillery fire and the charge of Japanese infantry, but sometimes it is extremely fragile, so fragile that a small stone can take away the once extremely tough life.

The second lieutenant is dead!

The stone hit his neck. When the soldiers who had finished avoiding the artillery fire found him, he was lying quietly in the broken trench where he had stayed for two days and one night.

There was no last words, no breath, and no pain or struggle on his face. He just lay there quietly, looking up at the sky.

"Old soldier, don't feel any pain anymore!" Tang Dao, who was also haggard, looked at the sallow face of the old soldier who was carried off the battlefield and whom he had encouraged and praised, and couldn't help crying.

Tang Dao almost never shed tears on the battlefield, even if his closest comrade-in-arms died in front of him, but at this moment, he shed tears for an old soldier with whom he had not had much interaction.

Most of the soldiers he led were not soldiers. Before arriving here, they had only received queue training, and many of them had not even fired more than ten times.

If it weren't for the experience of the Battle of Tongguan, let alone the shells falling beside them, I'm afraid that more than half of them would have wet their pants when the cannon sounded.

This is also why Tang Dao did not simply use serious military law to deal with the defeated soldiers who lost their positions and retreated. He set an example and gave them the opportunity to be brave.

And these young people in Sichuan not only did it, but also did it better than he imagined.

Take this second lieutenant with a broken arm as an example. He participated in the Battle of Songhu and the Battle of Songjiang. In the end, he retired due to injury because he lost one hand. After returning to his hometown, he was hired by Tang Jili as an instructor to train new recruits.

He didn't have to participate in the battlefield again, but the Sichuan Army's new recruits needed veterans to lead. Otherwise, with Tang Dao and the other five people, even if they had three heads and six arms, they couldn't gather 4,500 young people who were essentially farmers together, let alone have some combat effectiveness.

The more or less disabled veterans did not shirk their duties. Not only did they come, but they also followed Tang Dao to the Tongguan battlefield and came to Zhongtiao Mountain.

The bare wrist was already shocking, but on the battlefield, because of a shrapnel, the broken arm was shortened again.

Although bandaged with hemostatic cotton and gauze, the pain of the exposed muscles and broken bones constantly rubbing against the rough gauze can only be understood by the person involved.

Moreover, this kind of severe pain lasts for dozens of hours!

At any time, the second lieutenant of the army holds a wooden stick in his mouth. When it hurts, he puts it in his mouth to prevent himself from biting his tongue.

The originally dark face has always been a sickly pale color, which is due to the massive blood loss and the excessive pain. The body function has long been overdrawn.

Perhaps, at the moment before he died, the old soldier with a calm face felt a sense of relief! He completed his mission and would no longer endure that kind of inhuman pain.

After two days and one night of fierce fighting, what did the Sizhou Mountain battlefield look like?

Not to mention that the five outer highlands have all been lost, there are only the four main highlands and the six small highlands reorganized under the main highlands.

With Tang Tuanzuo's tenacity and command ability, he was forced to bear the outcome of losing all the outer highlands. It is basically possible to imagine how fierce the battlefield was during these two days and one night.

The 20 infantry companies that Tang Dao had just reorganized have been reduced to 10. If the remaining heavy machine gun squad and mortar squad officers and soldiers are added, the more than 5,300 officers and soldiers originally stationed in Sizhou Mountain have actually been reduced to only 2,000 people.

That means the casualty rate is actually over 60%!

In the cognition of the Western world, when an army's casualty rate exceeds 20%, it will lose its combat effectiveness, and when it exceeds 30%, the war will not be able to be fought.

But this army with a recruit rate of 90% did not lose its combat effectiveness even when the casualty rate exceeded 60%. They were still on the battlefield, holding their guns tightly.

Even though they were already desperate and exhausted, they were still on the battlefield. They did not tilt the victory to the Japanese army because of the heavy casualties, just like desperate sheep fleeing into the mountains.

Do you think such soldiers are worth Tang Dao's tears?

From a certain perspective, Tang Dao should thank them, thank these illiterate young people for accompanying him to fight for the entire country and nation.

Use your own future to exchange for the future of more people!

The young people during the entire war should have had a bright or ordinary future, but they were destined to be sacrificed by this era. Their lives were anchored just as they set sail!

And what about the Japanese who have gradually dominated the battlefield?

In fact, they don't have much sense of happiness.

Even though Major General Seiichi Yamada was determined to attack despite the huge losses, he could not help but twitch his eyes when he saw the casualties, equipment losses and ammunition requirements reported by the two infantry regiments under his command when he planned to launch another wave of attacks before sunset.

Not counting the previous 2,000 casualties, after the two infantry regiments were supplemented with 1,000 baggage soldiers, the two infantry regiments had less than 3,000 infantrymen available for attack after two days and one night of fighting. This was the result of the two army colonels' strict order that the lightly wounded should not leave the battlefield.

That means that only three of the six infantry battalions can still fight. At this moment, his infantry brigade was basically crippled, and the Chinese defense line in this mountain still stubbornly existed.

Without taking the three high grounds with an altitude of 600 meters, any troops attempting to pass through this mountainous area would be hit by heavy machine guns and mortars, and a large amount of baggage and pack horses would not be able to pass smoothly.

But how many people would be left in his infantry brigade if he wanted to take the three main heights? Yamada Seiichi, whose eyelids were twitching wildly, didn't dare to think about this question at all.

In addition to the heavy casualties of his 21st Reserve Brigade, the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division was not much better, and the actual situation was even worse.

In order to prevent the 7th Infantry Regiment from disobeying Yamada Seiichi's dispatch, Itagaki Shiro even sent a telegram to the 3rd Division Headquarters to explain the urgency of this battle, and even promised the lieutenant general division commander who had been beaten in the Battle of Tongguan that if he was promoted and left the 3rd Army that day, he would definitely recommend him to be the commander of the 3rd Army.

Even the arrogant Itagaki Shiro did not hesitate to lower his status and use the most straightforward and direct intimidation and old-fashioned tricks to win over. How could Colonel Kawabe, who was just a flag on this chessboard, have the slightest resistance?

The 7th Infantry Regiment actually suffered over 800 casualties on the first day, and the number of 400 killed in action was even more shocking, but under the strict military order, Colonel Kawabe could only bite the bullet and continue to drive his officers and soldiers to attack wildly.

The original infantry regiment, including the baggage soldiers and various auxiliary arms, had more than 3,800 people. When counted in the evening of the second day, there were less than 1,500 people who could still participate in the attack.

This guy, the 21st Reserve Brigade was just a cripple, and this guy directly made his infantry regiment severely crippled. The regiment commander was basically an infantry battalion commander.

To be honest, when seeing this casualty figure, Yamada Seiichi's first thought was disbelief. Damn, someone is falsifying the figures.

This kind of thing is not the first time in the Imperial Army. The "uninjured division" that he replaced is one of the best. The number of casualties cannot be faked, but it is not uncommon to see wounded soldiers with gauze wrapped around their heads and smeared with blood.

During the shift change, Seiichi Yamada witnessed with his own eyes that a player who was wrapped up like a mummy jumped off the stretcher, picked up a can of food and ate it like a strong wild boar.

"Seeing the might of the Steel Army, the officers and soldiers of my division were inspired by boundless courage. The boys have to eat enough to save enough energy to continue fighting for the empire and His Majesty the Emperor!" Major General Konosuke Okuma, who had a big belly, immediately explained the agile posture of his soldiers.

Looking at this guy licking a B face and talking nonsense seriously, Major General Seiichi Yamada used all his strength to control his eager right hand.

At this time, there was no mood of masturbation, but he was afraid that he would chop this shameless guy with a knife.

He even had reason to believe that the army major general who licked Zhang Bilian and smiled with a fake smile, and emphasized that the gang he said was definitely not the steel he should have.

According to his observation and calculation, among the thousands of people reported by the Western Assault Detachment of the 4th Division, perhaps one-fifth were seriously injured, and that was because the vendors from Osaka were very honest.

"You anal army millipedes know nothing. This not only shows that we are fighting hard, but also replenishes a batch of medicines. Once that thing is sold, it will be the most intimate comfort for the women and children in Osaka Castle who are waiting anxiously."

If the blushing Yamada Seiichi knew about the words of Major General Okuma Konosuke, he would definitely not be able to bear it.

"If you don't dare to cut people, where are you going to put them? If you have the ability, change the place and disgust me to death." This is what Lord Okuma can definitely say.

Who let Nakamura Masao replace him without martial ethics? If the Chinese broke the contract and didn't give him "penicillin", he could prick all the major general-level officers of the 5th Division with needles in the headquarters for three years.

'It's better to demolish ten temples than to destroy a business! 'This is the survival philosophy of Osaka people.

However, compared to Yamada Seiichi, who has become a little dark due to psychological stimulation, Colonel Kawabe of the 7th Infantry Regiment is a simple and good boy.

Yamada Seiichi did not even need to send his lieutenant colonel chief of staff to check in person. The field hospital had already reported the number, and there were more than 1,300 seriously injured soldiers who needed treatment and rest.

Adding the two together, the remaining 1,000 people are naturally dead.

Because the weather was cold enough, there was no need to worry about the remains decaying. The bodies covered with white cloth were piled on the roadside 3 kilometers away from the battlefield, and were towed to the outskirts of Yuncheng by trucks sent by the headquarters to transport ammunition and supplies for centralized processing.

I heard that a large crematorium had been built there, and the large amount of wood cut down was not to mention that the gasoline and diesel used as auxiliary fuel alone was in the tens of tons.

By the evening of January 13, the Japanese army had only 4,500 infantrymen in the three infantry regiments that were still able to fight. The casualty rate was basically over 60%.

In other words, judging from the casualty rate alone, China and Japan miraculously reached a balance, and neither side was stronger than the other.

However, from the perspective of troop consumption, the Chinese side had a big advantage. The Japanese army had invested more than 9,000 infantrymen, and now only half of them are left, which is 4,500 less, while the Chinese side is 3,300 less.

And from the perspective of ammunition and other material consumption, the Japanese side suffered a huge loss.

In the past few days, because Masao Nakamura regarded the Sizhou Mountain battlefield as the main breakthrough point, the number of bombers dispatched alone reached 100, which was an intensity that no battlefield in the entire Zhongtiao Mountain battlefield had ever reached.

The bombs dropped were no longer measured in pounds or kilograms, but more than 30 tons!

The shells fired were even more amazing, and even the division-level battlefields at the battle level of the Central China Campaign had never reached such an intensity.

The 30 infantry guns owned by the Japanese fired a total of more than 8,000 shells in the past few days, and the Type 41 mountain gun fired more than 5,000 shells, which shocked the Japanese themselves. The 105 howitzers fired a little less because they also had to support other battlefields, but they also reached an astonishing 800 rounds.

This does not include the grenades fired by small-caliber grenade launchers, and the total number of shells is nearly 14,000.

Even Yamada Seiichi, who experienced the Battle of Xinkou, has never had such strong artillery support.

In the understanding of this Japanese Army Major General, under such fierce artillery fire, even the mountains would be bombarded down, and those people in the mountains, even if they were steel, would be melted!

Unfortunately, the Chinese disappointed this Japanese Army Major General.

From yesterday to now, on the position belonging to the Chinese, some people fell and some stood up.

Even on the high ground that had been conquered by the imperial soldiers, they did not capture many wounded soldiers, because as long as the wounded soldiers could move, they would still fight until they bled to death.

Except for the alive and kicking, there were only dead people on the battlefield! There was no half-dead existence at all.

The Chinese under the artillery fire were like the weeds in the mountains of China. Even in autumn and winter, the yellow and withered grass could be easily burned by a wildfire, but in the spring of the next year, it would be lush and green again.

The tenacity made Seiichi Yamada want to meet the commander on the opposite side and ask him how he did it all.

But Seiichi Yamada didn't know that it was not what the commander wanted, but that tenacity was exchanged for more than 1,800 lives!

In the sunset of January 13, the jungle behind the last few highlands of Sizhou Mountain was almost covered with dark blue.

They did not have the treatment of wrapping themselves in white cloth like the Japanese army with more abundant supplies. At most, everyone covered their faces with a piece of yellow paper according to the customs of Sichuan, so that when they walked through the Yellow Spring Road and Naihe Bridge, they would have some money to send away the little devils blocking the road.

However, the north wind blew, and the yellow paper flew all over the sky!

Tang Dao, who was standing on the high ground, saw that his slightly sunken eye sockets were red, and then he glanced at the officers and soldiers in the trenches who were already exhausted, and his eyes showed a touch of determination.

"Raise the death flag!"

In the past few days, some highlands have been conquered, and some lost highlands have been regained. There was even Tang Dao himself who led the death squad to fight on the front line. Tang Dao had never used the "death flag" written by the old father in Sichuan for his son to go to war.

But now, it is time to use it.

The Japanese army must have one last attack before sunset. With huge casualties, the demoralized recruits need to muster up the courage to block this attack and buy a precious night for the Sizhoushan defense line.

"Send a message to the whole army, today's battle is either the enemy's death or ours! The 1,800 martyrs behind us are watching us, and the millions of elders and folks in Sichuan are watching us.

Tang Dao will wait for the Japanese with you in the trenches. If I die in battle, there is no need to wrap my body in white cloth or send it off with yellow paper. Just put my body under this "death flag" and watch you win the final victory of this blocking battle.

Reinforcements will arrive tomorrow, and we will win!"

Tang Dao's order was quickly passed on to various positions by the signal soldiers. The soldiers who had only eaten a dry cold steamed bun a day and were already lifeless in their eyes suddenly brightened up and looked at the high ground in the middle.

The determination of the supreme commander and the hope of the arrival of reinforcements successfully aroused the courage that had been covered by numbness and despair.

At this point in the battle, the recruits were actually no longer recruits.

According to the rule of natural selection, no matter whether there is luck involved, those who can survive to this day are undoubtedly the result of the survival of the fittest.

Every soldier has dodged countless rounds of artillery fire. Hearing the sharp whistling of shells breaking through the sky, they no longer huddle in the trenches with their heads trembling. Many people even hold a cigarette in their mouths like veterans and calmly judge the landing point of the shells.

There are only so many places on the battlefield. As long as the shells do not fall into the craters or trenches, the solid ground will help them block the shrapnel and air waves. If they are unlucky and hit, they can only say "the damn bird is facing up".

Fear and futile avoidance are of no use to Jiba!

No longer fearing or numb to death is an important psychological level for new recruits to become veterans. The tragic battlefields in the past few days have directly matured these surviving soldiers.

In addition, various individual skills and tactics that were not worth mentioning, such as shooting, each individual soldier fired at least 300 rounds of live ammunition on the real battlefield. This kind of growth cannot be achieved on the training ground.

Even if ‘Guaiguai’ has experienced all this, as long as its trotters are forked, it may be able to hit the human body within a hundred meters.

They are not elite soldiers, but veterans, but they are well-deserved.