Rise From Eight Hundred

  Morning of June 5th!

South of Hengyang City, Oujiamachi!

Hunan Province is located in the transition zone from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the Jiangnan Hills and Nanling Mountains to the Jianghan Plain. In addition, there are many water systems in the territory, and it is foggy in summer and autumn.

It was foggy again today, and the thick white fog covered Oujia Town. The sparse woods were shrouded in the white fog all over the mountains and fields, as if they were floating in mid-air.

At dawn, Lieutenant General Sakuma, the commander of the Japanese 68th Division, got up. He didn't sleep well all night yesterday. He thought that no matter how beneficial the "Taishan Army" stationed in Hengyang was, the 11th Army invested 3 The division and brigade were besieged by more than 70,000 people. It was not a dream to defeat the enemy in three days. However, it has been almost three days and nights since the commander of the army, Yokoyama Isamu, announced the start of a full-scale offensive. As a result, not to mention the destruction of Hengyang City, they have not even defeated Hengyang City. I haven't even seen the shadow of the city wall yet.

The only thing that made him feel relieved was that the main force of the 68th Division, which was responsible for the main attack on the west of the city, was still wallowing in the quagmire and ponds. An infantry regiment of the 116th Division was crippled and could not even climb a shallow hillside. , and the unlucky ones in the north of the city have not yet crossed the steaming water, but Yokoyama Isamu cannot blame him.

However, Lieutenant General Sakuma was very moved by yesterday's proposal from the commander of the 116th Division, Iwa Eiwang. Since in actual operation, it is not feasible to attack mainly on the south, west, and north sides determined by the Chinese Army Headquarters, it is better to focus on one place. Concentrate the heavy firepower of the two divisions on the mountains south of Hengyang City, and first open a breakthrough.

The two old Sixth Division commanders of the Japanese 11th Army never expected that the meat grinder-style defense system deployed by the Hengyang command system headed by Fang Xianjue and Tang Dao in the south of the city was precisely for the purpose of consuming a large number of Japanese troops. , the original 20,000 men of the 116th Division really couldn't satisfy this defensive position that was turned into killing people and took more than 40,000 soldiers and civilians to build in the past ten days. With the addition of the 68th Division, it was really a dream.

Sakuma was an extremely responsible general, and he was upset and decided that he had to go to the front line to see for himself.

The commander of the 58th Brigade, Sadamasa Ohta, who had been commanding the operations in the west of the city at the division headquarters, was naturally shocked. He urged his immediate superior not to take risks. In the past seven years of fighting with the Chinese, there were many people with the rank of division commander. There were more than one or two cases of generals who went to the front line but were killed by the Chinese with artillery.

But Sakuma is the backup head of the Sakuma family, a famous samurai family in Japan. He has the pride and courage of the samurai family, and as an Imperial Army general, he also has the responsibility and obligation to find a way for the entire division to reduce casualties and reduce casualties. A way to complete combat missions.

What's more, the Japanese Army Lieutenant General's reasons are also very good. The fog is so heavy now that the visibility will never exceed 200 meters. How can artillery see and hit them two thousand meters away?

The Japanese Army Major General was stunned for a moment by his immediate superior, and he could only curse secretly. It's true that the Chinese can't see you in such a heavy fog, but the key is that you can't see the Chinese either, right? Then go to the front line and observe a penis.

10 am!

The fog cleared slightly, and the officers and soldiers on the Maple Hill artillery position suddenly became restless.

It turned out that Lieutenant Colonel Cai Rulin, who was appointed by Fang Xianjue to coordinate and command the artillery positions of the entire army in Hengyang, came.

There are a total of two mountain guns and 6 82 mortars on the Maple Mountain artillery position. It is the most advanced artillery position deployed in the south of the city and mainly provides artillery support for the flanks of the 10th Preliminary Division position.

In the past two days, the artillery position has braved the huge risk of retaliation by Japanese artillery fire and effectively supported the friendly forces. Ge Youcai, commander of the 10th Preliminary Division, even called the headquarters to ask for credit for the artillery position.

Cai Rulin came to the position this time with a commission from Operations Director Tang Dao. Not only did he bring a verbal commendation order from the staff, but he also brought toffee and cigarettes, which can be regarded as an encouragement to the artillery position.

The artillerymen on the artillery position were all smiling. If it hadn't been for the silence order, they would have burst into cheers.

Cai Rulin is a professional artilleryman. After completing the tasks assigned by his superiors, it will be his turn to specialize.

Walking to the artillery observation position, he took his most precious 8x telescope and carefully observed the distance.

It was already 10:30 at this time, and the thick fog on Maple Mountain gradually dissipated, and the sunlight gradually filtered in. However, the valley south of the city was still filled with light fog, and the mountains, forests and ravines were soaked in translucent mist, making shadows blurry.

The landscape of Hengyang is beautiful, and it would be even more beautiful if there was no war! Cai Rulin just sighed in his heart, and suddenly found in the field of telescope that there seemed to be a group of black figures on the mountain ridge north of Oujia Town, about 1,000 meters due south.

Cai Rulin immediately adjusted the distance and finally saw clearly that these black figures were wearing khaki military uniforms. They turned out to be a group of Japanese soldiers!

It is normal for the Japanese army to conduct reconnaissance and spying on their own positions, but it is abnormal for more than 20 Japanese troops to suddenly appear on a small hill to conduct reconnaissance at the same time.

Moreover, according to the position where this group of Japanese were standing, they were shouting in front of and behind the few people in the middle, which meant that the Japanese in the middle were probably not ordinary Japanese. Cai Rulin immediately realized that he might have encountered a big fish.

Cai Rulin suppressed his excitement and immediately ordered the officers and soldiers of the artillery position to quickly enter the position. He personally operated the gun scope to measure the range. The distance was not much different from what he expected, 1020 meters!

In order not to alert the enemy, Cai Rulin decided not to use the usual single-gun test firing to test the impact point of the projectile. Instead, he concentrated all the artillery in the entire artillery position, 2 mountain guns and 6 82 mortars, and fired at the group of Japanese at the same time with the range he calculated. Concentrate fire and bombardment, five shots per gun!

And 1,000 meters away, Sakuma was obviously not aware that he had been targeted by the Chinese in the mountains and forests opposite. He was forming a circle with the Chief of Staff of the 68th Division, Harada Tesaburo Colonel, and others to attack the 10th Division. Flanking and gesticulating.

Based on his judgment after observing the position for half an hour, the Chinese will never accumulate too many troops on the two small highlands. As long as they use enough artillery fire or even poison gas bombs and attack with a large number of troops, they will be able to arrive before the Chinese reinforcements arrive. The two nearly independent hills were captured before.

As long as there are these two bridgeheads, mounting mountain artillery or infantry artillery on these two high points will pose a great threat to China's large circular position, instead of the 116th Division currently hesitating in front of the Huangchaling position. .

The key is to see whether the main attacker has the determination to gain a breakthrough into the Chinese position at the cost of thousands of men.

"With the personal guidance of the Division Commander, our 68th Division can definitely do what the 116th Division cannot do." Harada Tesaburo, Chief of Staff of the 68th Division, tried hard to flatter his division commander.

Little did he know that this was the last time in his life that he would have such a close relationship with his immediate boss.

"Boom~~" The sound of sharp artillery shells streaking across the sky just rang in the ears of a group of Japanese people, followed by a continuous "Boom, boom, boom!" ’ Explosion.

There was a flash of fire and a loud bang, and suddenly the sky was dark and the ground was dark, and smoke was everywhere. More than 20 Japanese fell into a pool of blood one after another, squirming and struggling in pain.

"After the fight, call it a day!" After the smoke cleared, Cai Rulin saw that the Japanese were basically thrown to the ground in a mess. If nothing else, they were basically finished. He clapped his hands with satisfaction and ordered to kill more than 20 Japanese soldiers. The military exploits are recorded and all belong to the artillery position.

The commanders and artillery officers and soldiers on the Chinese artillery position regarded this artillery bombardment as an artillery attack that killed more than 20 Japanese soldiers. Even the captain of the artillery position was very distressed that he had lost 40 rounds. Artillery shells, especially precious mountain artillery shells, only had a total of 120 rounds stored in his position. Lieutenant Colonel Cai only consumed 10 rounds when he arrived. It was really a luxury.

No one expected that this bombardment would stun the Japanese army, especially the 68th Division. After only two days of fighting, the division commander and chief of staff were gone.

To be more precise, Chief of Staff Harada Tesaburo is completely gone, and division commander Sakuma is not completely gone as a person. It turned out that when the guards from the 68th Division Headquarters hurriedly ran up, only 6 of the 23 Japanese generals and lieutenants on the ridge were seriously injured. Chief of Staff Harada Tesaburo's neck was cut off by a piece of shrapnel and even some skin was lost. , almost completely decapitated, already dead.

The division commander Sakuma was one of the lucky ones. His lower abdomen was penetrated by shell fragments and his intestines came out, but he was still alive. He was very lucky.

But for this descendant of a famous samurai family on the Japanese island, it would be better to die on the spot.

Because he could no longer feed Michiko who was waiting for him in his hometown.

A **** shrapnel passed through it like a skilled doctor's scalpel, cutting it off at the root.

What's even worse is that when he woke up from the coma a few days later, he learned that because the scene was too chaotic, no one paid attention to the piece of flesh cut off by the shell fragments, leaving him no chance to think about it. .

The Japanese army lieutenant general who was rushed to Jinling for treatment by military plane could not care about the sadness that he would never be able to have **** or grow a beard in the future. He was not yet guaranteed to survive. The wound in his abdomen that had been penetrated was already infected and required a large amount of penicillin. But the Americans have already imposed an embargo on Japan for that stuff. Official channels are hard to find, so you can only buy it from the black market.

It seems that certain generals of the 4th Division who have been transferred out of China have the goods, so the dispatched army headquarters needs to coordinate with them.

In order to save the life of the Japanese army lieutenant general who was seriously injured and waiting to die, Tian Junliu had to send a telegram to his former subordinates with a low face, and he pinched his nose and paid no less than 100 taels of gold in exchange for 10 vials of penicillin.

It also requires the use of military aircraft and a large amount of fuel, and the price paid is not small.

Because of this frontline shelling incident, Tian Junliu, the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces, was dumbfounded. However, Yokoyama Yucai, the commander of the 11th Army, was dumbfounded.

The slogan "We will defeat Hengyang in three days" was still in our ears. The command system of the main division under his command was completely destroyed. The lieutenant general of the division was turned into a eunuch, and the chief of staff of the division died. , what kind of base bully is this?

"For the time being, Division Commander Iwa Yongwang is responsible for taking over the command responsibilities of the 68th Division!" Isamu Yokoyama thought over and over again and could only issue such a telegram.

The commander of the 116th Division, Iwa Yongwang, was also dumbfounded. Yesterday, he had just discussed it with Sakuma Hito, the unlucky boy, that the two divisions would come closer to fight together and share the resources of the artillery wing. This good guy, he has nothing to do with his own affairs. I haven’t figured it out yet! One person has to command two divisions and be responsible for fighting in the south and west directions of the city. This is not a man on top of a man!

It's going to kill me! There was no choice but to send a message to Major General Shima Genkichi, the leader of the Shima detachment in the west of the city, asking him to temporarily take command of the 68th Division and be responsible for directing the operations of various units of the 68th Division.

This so-called 'Shima Detachment' is an independent mixed combat force formed by strengthening the artillery, engineering, baggage and other units with the 57th Brigade of the 68th Division led by Major General Shima Genkichi as the backbone.

The advantage of this is that it is not only under the command of the 68th Division, but also can be directly ordered to command operations by the 11th Army Headquarters, which makes the command system flatter and reduces intermediate links. It can also be regarded as some new attempts made by the Japanese Army.

Among the Japanese generals who participated in the siege, Shima Genkichi can be regarded as a veteran general. He was 55 years old at the time, the same age as Isamu Yokoyama. He also served as the first captain of the 120th Infantry Regiment of the 116th Division. Because of his fierce fighting style and resourcefulness, he was highly regarded by Isamu Yokoyama and was often organized into an independent detachment to take on responsibilities. He is responsible for his own mission, and is also considered the second most powerful person in the 68th Division after Sakuma as the division commander.

Iwanei chose to hand over the command to him because he was also selling the Major General a favor. All fools know that even if Sakuma survives the serious injury, he will never return to the 68th Division. Who is qualified? Promoted to commander of the 68th Division?

The original No. 2 figure was a must-choice. If he added the military exploits of conquering Hengyang City, wouldn't it be a sure thing?

Iwa Yongwang is a smart man, and his thoughts are not far-reaching. However, the Japanese Lieutenant General's division commander really underestimated his sixth attribute. If he is too close to him, he will be really unfortunate.

Shima Genkichi became the leader of the 68th Division. He couldn't hide his excitement. But after the excitement, he felt a headache when he looked at the soldiers in front of him who looked like mud monkeys.

Compared with the south of the city, the west of the city is a plain area, which was originally more conducive to attack, but the Chinese were simply too bad. After opening the steaming embankment and releasing the water, the fertile fields and ponds were all turned into mud, let alone the chariots. , even walking inside is extremely difficult.

Even veterans who have experienced many wars, wearing heavy leather boots and walking through such muddy ground, become as slow as an old man in their seventies or eighties. This is so fatal on a battlefield filled with bullets.

For example, there is a position called Yize Temple Street in the northwest corner outside Hengyang City. The position is 1,200 meters wide. The paddy fields and ponds have been opened up and filled with water to become muddy fields. Only this street is left.

The Chinese demolished row houses every three to five to prevent Japanese infantry from approaching consecutive houses. They also laid multi-layered obstacles at street corners, set up machine gun bunkers, and used light and heavy firepower to cross-blockade them, creating a difficult situation. Crossed line of fire.

The Japanese troops of the Shima detachment had no choice but to cover the area with artillery bombardment, and then attack the position with infantry lying down and crawling in the mud.

But the Chinese have a large number of trenches and bunkers. Although they suffered casualties under the artillery fire, their combat effectiveness was not lost. The Japanese troops in the mud moved slowly and were constantly used as live targets or attacked with grenades. In just these two days, they The detachment lost more than 400 people fighting just in front of this position.

Perhaps because he became the supreme commander of the 68th Division during the battle, Genkichi Shima, who was already resourceful, suddenly took advantage of him!

On the night of June 5th, the Chinese defenders who had been fighting fiercely all day except for some soldiers who were on guard were left asleep. Suddenly there was a loud noise, and no one called out for an enemy attack. This noise frightened the officers and soldiers. A sudden awakening.

When the flares were fired, we saw groups of cattle and horses in the darkness, with flames on their tails and sharp knives on their heads. They ran out from the Japanese army and rushed towards the position with their hooves spread. Come, the fireballs and torches behind you are as bright as day.

This was the tactic that the resourceful Shima Genkichi came up with. The "Fire Bull Formation" was used in the history of ancient Chinese warfare. However, there were currently too few cattle, so the Japanese pack horses were used to make up for it.

This required at least a dozen cows and more than forty horses, and Major General Shima Genkichi also spent a lot of money.

However, the effectiveness of the 'Fire Bull Formation' that has been tried and tested in the cold weapon era in modern warfare still depends on the actual effect.

The Chinese officers and soldiers were calmer than the Japanese thought, until the oxen and horses rushed to more than 100 meters, machine guns and submachine guns were launched together, beating the oxen and horses until blood splattered everywhere, and by the way, some Japanese soldiers behind the oxen and horses were also mopped down.

The vitality of cows and horses is much stronger than that of humans. Some fire cows were hit by at least ten bullets and still survived, but this does not mean that cows and horses are stupid. They will be beaten to death if they continue. The only way to survive is After fleeing, the herd of cattle and horses turned around and ran away faster than when they came.

These were so good that they directly trampled down a large area of ​​the Japanese soldiers following them, and even stepped on them into the mud. The mud was really full.

If you want to hide from these crazy cattle and horses, you have to face the Chinese bullets. The Japanese infantry feel miserable!

When the battle was over, the new commander of the 68th Division almost vomited blood. The 'Fire Bull Formation' he had built with so much effort did not even touch the edge of the Chinese position. Not to mention that the 50 pack horses were gone. He and more than 190 Japanese soldiers did not come back.

If you don't come back at this time, why can you stay in those stinking mud fields and watch the stars and the moon?

Being a commander is really hard! (End of chapter)