Rise From Eight Hundred

Chapter 1497 Reading more will help!

The war in Hengyang has become more and more intense!

More and more Japanese infantry were thrown into this flesh and blood mill where Yokoyama had begun to grind meat.

Since the Battle of Leishui broke out on June 1st, and when Hengshan Yong issued an all-out attack order on June 3rd, Hengyang City was actually surrounded from all sides. Fierce fighting was taking place in the south, west, and north of the city. In other words, because of the Xiangjiang River in the east of the city, , the Xiangjiang River Bridge, which had just been built not long ago, was blown up by the 10th Army Engineer Company as early as the evening of June 1, and it still remained quiet.

Especially now that it is the flood season, the water in the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River has risen, and the river surface has increased from more than 400 meters in winter and spring to 600 meters. The river is wide and the water is fast. Anyone who wants to swim across without a boat is really a recipe for death.

However, the 190th Division, which withdrew from Hengyang Airport to the city and was responsible for defending the river bank, did not dare to be careless at all. They were on alert day and night and were ready.

Rong Youlue, commander of the 190th Division, knew very well that during the Hengyang Airport defense battle, he went to Tang Dao and begged for mercy. Fang Xianjue was convinced, but that didn't mean that he had completely let go of the matter. He must have refused to fight to the end for him. I still have opinions about leaving.

This man! As long as he has an opinion, a small mistake will be a big mistake in his heart, let alone a big mistake. There have been many incidents of killing generals in front of the battle in the past.

Starting from stationing on the river bank on the evening of the 3rd, Rong Youlue placed his division headquarters in a bunker less than 150 meters away from the river bank. He personally told his subordinates that he, the major general and division commander, would fight with them on the front line. , if Jiang'an's defense is broken, everyone will not have to retreat to the city, they will all die anyway.

The division commanders were like this, and of course their subordinates were even more vigilant. In the early morning of June 6, the sentries of the 190th Division on guard at Tielumen suddenly discovered that the usually calm Xiangjiang River seemed unusual today, and there were suddenly many dark shadows in the haze. After using the flares to identify them carefully, I saw that there were thirty or forty motorboats and wooden boats on the other side of the river. Many Japanese soldiers were gathering there. Just looking at the shadowy figures, there must be a thousand at least.

After receiving the news, Rong You slightly did not dare to neglect, and while arriving at Tieliangmen in person, he ordered the communications officer to report to the headquarters.

Fang Xianjue was also shocked. The Japanese were impatient and wanted to attack from all sides. He immediately sent a telegram to the artillery headquarters Cai Rulin and asked him to adjust some mountain artillery and field artillery to prepare for the enemy. He also sent a message to Zhijiang Airport in Huaihua. , deploy fighter planes to destroy the enemy.

In the past few days, the Chinese Air Force has been engaged in fierce battles with Japanese aircraft over Hengyang every day. It is naturally easy to use fighter planes to hit motorboats and wooden boats.

But obviously, the Japanese also know that they cannot control the air now. With so many ship personnel on the river during the day, they are perfect targets, and the best opportunity is at night.

At 5 o'clock, there was still a veil-like mist covering the river. In the hazy mist, nearly a thousand Japanese soldiers crossed the Xiangjiang River in more than 30 motorboats and wooden boats and quietly headed towards the west bank.

The Chinese soldiers on the shore had long been prepared. Rong Youlue personally commanded a battalion to meet the enemy at the Tielusen Pier position. Fang Xianjue, Tang Dao, Cai Rulin and others were watching the river from the commanding heights of Yanhui Peak.

Although the Japanese army invested heavily in the other three directions of Hengyang City, the Chinese also invested nearly 17,000 troops. The fierce battle lasted for three days and resulted in a lot of losses. However, it dealt a greater blow to the Japanese army, especially in Huangchaling, where they used a head-on approach. An infantry regiment of the Japanese army was crippled, which undoubtedly gave the Hengyang defenders great confidence.

But Jiang Fang has not been tested yet. Everyone knows that these thirty or forty motorboats may be just a test attack by the Japanese army. A larger attack has not yet arrived. Even Tang Dao can't help but want to see what the Japanese will do next. What kind of determination did he have to attack this natural chasm?

Thinking back on when the millions of Chinese soldiers crossed the Yangtze River and had a complete military advantage, they had to prepare for several months before they dared to take action. Could it be that Isamu Yokoyama, a turtle grandson, could mobilize the destroyers of the Japanese Navy to participate in the action?

However, Tang Dao really thought highly of Isamu Yokoyama. The Japanese Navy was so bad in the Pacific now, not to mention that its strength was not as good as before. The Japanese Army also looked down upon these Malus.

This is purely an emergency medical treatment. Regardless of whether there are jujubes or not, we need to hit a few shots first. Anyway, the 11th Army has invested enough troops, 70,000 people. Yokoyama Isamu is also ruthless. He can kill the Chinese in the city even with their lives. people.

Facts have proved that Yu Hengshan thought too much!

When the Japanese ship was about to arrive at the center of the river, Cai Rulin gave an order with a walkie-talkie. Six new American mountain cannons and four field cannons deployed in the city made a deafening roar. The fire flashed and tore through the fog under the mist. At night, the Japanese fleet crossing the river was blown up, causing the boats to capsize and people drowned.

Not to be outdone, the Japanese artillerymen on the other side of the river bank immediately counterattacked. For a moment, the artillery fire on both sides of the bank rumbled, and the city of Hengyang suddenly burst into flames.

"Pang Dahai, don't leave me idle. Find the artillery positions that are so **** stupid." Tang Dao also picked up the walkie-talkie and notified the artillery battalion of the Sixing Regiment at the foot of Yanhui Peak.

Sun Mingyu looked at the walkie-talkie in Tang Dao's hand with envy. Although he also had this thing, it was also a gift from Tang Dao. The 10th Army received a total of 50 sets of this communication equipment from the Four Lines Regiment, realizing It provides direct access from the infantry battalion to the regiment to the division and even the headquarters.

This is simply something that commanders at all levels of the 10th Division never dared to think of before, but the Sixings Regiment has achieved a direct connection from the infantry class to the regiment headquarters. How awesome is this? Why don't you envy Sun Mingyu, the chief of staff of the 10th Army?

"Sir, just wait and see! Why have I been waiting? I haven't participated in many battles in the past few days, but it's suffocating my brothers." Several senior commanders could hear the shouting from Pang Panghai.

"Battle Commander Pang is also a fierce general! I have long proposed to let him serve as the deputy commander of the artillery. Director Tang is too cautious. In such a war, the entire Hengyang army shares the same hatred of the enemy, so how can we have so many scruples!" Sun Mingyu said with a smile! .

"It doesn't matter whether you hold that position or not. Dahai still has a view of the overall situation. Sirs, please rest assured." Tang Dao smiled slightly and took the initiative to avoid the topic.

According to the order of the pre-war headquarters, the artillery units of the entire army were in a game of chess, and the artillery battalion of the Fourth Line Regiment was also placed under the command of the Hengyang Artillery Headquarters. When the artillery establishment of the Artillery Battalion of the Fourth Line Regiment was reported, it almost blinded several commanders. .

The 10th Army Artillery Battalion reported all the complaints to Minister He, and worked hard to bring back 12 American 75mm mountain guns. As a result, the artillery battalion of the Fourth Army Regiment was not only equipped with 12 150-caliber heavy guns, but also 12 range guns. The 9,000-meter-high Bofors Mountain Artillery, with its strength, defeated the entire 10th Army.

Regardless of whether the artillery fire is accurate or not, just based on these equipments, the artillery battalion commander is worthy of the title of deputy artillery commander.

As a result, Tang Dao refused, and the reason was very good. As the leader of the Four Lines Regiment, he had become the fifth-ranked commander within the Hengyang Command, ranking above many generals and lieutenant generals. If even his subordinates were concurrently appointed Commander, there will always be people in every division and unit who are dissatisfied.

This is actually true. The command sequence of all levels of the headquarters established in Hengyang has been reported to the Ministry of Military Affairs. If the defense battle of Hengyang fails, everyone will probably be a grasshopper on the same boat and die here. Naturally, there will be nothing to say. Yes, but if we win this battle, we will be rewarded based on our merits, which will be of great benefit to everyone here.

Fang Xian must never hold the title of deputy commander of a group army. This is something that even General Xue cannot stop. For someone like Tang Dao, as long as nothing goes wrong, it is appropriate to be promoted to Army Major General and serve as brigade commander. If the court There are people among them, and if they are directly promoted to a division commander, no one will be able to gossip.

As for Cai Rulin, who is a theater war supervisor and artillery commander, at least he must be given an Army colonel, and he may even directly surpass a colonel and become an Army major general.

To put it bluntly, the more important the position held at this time, the higher the probability of promotion after the war. No matter when, the Chinese people’s desire for official positions is engraved in their bones. This has a huge relationship with the continuation of the feudal dynasty for more than 2,000 years. , even a hundred years from now, the end of the universe will still be the test.

The Japanese army organized at least two artillery brigades with a total of more than 20 cannons to bombard the city of Hengyang. The artillery battalion of the Sixth Regiment naturally could not show weakness. 12 Bofors mountain guns were lined up in the forest. According to artillery observers in Yanhui Following the guidance from the peak, they launched artillery retaliation against the Japanese artillery positions thousands of meters away.

The two sides were going back and forth, and it was hard to tell who was the winner for a while.

The Japanese troops in Hedong are the 32nd Infantry Brigade of the 6th Regiment of the Japanese 3rd Division. Today's 3rd Division is no longer the 3rd Division that was in Tongguan. Due to heavy losses in Tongguan, the 3rd Division was It took a full 10 months of rest for North China to regain some of its strength.

By 1941, taking advantage of the opportunity to establish a large number of B and C divisions, the Japanese base camp simply canceled the two brigades under this permanent division that had not yet restored combat effectiveness, and assigned the 18th Infantry Regiment to the 29th Division. Regiment, the division headquarters of the 3rd Division has direct jurisdiction over three infantry regiments and four regiments of cavalry, artillery, engineering and supplies. The total strength has been reduced from the previous 26,000 to 22,000. In addition, a large number of veterans have been lost, and the combat effectiveness has been reduced. It's no better than before, so it's just relying on the name of the permanent division to bluff people.

Just like the 3rd Division that arrived in Hengyang, it is on the surface the size of a brigade. In fact, it is led by the 6th Infantry Regiment, with 2 artillery brigades, 3 baggage squadrons and two cavalry squadrons, with the highest The commander is Colonel Yoshimasa Matsuyama, commander of the 6th Infantry Regiment.

If they really start a field battle, the Si Xing Regiment can defeat this group of old opponents with a strength of only more than 6,800 people.

Matsuyama Yoshizaki was also forced. The main force of the division, led by the division commander, Lieutenant General Yamamoto Sano, set up defenses 30 kilometers away from Hengyang, waiting for the Chinese main force to come to the rescue, so as to reach the military headquarters' "encirclement point for reinforcements" and seek a decisive battle with the Chinese main force. For strategic purposes, he was originally responsible for the war in the north of the city. However, the army headquarters changed its orders day and night. He felt that encirclement on three sides was not enough. He had to attack on four sides to make the Chinese side difficult to find fighters. So Songshan Yoshizheng could only lead his troops across the Xiangjiang River to Hengyang Airport in the east of the Yangtze River, which had been destroyed to the point of uselessness, and planned to fight across the river.

After finally gathering thirty or forty ships, Matsuyama Yoshimasa sent three infantry squadrons for the first wave of exploratory attacks in case of any eventuality.

It was unimaginable that the Chinese artillery fire was so fierce, with more than ten artillery pieces hitting ships in the middle of the river, and about a dozen artillery pieces retaliating against our own artillery positions.

Fortunately, the ships were very sparsely distributed. About 3 ships were lost, and the rest were still intact. However, the Chinese defense line on the river bank was not a vegetarian. Heavy machine gun fire points opened fire from more than 400 meters away, causing sparks to fly from the bow of the motorboat. splash.

Although preparations were made on the motorboats and wooden boats, a lot of sandbags were piled up for fortifications, but the Chinese side relied on probability shooting, that is, shooting at the black shadows in the night. Many bullets directly penetrated the hull and entered the cabin, hiding people inside. The infantrymen shot until blood flowed from them.

The artillery position did not dare to stay in place to bombard the Chinese artillery in Hengyang City because of the Chinese artillery retaliation. They often fired a few rounds and then had to be dragged away by pack horses and fired again in another place. The continuous artillery fire was greatly affected. Influence.

The Japanese army had to retreat temporarily and wait until daybreak to accurately determine the Chinese artillery position before attacking.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, under the command of Matsuyama Yoshimasa, the remaining 34 Japanese ships set sail again.

This time, the large amount of gunpowder smoke rising from the artillery positions in Hengyang City was discovered by high-altitude reconnaissance balloons released by the Japanese army, and the Japanese artillery positions immediately launched artillery bombardments.

Although this is a double-edged sword, when they discovered the general area of ​​the Chinese artillery position, the Chinese side could also see them on Yanhui Peak. Pang Panghai immediately commanded the mountain artillery battery to fight back as well.

However, this time the Japanese artillery learned the lesson and took advantage of the vast territory of Jiangdong to distribute 24 guns on the vast plain. There was a full 300 meters distance between each gun. Unless the Chinese artillery fire was accurately matched with the sniper rifle The same, or have hundreds of artillery to carry out a covering attack on the area, otherwise it will be difficult to cause serious damage to it.

This is indeed the current weakness of the Chinese artillery, but it also carries a huge risk. The premise is that there are no more Chinese infantry in this area. Otherwise, with the protection of only two infantry squadrons, these two artillery brigades will not be able to defend against such a situation. Large artillery position.

Fortunately, until the end of the battle, the 400 Japanese troops responsible for guarding the artillery did not see a single Chinese infantry figure.

I don’t know about other directions. At least in Jiangdong, the Chinese should have been frightened and retreated into the city. This is a common conclusion drawn by the Japanese infantry.

They would pay a heavy price for this conclusion later, but at least they were safe for now.

As the artillery was suppressed by Japanese artillery fire and the intensity of the defenders' artillery fire on the center of the river was also sparse, Matsuyama Yoshimasa saw an opportunity for victory.

This time, he packed five infantry squadrons into the cabin, just to have enough infantry for landing operations.

"Go forward!" Lieutenant Colonel Kakutaro Yamamoto, the major captain of the 32nd Infantry Battalion, who personally boarded the motorboat, howled excitedly.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion in the air. The Japanese army looked up and saw a dozen small black dots flying rapidly in the sky and diving towards the river from high altitude.

You didn't even need to look at the painting of the aircraft, just by looking at the direction in which they were swooping, you knew that this was not an imperial fighter plane. Yamamoto Kakutaro yelled "Spread out! Spread out!" in a heartbroken voice, but it was too late. As they dived down, The 12 P40 fighter planes carried heavy machine gun fire with full firepower, and the wooden boats on the river were riddled with holes from the heavy machine guns.

Although the P40 fighter nicknamed 'Kitty Hawk' has poor high-altitude combat performance, its left and right wings are equipped with a total of 6 12.7mm Browning heavy machine guns, and can also carry two 500kg aerial bombs. It is a standard fighter-bomber, but it is still very powerful. Favored by China, which is in urgent need of fighter aircraft, two flying groups have begun to field such fighters since 1943.

The P40 squadron that took off from Zhijiang Airport is under the 4th Battalion of the Chinese Air Force. They took off from Zhijiang Airport in western Hunan an hour ago and flew over Hengyang long ago. They have been hiding behind the peaks of Hengshan Mountain 40 miles north of the city. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

When the Japanese army was halfway across the Xiangjiang River, a signal was sent to them in Hengyang City. The squadron jumped to high altitude. When they arrived near Hengyang, they even boldly turned off the aircraft engine and glided quietly. It was not until they reached medium and low altitude that they turned on the engine again and suddenly headed toward the river. The dive took the Japanese army by surprise.

None of the 12 fighter planes carried auxiliary fuel tanks. They all carried two 500-pound aerial bombs and fully loaded machine gun bullets, pouring all their firepower on the heads of the Japanese troops in the Xiangjiang River.

That's fine, but the Japanese probably didn't expect that the Chinese air force would be so decisive. When they ran out of oil and ammunition, they pulled up the plane and headed west. It only took 10 minutes to fly to Lingling Airport, which was still in Chinese hands. Fill up the fuel and ammunition, and come back again.

For more than an hour, except for the heavy machine gunners of the 190th Division who were still firing hard, the rest of the infantry were clapping their hands and shouting "The Air Force is awesome" and "The Air Force is awesome" and watching the show.

Once upon a time, they were the ones who hid in trenches or bomb shelters under the crazy attacks of Japanese fighter planes without even daring to raise their heads. They never dreamed that one day they would be able to watch their own fighter planes kill the Japanese with their own eyes. Broken blood flow.

That feeling of comfort cannot be understood by soldiers who have not personally experienced the Great Patriotic War.

Matsuyama Ryozo just stood blankly in the temporary command post as a camouflage, watching more than 30 ships change from tens to single digits under the attack of 12 crazy Chinese fighter planes, and he was helpless.

Due to the inability of the Chinese Air Force, the Japanese infantry was rarely equipped with anti-aircraft weapons. At the infantry wing level, it was only equipped with four 25mm machine guns.

With just these four pieces of crap, it's okay to deal with one or two fighter planes, but when they arrive, there are 12 of them. The four 25mm cannons deployed on the river bank don't fire. Once they fire, let alone 12 of them. A swarm of bombshells can blast that area into a white field, and even the Chinese artillery can't do anything for it.

Chinese people are poor, but not blind!

In this way, only five fast motorboats escaped this catastrophe, and the rest of the wooden boats were destroyed by bombs or machine guns in the Xiangjiang River.

As for how many Japanese soldiers inside can swim ashore alive by relying on water, that depends on luck. Anyway, with the current water potential of the Xiangjiang River, water is basically food for fish and shrimp.

"No matter how great the losses are, we must continue to attack!" Isamu Yokoyama issued the military order extremely coldly after receiving the news that the 6th Infantry Regiment's attack had been frustrated.

In essence, Hengshan Yong and Fang Xianjue actually belong to the same type of people. In order to achieve strategic goals, thousands or even ten thousand people are actually just a number in the eyes of commanders like them.

Even if it only involves the opponent's energy or consumes enough of the enemy, thousands or even more numbers disappear, they will not blink an eyelid.

What they care about is the result, not the process.

Matsuyama Yoshimasa has not reached that level. Even though he is a commander, in Yokoyama Isamu's eyes, he is just a chess piece that looks a little older. He would not think twice about discarding him for ten seconds.

Faced with this almost cruel military order, Matsuyama, who frowned, thought about the good policy plan. China's history and culture are profound and profound. Reading more books about China will open the door to wisdom.