Rise From Eight Hundred

 Chapter 1500 Loss and Gain!

The east bank of the Xiangjiang River is victorious!

Although the main force of the landing fleet still existed in the 6th Infantry Regiment led by Matsukami Yoshimasa, it lost most of its artillery and completely lost the ability to forcefully cross the Xiangjiang River.

Not to mention the powerful firepower of the gunboats and gunboats, which caused a large number of casualties to the 1st Battalion of the 190th Division, but when Chinese fighter jets arrived during the day, that was when the fleet was destroyed.

Taking advantage of the fact that there were still two hours before dawn, the Japanese Navy ships fled upriver in despair, and the threat on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River was temporarily lifted.

However, Fang Xianjue, who received the good news of the 190th Division's repulse of the Japanese fleet in the headquarters, was still frowning and could not look happy.

It turned out that in Wugui Ridge in the south of the city, the 10th Preliminary Division suffered unprecedented losses, and this loss was caused by human error.

The Japanese army launched an artillery bombardment on Wugui Ridge at 3 a.m., especially on the south side of Wugui Ridge. They took advantage of the favorable wind direction and fired poison gas bombs continuously for half an hour.

That was the position of the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 28th Regiment of the 10th Preliminary Division. Li Ruodong, then the commander of the battalion, called Captain Zhu Zhongping, the newly appointed company commander at the rear command post. As a result, the phone rang for a long time but no one answered. Li Ruodong naturally Feeling a little worried, he immediately ordered the signal soldiers to check in the dark.

As a result, the signal soldier climbed to the position and was horrified to find that the position was completely silent!

It’s not that there are no people, but the company’s No. 118 people are all there, but no one is alive. Including Captain Zhu Zhongping, the former 28th regiment captain and staff officer who just took over as company commander yesterday, all the officers and soldiers of the 7th company were poisoned and killed by the Japanese gas bombs.

All members of an infantry company were killed. This was the first time since the war began in Hengyang!

Officers who have had actual battlefield experience know that poisonous gas is heavier than air. Any depression is where poisonous gas can easily accumulate. Therefore, when the Japanese army releases poisonous gas, the troops must evacuate to the crosswind highlands as soon as possible. If you have a gas mask, wear a gas mask. , if you don’t have a mask, cover your mouth and nose with a wet towel, the survival rate is higher than 70 to 80%, otherwise there would be no need to fight, and everyone would die if the Japanese released poison gas.

Captain Zhu Heping is an alumnus and fellow villager with Zeng Jing, the commander of the 28th Regiment. He has been serving as a staff officer at the regiment headquarters since he was assigned to the 10th Preliminary Division. He has never served as a chief officer in a grassroots unit and lacks sufficient practical experience. Because of the Japanese poison gas He was so ferocious that he led the entire company of officers and soldiers to hide in fortifications in low-lying areas, causing all 118 people to be poisoned and no one survived.

"I ignored this! I ignored the issue of actual combat experience in promoting officers on the spot, and the popularization of experience in defending against poison gas." Fang Xiangjue felt sad and blamed himself.

If these 118 people died in a **** battle with the Japanese army, Fang Xianjue, who took it as his own duty to eliminate the Japanese army, might be able to accept it, but to die quietly under the Japanese poison gas offensive, Fang Xianjue's heart The pain is undoubtedly doubled.

For this tragedy, Ge Youcai, commander of the 10th Preliminary Division, and Zeng Jing, commander of the 28th Regiment, called to apologize to Fang Xianjue.

"Of course you two can't run away from your responsibilities. Come to the military headquarters after the war, each of you will receive 20 lashes, and I will have 10 lashes to accompany you." Fang Xianjue said these words and hung up the phone.

However, tragedy is a tragedy, whether it was caused by the cruelty of the Japanese army or the stupidity of his own people, Fang Xianjue, the supreme commander, could only forget his sorrow for the time being and consider the issue of sending additional reinforcements to Wugui Ridge.

The 28th Regiment is already a reserve in the hands of the 10th Preliminary Division. It just replaced the 30th Regiment and entered the position two days ago. We can't let the 30th Regiment, which has just been withdrawn and has not completed its rest, be allowed to come back!

As the saying goes, if the house leaks, it will rain continuously. The 28th Regiment has not solved it yet, and the 29th Regiment has encountered another problem in the tiger-shaped nest position defended by the 29th Regiment.

At 4 o'clock in the morning, there was a thunderstorm in the south of Hengyang City. The rain was so heavy that the officers and soldiers in the trenches had to enter the anti-gun cave to take shelter from the rain.

After this hiding, coupled with the fact that it was raining late at night and the visibility was extremely poor, something happened.

The Japanese army sent a death squad consisting of more than 40 people. They braved the thunderstorm at night and secretly climbed into the outer trench. They used people as ladders to climb up the cliff and sneaked into the tiger-shaped nest without anyone noticing. Southwest position.

Not to mention, this Japanese army also used cold weapons and hand-to-hand skills to occupy three bunkers and a 120-meter trench with lightning speed.

It wasn't until there was a burst of fire and rumbling explosions on the position that the Chinese officers and soldiers in the other trenches realized that the Japanese troops had entered the position.

Fortunately, the 1st Battalion of the 29th Regiment was stationed in this area. Not only was the 29th Regiment the strongest in combat effectiveness, but the battalion commander was also a veteran with a very clear mind. He immediately mobilized troops and first used all battalion heavy machine guns to block the rear of the southwest position to block the Japanese army. The follow-up reinforcements prevented the Japanese troops from entering, and then mobilized 2 platoons of troops. In groups of 6, they assembled 14 light machine guns and 12 submachine guns to sweep the trenches occupied by the Japanese troops.

The Japanese troops who entered the position did not carry any heavy weapons at all. They only had three light machine guns snatched from the Chinese position and their own rifles. When the follow-up troops could not arrive in time, they were even more disadvantaged in terms of firepower.

But these 40-odd Japanese troops were undoubtedly elite. Although their firepower was completely suppressed, they had superb shooting skills and extremely tenacious fighting will. They resisted until dawn. During this period, the infantry company commander in charge of the position was impatient and personally led the commando forward. Chong was also sniped to death by a Japanese infantryman.

If the Japanese army is given another 100 people, it is really possible for them to stabilize their position. As the Japanese troops continue to arrive, losing a corner of the tiger-shaped nest high ground is almost inevitable.

It's a pity that Amaterasu, who favored the Japanese army for half the night, could not last long. It was dawn!

At daybreak, the situation between the enemy and ourselves was extremely clear.

The four heavy machine guns of the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 29th Regiment were really important for the concentrated fire at the rear of the southwest side of the position. There were more than 300 Japanese soldiers lying in the mud less than 200 meters away from the position, unable to advance even an inch.

If all these Japanese soldiers are allowed to rush into the position, even if there are still more than 600 Chinese officers and soldiers in the tiger-shaped nest, the outcome will be difficult to predict.

After all, the Japanese army opposite was as high as an infantry regiment!

A Chinese mortar platoon deployed 1,600 meters away showed its power and blasted the more than 300 Japanese troops until they howled like ghosts. Blood and water mixed with mud splashed everywhere. The Japanese troops, unable to withstand the huge casualties, were forced to retreat, leaving about 20 soldiers. The death squad was left alone in the tiger-shaped nest position.

In the end, after paying the price of 7 more deaths and 18 injuries, the 1st Battalion of the 29th Regiment finally wiped out the Japanese troops who entered the position.

Although the counterattack was brave and fast, and more than 30 Japanese soldiers were left on the position, and their own casualties were basically equal. If you count the Japanese soldiers killed by machine guns and mortars in front of the position, the 29th Regiment still had an advantage, but after all, this was not the case. It was a mistake that almost lost the position, and a strong general like Ge Youcai, commander of the 10th Preliminary Division, had to call the headquarters again to apologize.

"Military seat, 40 whips, I will come and get it myself after the war!" Ge Youcai was originally a loud voice, but now he is like a young daughter-in-law who wants to meet her parents-in-law, not to mention the frustration.

"Ge Youcai, what should I say to you? Just tell me whether you are a talented person or not, and are your subordinates a group of talented people?" Fang Xian was definitely not trying to restrain himself, and someone had probably smashed the phone long ago.

Fang Xianjue himself has a hot temper, not to mention that the 10th Preliminary Division is his old base and Ge Youcai is his old subordinate. Which of those regiment commanders and battalion commanders is not his soldier? Nowadays, the most embarrassing situation is that he, the army commander, is the most embarrassing one?

"Sir Fang, don't be too angry. When two parties are fighting, they will naturally try to kill each other with their own agenda. What we are facing is not a group of pigs, but the fierce Japanese invaders who have defeated the Miluo Defense Line and the Tanzhou Defense Line. Their commander is Isamu Yokoyama, who is famous for his fierceness and cunning in the Japanese army.

We could make them suffer a **** blow, and it was normal for them to occasionally defeat us. Although the brothers of the Pre-10th Division occasionally suffered defeats, they were able to quickly make up for their mistakes and did not allow the Japanese army to achieve the expected tactical goals.

Moreover, this battle is long, and temporary gains and losses are not enough to judge heroes. I believe that the brothers of the 10th Preliminary Division will eventually tell the whole of China what kind of people they are. "Tang Dao comforted Fang Xianjue, who frowned.

No one knew what Fang Xianjue's mood was at that time, but when Ge Youcai heard that someone from the command center had conveyed Tang Dao's original words to him, he opened his eyes angrily and conveyed Tang Dao's encouragement to him. The four commanders under his command: "You all listen to me. I will bear the blame for your occasional mistakes. I will also bear the riding whip for you. But what Commander Tang said is right, the whole China is watching." Looking at our 10th Preliminary Division, our 10th Army, and all the defenders of Hengyang, I will never allow weaklings and cowards to appear. If the position is lost, I will recapture it. If the battalion commander cannot recapture it, the regimental commander will come. If the regiment commander can't get it back, I'll go ahead. As long as there are still people in the 10th Division, we can't lose the position south of the city."

On the Chinese side, Ge Youcai, commander of the 10th Preliminary Division, issued a life-fighting order to his four regiments after two consecutive defeats. However, the Japanese side saw the dawn of victory due to a brief breakthrough in the Tiger Nest position.

The Huangchaling position located in front of the entire Chinese position has proved that the high ground is almost insurmountable with the lives of more than 2,600 Japanese infantrymen. The 116th Division can only bypass the high ground spewing deadly flames and aim at thousands of people. The mountains just meters away.

The tough guy Huangchaling could only wait for the heavy artillery brigade and tank regiment to arrive before attacking.

The commander of the 116th Division, Yan Yongwang, personally visited the front line and assembled 7 complete infantry brigades under his command. He also temporarily transferred personnel from the baggage regiment, engineering regiment and supplementary regiment to temporarily form 8 infantry brigades.

Nearly 14,000 infantrymen gathered in the south of the city. A Chinese reconnaissance plane pilot reported the ground scene from high altitude to the Hengyang City headquarters through the radio station. The original words were: "The enemy situation is urgent, and the Japanese invaders have assembled heavy troops in the south of the city. The quantity is immeasurable.”

It took a day for the Japanese army to assemble. The hills were filled with trenches dug by the Japanese infantry. Viewed from a high altitude, they looked like groups of yellow ants building their nests. It was shocking.

Fighters of the Chinese Air Force and Flying Tigers carried out indiscriminate bombing of the area. However, due to the vast area and the positions dug by the Japanese army were close to several highlands on the Chinese side, more importantly, the Japanese army also dispatched fighter planes to intercept and bomb at high altitudes. It didn't work out very well.

June 9th, Zhangjiashan main position!

At noon, it suddenly rained heavily in Zhangjiashan.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese army deployed three infantry brigades to launch a fierce attack on Zhangjiashan in the pouring rain. The two sides fought back and forth through the mud in the pouring rain.

Among them, Highland 221 was overwhelmed by the Japanese twice, but was recaptured by the 2nd Battalion of the 30th Regiment in a counterattack.

The battle lasted until dusk, and the heavy rain began to subside!

The Japanese offensive continued unabated and even sent out three infantry brigades again. Including the remnants of the previous afternoon's battle, a total of about 4,800 people took turns to attack the main Zhangjiashan position.

Highland 221 and Highland 227 were again breached by the Japanese at almost the same time. More than half of the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 30th Regiment stationed on them were injured. Major Xu Xiansheng, the commander of the battalion, was shot in the head and still shouted "fight to the death". Several guards under his command After he fell into coma, he was carried to the rear, but died on the way to the medical team.

Feng Zishi, the commander of the 30th Regiment, ordered Lieutenant Colonel Gan Wotu of the regiment to succeed as the battalion commander, and led the regiment headquarters guard platoon to advance into the highlands and fight to the death with the Japanese invaders who invaded the two highlands. Within an hour, Lieutenant Colonel Gan Wotu, affiliated with the regiment, was also killed in the battle, and only one of the three company commanders under the 2nd Battalion survived.

"Without any reinforcements, our battalion will suffer all casualties!" The army captain, who had lost two battalion commanders in a row, begged the regiment commander Feng Zishi on the only walkie-talkie in the battalion.

The original infantry battalion of 600 people now has less than 150 people, and only one-third of the position is still in their hands.

Perhaps at this point in the battle, the man who cried for support no longer cared about life and death, but he just didn't want to lose these two positions where the corpses of more than 400 of his brothers lay.

The leader of the regiment, Zeng Jing, was also in tears. It was not that he did not want to rescue, but that in the other four highlands, the crazy Japanese army also invested heavily in troops, and he no longer had a reserve team on hand.

Fortunately, Highlands 223 and 224 had just repelled a round of Japanese attacks. Perhaps the Japanese army was still planning the next wave of attacks and entered a period of intermission. At the request of the commander of the 1st Battalion, the major battalion commander took one and a half men under his command. The infantry company headed for two highlands where fighting was still going on.

The reinforcements requested by the Pre-10th Division from the headquarters are still 5 miles away from the position.

The arrival of 200 fresh troops boosted the morale of the remaining Chinese soldiers. With the support of two mortar platoons and four 150-gun troops in Huangchaling, it took one and a half hours to finally retake all positions on the high ground.

It was already 9 p.m., and the Chinese and Japanese officers and soldiers who had fought fiercely for six hours were exhausted. According to past practice, it was difficult for the Japanese army to launch any more offensives.

The Chinese soldiers dragged their extremely tired bodies and threw the 'shit-yellow' corpses on the position directly outside the trenches. They carried the remains of their own officers and soldiers to the position and placed them temporarily, waiting for the stretcher team composed of civilian husbands to come tomorrow to carry away the remains for burial.

This is also a wartime regulation. The main reason is that the weather is too hot now and the body will start to rot and deteriorate in less than a day.

It has been six days since the fierce fighting broke out in Huangchaling. There are a lot more flies in Hengyang City. As long as they eat, the flies do not fly in groups but in nests. The reason is because of the south of the city. battlefield.

In the deep trench at the foot of Huangcha Ridge alone, more than a thousand Japanese corpses were rotting, maggots were crawling around, and the stench soaring into the sky was unbearable even to the war-tested veterans of the 1st Battalion of the Fourth Regiment. When the weather is hot, tie a towel soaked in lotion to your face.

In order to prevent epidemics, during the intervals between fierce battles, officers at all levels requested that the remains of their fallen officers and soldiers be transported to the rear and buried as soon as possible.

As for the Japanese, they don't have the ability to control it so much. They can only let it rot outside the position. When the Japanese charge here, the stinky smell and the maggots crawling all over the ground are also obstacles.

But this day was different. Yan Yongwang had obviously discovered that the two positions of Zhangjiashan and Huxingchao were the key to the entire south of Hengyang City. If these two positions were not captured, even the edge of Hengyang City would be touched from the south of the city. Not.

Only one hour later, under the fierce scolding of Iwa Yongwang, the then captain of the 120th Infantry Regiment and Colonel Er Kilon had to order his two infantry brigades and two temporary brigades, totaling more than 3,500 people, to attack the 221st and 227th again. Two high ground attacks.

The Chinese officers and soldiers on the two highlands who had just taken a breath could only fight hard again.

But at this time, the strength of the two sides was more than ten times different, and the Japanese army used the "menstrual belt" to engage in the "pig attack tactic".

The so-called Zhutu means rampage in Chinese! But in Japanese culture, the meaning is quite different. In Japanese society, "pig" is a complimentary word. Domestic pigs are "dolphins" in Japanese, while wild boars are called "pig". Their status is like that of tigers in China. To call someone a pig is to praise him for being brave and fearless! There is even a word in Japanese called ‘pig rushes forward’.

Therefore, the pig charge is not a derogatory term, but a Japanese tactic that represents bravery and fearlessness. It first appeared in the Russo-Japanese War and was created by Nogi Nogi! In fact, in other words, the extreme point of this tactic is to allow soldiers to charge suicidally, or it is called a "meat bomb charge"!

American cowboys had seen the power of the Japanese "pig attack tactic" in May 1943. In the Battle of Attu Island, 11,000-meter troops faced off against 2,600 Japanese troops on Attu Island.

At that time, the US Army dispatched 11,000 Marines, many landing ships, a large number of light and heavy weapons, etc., and also cut off the Japanese supply line. They were very well prepared! At this time, there were only 2,600 Japanese troops stationed on the island! However, something speechless happened!

Late at night on May 29, 1943, the Japanese army, which was in desperate situation, launched the "pig attack tactic". When the American army encountered this tactic for the first time, they were immediately confused and frightened, which led to two disasters: (1) a battalion full of wounded soldiers was massacred by the Japanese army, and (2) a large amount of supplies were robbed by the Japanese army.

Just when the Japanese army was about to reverse the tide of the battle and the American army was about to be driven into the sea, a turning point occurred. The 500 engineers in the American army blocked the Japanese offensive with submachine guns and machine guns.

Later, the Japanese soldiers surrounded by the US military fired grenades and committed suicide! After this battle, once the U.S. military discovered traces of the Japanese troops, they poured out ammunition frantically and flattened the entire area! As the saying goes, all the grass and trees on Bagong Mountain are soldiers, that's it!

It can also be seen that the extremely terrifying fighting will can sometimes be better than the overwhelming bombs.

After all, more than 300 Chinese officers and soldiers could not stop the crazy more than 3,000 Japanese troops, and the position was gradually lost again.

But Feng Zishi waited for his own reinforcements, an elite infantry company that came from the Taihang Mountains 20 days ago. The company commander was an army lieutenant named Tu Yunsheng.

Feng Zishi organized his regiment's cooks, communications soldiers and even horse feeders into a platoon, plus 211 elite soldiers led by Tu Yunsheng, plus himself, a total of 253 people, and rushed to Highland 221.

When we arrived, it was already 11 o'clock in the night. At this time, it was pitch dark on the high ground and we couldn't see our fingers.

Because it was dark and they were afraid of hurting their own people, on Tu Yunsheng's suggestion, more than 200 people did not rush to the high ground, but hid on the reverse **** of the high ground and waited for what happened.

As the Japanese army gradually advanced, the two sides were now close at hand, and the heavy breathing could be heard clearly. Both sides wrapped their bayonets with cloth strips, leaving only the tip. This was to prevent the bayonet from reflecting or hitting the rocks. Speak up and be discovered.

The Chinese and Japanese armies held their breath in the dark, for fear of exposing their positions.

"Flash bomb!" Tu Yunsheng ordered.

More than a dozen flash bombs were thrown out, and the sudden and intense white light stung people's eyes, making them unable to see for at least 20 seconds.

"Flare!"

The sharp white light illuminated the figures of both sides on the battlefield, making it impossible to hide them.

"Click, click, click!" The powerful firepower of more than 140 assault rifles formed a net of firepower that killed people in this position.

In just 20 seconds, the officers and soldiers of the infantry company emptied their 30-round magazines. More than 300 Japanese soldiers, who could not see with their eyes, were shot and killed in the first wave of battle alone.

What kind of firearm was this? It was actually more powerful than the Americans' "Big Eight" firepower. The Japanese army was completely stunned.

The remnants of the Chinese soldiers with high morale, led by their regiment commander, continued to advance towards the occupied positions.

It is impossible to fire flares all the time. In fact, China and Japan spend most of their time groping and fighting each other in the dark.

In the absence of light, Feng Zishi was also very experienced. He asked the soldiers to reach out and touch in the dark. Anyone who touched cotton military uniforms was one of his own people. Anyone who touched smooth khaki cloth was a Japanese soldier. Either he fired a gun or stabbed him with a bayonet. Stab through.

In the darkness, the sound of gunshots, the sound of bayonets piercing into flesh, and the screams of both Chinese and Japanese after being injured were heard one after another.

At this point in the battle, it was no longer a question of who wanted to retreat and who didn't. Both sides had only one idea, to kill their opponents.

Reinforcements from the 10th Preparatory Division have also arrived. They are the two reserve battalions held by Ge Youcai. They are basically composed of young and strong civilians left in Hengyang City. Many people simply don't have guns in their hands, only strapped to shoulder poles. Prison bayonet.

Although these reserve soldiers had no battlefield experience at all and had not experienced the cruelty of war, the darkness concealed the cruelty that could destroy their psychology. Under the leadership of the veterans, this group of **** men continued to stab the Japanese invaders with bayonets. chest.

In the words of a reservist after the war: "Just treat it like killing a pig at home. No matter how much blood spurts out, you won't be afraid."

This battle lasted until dawn, and finally we could distinguish ourselves from the enemy. At the command of Feng Zishi on the front line, grenades like raindrops were thrown towards the Japanese army.

Two reserve battalions arrived with 9,000 grenades, all of which were thrown on the Japanese troops at this moment of dawn.

With this wave of grenades, the Japanese army finally defeated this desperate attack and reoccupied two highlands.

There are more than 1,700 corpses on the battlefield!

It was declassified after the war. In this battle, the 116th Division deployed a total of 11 infantry brigades in turns to attack various positions in Zhangjiashan from day to night, and from night to dawn. The total strength was about 10,000. There were more than 3,900 casualties!

Preliminary 10 divisions, a battle to avenge all previous humiliations!

But that was also the result of more than a thousand casualties, including 2 colonel officers and 16 lieutenants at all levels who died in battle!

. . . . . . .