Rise From Eight Hundred

After dealing with the stubborn battlefield of Komura Hisashi, the main force led by Tang Dao never encountered any decent resistance again.

It’s not that the Japanese artillerymen were all scum, and they scattered and ran away after the bombing.

On the contrary, the Japanese artillerymen showed the Chinese soldiers Japanese-style bravery.

Just like the farewell telegram he sent to Yanagawa Heisuke, Sumita Raishiro organized his subordinates to fight desperately.

But it seems that this is not the right choice. According to the recollections of the staff of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade who survived the war, in the later stage of the battlefield, Major General Sumita Raishiro also regretted his decision.

If the cannon is gone, it can still be made, but if the people are gone, everything is gone.

Yes, watching the Chinese soldiers use their machine guns and machine guns to bombard the trenches that were so crude that they could only hide half of their bodies, making the imperial artillery with only a few weapons unable to even raise their heads, and then the infantry carrying submachine guns and Mauser pistols used the imperial infantry's favorite two-wing encirclement tactics, rushed into the position from the flank, and almost captured a position in six or seven minutes, and then started the massacre, Sumita Yoshiro really regretted it.

His decision showed the bravery and determination of a major general of the Imperial Japanese Army, but it really sent the entire 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade to hell.

Not only did they lose their large-caliber heavy artillery, but even those valuable artillerymen with several years of military experience were artificially sent to the Chinese butcher knife.

The battle loss ratio of the war reports of China and Japan after the war also cruelly illustrates this point.

In the battle of breaking the wall and the cavalry charge before the battle, about 80 Chinese soldiers were killed and nearly 100 were injured, including the anti-aircraft artillery position where Komura Hisashi was located. Even though it was bombarded by a 150-meter howitzer and all the heavy weapons were destroyed, it still caused more than 40 casualties to the Chinese side.

But then, under the order of Sumita Yoshiro, the total force of the various defensive positions, which were composed of artillery battalions and even artillery squadrons and issued spare weapons, was as high as 6,000 people. This is a force that cannot be ignored in any war, even in the meat grinder battlefield of Songhu.

Even though these poor Japanese artillerymen did not have many weapons in their hands, even the 38-type rifle, which was usually left in the arsenal to collect dust, could only be used by two people. Only when one person died, the other person would have the opportunity to obtain weapons, which was similar to the treatment of the "Tubalu" who fought desperately with them in the fields of the north in the future.

However, their enemies were only more than a thousand people. Excluding the cavalry who cleaned up the battlefield and constantly rescued and transported the wounded in the rear, the pure infantry was less than a thousand people after consumption.

But it was these more than 900 people that made the Japanese artillerymen experience what it meant to "cover with firepower when rich".

That was really too much bullying for the "devils".

Faced with the situation where the Japanese army was divided into several defensive positions and fought on their own, Tang Dao also formed attack teams with infantry platoons as units of the guard battalion and the 67th Army Guard Battalion.

In addition to the 6 25mm machine guns captured by the cavalry battalion, Tang Dao currently has heavy firepower of up to 12 machine guns and 4 mortars, so Tang Dao drew out some troops to form a new fire support force.

Whenever the infantry had a need, this fire support force of 200 people would carry at least two machine guns and heavy machine guns, and launch a wave of firepower first regardless of anything. That was the most enjoyable time for the soldiers of the two battalions.

Especially the six captured 25mm machine guns, the Japanese army, the "rich" actually prepared 500 rounds of shells for each gun.

Now all of this was returned to the Japanese army by the Chinese soldiers in a way of venting.

What's that saying?

"If you are rich, you can cover with firepower, and if you are poor, you can make detours!"

The Chinese soldiers did not show off because they suddenly became the side with firepower advantage, nor did they give up their "poverty".

After the detours covered by firepower, submachine guns and Mauser pistols became the last nightmare of the Japanese artillerymen who faced them at close range.

Whether it is the Nambu 14 pistol or the Type 38 rifle, these two types of continuous-fire firearms equipped by Chinese soldiers are at an absolute disadvantage.

But no one expected that the absolute disadvantage would become a one-sided situation.

According to Japanese statistics after the war, not counting the battlefield where Colonel Hisashi Komura first came into contact with the Chinese, the artillerymen who died in various positions in the rear of the 3rd Artillery Regiment alone reached 4,000, with a death rate of two-thirds.

But Tang Dao reported to the headquarters that a total of 189 soldiers were killed and 170 were injured in the battle to annihilate the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade. That means that the Japanese artillerymen spent 4,000 lives in exchange for no more than 200 Chinese casualties.

The astonishing 20 to 1 casualty ratio is not only a gap in equipment, but also a long gap in tactical literacy.

The Japanese artillerymen lived too comfortably. They obviously forgot that this is a battlefield. Their enemies are not only artillerymen, but also people with guns.

After the war, the Japanese Army learned from the pain and once again ordered that the artillery must be protected by infantry. The artillerymen must also conduct infantry military training from time to time, and rifles must be equipped to everyone to avoid being attacked by Chinese infantry again and hitting a 20 to 1 casualty ratio nailed to the pillar of shame.

But these are easy to say verbally, but they are not ordinary difficult to implement in practice. The inner resistance of technical arms is only one of them. More importantly, this has made the unsustainable logistics supply even worse.

It was already extremely difficult to supply the infantry with enough supplies, and the artillerymen had to hold guns like the infantrymen. You must have lost your brains when you say this! The general in charge of logistics at the Japanese Army Headquarters almost pointed at the bald man and scolded him.

Of course, the Japanese Army Headquarters quarreled over this military order, and the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade’s position was also in a mess at this time.

However, the Japanese position was visibly eaten away until the unlucky child Sumita Raishiro finally woke up completely.

The Chinese were probably not only planning to blow up and rob the artillery, but also to kill all the elite artillery that the empire had spent huge manpower and material resources to cultivate in this wilderness, and finally issued an order for the entire army to retreat on its own.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

As Tang Dao issued the order for the final general attack, the cavalrymen of the cavalry battalion got on their horses again and chased the Japanese artillerymen who had completely lost their protection and fighting spirit in the wilderness.

That was no longer a rout, but a rout.

Before nightfall, the entire 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade had more than 7,400 soldiers. After daybreak, only more than 600 people were counted at the assembly point. It was not until several hours later that hundreds of soldiers returned to the team one after another. After another day, more routs returned to the team. In the end, only about 2,000 people were left. More than 5,000 Japanese soldiers were buried in this dark night attack.

Not counting the loss of 72 large-caliber artillery, the loss of personnel alone was enough to dwarf the Japanese generals in the Songhu War Zone in China.

And the commander of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade, Major General Sumita Yoshiro, did not break his promise. As he said in his farewell telegram, he died on the position he defended.

However, Sumita Yoshiro, who once became the commander of the First Army of the Japanese Army, did not die at the hands of Chinese soldiers. After issuing the order for the entire army to break out on its own, he cut open his belly with a knife in the trench.

However, because the major general's collar badge, command sword and brigade flag were taken away by his trusted staff officer, almost no one knew who the guy with his belly cut open was.

In the dark night, countless pairs of Chinese feet stepped over the Japanese Army Major General, and no one looked at him.

An hour later, the Chinese had left the position that was still burning and swaying in the autumn wind. The position full of dead bodies was so quiet that it was terrifying. Sumita Raishiro took his last breath in loneliness.

A major general of the army, a colonel of the army, and the lives of more than 5,000 Japanese artillerymen were not all the losses of the Japanese army that night.

Because, 6 kilometers away, the 36th Infantry Brigade, which was rushing towards this side with all its light equipment, also encountered people who blocked them.

That was the most tragic and bloodiest battle of the night.

The moon, perhaps because it couldn't bear to witness this battlefield that made gods and demons tremble, also got into the dark clouds early.

The light on the battlefield is all brought by the light of flares and various tracer bullets that cut through the night sky.

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