Rise From Eight Hundred

Nagano Kameichiro stood at a lookout in the dense forest, with a serious expression on his face, staring at Niangzi Pass less than 1,500 meters ahead.

This Japanese Army Major General has maintained this sculpture-like posture for nearly 20 minutes.

But none of the Japanese left officers standing around dared to say a word to persuade him!

Just in the morning, bad news came from the front again. Yin Tangxiuer Zhongzuo, the highest commander of the 21st Division in front of the Chinese No. 1 position, was killed in battle!

This unfortunate Japanese Army Zhongzuo was unfortunately sniped by a Chinese sharpshooter lurking on the battlefield when he approached the front line to supervise the battle.

After a week of fierce fighting, the shell craters on the main position of Niangzi Pass were dotted like the surface of a planet that has been wandering in the universe for billions of years, but what is even more unbearable to look at is that since two days ago, the 21st Division has stopped collecting the remains of its own soldiers who died in battle, leaving them exposed in the wilderness!

It’s not that the commanders of the 21st Division at all levels don’t want to, but they can’t! First, the Chinese side, who did not follow the moral code of war, would often take this opportunity to launch sneak attacks, resulting in increasing casualties in the corpse collection team; more importantly, there were too many corpses accumulated in the rear, not to mention that they could not be transported away, and even incinerated in time.

A large number of corpses were piled there. In the early autumn of September, the daytime temperature was not low. In less than two or three days, the corpses would emit a disgusting smell, and what was more terrible was not the smell, but the epidemic caused by it!

Therefore, Nagano Kameichiro simply ordered that only the living and the dead should be taken care of, and everything should be done after the end of the battlefield.

On the hillside in front of the Niangziguan position, broken limbs and "shit yellow" lying in various postures could be seen everywhere!

This reduced a lot of burden on the Japanese soldiers, but the danger also increased.

The Chinese actually used the cover of night to disguise their sharpshooters as corpses on the position, and then hunted down the middle-level officers in the Japanese infantry in the attack sequence!

Unfortunately, the Japanese army still had no way to identify every corpse of their own on the battlefield. Even after they lost three army captains and four army second lieutenants in succession in the afternoon, they had no good way to deal with this unprecedented tactic.

Logically speaking, at this time, senior officers should not be too close to the battlefield, so as not to give a big gift to the Chinese with various tricks.

As a result, I don’t know if Yin Tangxiuer Zhongzuo drank two more taels of sake at night. In the morning attack, he ignored the obstruction of the staff officers, put on the uniform of a private first class, and personally went to the front line to supervise the battle!

But Zhongzuo really didn’t know what to do. His bulging belly made the large private first class uniform so full. He must have regarded the Chinese sniper as a blind man!

So, he choked!

It was 600 meters away from the Chinese high ground, and there were trenches as shelters. Except for the heavy machine guns and mortars that could pose a threat to him, it was originally safe.

But he still choked! He was hit in the mouth by a 6.5mm Yusaka bullet fired from a Type 38 rifle. The 6.5mm bullet, which originally had strong penetrating power, shattered his relatively strong front teeth, deformed and hit the back of his head, eventually forming a hole the size of a baby's fist in the back of his head, and the blood and milky yellow liquid flowed inside.

No one knows what the substance is. Anyway, this Japanese army left-winger who showed off died quickly. After being shot and falling to the ground, he went to find Amaterasu with a typical "kick of his feet".

Of course, Yin Tangxiuer was not the first left-wing officer to die on this battlefield. Before him, there were two young left-wing battalion captains who led the charge in person. The one who was closest to victory had even occupied the Chinese second line of defense near the mountain ridge.

But being closest to victory does not mean victory. The Chinese quickly attacked the lost defense line from both sides of the ridge and blocked the front of the position with heavy mortars, making it impossible for the Japanese reinforcements to reach the area. They could only watch the Chinese two hundred meters away use explosive packs and grenades to blow up a young captain who had entered the defense line and an infantry squadron into pieces!

It was not until after the war that the Japanese knew that it was not because they were brave enough to get close to victory, but also a tactic!

Sun Tzu's Art of War: Retreat to advance!

No one expected that Wei Donglai would be so bold as to hand over his main position to others, and then organize people to attack and wipe out the Japanese infantry who entered the position!

Because the Chinese side is in a different position from the Japanese side, there are wide enough ridges on both sides of the Chinese position, and the attack on the position under the ridge still maintains the advantage in terrain!

Unless the Japanese army was so crazy that they used heavy artillery to attack their own infantry who had already occupied the position, otherwise, they could only watch their own infantry who had finally entered the enemy position being surrounded and killed again.

This tactic, not to mention Kameichiro Nagano, even Yokoyama Ze, who was generally recognized as mentally retarded after the war, would not do it.

That would give all the infantry of the 21st Division a false impression that they would die if they could not attack, and they would die if they attacked, and who would still attack desperately? Fishing on the way to attack, if one wave failed, the next wave would come, and he could breathe the air, wouldn't it be good?

Two young leftists died in battle, one middle leftist died in battle, and the infantry losses exceeded 6,000 people. This is the beautiful report card handed in by the 21st Division in this week of fierce fighting.

Don't think this beauty is ironic, it's really okay, mainly look at who you are comparing with.

For example, with this scumbag from the 108th Division, eight thousand people rushed to Dakouzi Cave, and finally retreated with a staggering 50% casualty rate, carrying the headless body of his major general brigade commander. , and also sent a message requesting the division headquarters to send two infantry brigades to respond.

The two sides of Shanxi East and South East Shanxi have invested more than 200,000 people in this large-scale battle. So far, the 108th Division has claimed that it is the last one, but no one dares to say it!

But you want to say that the 21st Division is second to last? That Nagano Kameichiro is really not willing to admit.

First of all, his opponent is the Si Xing Regiment, which is now recognized as one of the most difficult enemies to deal with by the North China Front; secondly, until now, his casualty rate is only 35%. In addition, he accidentally crushed a lieutenant general. division commander;

In Nagano Kameichiro's mind, the one who was more miserable than him was the famous Fifth Division.

The fifth division dispatched a detachment with a total strength of about 10,000. The infantry had 6 fully-equipped infantry brigades, plus an artillery unit with 12 105 howitzers and 12 75 mountain guns, and tanks. The brigade has 30 tanks of various types. Combined with the quality of its soldiers and heavy firepower, its overall combat effectiveness is no less than or even stronger than that of the 21st Division, which has a larger force.

But unfortunately, what they encountered was the second most powerful infantry division in China's second theater!

One is the direct descendant of the stingy old man. He tried his best to stack equipment before and during the war. Among them, the general commander will become the overlord of North China in the future.

On the other hand, from the division commander to the brigade commander, they are all super warriors who have played "white knife in, red knife out" with the Japanese army in the future, and would rather wipe their necks than retreat!

More importantly, these two infantry divisions are not like the 921st Division and the 17th Division. They go around begging for equipment, ranging from mountain cannons and mortars to medium-sized formal rifles and 100 rounds of ammunition for each soldier. lack.

The total number of soldiers of the two divisions is as high as 26,000, which is twice that of the Fifth Division. What a turn! That was also the only battlefield in this battle in Shanxi where China had a significant military advantage.

If that's the case, it's nothing. With the strength of the Fifth Division, known as the 'Steel Army', not to mention the 2x troop strength difference, in the battle of Xingakuchi, the Fifth Division had 70,000 vs. 250,000, nearly four times the strength. Despite the gap, he still won the final victory.

Perhaps it was this once-successful record that gave Akira Nakamura, then commander of the 21st Infantry Brigade of the Fifth Division, Major General Akira Nakamura, the confidence and determination to move forward.

In the first three days of the war, the two infantry regiments of the Fifth Division carried out a frenzied attack on the defense line composed of two infantry divisions from three directions, broke through two lines of defense and captured nearly 10 highlands, attacking Killing nearly 2,000 Chinese soldiers, it looked like another great victory.

On the fourth day, each of the two infantry divisions sent out an infantry regiment to defend the Black Mountain Pass at all costs. Akira Nakamura deployed three infantry brigades to attack without success. However, due to the complex terrain, the tank brigades were unable to reach the scheduled battlefield and had to be mobilized. Troops on both wings support the main battlefield.

This adjustment fell into China's trap.

Two Chinese infantry regiments that had been serving as reserves suddenly broke out on the fifth day and surrounded an infantry brigade of the Fifth Division in a valley surrounded by three peaks, launching a counter-encirclement operation.

Originally, Akira Nakamura was not surprised but overjoyed, thinking that it would be a good thing to pull thousands of Chinese out of the mountains. He also did not think that a mere four to five thousand Chinese troops could quickly eat up one of his infantry brigade, especially There are also 12 105 heavy artillery supports.

The early stage of the battle on the fifth day was just as the Japanese army major general expected. Two infantry regiments attacked fiercely under the fierce bombardment of 12 mountain guns, but they still could not completely separate the position of thousands of Japanese troops. Maintaining a complete line of defense and dealing with the Chinese army and waiting for support.

But after a day of fierce fighting, Nakamura Akira became anxious.

The thousand-man support force he invested was unable to break through the blocking position set up by the Chinese in front of the battlefield. There were actually at least a thousand people defending there.

The Chinese are determined to eat his infantry brigade. Akira Nakamura is a little panicked. Last year, the 5th Division was ambushed by the Chinese 511th Division at Parallel Pass. There were thousands of heavy troops and it was almost killed by Itagaki Shiro. If he throws an infantry brigade here, Shiro Itagaki will probably slap him on the head like a big mouth.

People say that pride and inferiority are actually twins. Pride is just a protective color for some kind of inferiority complex deep inside!

Nakamura Akira, who had always lived in the shadow of Shiro Itagaki, made a mistake in his busy schedule and once again mobilized a thousand-man-level troops to go for reinforcements. This was already the last organic infantry brigade he had on hand.

Since then, behind the entire front, the Fifth Division has lost its infantry that can still fight mobilely. Nakamura Akira only has one tank brigade and less than 400 infantry in his hands.

But until this time, Nakamura Akira had not realized the danger. Perhaps he was extremely confident that the Chinese had tried their best to fight on the front line and could not threaten his rear flank.

The Japanese major general never expected that the Chinese army's scouts could run so far. In fact, his 105 heavy artillery and 75 mountain artillery positions had already fallen under the observation of a scout team from the reconnaissance company of the Fourth Line Regiment.

The Four Lines Regiment had forwarded this major enemy information to two lieutenant generals three days ago. The two lieutenant generals were both well-known warriors in the army. How could they miss this opportunity?

Both of them knew that the focus of this battle was not whether they could stop the Fifth Division, but how to reduce casualties.

They were fully confident that they could stop the opponent in the mountains for half a month, and by then the other three directions should have been decided.

But the 105 heavy artillery of the Fifth Division was too terrible. Often, a round of concentrated fire would blow a high ground and an infantry company to pieces.

If the consumption continued like this, the casualties of their two infantry divisions would definitely exceed 50% in half a month, which was the blood and lives of nearly 13,000 people.

And the scouts of the Fourth Regiment suddenly provided them with such intelligence, how could they let it go?

Using more than 6,000 people to encircle an infantry battalion on the right wing of the Japanese army and mobilize the Japanese army was actually preparing to annihilate the Japanese artillery position that had nowhere to hide.

Then, that night, a well-equipped infantry regiment of the 101st Division, led by a major general of the army, was equipped with submachine guns at a ratio of five to one, and the light machine guns were equipped with 100, and there were 50 blasting teams carrying explosive packs, and attacked the Japanese artillery position.

Nakamura Akira, who received the news of the artillery attack, was pale and immediately ordered the two infantry battalions in front to return for support, but it was obviously too late.

It took less than 2 hours for 2,000 Chinese officers and soldiers to thoroughly "loot" the artillery position!

Nearly 800 Japanese artillerymen were killed, and all their artillery were destroyed by explosive packs. Half of the nearly 1,000 shells stored on the position were detonated, and 500 75mm caliber shells were actually moved away by the regiment by manpower!

The destruction of all 24 artillery pieces was not the reason why the unit became the second to last in the entire battle. The chain reaction caused by this was that the surrounded Japanese army could no longer obtain heavy firepower support, and the bombs dropped by the fighter planes in the sky could only be a drop in the bucket.

But the Chinese side no longer concealed its strength at this moment. Two infantry divisions gathered 28 mountain artillery pieces and more than 30 mortars to bombard the Japanese infantry.

Without heavy firepower support, the "Steel Army" was actually not much better than the "Mud Army". The Japanese army only lasted less than 6 hours before it began to collapse!

Less than one-tenth of them could escape alive!

On the sixth day of the war, the Fifth Division had four left officers killed, more than 2,200 officers and soldiers lost, and 24 artillery pieces lost. The heavy losses booked the last place.

But no one expected that the 108th Division would rise again, and the head of the brigade commander, a major general, could no longer be found, drove the Fifth Division to the second to last.

The poor student who successfully put himself in the third from the bottom, Nagano Kameichiro, was neither sad nor happy. Staring at the opponent's position, the Japanese Army Major General knew very well that he was not entangled in the battlefield in front of him, but was more concerned about the post-war period.

The battle in eastern Shanxi, which was carefully planned by the front army headquarters, could actually be over.

If the battle continued, there would be no other meaning except to continue to consume the lives of soldiers on both sides, unless the front army could withdraw two or three more divisions to deal a fatal blow to the Chinese army here.

But it was impossible to even think about it with one's butt. The 200,000 Chinese troops on the front line of southern Shanxi were not vegetarians. If they were allowed to find an opportunity to counterattack, most of the areas of Shanxi Province that the front army had occupied for more than half a year might be lost again, which would pose a crisis to the strategy of the entire empire. The front army headquarters would never lose the big picture for the small.

The reason why Okabe Saburo, who was in command until now, had not yet ordered all troops to retreat was probably for the face of General Shanshan Yuan.

After all, a great army general has never fought a battle that can hold up his face since he took the position of commander of the North China Front Army. He racked his brains and finally surrounded 70,000 or 80,000 Chinese in eastern Shanxi, but he retreated in disgrace after fighting for a week. Where can the general commander put his face? Throw it into the toilet?

"Send a message to Yokoyama Ze, all offensives are temporarily suspended, and no more desperate attacks can be launched easily!" Nagano Kameichiro turned his head and ordered expressionlessly.

"In addition, the infantry offensive in front of the Chinese main position continues to keep pressure on the enemy, and the 105 heavy artillery and mountain artillery continue to effectively kill the enemy on the position!"

"Hi!" All the left officers of the Japanese army bowed their heads.

Many Japanese left officers showed bitterness on their faces. Does this mean that they will continue to attack?

"Mr. Division Commander, is there any news from the headquarters?" A middle left staff officer who has been following Nagano Kameichiro for a long time, but heard some different intentions from him, and waited until the left officers on standby dispersed, and asked quietly.

"No need to ask more. You are responsible for ensuring the various baggage needs of the artillery, strengthening the contact with the Shimen logistics department, and ensuring the guard of the artillery unit. The colleagues of the Fifth Division are a lesson for us. Our division must not make the same mistake again!" Nagano Kameichiro glanced at his confidant, but did not say it clearly.

The Chinese here love to steal the house, he must prevent it no matter what, otherwise his future chief of staff will have to watch this personally.

"Hey! Please rest assured, Mr. Division Commander, regarding the baggage, the artillery shells and various materials are in sufficient supply. This is a battle organized by the front army headquarters, and Shimen dare not neglect it at all!

In addition, there are two infantry squadrons deployed on the artillery battalion side, and an additional baggage squadron has been added. The defense line of nearly a thousand people is not afraid even if a Chinese infantry regiment comes!" The Japanese Army Zhongzuo bowed his head heavily.

If the acting commander of the 21st Division, who finally showed a satisfied look in his eyes, had a pair of clairvoyance and could see that Tang Tuanzuo was already marching in the mountains in camouflage clothes in a dense forest 2,000 meters away, he would definitely regret today's arrangement.

The security level for the artillery deployment is still not high enough!

It's okay if it's not high enough, the key is that he shouldn't be a pessimist!

The Chinese have always believed that if you mention Cao Cao, Cao Cao will appear!

It's a job that Tang Tuanzuo is familiar with stealing a house!