Rise From Eight Hundred

Shaanxi Province, which has already entered December, is not the coldest time, but it is definitely not warm.

At night, the temperature has already dropped to two or three degrees. On the banks of the Yellow River, the river wind is even colder.

But at dawn, when the sky was just getting light, there was still mist on the river surface, and the visibility was extremely poor. Fujita Susumu, the commander of the Japanese Third Division, who was wearing a woolen coat, stood on a small hill about 1,000 meters away from the river bank, holding a telescope and looking at the quiet position more than 2,000 meters away on the opposite side of the river.

This posture has been maintained by the Japanese Army Lieutenant General for nearly ten minutes, and even a thin layer of white frost has been covered on his eyebrows.

Apart from other things, this style of commanding thousands of troops has been achieved.

"Your Excellency, the division commander, Colonel Katayama called from the front. The 3 infantry battalions of the 6th Infantry Regiment, totaling 3,200 people, are ready and ready to attack!" A colonel ran out of the camouflaged field command post, walked behind Fujita Susumu and bowed his head respectfully to report.

"What about the field artillery regiment?" Fujita Susumu asked in a low voice without turning his head.

"Colonel Ueno called five minutes ago. His 24 75 mountain guns, 12 75 field guns, 12 150MM howitzers, and 2 280MM howitzers, personnel, and required ammunition are all ready."

"Yoshi! Tell Colonel Ueno for me that if we win this battle, the 3rd Artillery Regiment will be the first to win!" Fujita Susumu turned his head with a frost on his face, but the corners of his mouth were slightly curved.

For the Battle of Tongguan, as the supreme commander of the westward corps, Itagaki Shiro also spent a lot of money, assigning the 12 150MM heavy artillery directly under his Third Army Command to the Third Division Artillery Regiment, and the two 280MM howitzers specially transferred from the country.

This may be the first time in the history of the Japanese Army that an infantry division has such a terrible large-caliber heavy artillery. Even a veteran like Fujita Susumu can't help but feel proud when he thinks of his brave soldiers crossing the surging river that the Chinese call the Mother River under the cover of such artillery fire.

For today's battle, the Third Division, which arrived at Fenglingdu less than ten days ago, prepared for seven or eight days on the surface, but who knows how much research Fujita Susumu, the division commander, did on the day when the Third Division was ordered to move westward?

From its geographical terrain to troop deployment to permanent population and even its commander's past record and experience, Fujita Susumu knows everything, which can be said to have spent a lot of effort.

Fan Songpu, the Lieutenant General of the 46th Army of the Chinese Army, was a famous warrior and a fierce general, which was exactly what Fujita Jin wanted. He was least afraid of generals with this kind of personality.

There were many Chinese warriors under the city of Nanjing in the past. In the Battle of Yuhuatai, China's most elite infantry division, 6,000 officers and soldiers, defended for 8 days, but in the end, the whole army was wiped out? As the third division that replaced the severely damaged sixth division and entered the battlefield of this battle, it served as the main attack in this battle. The lives of two Chinese major generals became the spoils of his third division.

Fujita Jin's confidence was certainly not blindly obtained. As one of the six permanent divisions established by Japan, the third division was a force prepared for invasion, with full personnel and excellent equipment.

Moreover, since its establishment, the third division has participated in all major military operations of the Japanese army, including the Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, the Battle of Shanghai, the Battle of Nanjing, the Battle of Xuzhou, etc., and has never been defeated!

Therefore, due to his understanding of his opponent and his inherent arrogance, Fujita Susumu did not play any tactical deception at all. He chose this river bend as the main attack direction. Even though the Chinese could see a large number of boats and motorboats gathered on the river bank, he did not hide his naked tactical intentions.

The scene he liked to see most was that the Chinese knew clearly but were powerless to resist. They could only watch the artillery fire tear their bodies apart and watch the iron boots of his brave imperial warriors step over their positions.

"Tell Colonel Katayama that after entering the opponent's position, I don't want to see a living Chinese within a radius of ten miles. Remember, it's all Chinese, regardless of gender!" Fujita Susumu's eyes flashed with cruel light.

As a history enthusiast, Fujita Susumu highly praised the practices of the Mongols. He always believed that only massacres could make the Chinese surrender. If they kept resisting, they would keep killing until the Chinese stopped resisting. If they were really killed by accident, then this vast and fertile land would completely belong to the empire.

A typical abnormal personality!

5:40 am on December 8!

More than 50 Japanese artillery pieces, large and small, fired at the 28th Division's shore defense position 15 miles south of Tongguan.

75mm mountain guns, 75mm field guns and 70mm infantry guns would normally make soldiers shudder, but in front of the 150MM howitzers firing at full power, these artillery pieces were like firecrackers set off by children during the Chinese New Year.

A two-meter-deep trench was not enough for this level of artillery. Once the shells fell into the trenches, the trenches that were tens of meters long would become a hell on earth. Even if there were nearly right-angle corners to weaken the energy of the air waves, the violent air waves would sweep the people lying in them away like toys.

Even without the shells falling into the trenches, they only needed to explode a dozen meters from the edge. The inner walls of the trenches supported by wooden stakes as thick as an adult's calf would be as fragile as tofu. The huge energy caused the trench walls to squeeze inward, either burying the people in them or squeezing them to death.

Of course, the Chinese army, which spent half a year building fortifications, was not stupid. In addition to the criss-cross trenches and bunkers, there were also many soldier caves with a top wall soil layer of more than one meter thick and supported by thick wood.

This level of soldier cave, even if it is a 150MM heavy artillery, as long as it is not directly on the top, is enough to protect the soldiers in it.

But the Japanese army also has a more terrible 280MM heavy artillery, and the 200-kilogram shells even need a crane to load. After every 50 rounds of artillery fire, they even have to stop the artillery fire and re-reinforce the base of the artillery. The surrounding sandbag wall for defense is only 10 meters high.

This 200-kilogram armor-piercing shell is a horrifying existence even in the future eighty years later.

Once the cannon landed, all the creatures exposed on the surface within the area of ​​​​a small half football field were destroyed!

If there is unfortunately a bunker or a soldier cave near the impact point, then whether it is a bunker or a soldier cave, it will be ruthlessly destroyed by the huge energy, and the fate of the soldiers inside can be imagined.

According to post-war statistics, within an hour and a half of the Japanese bombardment, two 280MM howitzers fired a total of 55 shells, forming 55 terrible craters on the Chinese positions. Less than 30 remains could be found in or around the craters!

And the number of officers and soldiers of the 28th Division who died in this round of shelling was as high as more than 400! More than 800 were injured!

This was still under extremely perfect fortifications. An infantry brigade with more than 4,000 infantrymen suffered more than 1,000 casualties!

"Request artillery support! Request manpower support! The Japanese army is about to launch a general attack!" These were the three sentences that the major general brigade commander, who was located 800 meters behind the defense line, kept repeating in the telegram.

Because the phone had been out of service for a long time. The fierce artillery fire broke all the telephone lines ten minutes after the bombardment began. Whether it was the front line or the headquarters, the brigade could not contact it.

The only source of information for the major general brigade commander was the signalman running wildly in the communication trench with his two legs.

But that, in the battlefield with continuous artillery fire, is obviously a luxury!

The defense width of his two infantry regiments is 4,000 meters. Not to mention how long it takes to go back and forth, even with the terrible artillery fire, not everyone is lucky enough to reach the destination.

"Brigade commander, the Japanese artillery fire has begun to extend?" The brigade colonel chief of staff turned around inadvertently and was suddenly stunned.

It is normal for the front position with a depth of 700 meters to be filled with gunpowder smoke. Not to mention the continuous bombardment of more than 50 cannons, even the concentrated fire of 12 mountain cannons of an artillery battalion can make the position full of pungent gunpowder smoke.

But the army colonel who has been in the army for more than 15 years suddenly asked this question because the mountain behind them was also filled with smoke, as if the whole mountain was on fire.

"Extend the ball! If the Japanese heavy artillery firepower extends, do you think we can still talk like this?" The anxious brigade commander of the major general replied to his chief of staff unhappily and turned back subconsciously.

Then, the veteran brigadier general was also stunned.

Thick smoke rose from the mountains, so thick that it even covered the trenches hundreds of meters away.

"Is there a forest fire there?" The army major general was also a little confused.

His nose, which had not been completely irritated by the smoke and lost all sense of smell, told him that the smoke was definitely not from the explosion of gunpowder, but should be the wood that was ignited, and it was the kind of slightly moist wood, otherwise the smoke would not be so thick.

No, there is smoke but no fire!

The army major general reacted instantly, with disdain in his eyes, "Is that the base of the Sichuan Army's new recruits led by Captain Tang? They are really a bunch of dog meat that can't be put on the table. Even so, I still expect them to support my troops at a critical moment!"

"Brigade commander, do you mean that they did it on purpose, igniting the dry grass and raising smoke to make the Japanese mistakenly think that this area has been bombarded?" The colonel chief of staff also reacted at this time, his eyes full of surprise.

"What else?" The contempt in the eyes of the Army Major General was even stronger. "Do you think they are making their best smoked meat? Just like the useless circular fortifications they made, it is completely useless."

A day ago, the Major General Brigadier General came here with great expectations to meet Tang Dao. After all, Tang Dao was still the deputy chief of staff of the defense zone. His rank was not as high as his, but his position was higher than his. Moreover, if the war was in crisis, Tang Dao would at least have thousands of people to use.

Even if it was thousands of new recruits, the Japanese would have to spend a lot of effort to kill thousands of pigs on the front line, right?

Who knew that this meeting would directly make the Major General Brigadier General's half-expected heart fall to his heels.

Tang Dao was very polite and saluted first. He didn't have the airs of a deputy chief of staff at all. What made the Major General Brigadier General feel cold was his command of troops.

The Sichuan Army's new recruits came to this mountain 1,200 meters behind the river defense position. They did not slack off. Thousands of people in the regiment were diligently digging pits on the hillside.

Yes, it was digging a pit!

A pit was 3 meters deep and more than 4 meters in diameter. From the ground, the pit covered by bushes seemed to be non-existent, but who would have known that there was an infantry squad hidden in it!

There were as many as 80 such pits dug in the mountains, and I don’t know how much effort it took.

But, what is the use of such a pit? It is suitable for burying people.

Moreover, apart from these earth pits, there were no military facilities such as trenches. The main force of the entire Sichuan Army Recruit Corps was hiding on the hillside facing away from the Yellow River.

This could avoid the Japanese artillery fire, but it would take at least 40 minutes to wait for their support. Moreover, once the Japanese artillery fire extended, this regiment of thousands of soldiers marching on the exposed surface would have a 90% chance of being killed by artillery fire during the march.

In the opinion of the major general brigadier, with this time, it would be better to dig some communication trenches to the shore defense positions, even if they were only half a meter deep.

He also made a tactful suggestion to Tang Dao, but Tang Dao nodded in agreement, but no action was taken. The furious major general brigadier left without giving the deputy chief of staff of the defense zone face at all.

Now it's even more awesome. The artillery fire hasn't even hit them yet, and these bastards have started to set fire to the mountain and pretend to be covered by artillery fire.

Absolutely, isn't it?

This is definitely the most bizarre army the Army Major General has seen in his 20-year military career, nothing less!

It's even worse than the scum who turned around and ran away when he heard the sound of artillery.

This is because Tang Dao's position is higher than his, otherwise he would have shot him directly with his temper.

"Shameless! That Tang regiment commander is simply not worthy of his reputation!" The colonel chief of staff said angrily.

"There are many people in this world who seek fame and reputation, and he is not one of them." The face of the major general brigade commander returned to calm.

"Brother Shengshi, it is estimated that in less than ten minutes, the Japanese fleet will come over. You and I will each be responsible for a regiment and go to supervise the battle! The ancients said: Attack halfway across the river! No matter how fierce the Japanese artillery fire is, our army will never abandon such a fighter opportunity. Once the observation post sends a message, the entire army will enter the position, but it will be a fight to the death! Take care of yourself!"

"I will definitely live up to the trust of the brigade commander!" The face of the Army Colonel was full of determination.

As expected by the Army Major General, in just ten minutes, although the battlefield was still filled with smoke and the river was covered with mist, the observation post that was still alive at the front still blew an extremely shrill iron whistle.

More than 200 wooden boats, rafts and motorboats appeared on the river.

"Order all heavy machine guns and mortars to fire! Be sure to stop them in the river! Those who disobey the military order will be killed!

Also telegraph the division headquarters, please take care of yourself, if it is impossible, retreat temporarily and fight again tomorrow!

I hope that the division commander will allow the 3rd Company of the Brigade Guard Battalion, the 3rd Platoon of the Engineer Company, and the 3rd Platoon of the Supply Company to be temporarily assigned to the division headquarters for the sake of our past friendship." The Major General, who picked up his pistol and turned around with his guards, issued what he thought was the last military order.

Ordering the three platoons to withdraw was undoubtedly to save the last seed for his infantry brigade so that it would not be wiped out and the organization would be abolished.

Three red flares were fired into the sky at the order of the major general. That was the highest level alert order of the infantry brigade. Once the flares were fired, all those at the frontline positions, whether the regiment commander, battalion commander or private, had to enter the front-line trenches to shoot at the enemy.

Those who do not follow the military order will die!

The two guard companies that followed the major general brigade commander and the colonel chief of staff were not only the last fresh troops of the brigade, but also the supervisory team.

The murderous aura was not only aimed at the Japanese army that was about to attack!

After all, facing this battlefield where one shot could kill people, not everyone had the courage to get out of the anti-gun hole and enter the front-line trenches.

The sound of heavy machine guns in the remaining bunkers firing wildly rang out, "Da! Da! Da!" Continuously firing at the river.

Although there were not many, there were more than a dozen roaring!

Although the Japanese army had made sufficient preparations for the forced crossing, with steel plates welded in front of the motorboats, and sandbags piled in front of the wooden boats and rafts, the crazy heavy machine gun bullets hit them and sparks flew or dust flew, but they could defend against direct fire but not against the irregular ricochets.

In order to capture the shore defense positions in one fell swoop, the Japanese army invested more than 3,200 people in three infantry battalions, which also meant that the infantry filled these small boats.

The crowded space made these fully armed infantrymen squat behind the fortifications like ground rats, and the rest was left to Amaterasu.

Once the crazy ricochets were reflected into the crowd, it would naturally be a bloody storm!

The terrible kinetic energy of heavy machine gun bullets can easily penetrate the human body, and even penetrate two or three at a time!

The screams sounded from time to time on various boats, and the splashing human blood mixed with the river water caused by the shells fell on the pale faces of the Japanese infantrymen, looking extremely hideous.

Many seriously injured soldiers who were injured by ricochets or mortar shrapnel and could not die immediately had their mouths covered instead of their wounds! That was an order from the Japanese officers on board, not to allow screams to shake the morale of the army.

I don’t know how many seriously injured Japanese soldiers died in silence.

The 3rd Division was such a group of beasts who were cruel to themselves and even crueler to the enemy!

And such a group of beasts, facing the hot bullets fired by a group of Chinese soldiers who risked their lives on the opposite position, approached step by step calmly and cruelly.

The firepower of more than a dozen heavy machine guns and only 8 mortars was not enough to stop the pace of these beasts, even if the 12 mountain guns of the 28th Division 5 kilometers away began to provide artillery support.

The fastest Japanese motorboat was less than 800 meters away from the shore. Even if the line of sight was still poor at this time, it was enough for ordinary Chinese soldiers in the trenches without telescopes to see clearly.

With despair in their eyes, many Chinese soldiers have begun to count the grenades around them and tightened their bayonets.

They know very well that once the Japanese army sets foot on the land, close combat is inevitable!

But are they opponents of the Japanese army? No one can answer this question.

Because, there is no need.

Bullets rained down from the sky!

Yes, it was really raindrops made of bullets, covering the sky and the earth!

In this creepy raindrop, there were also larger "raindrops"!

That was the effect of 90 heavy machine guns and 60 82 mortars working together.

Including peanut-sized bullets, all the killing weapons were dropped parabolically from the air, not from direct shooting!