Rise From Eight Hundred

The MG42 general-purpose machine gun must have been the first to bear the brunt of the 10th Division's heavy losses.

This was not the first time that the general-purpose machine gun had been used in actual combat. The soldiers of the Japanese 10th Division had already experienced the power of the MG34 general-purpose machine gun in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain. In that battle, Longyan used a general-purpose machine gun to kill nearly a thousand Japanese infantrymen who did not believe in evil on the hillside.

But the dead could not tell their colleagues how terrible a high-rate machine gun hidden in a solid fortification was.

This time, the Japanese infantrymen who adopted a wave-style attack experienced it thoroughly.

The three-man team using a bipod MG42 squad machine gun in the third trench on the front line did not use a flexible shooting position this time.

Because the Japanese army gave them enough time, the three-person team, with the assistance of each squad of infantry, dug an ‘L’-shaped fortification. The entire fortification was sunk nearly 8 meters into the ground, and the top was covered with a horizontal beam, covered with a rain cloth and then piled with loess. Three layers of sandbags were piled around the firing holes, and the entire light machine gun fortification would never be exposed more than 5 meters above the ground!

Unless the light machine gun fortification that is enough to withstand the heavy machine gun fire is hit head-on by a 70mm infantry gun, only a super sharpshooter can cause damage to the machine gunner inside.

For this kind of low-profile machine gun fortification, unless the Japanese infantry gun approaches 600 to 700 meters from the front line, no one dares to guarantee that it can hit the target with one shot.

However, the Chinese side still has a 60-meter mortar with a range of up to 1,300 meters in the front-line trenches. Although this small gun has little power per shot, its firing rate is amazing. A skilled artillery team can fire 20 shells in one minute.

When two infantry guns were blown up by the concentrated fire of 50 shells from three 60mm guns of the Chinese side because they were close to the front line, the Japanese infantry guns dared to approach only within a kilometer.

After discovering that the threat of infantry guns was greatly weakened, the fortifications with MG42 machine guns were even more unscrupulous in spitting out flames, and any Japanese infantry approaching 300 meters from the first Chinese trench was the target of their shooting.

The Four-Line Regiment once again refreshed the inherent impression of the Japanese infantry that the Chinese army would usually wait until the infantry approached more than 100 meters before shooting. If they wanted to get close to the Chinese trench, they had to crawl on the ground from more than 300 meters away.

When they finally advanced to an area about 150 meters away from the Chinese defense line in the hail of bullets, they were within the range of the infantry again.

The 10th Division's infantrymen saw the accurate shooting skills of the 4th Regiment's infantrymen for the first time. Even though they tried to crouch as low as possible, they still didn't know how many of them were shot by the Chinese infantrymen while crawling forward.

Even though many brave veterans chose to lie on the ground and shoot at the Chinese, hoping to kill the Chinese infantrymen with their accurate shooting skills, the Chinese soldiers were not inferior to them in shooting skills, and they were protected by trenches. In addition, there were many accurate shooters hidden in the Chinese trenches. Once they found a target that threatened their defense line, they would often aim at it with several guns, which was a sure death.

Shinozuka Yoshio, who had enough tanks, certainly would not let his men die in vain. After completing two consecutive rounds of exploratory attacks at noon, he sent out 18 tanks as pioneers.

In this kind of plain, tanks with thick enough steel plates are the undisputed kings. No matter how fierce the firepower of the MG42 machine gun is, no matter how fast the rate of fire of the 60-mm mortar is, the Type 89 tanks on the front line are not afraid at all.

In addition to the 30mm armor in front of the tank that provides sufficient protection, the short-barreled 57mm artillery equipped by the tank can also be said to be indestructible. There is no fortification that can stop its bombardment.

After carefully observing the battlefield, Yoshio Shinozuka's first choice is the front position of the Chinese army!

The trenches on the front position are crisscrossed, and there are many fortifications visible to the naked eye, which are far stronger than the flank positions.

After careful consideration, Yoshio Shinozuka did not choose to avoid the edge and use the two wings as a breakthrough point. However, this time it is not a matter of pride. If you want to fight, you should fight the strongest. But Yoshio Shinozuka suspects that this is another pit dug for him by the confidant of the empire.

The trench fortifications on the front position look perfect, but in fact, the main forces are placed on the two wings, waiting for him to get into the trap.

"I'm going to catch you off guard." The wise Yoshio Shinozuka decided on a tactic and deployed three infantry battalions, six Type 89 tanks and four Type 94 tanks on the front.

So, Yoshio Shinozuka and his 3,000 infantrymen and 10 tanks, who took things for granted, naturally ran into a wall.

The six Type 89 tanks were indeed impressive. The roar of the engines at full power resounded throughout the battlefield. Even a few dozen meters away from the tanks, one could feel the ground shaking violently.

The 57mm short-barreled tank gun fired several shots, blasting the machine gun fortifications that protruded more than 1 meter above the ground behind the defense line with smoke.

The six tanks brought more than 700 Japanese soldiers from four squadrons to 150 meters in front of the first trench!

Seeing that the first trench was within reach, the machine gun fortifications and 7mm heavy machine gun fortifications behind the defense line suddenly spurted out flames.

The distance of 500 meters was completely within the range of the 20mm cannon and the 7mm heavy machine gun.

The 30mm armor was indeed thick and strong enough. When the bullet of the 7mm heavy machine gun hit it, sparks flew. In the dark, it was absolutely as brilliant as fireworks.

But for the Japanese armored soldiers, this kind of "ding-dong" sound knocking in their ears is no different from the grim smile of the god of death.

Not being able to penetrate now does not mean that you can't penetrate in the future!

"Fight back! Fight back!" The radio of the 89 tank was filled with the slightly panicked roars of the Japanese armored soldiers.

However, the iron turtles like tanks have to rely on the observation window in front of the tank to confirm the target, and they are too close to the first-line trenches of the Chinese side.

"Bang!" Yang Bicheng, who was hiding in the second trench, fired his first shot on the battlefield today.

He didn't hit a person, but a tank!

This accurate shooter, who has become a first-class sharpshooter, only used one shot to hit the extremely narrow observation window of an 89 tank 250 meters away. The bullet shot accurately from the observation window and penetrated the eyes of a poor guy who was pressing his face against the observation window and looking into the distance.

There was no screaming or struggling. The high-speed rotating bullet passed through the fragile eyeball and the brain tissue behind it, and then blew a big hole in the back of the head and hit the steel plate inside the tank. A cloud of blood mist exploded in the narrow interior of the tank, spraying the remaining three Japanese armored soldiers all over their heads and faces.

Because of the huge fear, the Japanese tank driver instinctively braked, and the stopped tank immediately became the best target.

The two 20mm machine guns adjusted the muzzle and fired at the Type 89 tank in one breath, emptying their respective bullet plates.

More than 60% of the bullets as thick as cigars were bounced off by the arc of the steel plate, but there were still six or seven bullets that penetrated the steel plate.

The large bullets that penetrated the steel plate and entered the tank at high speed formed a terrible splash inside the tank. The three Japanese armored soldiers who had not yet woken up from the fear of their companions being shot died even more miserably, almost torn to pieces by the flying huge bullets!

If the collapse of a Type 89 tank was not enough to cause panic among the Japanese, then the four 40mm anti-aircraft guns on the position of the Mosongzi anti-aircraft company, 1,000 meters behind the position, were also ordered by Tang Tuanzuo to lay down their muzzles and use them as flat-firing guns, which was a nightmare for the armored troops.

Anti-aircraft guns were used as anti-tank guns everywhere on the battlefields of World War II. For example, the 88mm FLAK anti-aircraft gun made in the German Empire was praised as one of the best anti-tank guns after the war, which was enough to penetrate 840mm armor at a range of 2 kilometers.

Although the Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun was not as powerful as its big brother, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun, it also had a combat record of penetrating 50mm armor at a distance of 1,000 meters after being equipped with armor-piercing shells in actual combat.

Sure enough, when the four 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were laid flat to participate in anti-tank operations, the Type 89 tank was like a chicken and a dog, with no resistance at all.

In less than a minute, the side and rear of a Type 89 tank that was turning was hit, revealing a fist-sized hole. The high temperature caused by the friction between the high-speed bullet and the steel plate instantly ignited the fuel. In less than 10 seconds, the entire tank was filled with smoke and the flames jumped nearly two meters high.

A Japanese tanker escaped from the top of the tank with flames all over his body. He jumped off the tank and rolled on the ground wailing. The Japanese infantry following behind tried to help him put out the flames on his body, but it was obviously in vain.

It was not that the fire was too big, but that there could be no mercy on the battlefield. Once the Japanese infantry left the protection of the tank, bullets immediately poured in. At least four Japanese infantry were swept down and could only watch the tank soldiers on fire gradually become motionless. A burnt smell with a strange fragrance came into their noses with the smoke.

In the end, only two Type 89 tanks were able to escape back, and the other four stayed in front of the position. They were either burned into steel frames by the fire, or were silent and motionless, like a turtle shell with flesh and blood hollowed out.

This was the case with the Type 89 tanks, not to mention the Type 94 light tanks, which strictly did not even meet the standards of armored vehicles.

Under the crazy pursuit of 7mm heavy machine guns and 20mm machine guns, the four Type 94 light tanks were basically shot with holes everywhere, and all stayed in the position.

The situation of the four Type 89 tanks and four Type 94 tanks deployed on the two wings was slightly better, at least half of them returned.

"Attack, attack again!" After being hit continuously, Shinozuka Yoshio could no longer maintain a calm mentality. He did not believe that any Chinese army could stop his attack at all costs.

Throughout the afternoon, Shinozuka Yoshio of Tietou and the Japanese army of Tietou launched as many as four rounds of attacks on the front position of the Four-Line Regiment.

At the cost of losing two infantry squadrons per round of attack, the attack was not over until the bloody dusk.

The 28 MG42 machine guns of the 7 infantry platoons on the front line of the 4th Regiment consumed nearly 80,000 rounds of bullets in total, with each machine gun firing more than 2,800 rounds on average, and the barrels alone were replaced up to 7 times.

If the infantry is included, the total bullet consumption of the 7 infantry platoons alone this afternoon is roughly 150,000 rounds, while the ammunition consumption of more than 3,000 officers and soldiers of the 80th Army on both wings is only a quarter of theirs.

It can be said that the Japanese army, which lost nearly 2,000 infantry, was completely defeated by the crazy bullets this time. In addition to the air advantage, the Chinese side is no weaker than the 10th Division in terms of light firepower or heavy firepower.

Even if Shinozuka Yoshio is extremely reluctant to admit this, he can only accept this reality in the face of facts.

But what can we do if we recognize the facts?

Yoshio Shinozuka, who had lost nearly 4,000 soldiers at the beginning, was now in a dilemma. If he evacuated now, it would mean completely admitting the defeat. If he accepted the fact of defeat in this battle, the consequences might be even more serious. The Chinese people, inspired by this, would only occupy the countryside more and more unscrupulously in the future, and even spread from southern Hebei to the entire North China.

Not to mention that he, the lieutenant general and the commander of the division, could not bear such consequences, even Commander Duo Tianjun would be implicated.

Therefore, Duo Tianjun, who received the loss report of Yoshio Shinozuka, strictly ordered the 10th Division to continue to encircle and consume the enemy forces in the encirclement. The two mixed brigades in Baoding and Shimen would set off the day after tomorrow to support the 10th Division.

In addition, a heavy artillery regiment would be dispatched from Pingbei City and would arrive at the battlefield in 6 days at the latest.

This was a reassurance to Yoshio Shinozuka, who looked seven or eight years older!

Even if the two mixed brigades had to leave two cities to garrison, they would have 10,000 troops, and the heavy artillery regiment would be even more powerful.

You know, in the early stage of the war, the entire Japanese Army had only 6 heavy artillery brigades, and the Japanese North China Front had only two in total. The 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade was ambushed and bombed by the Chinese in the late stage of the Battle of Shanghai.

Now the North China Front has only one heavy artillery brigade, which is kept in Pingbei City like a treasure and will not be sent out for non-important battles.

The heavy artillery brigade has two heavy artillery regiments under its jurisdiction. A heavy artillery regiment has 2 battalions and 6 squadrons, equipped with 24 150mm howitzers.

As long as these 24 heavy artillery arrive at Zhaojiazhuang, no matter how many and deep trenches the Chinese dig, they will be blown to pieces!

Instead of being reprimanded by the commander of the front army, he received this strong support. The haze of the 18th was gone, and Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka lay on the camp bed happily.

Unfortunately, it was not even an hour before Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka's good mood was gone with a few earth-shaking explosions.

His unlucky chief of staff hurried in, and Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, who was already looking at the sky in anger, finally realized that the elite small forces left by the Chinese on the outer battlefield had indeed started to make trouble.

They actually launched a sneak attack on the artillery regiment position defended by an infantry battalion 10 minutes ago, and used small-caliber mortars to bombard the artillery shell storage points at a distance of 500 meters.

They must have lurked nearby and spied on it during the day, so in the premeditated and despicable sneak attack, two 500-round artillery shell storage points were detonated.

Although the position was safe, the disaster caused by the shell explosion destroyed 5 mountain guns and killed more than 140 imperial artillerymen.

"According to the order issued by the division commander during the day, 3 infantry squadrons of the Morita Battalion have gone to support." The colonel chief of staff just finished speaking.

The pupils of the two men who looked at the night sky in the distance were stung by the sudden appearance of the brilliant tracer bullets, and then there was a faint sound of fierce gunfire.

"Oh no, there is an ambush!" The faces of the two Japanese generals were so ugly at this time--so ugly.

'Encircle and attack the reinforcements! ' The Chinese performed this tactic countless times on the battlefield in North China, and it appeared again this evening.

Moreover, they used a small number of troops to fight against a superior force.

"The Chinese are really a bunch of lunatics!" Shinozuka Yoshio really found it difficult to understand what the Chinese were thinking.

"Immediately order the Kurokawa Battalion and the Riverside Battalion to support and kill all the Chinese who dared to attack. I will hang all their corpses in front of this position as wind chimes!" Shinozuka Yoshio punched the trench angrily.

Then, the unlucky Japanese lieutenant general with a broken finger was also on the list of injured.

But obviously, the Chinese did not intend to play any fierce battle. After less than 10 minutes of volleying, they took advantage of the cover of the night and the familiarity of the terrain to run away.

The two infantry battalions of the Japanese army rushed over in a hurry, but they found nothing. After searching around unwillingly, they carried the dead and wounded back to the position, and the Chinese appeared again from the artillery position like an immortal cockroach.

Japanese infantry: Is it over yet?

Japanese artillery: Come on! I'm the one who's going to be beaten!

So, the Japanese army, who had learned their lesson, sent two infantry battalions and tanks to escort them, and they marched towards the artillery position 3,500 meters away.

The Chinese naturally slipped away again.

The Japanese infantry did not go back this time, but camped nearby. If anyone dared to come again, they would be surrounded in one breath.

As a result, after digging field trenches for half the night, the exhausted and ecstatic Japanese infantry became the target of attack.

Almost all the Chinese came on time. At 4 a.m., less than 30 minutes after the Japanese infantrymen fell asleep, a row of mortar shells hit them. I don't know how many people died, but it is true that the sleepiness that had just been brewing was gone.

Of course, compared with life, nothing is important. More than 5,000 Japanese soldiers far away from the main position stared with their eyes wide open until dawn.

But they did not lose out. The two dark circles under the eyes of their Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, the division commander who was asking for death and punched himself to break his finger and was in great pain, could almost pretend to be a future Chinese national treasure.

As the sun rose, Yoshio Shinozuka, who had heard the sound of gunfire and artillery all night, felt even worse.

As if knowing that the 10th Division planned to rest today and wait for reinforcements to arrive, the thousands of Chinese troops staying 8 kilometers away actually made some unusual movements.

Fortunately, there were only three or four thousand people, and Yoshio Shinozuka, who quickly sent two infantry battalions to deal with it, looked calm.

"We have discovered a Chinese army advancing at high speed, with a force of no less than 5,000, and less than 30 kilometers away from the Zhaojiazhuang battlefield!"

But before 9 o'clock, a telegram sent by an aerial reconnaissance plane after returning made Shinozuka Yoshio dumbfounded.

Zhaojiazhuang is already home to all the main forces of the Chinese regular army, so what other regular army with a force of 5,000 is there?

If there is, there is only one possibility, which is the one that appeared at the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain the day before yesterday.

But then, isn't there an infantry brigade led by Okuma Konosuke responsible for containment and blocking?

At that moment, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio's head was really buzzing. ()