Rise From Eight Hundred

Masayoshi Yamada never thought that he would fall into such an embarrassing situation one day!

Since receiving the battle report that the 232nd Infantry Regiment was almost annihilated, as the de facto second-in-command of the 39th Division, Masayoshi Yamada knew that he must not make any mistakes, otherwise the great glory that the 39th Division won in the Zaoyi Battle last year would also be wiped out.

Therefore, he was more cautious than ever. Even though the division commander who was in command on the warship sent telegrams to urge him again and again, he still waited for three days until the artillery regiment and the navy's fighter planes concentrated their fire and blew the opposite mountain into a scorched earth. Only then did he invest more than 1,500 soldiers to attack the important heights of the Chinese side.

In his tactical plan, the Chinese side, who could not bear the pressure, would definitely reveal their trump cards and expose the heavy firepower points that were not detected in the early stage.

Maybe it can't be taken down in one go, but it can definitely lay the foundation for the second wave of attack. If nothing unexpected happens, conquering the defense line in front of us in two days is already the limit that the Chinese can resist.

All the tactics he planned in the early stage were realized as he expected. The Chinese were indeed very tenacious. Under such fierce bombing, they still survived in large numbers and put up effective resistance. They also revealed the last trump card as expected.

However, this trump card was a bit too fierce, so fierce that even he, the second-in-command of the 39th Division who commanded nearly 10,000 troops, could not bear it.

It didn't matter that the Chinese had artillery and anti-aircraft guns. After all, this was the defense zone of the 18th Army, one of the five elite infantry armies in China. Some artillery proved that they were worthy of their reputation, right?

But can you believe that the Chinese actually made tanks in such a broken place where people had difficulty walking? Looking at the tens of thousands of imperial troops deployed in this battlefield, there was not a single one of these things.

It was not that the imperial division lacked tanks, but after the early reconnaissance and analysis of the terrain, the senior leaders of the headquarters believed that it was time-consuming and laborious to march tanks here and there was no tactical help.

In fact, through the march in the mountains in the past few days, the artillery regiment's 41-type mountain artillery that can be disassembled and transported by packhorses has already made Yamada Masayoshi overwhelmed. More than a dozen packhorses broke their legs because of the complicated terrain. If a big guy like the Type 89 tank comes here, a road must be built for it, and it is unknown when it will arrive at the battlefield.

It can only be said that the commander Yokoyama Yong a few days ago was still an extremely wise little sweetie in the heart of Colonel Yamada Masayoshi. Now facing the Chinese tanks on the battlefield, it is really a good personal cultivation to say that Yokoyama Yong is Mrs. Niu.

In the past, Yamada Masayoshi would never use the lives of precious imperial officers and soldiers to fill this big hole, but the casualties reported by the three infantry battalions and the previous defeat of the 232nd Infantry Regiment, before they even approached the Shipai Central Defense Zone, the 39th Division had nearly 4,000 officers and soldiers killed in battle.

This terrifying number made the Japanese army colonel who sat there in silence for a long time know that he actually had no other choice.

Apart from a strong attack and breaking through this line of defense, he had no way to retreat!

However, Yamada Masayoshi finally chose to send a telegram to the division commander Murakami Kisaku. He did not mean to seek tactical guidance, but only informed him that the first round of attack had nearly an infantry battalion of casualties and the number of tanks currently appearing in China, and said that it was not ruled out that the Chinese defenders would have more tanks.

This was also the cleverness of Yamada Masayoshi. He handed the decision-making power to the division commander. In the future, whether it was a win or a loss or too much damage, it would be Murakami Kisaku who would take the blame. He was just an executor, not a decision maker.

"This battle is about the empire's global strategic decision-making and the future of our empire. The division decided to execute the military orders of the headquarters, the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, and the 11th Army Headquarters. All officers and soldiers of our 39th Division should bravely move forward and take it as their responsibility to defeat the enemy in front of them!" Murakami Kisaku sent such a high-sounding telegram 20 minutes later.

This telegram sealed by the 39th Division Headquarters was also considered by military scholars to be the most important factor that led to the 231st Infantry Regiment becoming the most lucrative prey after the Four-Line Regiment arrived in Central China.

Murakami Kisaku's brain was actually very flexible. The information he obtained from his capable subordinate, Yamada Masayoshi, was enough for him to judge that the Chinese defenders faced by the 231st Infantry Regiment were extremely strong, and the losses under the strong attack would be great.

But like Yamada Masayoshi, this Japanese Army Lieutenant General had no choice. In order to plan the capture of Shipai, the commander of the 11th Army, Isamu Yokoyama, had been preparing for half a year. He did not hesitate to mobilize 150,000 people to launch the Zaoyi Campaign to capture Yiling, and did not hesitate to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to launch the Western Hubei Campaign so that the imperial army could attack the core defense area of ​​Shipai from all sides. How could the 231st Infantry Regiment give in and retreat just because the opponent had tanks?

In addition, the 232nd Infantry Regiment had suffered a defeat before. For the sake of his own future, Murakami had to take a gamble. As long as Shipai could be conquered as scheduled, victory would cover up all the ugliness. No matter how heavy the casualties were, they would only become a string of numbers sealed in the Imperial Army Headquarters in the face of victory. He, as the division commander, would only rise to prominence under the halo of victory.

Moreover, he always mentioned the headquarters, the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters, and the 11th Army Headquarters. Anyone who dared to hold him accountable had to first ask the big guys who led all this.

Anyway, it was right to put the blame on others.

Murakami's decision seemed perfect on many battlefields. If they lost, the empire's soldiers would die, and the commander would bear the responsibility; if they won, the empire's soldiers would die again, and he, the commander, would take the glory of victory.

But his cleverness was misplaced, because he didn't know the number of the opposing defenders. It was the Four-Line Regiment, a Chinese heroic regiment that defeated three general commanders in a row on the battlefield in North China.

Of course, even if he knew that the defenders were the Four-Line Regiment, for his own future, the possibility that Murakami would choose to gamble would be more than 80%.

After all, the Four-Line Regiment's reputation was mainly in the battlefield in North China. The 39th Division had never encountered it, and it couldn't be scared away by hearing its number! That was not something the Imperial Japanese Army could do. Even the Americans, whose industrial strength was decades ahead of Japan, the Japanese military leaders were planning how to kill them, right?

So, on January 21, 1941, the Little New Year in southern China!

Under the extremely tough military order of Colonel Masayoshi Yamada, three infantry battalions with heavy losses rested for half a day, and the baggage soldiers replenished the missing soldiers.

At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, nearly 11 infantry companies, 3 battalions belonged to heavy machine gun companies, 3 battalions belonged to artillery squads, 1 regiment directly under the command of the artillery company, and 1 artillery battalion of the artillery regiment with 12 mountain guns, a total of more than 2,200 infantry, 31 heavy machine guns, 10 infantry guns, 10 mortars, and 16 mountain guns were deployed to attack the 7 heights of Zhujiaping.

The artillery mentioned here is not the artillery attack launched before the infantry attack, but the artillery that can provide fire support to the front-line infantry within 10 minutes when they encounter heavy firepower from the defenders during the attack.

This is also the limit of the reaction speed of the Japanese artillery, which is mainly limited by communication problems!

But for this era, this is already exaggerated. You are a heavy machine gun fire point with a strong enough bunker and are trying hard to suppress the opponent. As a result, within 10 minutes, the enemy's artillery bombarded the machine gun and the shooter into pieces.

Without the fire suppression of heavy machine guns, you can only rely on the single-shot rifles in the hands of the infantry. Under the continuous charge of the opponent's superior forces, how many troops can withstand it.

Fortunately, this is the Four-Line Regiment.

Not only are the fortifications built strong enough, such as the machine gun bunkers built by the engineering companies stationed by Bai Sheng to each battalion, as long as they are not particularly unlucky and are drilled into the bunker by shrapnel, the 70mm infantry guns that could destroy a fortification with one shot are basically in vain here, and they may also be counter-killed by various mortars that have been staring at them.

Moreover, the Czech semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns issued to the infantry squads of the Fourth Regiment, combined with the squad light machine gun MG42, are the least afraid of intensive infantry charges, which are pure life harvesters.

There are many high grounds that the Japanese infantry ignores when they are advancing. At most, they send accurate shooters to shoot and kill the exposed Japanese officers, grenade launchers, and light machine gunners. Basically, they wait until the Japanese infantry enters the 100-meter red line before starting crazy fire output.

Don’t look at the Japanese infantry’s individual tactics, they are all shooting masters, and they can hit a watermelon at a distance of 300 meters. In front of the firepower network composed of submachine guns that can sweep out more than 10 rounds of bullets in a volley, they are all scum.

It’s okay to lie down honestly, the chance of survival is more than 80%. If you still have to force yourself to move forward, the probability of death will be higher than 80%.

It must be said that the 39th Division, a Type B division, can become an elite division in the 11th Army, and its infantry combat will is still remarkable.

The 3rd Battalion had fought against many Japanese divisions, but there were no more than three divisions like the 39th Division that could crawl forward from 200 meters away and reach 70 meters in front of the front-line trenches under the hail of bullets. According to Boss Cao, it was at least comparable to the 20th Division in the Jindong War.

Although the Japanese army was caught off guard and killed nearly 300 Japanese invaders by using the hidden Xiaoqiang tanks in the first battle, the victorious Boss Cao never underestimated his opponents.

Because he would not forget the battle of the 4th squad on the high ground, where almost all the casualties were caused. The corpses of the Japanese in front of the position could be piled into a high wall, but the Japanese army was still not afraid of death and rushed wildly, which led to the fall of part of the high ground defense line.

And that was also based on their advantageous terrain, solid fortifications, leading weapons and equipment, and sufficient ammunition storage.

After replenishment, the Japanese army attacking the No. 13 high ground reached the size of two infantry squadrons again, and was still commanded by Major Yoshizo Sano himself.

In fact, the Japanese army did not deploy many troops on the two flanks of Hill No. 13, because Hill No. 11 and Hill No. 14 were not far from Hill No. 13. As long as a machine gun was placed, it could form crossfire against the Japanese infantry who attempted to attack the hill from the ridgeline, which was fatal to the infantry.

Sano Yoshizo, who had held back his strength, deployed nearly 280 Japanese infantrymen on the front battlefield in one breath, forming 6 scattered lines on the battlefield with a depth of no more than 360 meters, with about 50 infantrymen on each line.

This was a typical wave-style attack, just like relying on continuous soldiers to attack, making the Chinese defenders on the position exhausted, and finally defeated under their superior forces.

At the very least, they could also engage in a war of attrition with the Chinese.

The Japanese intelligence system is not to be underestimated. They stole intelligence from the Chinese side in the afternoon of the 21st. The 11th Division of the 18th Army had only one infantry regiment as the defenders on the left wing. This was one of the reasons why Masayoshi Yamada started the crazy attack mode in the afternoon.

A standard Chinese infantry regiment has only more than 2,500 soldiers, and even a reinforced regiment has only 3,000 people. The battle at Niuchangpo has been in full swing for a long time. The Yegou Detachment has successively invested thousands of infantrymen, and the Chinese side has not retreated. The defenders will never be less than 1,500, which means that the number of soldiers on Zhujiaping will not exceed 1,500.

With 5,000 infantrymen VS 1,500, even if it is 3 for 1, the Chinese can be replaced. This is the plan of the Japanese officers at all levels who are ready to fight.

From the current infantry strength alone, there is nothing wrong with Masayoshi Yamada's idea. The 3rd Battalion currently has only more than 900 infantrymen, and some of them are not on the front line as reserves. For example, there are only 33 people on the No. 13 high ground now.

In the last round of combat, the 14 infantrymen who followed Boss Cao were not intact. Four of them were injured by the bullets of the counterattack Japanese army, and two were seriously injured. If they had not received proper first aid, they would have died on the spot.

The total force currently deployed by the Japanese Army Major alone is 10 times that of the defenders on the high ground. 10 for 1 can replace the two infantry squads on the high ground.

However, Boss Cao, who does not need any surprise attacks or counterattacks, is not a good bird. Two years of battlefield experience has turned him from a super bomber with only a lot of brute force into a fox uncle.

Look, the first wave of Japanese who crawled like turtles suffered a heavy blow.

Second Lieutenant Kawakami Akiku, as a key target for training in the army by the famous Kawakami family of Hiroshima's famous tailor shop, has been extremely brave since entering China, and was promoted from sergeant to second lieutenant squad leader after accumulating merit after the Battle of Zaoyi.

If he makes more military achievements, it is very likely to change the family's status in Hiroshima Prefecture. No matter who mentions the Kawakami family again, the word tailor will not be added in front.

Therefore, when Lord Sano issued the military order, Lieutenant Kawakami resolutely requested to lead his infantry squad as the vanguard of the entire army.

Before entering the battlefield, Lieutenant Kawakami Akiku was so excited.

"Come back alive, the battalion and division need warriors like you!" Major Sano, who was extremely serious on weekdays, patted his shoulder and whispered tenderly.

Lieutenant Kawakami had made up his mind that even if he died in battle, he would repay the Major's kindness.

So, his wish was fulfilled, 60 meters before reaching the Chinese front-line trench.

However, poor Lieutenant Kawakami was not killed by a bullet, but by a metal spike half buried in the soil.

The two Chinese machine guns were really terrible. When the "puff puff" sound similar to tearing cloth sounded, no matter which wave of Japanese soldiers, they would not be able to help but tighten their chests.

Lieutenant Kawakami, who had just completed a flip and moved forward two or three meters with the powerful waist and abdomen strength, felt the dust flying on the ground beside him, until he was spotted by the Chinese machine gunner.

So, the Japanese Army Lieutenant, who had enough courage and strong body, carried a rifle and flipped over continuously, hiding in a bomb crater five meters away from his side.

He succeeded and rolled into the one-meter-deep pit that should have been caused by the bomb.

But before he had time to be happy, the poor lieutenant felt a sharp pain in his chest. He lowered his head and saw that it was a triangular nail with three spikes, one of which was pierced right on his left chest.

The other two exposed spikes on the body surface were covered with dust and looked gray, and they were six centimeters long!

"Baga!" The lieutenant screamed and spit out a mouthful of blood.

That means that the spike that was immersed in his body has pierced into the pericardium and pierced the heart artery.

It took less than 10 seconds for Kawakami Akiku, who could climb up a four-meter trench with his bare hands, to feel so weak. Not to mention moving his once strong body, he even had no strength to call for medical soldiers.

"The Chinese are really too insidious!" Lieutenant Kawakami, who was lying on his back with blood constantly flowing from the corners of his mouth and nostrils, could only use such a trace of resentment to express his helplessness in walking on the Naihe Bridge before his consciousness sank into the abyss of darkness.

A small triangular nail quietly took away the life of the bravest infantry captain under Yoshizo Sano.

Lieutenant Kawakami Akiku was the first victim of the triangular nail, but not the last one.

Because, after the last round of counterattacks, Boss Cao had people throw hundreds of triangular nails in front of the front-line trenches.

There is no pattern to this. Even if there is a pattern, with the Japanese army preparing for another hour of artillery fire, even gods don’t know where these triangular nails were swept away by the air waves.

The nearly 6-centimeter-long steel nails, if stepped on, the entire sole of the foot will be pierced. If the body falls on it, it can penetrate the internal organs. If the face is hit, then congratulations, you don’t have to worry about the IQ short board from now on.

Who can still call a fool a fool?

Of course, suffering such injuries on the battlefield and being able to become a fool, that is something to be thankful for!

Screams came one after another, but soon, these screams basically disappeared. It was not that these Japanese infantrymen were tough enough to grit their teeth and persist, but because they were exposed in extreme pain and were basically killed by bullets that came from the sound.

The Japanese soldiers below were agitated!

"Order, keep going, throw grenades in the 30-meter area, and then charge with all the troops! The Empire will win!" Sano Yoshizo, who was watching his own infantrymen dying in front of him through the telescope, had a cold face and was not moved at all.

On the No. 13 high ground, three long gun barrels were already in place behind the camouflaged firing holes.

Because the Xiaoqiang tank had already used the surprise attack once, it would never be effective as before.

Boss Cao had reason to believe that the Japanese army had at least transferred four infantry guns to the dense forest opposite to wait for the appearance of tanks. The 70mm infantry gun might not be able to knock down the machine gun bunker with three layers of protection, but the 10mm armor of the TKS tank would be extremely vulnerable in front of such artillery.

Therefore, the three TKS tanks became fixed turrets this time, and were placed at a height of nearly 60 meters from the front-line trenches. There were three layers of sandbags, steel plates and rocks in front for protection, and a slope specially used for evacuation in the back. That was a special evacuation channel when the Japanese army began to cover the bombardment with mountain artillery.

The fire suppression was entrusted to two MG42 machine guns, and the three 20mm machine guns hidden behind the fortifications would serve as the most brutal fixed firepower point on Hill No. 13 to deal with the Japanese board charge! ()