Tang Dao received a telegram from Leng Feng reporting the battle situation in the afternoon of the same day. Naturally, he was extremely satisfied with the results and ordered Leng Feng's troops not to rush to the Zhongtiao Mountain battle area for the time being.
The main force of the Si Xing Regiment as a surprise force has now been exposed, and has lost the effect of a surprise force. It is better to operate near Shunwangping, so that the Japanese army has to draw out its troops to guard its retreat, so as not to be intercepted by Leng Feng's troops.
In fact, this was also the case. After receiving the order from the Kunisaki detachment to retreat to Shunwangping, the Japanese army immediately mobilized its troops. An infantry brigade of the 3rd Division, which had been hidden by Itagaki Shiro, was divided into several locations to firmly guard the road leading to
Traffic arteries on the front line.
If this infantry brigade is put into the battlefield, it will undoubtedly increase the pressure on the front line.
In other words, although Leng Feng's troops only fought one battle, they repelled a main infantry brigade of the Fifth Division and contained an infantry brigade. Even though they did not achieve greater results, it was equivalent to defeating the Japanese army.
An infantry division also almost perfectly achieved the strategy of traveling hundreds of miles to Zhongtiao Mountain.
But this is still not enough for the Zhongtiao Mountain War Zone at this time.
Tang Dao's face, who had just returned to his own defense area, quickly turned gloomy, and the joy of negotiating an agreement with the 4th Division's West Burst Detachment and the Leng Feng Department repelling the Kunisaki Detachment disappeared in an instant.
There was a big flaw in the defense.
The strength of the Japanese army is only one thing, but more importantly, China has produced "pig teammates" on its side!
Because its main position of the Fifth Group Army was too close to the Japanese army's lines of communication, the Japanese army could fully utilize its heavy firepower advantage, so forget it. What is incredible is that its army headquarters actually sent the 43rd Army, the weakest under its command, to Henggao Avenue.
Put the 12th strongest army under his command in front of Tangwang Mountain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
What are they doing? A discerning person can tell at a glance that they are trying to preserve their strength.
It was just selfishness, but what was more fatal was that they actually ignored the gap between the 4th Army and the 4th Army. As a result, a Japanese troop bypassed the frontal defense line of its 12th Army and entered the Zhongtiao Mountain Defense Area with unknown strength.
.
‘Deep and roundabout penetration’, this tactic instantly appeared in Tang Dao’s mind.
Although the Japanese often have dull tactics, that's because they have strong enough heavy firepower to support them, and they can get away with it. But once they encounter a tough nut, their heads are also very practical.
Tang Dao really wanted to send troops to block the gap immediately, but unfortunately he had not only reached an agreement with Daxiong Yunsuke, the two sides would stage a rivalry show on this battlefield, and agreed that neither side could send troops to reinforce other positions, otherwise it would be
Take the initiative to break the agreement.
This is inevitable. Ten thousand versus five thousand will be "inextricable". If Sizhou Mountain can mobilize troops to reinforce other places, the West Tuo detachment will not be able to explain to the higher ups at all. Even if there are gold and silver mountains, I am afraid
The brain doesn't matter either.
Of course, what's more important is that Tang Dao doesn't trust Daxiong Yuxinosuke.
Although the two sides seemed to be saying hello, me, hello, everyone at noon, if the nationalities of the two were aside, they almost became brothers who burned yellow paper, but Tang Dao actually always harbored feelings for that "Majin Buu"
Great caution.
A person who can even sell out national interests has an extremely low bottom line!
All people and things have only value in his eyes. If he knows that the defense line on the opposite side is insufficient, it is not impossible to tear up the so-called verbal agreement and devour the opponent to gain military exploits.
Even the Chinese’s secret negotiations will be boasted as ‘tactical deception’.
As for the 4th Division, it is by no means as unbearable as joked in unofficial histories. Its combat effectiveness may not be as good as that of the 5th Division, but it will definitely not be weaker than veteran divisions such as the 3rd Division and the 6th Division.
Tang Dao's worries were not without reason.
Itagaki Shiro suddenly increased his troops at 3:00 pm on January 10. The center attack group led by Nakamura Masao originally had two detachments and an infantry regiment of nearly 30,000 people. By the evening, it had reached nearly 40,000 people. The number of troops was almost the same as that of the
The 4th Army Group plus Tang Dao Department were even.
That was an infantry brigade of more than 7,600 people from the 105th Division that had been staying on the outskirts of Yuncheng. Although it was not the last trump card in Shiro Itagaki's hand, it also showed that after the defeat of the Kunisaki detachment, Shiro Itagaki, who was furious, finally took out his own
Ninety percent strength.
Almost all members of the Fifth Division went into battle.
The bad news came soon after. At the suggestion of Masao Nakamura, the supreme commander of the Japanese middle attack group, the infantry brigade of the 105th Division replaced the West Burst Detachment of the 4th Division to continue attacking the Sizhou Mountain defense line.
The reason was also that Major General Okuma Konosuke of the Western Bulge Detachment had been shouting that his troops had suffered heavy losses in the two days of fighting and needed to rest and recuperate. Even if Okuma Konosuke didn't want to, he couldn't swallow what he said.
However, Daxiong Yunsuke probably still thought about the treasure of 'penicillin', so before changing defense at night, he still sent a message to Tang Dao in the way he had made an appointment with Tang Dao.
That is to say, the more than 5,000 officers and soldiers under Tang Dao will face a full infantry brigade, and they are also direct troops under the command of Itagaki Shiro. The pressure is not ordinary.
Not to mention trying to draw troops to block the gap, even with the power of the Tang Sword, being able to hold this line of defense with the new soldiers and heavy supplies would be the greatest success.
Tang Dao knew that asking for help from the white-haired general of the 38th Army at this time would only cause chaos for him.
When the Japanese army broke through the middle line of defense between the 5th Army and the 4th Army in the afternoon, General Baifa had already dispatched his last reserve force, the guard battalion directly under his military headquarters.
As the commander of an army in Munan Town, there was only one guard platoon around him at this time.
But in order not to shake the morale of the army, even if Tang Dao called him to persuade him to leave and go to the 46th Independent Brigade to temporarily avoid the Japanese troops, he still refused in return.
"The enemy is currently facing us. All the officers and soldiers of our 38th Army will not leave the front line even half a step. How can Zhao leave his post without permission? The devil wants my life. The good head is here, come and get it!"
Faced with the stubbornness of the white-haired general, Tang Dao was helpless.
Of course Tang Dao knew that the white-haired general had his own reasons.
The Thirty-eighth Army is a newly formed unit, and the 17th Division is his old unit, so it is naturally prohibited by order, but there are still two newly added units, the 96th Army and the Independent 46th Brigade.
Munan Town was originally the rear area. As soon as there was a possible crisis, the military headquarters immediately evacuated. What would the first army and brigade that were still struggling think?
If you can take one step back now, you will have to take ten steps back and a hundred steps back in the future! Why, the life of your army commander is life, but the lives of us are not life?
Doubt is poison, especially in such a cruel battlefield where human lives are constantly being taken, it will be infinitely magnified.
If the white-haired general persists in the face of crisis, even if he dies on the battlefield, he will have fulfilled the oath he made before the war and will only cost the lives of the three armies.
Just like General Zhang on the Zaoyi battlefield in time and space, he obviously could leave, but he refused to leave, preferring to die to express his ambition.
What he had in mind was that if you soldiers can die, I, the general, can die just as well.
But no matter what the white-haired general thought, Tang Dao could not just watch the crisis coming and let this commander be put in danger.
Fortunately, he had already taken precautions and placed Long Yan and a communication team in Munan Town. On the surface, he wanted to try to maintain contact between the Sizhou Mountain Defense Area and the 38th Army Headquarters. In fact, it was just Tang Daoliu's last backup.
Long Yan looked like a fool, but he was actually very thoughtful. Tang Dao issued a secret order. If the Japanese soldiers really passed through the defense line and forced Mo Nan Town, Long Yan would take them away even if they disobeyed the general's orders.
Tang Dao's worries unfortunately came true on January 11.
Under the command of Masao Nakamura, the Japanese army attacked with more than 30,000 troops, and the 4th Army and Tang Daobu had to fight with all their strength.
On this day, the Japanese army not only used 105 howitzers and heavy artillery, but also dispatched 4 waves of bombers, a total of 48 sorties, to bombard various defense lines indiscriminately.
The Sizhou Mountain defense line, which had finally been put down for two days because of the presence of the 4th Division, received special care. A full 20 heavy aerial bombs fell on the defense line.
If it had not been for two extra days of breathing time, more than 5,000 Chinese soldiers, led by the heavy troops of the Four Lines Regiment who had seen the cruelty of the battlefield, would have dug thousands of meters of 2-meter-deep trenches and many anti-artillery shells in the mountains.
Hole.
It is estimated that these 20 heavy aerial bombs alone can take away several infantry companies!
Even so, during the nearly one hour of indiscriminate bombardment, hundreds of officers and soldiers died without even seeing the infantry of the 105th Division.
Under the cover of artillery fire, the 105th Division launched an all-out attack at 8:20 a.m. In the first round of fire tests alone, three infantry squadrons were used. After the recruits had to use some heavy machine guns to suppress fire,
, the Japanese army mobilized more than 10 infantry squadrons to enter the front line, and no less than 5 squadrons followed closely behind.
The attack of 3,000 infantry turned the hillside into an earthy color, which made people shudder.
If instead the four main infantry battalions of the Four Lines Regiment were here, let alone 3,000 Japanese soldiers, even if there were twice as many, Tang Dao would not be afraid.
Unfortunately not!
If the new recruits had not fought in Tongguan battlefield and had some battlefield experience, they would have suffered a psychological breakdown under the crazy Japanese artillery fire and the indiscriminate bombing by planes.
It was already remarkable for them that they could persist in hiding in the trenches and point their guns downwards and fire back under the heart-rending orders of the platoon commanders.
However, their poor marksmanship and lack of courage to raise their heads and aim calmly at the advancing Japanese troops caused the Japanese infantry to approach 200 meters from the front of the position during the second wave of attacks.
The heavy soldiers of the four regiments who intertwined with the new company on the defense line showed enough courage. Many of them, inspired by the veteran squad leader, stared at the Japanese gunfire and bullets emerging, and tried their best to aim and shoot.
Obviously, not only in terms of courage, but marksmanship, they cannot compare with the regular army of the Si Xing Regiment, nor can they compare with the Japanese veterans of the 105th Division.
Even with the protection of trenches, nearly a hundred heavy troops were killed or injured in this brutal exchange of fire.
When targeted by Japanese veterans, the probability of death is even greater than injury.
However, the Japanese infantry only fell less than a hundred people. This was despite the fact that China had fortification protection and geographical advantages. If it were brought to a plain field battlefield, the casualty ratio would be almost one to one. Even if Tang Tuanzuo calculated,
With three heads and six arms, it is estimated that this battle will also end with the entire army being destroyed.
Fortunately, the new recruits and baggage soldiers also have a large number of heavy machine guns!
Seeing that the infantry alone could no longer suppress the imminent move of the Japanese infantry who had advanced less than 200 meters, Tang Dao calmly gave the order and ordered the No. 1 to 20 heavy machine gun fire stations to open fire.
At this time, there were a total of 60 Min-24 heavy machine guns on the defense line and 10 Maxim heavy machine guns carried by the baggage company, which were organized by Tang Dao into numbers 1 to 70 and distributed behind each position.
The 20 heavy machine guns opened fire, which was only close to one-third of the firepower of all the heavy machine guns in the army.
Tang Dao cannot expose all its firepower as soon as it comes up. The Japanese army has countless infantry artillery and mountain artillery staring at the defense line. Although the Japanese army uses more than 2,000 infantry to attack wildly, in fact they use their strength to pressure the defenders to use heavy firepower.
To put it bluntly, the Japanese army used human lives in exchange for heavy firepower points that could suppress the infantry. Once these heavy firepower points that could cause a lot of damage to the infantry were eliminated, that would be the time for them to finally launch a general offensive.
If any of the four major infantry battalions were here, the Japanese army's simple and direct pressure attack test would not have much effect at all. The rifles and submachine guns used by the elite infantry alone would make the Japanese infantry pay a heavy price.
But now Tang Dao has no elites under his command, not even ordinary ones.
Therefore, Tang Dao could only play the most cruel tactic on the battlefield with the Japanese army - a war of attrition!
The Japanese army wasted the lives of its infantry, while Tang Dao wasted its own heavy firepower.
This extremely cruel battle was actually about seeing how many Japanese infantry lives the Chinese's 70 heavy machine guns could exchange for. The one who could hold on until the end of the battle was the winner.
The battle, which was so cruel that even Tang Dao's eyes turned red, lasted for a whole day.
As dusk approached, the hazy weather suddenly cleared up, and a waning sun set over the mountains.
The clouds all over the sky are gorgeous!
It was reflected that the eyes of the officers and soldiers on both sides and even the commander were red.
Maybe it wasn't just the sunset, but the battlefield stained red with blood.
The hillside is covered with khaki corpses of Japanese soldiers, which look densely packed like a swarm of insects from a distance. There is no need to count them in detail. It is only a preliminary estimate that there are more than 600 Japanese corpses left on the hillside.
These are only the dead. If the wounded are included, the battle losses of the infantry brigade of the 105th Division on this day alone were more than 1,500.
An army composed of new soldiers and heavy baggage troops could achieve this result in just one day, which is definitely enough to be proud of.
But including Tang Dao, no one on the Chinese side could laugh.
Because their casualties were equally heavy!
More than 800 soldiers were breathless, and most of their cold bodies didn't even have time to be transported to the rear, and were piled nearby at the rear of the trenches along the defense lines.
The remains that were forced to be stacked one on top of another were like stacked sleepers. Their already stiff faces were dusty, but it was still not as good as many of their gray eyes that had not yet been closed.
Many soldiers couldn't help but burst into tears when they saw this scene, not only for their fellow countrymen but also for themselves.
Because no one knows whether they will become one of them tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
Even the eyes of the company and platoon leaders could not hide the sadness and fear, but Tang Dao did not blame anyone for the first time. He just patted the shoulders of the young people who were burying their heads and crying when they walked through the trenches.
Whether it is sadness or fear, this is the battlefield, a place so cruel that one has to abandon humanity.
Recruits must learn to face death, not only of their comrades, but also of themselves.
The 70 heavy firepower points on the entire battlefield suffered the greatest losses in this day's battle. As many as 42 were destroyed by the Japanese army's superior artillery fire.
Of the more than 800 officers and soldiers who died in the battle, nearly 300 were members of the heavy machine gun firepower team!
Most of them died under Japanese artillery fire, but more than a dozen people died under the gunfire of the supervising team.
According to the military order, any shooter who dare not control the heavy machine gun to fire will be subject to military law on the spot by the patrol team wearing red belts patrolling the battlefield.
Extraordinary things are done in extraordinary times, and the harsh and cruel military laws may seem cruel, but they prevent the entire line of defense from collapsing.
It was under such high pressure that more than 5,000 recruits and heavy supplies survived this day, otherwise the remaining 3,800 people would not have been able to see this moment of red clouds filling the sky.
Of course, the two mortars pressed against the bottom of the box were sacrificed by Tang Dao at 5 p.m., which was also the key to the Japanese army's final decision to withdraw.
The large artillery shell of nearly 40 kilograms exploded less than 150 meters in front of the trench, which definitely destroyed the will of the Japanese army.
In front of the trench, there are more than a dozen large craters with a depth of 5 meters and a diameter of 3 meters, which are the masterpieces of the mortars.
Whether they were prone, kneeling or bent over, the Japanese soldiers hit by the shells from the front were all dead.
The Japanese infantry with a diameter of fifty meters near the impact point was not much better. No matter whether they were strong or thin, or whether they were desperately lowering their bodies and wishing to bury their heads and faces in the soil, they would be mercilessly beaten like leaves by the huge shock wave.
It blew up again and then hit the ground hard.
Often a single artillery shell can take away half an infantry squad. Even as ferocious as the Japanese army was, they were completely cowed by such exaggeratedly large artillery shells as the Chinese.
The battlefield gradually fell into darkness and fell into silence. China and Japan, hidden in the darkness, were like two ferocious beasts, each licking their wounds and waiting for the light to arrive again.
Fight again!
Just as the Japanese major general brigade commander 2,000 meters away wrote the battle report with a livid face: "The Chinese are stubborn, but the return of 763 imperial officers and soldiers to their homeland has forced them into a desperate situation. If we fight again tomorrow, all their stubbornness will be completely shattered."
.”
The Japanese were still holding back their grief and gathering strength, but Tang Dao received bad news that he didn't want to hear in the evening.
The pig teammates did not block the gap, resulting in more than 2,000 Japanese troops entering the defense line!
