As time went by, Japanese troops continued to arrive on the battlefield.
In addition to the arrival of all members of the 45th Infantry Regiment, the 47th Infantry Regiment also followed pantingly.
However, the battlefield, which is only 1,500 meters wide, obviously cannot accommodate thousands of people from two infantry regiments rushing forward.
In order to prevent being killed by dense bullets, each wave of soldiers thrown into the attack is destined to not exceed 4 infantry squadrons.
However, before Ushijima Mitsuru arrived in person, there must be a first commander on the front line.
The 47th Infantry Regiment, which arrived immediately after the 45th Infantry Regiment, was attacking at the foot of Songjiang City. The remaining personnel of the three infantry brigades were about 2,000, so only about 3 infantry squadrons were sent to assist the 45th Infantry Regiment in the attack.
He also clearly handed over his command power.
Lieutenant Colonel and Chief of Staff Setouchi Setouchi of the 36th Infantry Brigade, who followed the actions of the 47th Infantry Regiment, was also very sensible and only participated in the coordination, and did not regard himself as the current first commander to dictate.
This has always been an awkward point for the chiefs of staff of various departments of the Japanese Army. In terms of position, whether it is a division or a brigade, the chief of staff is the second person besides the chief officer. However, in order to ensure the absolute authority of the military chief, the Japanese Army
, the chiefs of staff assigned to each ministry are basically two ranks lower than the chief officer.
For example, the division commander at the division level is a lieutenant general, and the chief of staff is basically an Army colonel. Only a few senior officers are Army major generals.
But what embarrasses chiefs of staff at all levels is that the chief officers of subordinate regiments or brigades are often only one rank lower than the first chief officer, which means they are one rank higher than them.
As for Setouchi, how could he, a lieutenant colonel, give guidance in front of a colonel? Especially when the opponent suffered a new defeat, he even did not hesitate to accuse Commander Yanagawa Heisuke directly in front of all his subordinates.
At that time, he rushed up and said, "Brother was sent here by His Excellency the brigade commander." Isn't that looking for embarrassment?
The Army Lieutenant Colonel is sure that except for a few guards around him, no one here will listen to him.
But this is also good. Ushijima Mitsuru made a mistake, and Kanda Masane took the initiative to take over the command of the two regiments. No matter what the situation is after this battle, he does not need to take the blame.
Based on this mentality, after Setouchi arrived at the temporary headquarters of the 45th Infantry Regiment in a small forest, he stopped speaking except to reiterate Ushijima Mitsuru's order to assist the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade as soon as possible.
Kanda Masane, who didn't even say a polite word to Setouchi's behavior that was considered sensible, was more disdainful than just accommodating him, disdainful of being polite to an Army lieutenant colonel.
The Japanese army's Type 92 infantry gun weighs 200 kilograms and the Type 75 mountain gun weighs more than 600 kilograms. Basically, they can be disassembled and transported.
Moreover, the Japanese army has a large number of pack horses. Although the artillery unit is not as mobile as the lightly-armed infantry, it will never lag too far behind.
Before Ushijima Mitsuwa's brigade headquarters was about to arrive at the front line, the artillery had already been positioned in accordance with Kanda Masane's request.
The 45th Infantry Regiment has 10 92 infantry cannons and 4 75 mountain cannons. Although the 47th Infantry Regiment only sent 3 infantry squadrons to participate in the battle, they generously handed over all the artillery of their regiment to Kanda Masaru.
kind of blending.
20 minutes later, the Japanese army's 8 mountain artillery pieces and 20 92 infantry artillery pieces began to speak one after another.
But during these 20 minutes, the battlefield was never quiet.
Just like two ferocious beasts that had already planned to fight to the death, even the darkness could not stop them from showing their strong white teeth.
Murder can be seen everywhere.
Before the bombardment, the Japanese army was not so cruel that they ignored their wounded soldiers who were lying at the front of the battlefield and might still be alive. They sent a large number of soldiers into the battlefield in the dark in an attempt to drag back the wounded soldiers who still had a few breaths of life.
However, after the Chinese soldiers on the opposite side heard the noise, they took the initiative to fire flares, and the khaki figure crawling on the ground was clearly visible in the field.
Distances of tens of meters or even hundreds of meters are beyond the reach of grenades, but that is the easiest killing range for rifles.
The riflemen in the trenches used the white light to shoot at the crawling khaki. The crawling khaki did not show weakness and kept firing back. Seeing this, the heavy machine guns behind the Japanese position also fired.
Provide cover for your own infantry.
This resulted in mortars behind the Chinese positions also joining the battle one after another to attack the Japanese heavy machine gun positions.
In the darkness, the clear bullet marks continuously fired by the heavy machine gun are like a beacon in the night, making it easier to determine the direction than during the day.
In other words, during these 20 minutes, except for the Japanese military headquarters which was still deploying troops and waiting for artillery support, the Chinese and Japanese troops on the front line were actually not idle.
If you shoot me, I will shoot. If you bring me a machine gun, I will use a mortar.
Of course, this is naturally the Chinese side that takes the initiative, while the Japanese army who hopes to rescue the wounded soldiers counterattacks passively, and the Chinese side, which has trenches as a barrier, has full advantages.
Twenty minutes passed, but not a few of the wounded soldiers who were lying at the front of the battlefield were recovered, and dozens of people were killed or injured as a result. Two heavy machine guns and their shooters were blown into the sky by artillery shells.
Kanda Masane had to issue a military order for all troops to retreat five minutes before the bombardment. As the Japanese army's unique hand-cranked siren sounded, the Japanese infantry retreated unwillingly, and the Chinese soldiers also took the opportunity to huddle into the trenches.
Behind the position, Pang Dahai hurriedly ordered all mortar squads to move their positions.
Enough combat experience reminded the Chinese officers that the Japanese army, which had the advantage in strength, would never give up so easily. The reason why they did not launch a large-scale attack for 20 minutes was just waiting for artillery.
Although the previous tragic defeat caused heavy losses to the Japanese army, it also reminded them that without artillery, they were not much different from the Chinese army.
The 82-caliber mortar is the most heavy firearm equipped by the Chinese Army, not because it is powerful, but because it is light enough. Together with the base, the meritorious artillery of the Anti-Japanese War only weighs more than 60 kilograms and only needs four soldiers to carry it.
You can just run away.
Five minutes is enough for the fire support company to run 400 meters laterally.
Pang Panghai's prediction was correct, as was the guess of the Chinese officers who ordered the soldiers to huddle as much as possible into the trenches.
A total of 28 Japanese artillery pieces participated in this bombardment.
The 8 mountain guns first began to fire about 20 shells at the original approximate position of the mortar, and then turned their muzzles to bombard the hills with the clearest coordinates, while the 20 infantry guns aimed at the other side of the river.
The infantry trenches were bombarded.
The entire battlefield was almost illuminated by the flash of exploding artillery shells.
The Japanese infantry hardly waited. From the moment the infantry artillery began shelling the Chinese trenches, they bent down and trotted all the way to approach from more than 200 meters away.
Only this time, they invested much less troops.
On the long 1,500-meter front line, the total strength will not exceed 2 infantry squadrons of 400 men.
This is the sophistication of Kanda Masane.
Since he had already been delayed here for more than 40 minutes, he didn't care if he was delayed for a little longer. The fate of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade was certainly important, but the lives of the Imperial Army under his command were nothing and could be thrown away casually.
The purpose of this is to ensure that the gap between each soldier reaches five or six meters. If you want to rely on intensive firepower without aiming, the hit rate will never be too high.
Moreover, as long as one of the two infantry squadrons and six infantry squads can rush into the Chinese trenches and delay the opponent's attack, the three subsequent infantry squadrons he arranged can charge forward at high speed and finally completely defeat the opponent.
Without the protection of trenches, the Chinese could only become prey to be hunted and killed by the imperial army in the unobstructed wilderness.
Kanda Masane had even thought that even if he had to rescue the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade as soon as possible, he would leave three infantry squadrons behind to hunt down all the Chinese who collapsed in the wilderness.
He wants to hang a Chinese corpse on every tree here to let those damn Chinese know that those who resist will die.
Of course, all this is based on his having sufficient artillery advantages.
