Under the light of the flares, the Japanese army looked at the battlefield full of remains. For the first time, they did not raise their bayonets and cheer for their own victory with the flag mountain roaring.
It's not that they were afraid of the Chinese mortar bombardment from afar. After the bombardment twenty minutes ago that was completely fatal, none of the several mortars owned by the Chinese fired a single shot.
No matter how stupid you are, you still know that the Chinese people who have been forced into a desperate situation have run out of gas.
Whether it is on the hills or in the trenches by the river, the continuous firing of the Chinese's once fierce shell guns and submachine guns is no longer the main theme of the battlefield.
The unique gunshots of Type 38 rifles occupied the entire battlefield, and this was true for both China and Japan.
Yes! Even if it is as strong as the 36th Infantry Brigade, after nearly two hours of continuous and uninterrupted attacks, its artillery has used up 80% of its artillery shell reserve, and its infantry has also consumed enough to sustain a normal battle for three days.
Their ammunition is far inferior to that of the Japanese army. Why don’t the Chinese use up all their own ammunition?
The Chinese may not be afraid of death, but in the end it is only a matter of will and cannot be exchanged for bullets.
Just as the Japanese army on the hill thought, as for ammunition, it was completely exhausted on the hill, and there was very little left in the trenches. The remaining submachine gun bullets were concentrated in the hands of elite veterans, unless the Japanese army had already attacked
Enter the trenches, otherwise you will never shoot. What maintains the shaky defense line is the rifle retrieved from the corpses of Japanese soldiers before the battlefield.
As for the four mortars in Pang Dahai's hands, it is not that they have been completely consumed. He still has 4 shells.
It's just that since the 67th Army fought against Japan in North China and witnessed the tragedy of the Japanese invaders killing prisoners, most of them were accustomed to saving the last bullet for themselves.
Four artillery shells will be fired only after the entire position is captured. Then, the artillerymen will collectively return to the infantry and rush into the enemy group.
The Japanese army did not cheer, not because of fear, but because of huge frustration.
Until they occupied the entire hill, they found no more than 180 remains of Chinese soldiers. This meant that it was just a strengthened infantry company, but they used nearly five infantry squadrons and spent more than 600 soldiers.
Human battle losses.
Among them, one captain, an infantry squadron leader, five lieutenants and second lieutenants were killed in the battle, and there were as many as 26 captains and sergeants who were the backbone of the soldiers.
With absolutely superior military strength and absolutely superior firepower, they have achieved such a shocking record. What else is worth cheering for?
But this may just be the thoughts of the Japanese infantry who only tasted the bitterness while standing on the conquered position. For Kanda Masane, who finally received the command to conquer the hill position, it was a real sigh of relief.
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For the army commander at this time, it was no longer a matter of conquering a strategically important location. He could mount machine guns and infantry artillery on the hill from a high position to shoot at the Chinese who were still resisting in the trenches. Instead, he needed victory.
Although the number of casualties was so huge that it made people numb, he knew that as the top commander on the front line, he must be able to write down what these casualties would bring in the battle report.
‘Conquer the most important heavy firepower position of China’s enemy!’ will be the fig leaf he hands over to the brigade and regiment headquarters and even the division headquarters.
Even if this fig leaf was bought with the lives of more than 600 imperial infantrymen.
That's not important. What's important is that he needs a result.
If such a number of casualties cannot defeat the Chinese position, I am afraid that the already exhausted brigade commander staying 800 meters away will put him on the blacklist in advance!
On the frontal battlefield where casualties are greater, he will be more relaxed. According to the current battle situation, the Chinese position will be broken by him sooner or later.
As for the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade that is in urgent need of rescue, the Japanese Army Colonel has already selectively forgotten it. Even without infantry protection, they are a majestic Imperial Artillery Brigade! With a strength of close to 8,000 people, it is not enough to kill them.
They can kill the small group of Chinese who attacked them!
What kind of farewell message should I send to the whole army on the jade-shattering position? Who should I send it to? Anyway, I am fighting at the moment, so whoever sends it will be embarrassed!
Anyway, Masane Kanda, who finally breathed a sigh of relief at this time, would never believe that the current predicament of the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade was as tragic as described in their telegram. In his opinion, it was just that person
He has never seen the alarmist talk of the two-faced Heavy Artillery Major General.
Of course, even if it was really like that, what could he do? He had already tried his best. For those idiots, the imperial infantry had already paid 2,000 casualties. Even if they won in the end, half of the brigade would be beaten.
It will take two and a half years to recover to its former combat effectiveness.
"Order the heavy machine gun squadron affiliated with the 3rd Infantry Brigade to station in the occupied position, and order the infantry artillery squadron directly under the regiment to station in the occupied position." Kanda Masane quickly issued the military order, with ice in his eyes and an excited voice.
"Command to the front, the entire army will temporarily stop attacking. When all the redeployed heavy firepower is in place, our army will launch a final blow to the Chinese. In this battle, I will personally go to the front line to fight side by side with you! May the empire have a prosperous military fortune!
"
"Hi!"
In the field headquarters shrouded in dim yellow lights, all the junior and lieutenant-level combat staff members bowed their heads in response.
The morale, which had been quite low due to the failure of continuous attacks, was boosted by a certain colonel's declaration of 'fighting side by side'.
Perhaps, only Lieutenant Colonel and Chief of Staff Setouchi Setouchi of the 36th Infantry Brigade, whose face was obscured by the darkness, curled his lips slightly to express his disdain.
They were all beaten into pig heads by the Chinese, but they still showed off! There was no such thing as "fighting side by side", it was just a symbolic standing in the trench dug by the supervising team and watching one's own infantry fall on the way to charge.
Just like this, you still have to compete with me for this front-line commander, you idiot! This may be Setouchi's only evaluation of his colleague.
Although he knew very well that although his colleague Zheng Xiuer was not very smart in fighting, he was very skillful in officialdom.
The reason why Kanda Masane competed with him for the role of the first commander on the front line was to try to reduce his own culpability. Regardless of whether he was victorious or not, the 6th Heavy Artillery Brigade encountered China because of their 36th Infantry Brigade.
People have to take responsibility for attacks that have been planned for a long time.
Of course, Major General Mitsuru Ushijima, the commander of the brigade, is the first person responsible. However, he is a major general and has a strong backer at the base camp. At most, he will retire from active service and enter the reserve. As long as the war continues, who knows when?
will be re-hired.
The rank of major-level officers is too low and they are not qualified to take the blame. Obviously, the blame falls on the colonel and lieutenant colonel.
Kanda Masane didn't have to risk his life to show off! Maybe that was the last time he gave orders in the position of colonel.
It's a pity that cleverness leads to mistakes. I'm afraid Kanda Masane didn't expect that his opponent would be so tough. He actually blocked his army for nearly two hours and caused such heavy casualties to the imperial infantry.
He had no choice but to declare that he would go to the battlefield.
It would be great if this idiot was killed by a Chinese stray bullet or a cold gunman! The little devil in the Japanese Army Lieutenant Colonel's heart was flapping his wings desperately as his face was placed in the dark light.
Because of the ownership of this corner of the battlefield, the Japanese army had mixed emotions.
The battlefield also fell into a brief silence.
In the Chinese trench, shrouded in darkness again, stingy old Zhou's figure was as stiff as a clay sculpture.
He was not sad that his position would face the last fierce attack by the Japanese army, nor was he even sad that the important place chosen by him and Lao Zhao had been lost.
Rather, he knew that the old comrade who liked to make fun of him was dead!
He was still so unreasonable and used an almost arrogant method to get the chance to die first.
