With Ikegami Kenji's desperate efforts, Su Yingqi's pressure immediately doubled. The two sides almost did not conduct any probing attacks, and then collided with each other fiercely. In order to regain this commanding height in the shortest time, the Japanese army came up with a squadron as the organization.
A wave-like continuous charge with pressure on the entire line.
Facing an almost continuous offensive under the cover of extremely fierce artillery fire, the troops led by Su Yingqi, facing the Japanese troops attacking from three directions, were short-lived even though there were fortifications built by the Japanese army that could be used.
Within a short period of time, it was a hard fight.
The Japanese army barely paused for a moment, and under the continuous charge, they didn't even have time to take a breath. During the attack, the Japanese army adopted a variety of tactics. If a frontal attack failed, they would use roundabouts to outflank them. If the roundabouts on the flanks were repelled, they would be outflanked.
A two-pronged approach, taking the risk of being accidentally injured by artillery fire, launched attacks in three directions at the same time. This kind of attack by the Japanese army made Su Yingqi somewhat stretched in the use of troops.
The fierceness of the Japanese offensive, the large number of troops invested, and even the casualties, surprised Su Yingqi even though he was mentally prepared. The flares fired by both sides almost illuminated the area controlled by Su Yingqi.
A whole day.
Although they suffered heavy casualties under the cross fire of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the Japanese offensive did not weaken as time went on, but became more and more fierce. Waves of attacks were defeated, and the remaining Japanese soldiers persisted on the spot. They even had their own
The corpses of his colleagues were built into fortifications, and they fired at the anti-union forces on the spot.
When the next wave of attacking troops arrived, the Anti-Union mortars that rushed across the reverse slope of the mountain formed a fire interception net, and then joined the second wave of charging troops. They even risked the intensive counterattack firepower of the Anti-Union Alliance to attack the enemy.
Infantry artillery and rapid-fire artillery were pushed under the eyes of the Anti-Japanese Alliance and opened fire directly.
The company at the foot of the mountain bore the brunt of the Japanese attack. In just half an hour, seven to eight hundred artillery shells fell on the small position they controlled. At the same time, in order to pull out
To solve this problem, the Japanese army deployed two squadrons of troops to attack from both sides, using a multi-channel simultaneous attack strategy.
Although relying on the firepower on the hills behind them, especially the firepower support of three large-caliber machine guns, the Japanese army was restrained from pushing the infantry artillery under their noses and firing directly. However, when the Japanese army was fighting like crazy, regardless of casualties,
Under attack, after holding on for two and a half hours, half of the position was lost.
The troops suffered more than half their own casualties, and the remaining troops were compressed to the foot of the mountain. Although Su Yingqi continued to organize anti-slope mortar fire support, the shortcomings in his troops prevented him from continuously investing reinforcements like the Japanese army. The troops at the foot of the mountain
, no longer able to stand, they had no choice but to shrink. They gave up the position at the foot of the mountain and pulled the remaining troops back to the mountainside to hold on.
The positions on the mountain were also reduced to ruins by the fierce Japanese artillery fire. The firepower point inside the mountain was formed by Japanese fortifications. The Japanese army used the cover of night to advance to a distance of 1,500 meters and opened fire directly. Two twenty-five-pound field guns, two
A third was destroyed within hours.
The fortification group here was built by the Japanese army, and they knew the location of the firepower points very well. This artillery did not need to be too progressive, and it did not even use flares to indicate the target. Using a blind fire method at a long distance, two artillery shells can destroy a
The firepower point is that there is no need to test fire at all.
In order to destroy the field gun, Su Yingqi personally directed a 14mm machine gun to continuously capture and destroy the field gun. However, the Japanese army deployed an engineer squadron to assist the artillery in changing positions for the field gun. It was by no means the same place.
On the position, contact and fire three times.
After firing two rounds of artillery shells, they immediately moved their positions. It was night again, and the visibility of 1,500 meters was almost zero. The limited illumination bombs could only be used to block the Japanese offensive. In addition, this field gun
A muzzle brake was also installed. Even at night, the muzzle fire was quite inconspicuous, and this field gun was never captured.
When the sky gradually began to lighten during the battle, the hill where Su Yingqi was located had been blown into a piece of dust by the intensive artillery fire of the Japanese army. Then he grabbed a handful and his hands were full of shrapnel. From the time when both sides officially opened fire to seven o'clock in the morning, ten o'clock in the morning.
Within an hour, tens of thousands of Japanese artillery shells of various calibers fell on this small hill.
There was nothing left of the already sparse vegetation on the entire mountain. The incendiary bombs fired by the Japanese army had long been burned to a white ground. The main peak position among the three mountain tops was destroyed during the ten hours of fierce fighting.
, the bottom was cut off nearly one meter by Japanese artillery shells.
Due to the limitations of the terrain, the actual forces invested by both sides were actually at the battalion level. Even the Japanese army did not have more than two infantry brigades. However, after less than twelve hours of fierce fighting, the entire position was beaten into a state.
It is enough to show the great determination of the Japanese army and the fierce concentration of artillery fire.
The troops at the foot of the mountain, under the continuous crazy attacks of the Japanese army, have all been forced to shrink to the ridgeline. In both directions, the Japanese army has also laid many nails in the forward positions. At this point in the battle, the troops he led
The battalion was strengthened, and one third of the casualties were already there.
Of course, the casualties of the Japanese army were even greater. In front of the entire position, there was a whole layer of corpses that the Japanese army had no time to recover. In front of the position, there were everywhere the screams of the wounded Japanese soldiers who had no time to evacuate. After ten hours of fierce fighting, the Japanese army entered the battlefield for the first time.
of the force, with two-thirds casualties.
However, even though they suffered huge casualties, the Japanese army's investment in troops and firepower in this direction did not decrease significantly. After the fierce battle in the middle of the night, although both sides were quite exhausted, the Japanese army continued to invest.
troops.
In a fierce battle in the middle of the night, the main attacking Independent 38th Infantry Brigade was defeated. Among the four infantry squadrons that were invested, it could only be reduced to one infantry squadron in just ten hours. The captain of the Independent 38th Infantry Brigade was personally commanded by the front line.
Saburo Kiyono was also killed by an anti-alliance mortar during the battle.
All the squadron captains of the four squadrons participating in the battle were killed, and 70% of the officers were casualties. A considerable part of the infantry squad was basically wiped out. The first squadron participated in the battle, and only seven wounded were left in the end. This number of casualties
It has exceeded the casualties paid by the independent mixed ninth brigade in the entire third battle of Changsha.
Faced with the delay in making decisive progress and the huge casualties. Major General Ikegami Kenkichi was quite surprised by the fierce firepower of the counter-infantry infantry and the strong will to fight, but he did not hesitate at all. He immediately mobilized the entire
On the Kangbao battlefield, two squadrons of the Japanese reserve force, the 40th Independent Infantry Brigade, took over the offensive.
And two squadrons of the brigade's engineering brigade were also invested in this direction. A squadron of baggage troops was also transferred and assigned to the 48th Independent Brigade. In order to seize this commanding heights, Major General Ikegami Kenkichi can be said to have mobilized all his abilities.
Mobilized troops.
After Major Saburo Kiyono was killed in battle, he immediately sent Lieutenant Colonel Katsuki Horiuchi, captain of the Independent 40th Brigade, to take over the command. The 38th Independent Brigade and the Independent 40th Brigade were both transferred to the Koba Battlefield before the Independent Mixed Ninth Brigade was transferred to the battlefield.
The basic troops that participated in the Third Battle of Changsha.
By replacing the 38th Independent Infantry Brigade with the 38th Independent Infantry Brigade, Major General Kenkichi Ikegami is putting his money where his mouth is. There is no other way. If he wants to defend Kangbao City, the hilly area in the northeast must be recaptured. Otherwise, the Anti-Japanese Alliance will be condescending.
If you rush, you can even hit his headquarters directly.
In order to shrink his troops and ensure the input of troops in the northern battlefield, he even reduced the defense on the southern line to the east twelve hectares, Haojia Village, and Guojiaying line. This is only a few kilometers away from Kangbao City. But Ikegami Kenji's move
But it is not a simple concession.
He used retreat to disperse the forces invested by the Anti-Alliance on the southern front. Although he shrank the southern defense line back a considerable distance, he left a large number of firepower points and troops behind the Anti-Alliance. This
In the same way, unless the resistance alliance on the southern front is willing to take the risk of being attacked from both sides, they can only disperse their forces and attack one by one.
Faced with this situation, Yang Jicai immediately put his last reserve force into the offensive on the southern front. However, the lack of troops had a fatal impact on this battle. Although he had tried his best to launch the offensive
, to cope with Su Yingqi's troops who were fighting hard on the northern front.
However, with limited troops, he was unable to attack until noon of the second day. He could only use part of his troops to contain them head-on, and mobilize some of his troops to turn back and clear out the nails deliberately left by the Japanese behind him. Otherwise, he would be unable to attack the enemy behind him.
Under the pincer attack, it is difficult for the troops at the front to stay there.
As for Su Yingqi on the northern front, the only support he can do now is to detach a company from the front line to strengthen Su Yingqi. In order to prevent Su Yingqi, who has insufficient strength, from being in the north under such a desperate offensive by the Japanese army.
The battle on the front line was completely defeated.
After receiving a detailed report, Yang Jicai did not object to Su Yingqi's switch from offense to defense on the northern front. For him, he absolutely did not have the capital to kill the Japanese army in front of him. His original intention was also to adopt millstone tactics.
An offensive was launched at night to seize several key points, and by using defense instead of attack, the Japanese army's deep-seated troops were attracted bit by bit.
Taking advantage of his superiority in infantry firepower, he stood firm during the day and gradually consumed the effective strength of the Japanese army. However, he was originally prepared to bear the burden of the millstone himself. However, Su Yingqi seized a key point on the northern front and transferred the burden to
Carrying it on his back. Su Yingqi's adjustment of deployment was exactly in line with his tactics.
It's just that the current situation, although it is developing according to Yang Jicai's original expectation, but the current situation makes him really unable to be optimistic. The lack of troops means that he has no reserve team in hand. Although he used the main force of the Japanese army on the southern front, he was attracted by Su Yingqi.
opportunity, after fighting for most of the night, a considerable number of key points have been seized.
However, due to the lack of strength, the current attacking troops are no longer able to continue attacking forward. Unless the Japanese troops behind them consciously destroy the nails left behind when they shrink back, otherwise the troops have been used to their maximum strength.
, except for infiltration operations, it is no longer possible to mobilize more than one platoon of troops to launch an attack.
The battle situation on the southern front does not worry him too much. What he is most worried about now is that the northern front is currently responsible for 60% of the Japanese troops and almost 90% of the artillery fire. The current strength of the southern front is
It has been used to the extreme, and there is really no way to deploy more troops to the northern front.
When night fell again, faced with the stalemate battle situation and the increasing pressure on the Northern Front, Yang Jicai temporarily formed a platoon and transferred non-combatants such as grooms, guards, and clerks to the Northern Front.
After defeating Su Yingqi, there were really no troops left to mobilize.
After hesitating for a long time, Yang Jicai gave up on reporting directly to the headquarters and sent a telegram to Liu Changshun and Wang Minggui respectively. Although he had an urge to report directly to the headquarters, considering the strict discipline in the army, Yang Jicai finally