The offensive and defensive sides adjusted their positions. The strong pass of Lion Gate, which once destroyed the entire 33rd Division, turned into paper in front of the artillery of the 8th Division. After a quarter of an hour of shelling, Yokoyama Yuki clicked. Of a gendarmerie brigade out of more than a thousand people, only about thirty survived. This was because the little devils saw the opportunity quickly and rolled down the mountain.
As Ouyang Yun said, the Lion Gate is a pass that Okamura Neji has to defend. If he cannot defend the Lion Gate, once he is broken through by the chariot troops of the Xuebing Army, then this battle should not be fought. Okamura Ningji's plan was to use the Lion Gate to delay the Xuebing Army's offensive until the 11th Division and the 112th Division posed a threat to the Xuebing Army's east route. In that case, Ouyang Yun would not dare to go west with all his strength. The West Route Army can establish a deep defense between Xishan and Dacheng, and may be able to hold on until reinforcements from other armies come.
Okamura Neiji had expected that Lion Gate would not be able to stop the cadet army, but he did not expect that it would be so vulnerable. Not long after the rumbling cannons sounded on the mountain, the top of Lion Gate and the mountainside were completely enveloped by fireworks. Thick smoke rose into the sky, covering the sky. A few minutes later, more than thirty soldiers in ragged clothes appeared rolling and crawling in front of the second line of defense. A so-called major nearby said to Okamura: "Your Excellency, the Chinese artillery fire is too sharp. , there’s no way to keep it.”
Yokoyama volunteered to be the commander of the remaining troops. Okamura had not yet spoken. He said: "How many artillery shells did the Xuebing Army carry? The number of artillery shells fired back and forth must be tens of thousands. Your Excellency, the defensive position is still there. It has not been built, so now we have to resort to land reclamation tactics.”
"You seize the opportunity. You must persist until dark no matter what. The Eastern Route Army is coming at full speed. When they arrive on the battlefield, we will have a fighting chance. The student army is well prepared. We have underestimated the enemy. Your Majesty The army cannot be defeated. Even if the entire army is destroyed, we will still teach the Chinese people a painful lesson. Yokoyama-kun, let us unite as one and fight to the death for His Majesty the Emperor's great cause."
"Hai."
After the bombardment of the 8th Division stopped, a regiment of Jewish cadets, under the cover of five heavy armored vehicles, attacked the top of the Lion's Gate Mountain. At the same time, following the order from Yokoyama Isamu, a regiment of Jewish cadets belonging to the 17th Division The last military police brigade of the regiment climbed up from the trench at the foot of the mountain and rushed to the top of the mountain silently.
A quarter of an hour later, the leading soldiers of both sides met on the top of the mountain. The Japanese did not expect that the attackers would dispatch tracked armored vehicles. The more than 20 Japanese who rushed at the front did not have corresponding needle weapons, and more than ten of them were mowed down in just one encounter. , the remaining people quickly retreated, and at the same time reminded the people below to prepare weapons such as cluster grenades that can deal with armored vehicles.
When the second wave of Japanese rushed up, the Jews had already occupied the top of the mountain. This was the second time the Jews participated in actual combat and lacked combat experience. At this time, they should first consolidate their position on the top of the mountain and call in large troops for support before attacking. However, the commander who led the team ordered to take advantage of the situation and launch an attack down the mountain. In this way, although they once gained an advantage, when Yokoyama Isamu reinforced another brigade and organized a death squad to blow up three of the five armored vehicles, the lack of After more than two hundred people were killed in the battle, the morale of the Jews, tempered by blood and fire, suddenly dropped.
When the 11th Army set out from Pengze, there were nearly 80,000 people in total. These 80,000 people were divided into east and west routes. Among them, the sequence of the West Route Army was, most of the 17th Division (this division is responsible for the defense of the Jiujiang area, Suzuki Chunsong led a regiment and two brigades stationed in Jiujiang and De'an respectively), the 106th Division and approximately 6,000 troops directly under the corps; the East Route Army consisted of the fully-staffed 11th Division and 112th Division.
After the West Route Army joined the Suzuki Chunsong Division in De'an, its size once reached about 46,000. However, now, after the two battles of Xiushui and Nanchang, the 17th Division suffered heavy casualties, and only eleven infantry brigades remained. Five, and its mountain artillery regiment, the mountain artillery regiment of the 106th Division, and the field artillery regiment directly under the Corps Headquarters were almost completely lost. The number of casualties among soldiers alone reached more than 6,000, plus other Arms, the casualties of the West Route Army have exceeded one division,
In less than a day, one division was gone. This had a huge impact on the morale of the Western Route Army. It is no wonder that Neji Okamura and Isamu Yokoyama, who had always been high-minded, changed their usual style and kept their heads down.
At least half of the casualties among the Japanese soldiers were frozen to death or drowned. The pain endured by these two methods of death is indescribable to the dead. However, the tragic scenes after their deaths gave the living a huge psychological impact and made them feel uncomfortable. The morale of the West Route Army immediately dropped again. If these devils had not been brainwashed by militarism, they would have collapsed by now.
Escaping the Gan River and the foothills of Meiling Mountain does not mean that they are out of danger. At this time, the Japanese army needs a victory to boost their morale. The reason why Hengshan Yu took the initiative to ask Ying to command the defense of Lion Gate is also Starting from this point, I hope to win a victory with my command and boost the morale of the whole army.
Hengshan Isamu did it. Under his supervision, the Japanese from the two brigades rushed forward without fear of death. They used the "Jade Broken Combat Technique" to crush the fighting will of the Jewish cadets. When a soldier selected by Hengshan Isamu personally After the squadron-sized death squads rushed to the front, the balance of victory and defeat immediately tilted towards the Japanese. In the eyes of the Jewish students, these Japanese were the embodiment of the devil. They did not even wear helmets, but tied a strip on their heads. Streamers, then holding a 38-meter cover and cluster grenades, he rushed towards the middle of the array of Jewish cadets.
At first, because the distance was still far, armored vehicles provided cover, and the Jewish cadets were able to fight back tenaciously. Then, as the three armored vehicles were blown up one after another, some Japanese began to howl and rush towards the burning area with smoking cluster grenades. They were behind the armored vehicle. The Jewish cadet in front couldn't hold it anymore. I don't know who turned around and ran away first, but he gave the others a bad start, and the panic immediately spread. , Then, a scene appeared that stunned Monterey (Chinese name), the commander of the 52nd Xue Brigade, who was responsible for holding the battle, and the more than 700 elite members of the Jewish Independence Army (Jews still like to call themselves so) seemed like rabbits that had lost their courage. The regiment leader Gu Qilong (Chinese name), who was also driven out, was scurrying all over the mountains and plains, waving his pistol and trying hard to stop them. As a result, he and his guard squad were left behind by the soldiers who were eager to escape, and they were handed over to to the aggressive Japanese,
Seeing Gu Qilong and the guards around him being surrounded by hundreds of Japanese soldiers and then stabbed to death, Monterey was so jealous that he snatched a Wei Qing assault rifle from a guard and headed toward the people who fled behind him. There was a shuttle beneath the feet of the soldiers in front,
"Are you still men?" Monterey shouted, completely ignoring the two soldiers whose legs were broken by him and lying on the ground wailing in terror. He raised his gun and fired a few more rounds into the sky, shouting: "Give them all." When I go back, I will not take down the Lion Gate, but will engage in military law."
(Old poison: Call after eight o'clock, lucky, lucky)