Traveling through 1937, starting from the Battle of Songhu

Chapter 314: The Japanese Year-End Sweep 3

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions are in trouble.

On the third battalion's position, the Japanese artillery bombardment continued. The soldiers had to resist the invasion of poison gas and half open their mouths to resist the damage caused by the Japanese artillery fire. It was extremely uncomfortable for a while.

The Second Battalion on the mountain was even more so. As the incendiary bombs ignited the trees and dead branches in the forest, a large amount of thick smoke drifted, making it impossible for the soldiers to open their eyes.

Yang Zhenhua did ask the soldiers to prepare wet towels, but those were for protection against poison gas bombs and could not protect against the Japanese incendiary bombs.

There was no choice but for the soldiers to close their eyes and lie on the ground and wait.

Fortunately, it is winter now, so the burning of trees is limited, and it is impossible to burn them in large areas.

Another point is that the Japanese brigade did not bring gas masks, otherwise the battle would almost be declared a failure.

Half an hour later, the Japanese aircraft squadron left and the shelling stopped.

The thick smoke drifted away with the wind, leaving behind a patch of bumpy marks on the battlefield.

This time, the Japanese's poison gas bombs, incendiary bombs, and artillery bombardment did cause a lot of damage to the two battalions.

The Second Battalion suffered direct losses of over 300 men, and the Third Battalion suffered even more, with the militia totaling over 700 men.

Although they were prepared, the militia had little battlefield experience and were still quite panicked when responding, so casualties were inevitable.

As the shelling stopped, the two regiment commanders issued attack orders one after another, and the Japanese soldiers who had been prepared for a long time began to attack.

300 meter

200 meter

100 meter

The battlefield and the mountains were quiet, without a single sound.

The Japanese squadron leader in the front row was relieved. They were very confident in the Empire's poison gas bombs. In their opinion, no accidents would occur at all.

50 meters, the distance is already very close.

It can be said that the Japanese and puppet troops had already arrived right under their noses, but the soldiers of the two battalions still did not take any action, as if they had already been completely wiped out.

At 30 meters, the soldiers knocked the grenades they had prepared long ago onto their helmets, and then a black mass of grenades flew into the group of Japanese and puppet troops, like a mountain pressing down on their heads.

"Baga, grenade!" The Japanese squadron leader in the front row only had time to give a warning before the grenade exploded.

Filled with resentment towards the Japanese and puppet troops, the soldiers of the two battalions did not hold back at all and threw hundreds of grenades at the beginning.

Boom boom boom!

They were already lax and now they were in trouble. As the explosions sounded, clusters of shrapnel flew everywhere, directly pricking the Japanese and puppet soldiers in the front row into hedgehogs. It seemed that most of them were dead.

Of course, the two battalions had more than just these means. As soon as the grenade was thrown, heavy machine guns came into play.

Da da da!

The fierce firepower network made the second and third echelons of the Japanese soldiers suffer badly, and they were shot into sieves one by one.

The Japanese soldiers had already been slacking off, and now, under the intensive firepower, they returned to the arms of Aunt Amaterasu with groups of puppet troops.

"Baga, how could this happen?" The Japanese captain in charge of the front line widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

In their view, every time the empire's biological weapons appeared, there were casualties. Why were they ineffective now?

Not only was the captain of the Japanese army shocked, but even the old Japanese soldier Tanaka who was watching the battle from the rear was puzzled. He stared at the scene in the telescope with dull eyes and muttered to himself,

He couldn't believe his eyes. Why did the biological weapons fail?

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, it seems these Chinese are prepared. We can no longer hide our heavy artillery. We must bring it out now."

Colonel Morimoto reacted quickly and immediately made suggestions to the old devil Tanaka.

He was also shocked, but being shocked would not solve the problem. He should first solve the current dilemma.

"Mr. Morimoto, you go and arrange it!" Tanaka Shinichi woke up from his thoughts and gave the order dejectedly.

He wondered if he was getting old. Why couldn't he see through this battlefield?

Morimoto received the order to make the arrangements, but no one explained to him why.

The soldiers of the second and third battalions didn't care what the Japanese commanders were thinking. Their only thought at this moment was revenge.

The companions they had been with day and night were killed by the Japanese poison gas bombs and incendiary bombs. Their hearts were already filled with anger. Facing the Japanese in front of them, there was no other choice but to send them away with bullets.

The puppet troops were frightened and fled backwards. The Japanese soldiers on the front line did not want to fight anymore and also retreated backwards. The fighting stopped immediately.

As the Japanese retreated, five heavy artillery pieces began to appear, and large-caliber grenades hit the positions one after another.

Some of the anti-artillery holes that had already withstood a lot of artillery fire were becoming shaky and on the verge of collapse.

The 150mm caliber heavy artillery was naturally powerful, and soon two or three of them were blown down, drowning many soldiers hiding inside.

Although the Third Battalion had prepared for several days, it was still unrealistic to completely defend against the Japanese heavy artillery, especially under the continuous attacks of the Japanese.

"Damn it, the Japs are completely crazy." Wu Mazi, who was hiding in the anti-artillery cave, cursed angrily.

This time he really stirred up a hornet's nest. Tanaka ignored his trump card and caused great damage to the Third Battalion.

In half an hour, seven anti-artillery holes collapsed, and more than 400 soldiers were killed or wounded.

The Third Battalion suffered a serious blow this time. In addition to the previous casualties, almost half of the personnel were lost, and even a large number of M60s were lost.

Yang Zhenhua, who was on the mountain, watched the artillery fire roar from the positions below and couldn't help but smile bitterly. "The Japs have even brought heavy artillery this time. We can't continue this battle."

War is always a back-and-forth, and he could see that the Third Battalion must have suffered heavy casualties this time.

Since their regimental artillery battalion did not move out, the inevitable result was that they had to evacuate. If they did not evacuate, they would suffer the greatest losses.

But can the Japanese let them retreat?

The angry old devil Tanaka didn't have that idea. He could see that the independent regiment came out to block the enemy without any heavy artillery or anti-aircraft guns.

So the matter is simple, he just wants to use his power to suppress others.

"Mr. Morimoto, report the losses." After calming down, Tanaka Shinichi began to inquire about the losses.

"Your Excellency, Commander, in today's battle, the Kouqi Regiment suffered 673 casualties, with 325 wounded. The Chida Regiment suffered 486 casualties, with 167 wounded. The Imperial Army suffered nearly 2000 casualties."

In fact, if it weren't for the Imperial Army, their casualties would definitely be even greater.

The two battalions had nearly 60 M50s in total. Although they did not have as many mortars and grenade launchers as the Japanese, the Japanese were the attacking side and were bound to suffer losses.

Especially the Second Battalion, they were on the mountainside and the Japanese were below, so it was naturally easier for them to fight than the Japanese.

After hearing the data reported by the staff officer, the old devil Tanaka fell silent.

In just a few days, from the first attack on the camp, which resulted in the loss of more than a thousand Imperial Army troops, to yesterday's battle, the total loss of the Imperial Army troops was nearly half, and the loss of the Imperial Army was nearly a thousand. So far, the total loss of troops has reached nearly 9000.

I can’t figure it out. I absolutely can’t figure it out.

Old Japanese Tanaka is not a fool as he can sit in the position of brigade commander, but he can't accept today's battle situation. You know, they are a brigade plus 10,000 Imperial Army troops.

Such a huge loss when dealing with thousands of Chinese?

Of course, the Imperial Army suffered the most losses. At this time, there were only more than 3000 soldiers who could fight. The rest had almost been destroyed or injured. It was impossible to expect them to take to the battlefield.