The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 329 Outpost 1
The mountains near Jiujiang were exposed in black and green shapes against the background of soaring smoke and flames. The cold and salty river wind rolled in from the river, but it could not blow away the blood all over the wilderness. and burnt smell.

Beside the road where the Botian detachment's combat preparations marched, the bodies of Chinese soldiers who died during the retreat and the captured officers and soldiers who were shot were scattered everywhere.

There were mountains of corpses piled up in the mud, and various broken guns and long-handled grenades unique to the Chinese army were scattered on the ground.

In mid-air, crows were hovering greedily, and several wild dogs with red eyes were frantically gnawing at the flesh and blood in the mud among the broken limbs.

The top commander of the detachment, Shigeichi Namada, smelled the burnt and bloody smell in the air, and looked at the heavy troop group of the Namada detachment that was slowly advancing. The fifty-three-year-old Japanese Army Lieutenant General could not hide the excitement in his eyes. and the desire to fight.

As the supreme commander of the Namada detachment, Juichi Namada has a perfect resume. He was born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1885. He graduated from the Kumamoto Army Regional Infant School and the Central Army Infant School when he was a boy. In 1905, he graduated from the 18th class of the Army Noncommissioned Officer School.

After graduation, he served as a second lieutenant in the 39th Infantry Regiment. Later, he was admitted to the 31st phase of the Army University. He served successively as the squadron leader of the 39th Infantry Regiment, assistant to the Staff Headquarters, deputy to the Kwantung Army Staff Department, staff officer of the Kwantung Army, and the 30th Infantry Regiment. He served as battalion captain, staff officer of the 17th Division, and instructor of the Director of Education Department. In 1930, he was promoted to Army Infantry Colonel, and also served as captain of the 41st Infantry Regiment and other important positions.

In March of this year, Namada Juichi had just been promoted to Army Lieutenant General. He led the Namada detachment, which was composed of the main force of the Japanese Army's Taiwan garrison, and incorporated it into the battle sequence of the Japanese 3th Army. With the assistance of the Navy, he served as the leader of the 11th Army's Wuhan offensive. The vanguard attacked Anqing, captured Madang, and occupied Jiujiang. Along the way, they cut off passes and captured passes, achieving a brilliant record of consecutive battles and victories.

With such brilliant results, Namada Juichi was extremely proud. Looking at the mighty troops marching forward, Namada Juichi seemed to see his own troops capture the last ditch of the Chinese army guarding the gate of Wuhan. Half of the defense line was mountainous, and it seemed as if his troops were the first to invade Wuhan and win the first prize.

Indeed, with the current strength and past record of the Botian detachment, he is indeed qualified to think so.

The Botian detachment currently consists of the 1st Taiwan Infantry Regiment of the Japanese troops stationed in Taiwan, the 1st Taiwan Infantry Regiment, the Taiwan Mountain Artillery Regiment, the automobile team, the health team, and two transport surveillance teams. Its total strength is equivalent to A reinforced field brigade with more than troops.

The officers and soldiers of the Namada detachment came from the Kumamoto Prefecture and Kyushu region of Japan, which are known for their fierceness. The soldiers were hard-working and fought quickly and bravely. Similarly, the military discipline of the Japanese troops with Kumamoto and Kyushu as their source of troops was also very bad.

The Botian Detachment has not been defeated since the beginning of the Wuhan conquest operation, and it still maintains a record of complete victory. The Botian Detachment, a new force coming from the Japanese garrison in Taiwan, also won the award for its outstanding performance in the battle. Received the title of "land torpedo".

Now, this land-based torpedo will attack the last barrier of defense outside Wuhan - Banbi Mountain.

Seeing the majestic appearance of his troops as they marched in, Shigeichi Hatada suddenly felt heroic.

"Your Excellency, detachment leader, telegram from military headquarters!"

Suddenly, a staff officer from the Botian detachment ran over holding a telegram.

Namada Shigeichi frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

The staff officer bowed and said: "Captain of the detachment, the military headquarters sent a telegram to inform that the naval fleet and marines will be ready for battle in about half a day and continue the attack. It is recommended that our detachment and the naval warships advance amphibiously to Banbi Mountain to attack Banbi Mountain. Maximize the effectiveness of your attack.”

Upon hearing the words, Namada Juge smiled and waved his hands and said: "Our Namada detachment is known as a land torpedo, invincible and invincible, and the fighter planes are fleeting. How can we delay the attack in order to wait for the navy? , immediately called back, thanked the military department for its kindness, and told the military department that our Botian detachment had already set off and sent a forward search detachment to search ahead. It would soon arrive at the outskirts of the Chinese army's Banbishan fortress position. Please ask the military department. I believe that the speed of our land-based torpedoes will be much faster than the navy’s attack speed!”

"Yes!"

The staff officer responded and was about to leave to call back when he was stopped by Namada Juichi.

"Wait a minute, is there any news about Hamamoto's unit as the forward?"

The staff officer thought for a while and said: "Detachment leader, Major Hamamoto sent a telegram two hours ago, reporting that there was no resistance from any Chinese troops along the way."

"Okay, let's call back to Commander Hamamoto and ask them to search carefully and advance quickly to open a way for our detachment to attack Banbi Mountain."

Just two days ago, after taking a break outside Jiujiang, Shigeichi Hatada, who was eager to win, took the lead in forming a new forward search force before the departure of the large forces, and searched in the direction of Banbi Mountain. In the past, in terms of the nature of the army, it was quite similar to the advancing column formed and dispatched by He Wei.

The Hamamoto unit that Juichi Namada mentioned was this forward search unit.

And Juichi Namada also gave this forward search force a very important task, responsible for the battle reconnaissance mission of opening a path for the main force of the Namada detachment to search.

But it didn't just stop there. Hatada Juichi, who had won consecutive victories in previous battles, boldly asked this forward force to not only carry out reconnaissance and search missions under the right circumstances, but also to carry out operations against Chinese troops encountered. Assault breakthroughs and even mobile attacks and fire pursuits.

From this point of view, the tasks assigned by Shigeichi Hatada to the forward are somewhat similar to the advancing column sent by He Wei.

The previous continuous victories have made Shigei Hatada look down upon the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, so he assigned many additional tasks to the forward troops dispatched, and even expected this unit to play a certain role as the main force.

The two heavily armed groups that were about to collide together all boldly dispatched forward troops. Such a coincidence was destined that these two forward troops would create extremely exciting sparks before the collision between the two heavily armed groups.

Thinking of the elite forward troops he had sent, Namada Juichi showed a satisfied smile, turned around, and set his sights at the end of the direction in which the team was heading.

The complacent Juichi Namada had no idea that this forward force, for which he had high hopes, was not as smooth and smooth as he imagined.

When Shigeichi Namada was arrogantly trying to capture Wuhan for the first time, on a suburban road dozens of kilometers away from the marching column of the Namada detachment, Major Hayashi Hamamoto, commander of the forward brigade of the Namada detachment, stood in a Japanese car. In the front seat of the Type 95 reconnaissance jeep produced by Black Gold Company, he loudly scolded the upright captain officer standing in front of him.

Behind the captain who was being scolded by Major Hamamoto, a group of Japanese soldiers were trying hard to drag a Type 94 light truck out of a huge trench covered with mud and rocks on the road using shovels and ropes.

Behind Major Hamamoto's jeep, hundreds of dark green Japanese-made 94-type trucks connected to the front and back of the jeep were blocked on the road. The truck compartments were loaded with fully armed Japanese infantry, dismantled. Artillery, a large amount of ammunition and supplies, communication equipment and medicine, the entire convoy was blocked on the road, lying motionless on the spot.

This motionless Japanese convoy, blocked and stopped in place, was the forward brigade of the Botian detachment. This forward force is based on the two elite infantry squadrons of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Taiwan Island Infantry Regiment under the Botian Detachment, and has been strengthened by a regiment artillery squadron equipped with four Type mm mountain guns, and a squadron of officers and soldiers mobilized from all over. A temporary engineer squadron was formed, as well as a heavy machine gun squad equipped with two Type heavy machine guns. These combat units and a small number of communications and health corps formed a forward force.

In order to provide this forward force with extraordinary rapid mobility, Namada Juichi also mobilized more than a hundred trucks and jeeps from the attached cars, allowing this forward force to fully realize the motorized march.

After setting off from Jiujiang, the forward brigade relied on the highway in Jiujiang that the Chinese army defenders had no time to destroy as a basis for rapid search and advance. While searching and advancing, they faced the harassment of small groups of defeated Chinese army troops along the way. In less than a day, They drove more than thirty kilometers, taking advantage of the speed advantage of the motorized troops, and quickly pushed towards Banbi Mountain.

However, as we gradually approached the direction of Banbi Mountain, the situation changed suddenly.

Because the Chinese army retreated too hastily near Jiujiang and did not have time to completely destroy the roads along the way before retreating, the forward brigade obtained roads with good driving conditions in the initial stage of the advance, and naturally drove at a considerable speed. But as they gradually moved away from Jiujiang and the forward group's maneuvering distance increased, the road conditions took a sharp turn for the worse.

The Chinese troops retreating from Jiujiang did not have enough time to destroy the highway, but this was not the case in places where the Japanese troops had not yet reached.

After the local Chinese local government, militia groups, security groups, and troops who had not reached the front line learned that Jiujiang was lost, they immediately completely destroyed the roads in their respective jurisdictions and defense zones. Not only did they dig a large number of trenches on the roads, The water network, rice fields and even dams near the highway were also dug up to divert water to flood the road.

Even the roadbeds of some important road sections were completely blown open by the Chinese army.

This resulted in the forward team of the Botian detachment getting worse and worse as they moved forward, moving slower and slower, and finally ended up having a mass party.

Major Hamamoto looked at the huge trench that had been opened by human destruction and explosive blasts on the road, as well as the motionless convoy of long dragons lined up behind him. He cursed at the captain in front of him: "Asshole, the automobile mobile unit only left today. Eight kilometers away, what are you doing? Are you worthy of His Majesty the Emperor? You should commit seppuku!"

The scolded Japanese captain was the captain of the temporary engineer squadron under Hamamoto's forward brigade.

The first priority of an engineer is to clear roads through mountains and build bridges when encountering water. However, facing the responsibility of being a superior officer, this captain of an engineer squadron was full of grievances and anger.

There is no other reason. Within the combat structure of the Botian detachment, there is no specialized engineering unit at all, and the temporary engineer squadron of this forward brigade is simply a grass platform engineer squadron temporarily formed by all units of the Botian detachment.

Although this senior engineer squadron leader studied engineering at the Army Non-commissioned Officer School, he was originally only the captain of the infantry squadron. However, when something urgent happened, he was captured and drafted as the squadron leader of this temporary engineer squadron.

As for professional engineering equipment, there is a serious shortage. There is no field engineering machinery, mine blasting equipment, bridge crossing equipment, etc.

This so-called temporary engineering team only has some simple civil engineering equipment and infantry geotechnical equipment. It is naturally very difficult to face the highway that has been severely damaged by the Chinese military and civilians.

Major Hamamoto was cursing, and the engineer captain who had been bowing his head and being sprayed was a little angry, so he resisted and replied: "Sir, the officers and men of my squadron have tried their best. The company is currently in good condition along the way. There is no gravel road at all. Damn, the Chinese soldiers dug up several small embankments nearby. The entire road is muddy, and it was cut off in many places. Even the roadbed was destroyed by a large amount of explosives. Our squadron is a temporary engineer force. The squadron lacks professional engineering equipment. What is the use of this, sir?"

Hamamoto hit the windshield with his fist and yelled: "Asshole, bastard! You are still arguing, it's unreasonable."

The captain became even more angry and his voice became louder. He pointed at the Japanese soldiers who were covered in mud on the road ahead and lifted the door panels to put them under the wheels of the cars stuck in the ditch. He said: "The actual situation is like this. The warriors of my squadron are already here. Do your best, and if you don’t believe it, please try it yourself.”

Hamamoto Lin was so angry that his eyes sparkled, and he shouted: "I've rebelled against you. How can someone like you be worthy of being an Imperial soldier? Come on, get this scum of an Imperial soldier off to me!"

The lieutenant adjutant on the side hurriedly stepped forward to persuade Hamamoto Lin: "Major Hamamoto, please calm down, there is no point in blaming them. We indeed lack specialized engineering equipment. Damn it, the Chinese army has completely destroyed the nearby roads, relying on manpower It’s really impossible to repair the road surface quickly.”

An officer of the temporary engineer squadron also pulled down the engineer captain, temporarily ending the conflict between the major and the captain.

Hamamoto Hayashi sighed heavily, put on his helmet, and said to the adjutant: "Tell that bastard engineer squadron leader to open at least ten kilometers of car access on the highway before nine o'clock tonight, otherwise I will pursue military law!" "

The adjutant looked at his watch and said: "Sir, it seems that it will be difficult for us to make any progress today. Letting the convoy stop like this on the road is not an option. I see that there are many villages on both sides of the road. How about we send out infantry?" How about getting off the car and searching to see if there is a village suitable for camping, so that the soldiers can rest nearby?”

Hamamoto Lin looked at the muddy ground around him and felt extremely annoyed. In fact, with the quality of the Japanese infantry, even if they gave up riding in cars and searched and advanced on foot, they could still search and advance as usual.

But under the current circumstances, what they, the vanguard of the Botian detachment, need to do is to open the way for the main force of the Botian detachment as quickly as possible, clear out the harassing Chinese troops along the way, and even defeat and break through within their capabilities. A Chinese army position of a certain size was established to ensure that the main force of the Botian detachment could advance towards Banbi Mountain as quickly as possible.

In this case, speed and maneuverability are the first priorities, and it is impossible to abandon the vehicle and search and advance on foot.

Moreover, Hamamoto Hayashi did not dare to leave more than a hundred cars alone in the wild. After all, this area is still a dangerous zone, and the Chinese army's raiding troops may appear at any time. He was responsible for the loss of more than a hundred cars. He Hamamoto Hayashi Can't afford it yet.

So, Hamamoto Lin shook his head helplessly and said: "That's it, you go and pass the order and ask the 1st Infantry Squadron to send a small team as a combat outpost to search forward to see if there is a village that can be lived in, as soon as possible! "

"Yes!"

The adjutant quickly conveyed Hamamoto Hayashi's battle order. A small group of Japanese infantry quickly jumped out of the truck, left the convoy blocked on the road in a combat-ready search formation, and cautiously moved forward to conduct a search.

After about forty minutes, Hayashi Hamamoto, the commander of the forward brigade of the Namada detachment, finally received the report from the combat outpost team: two kilometers in front of the convoy, there is an uninhabited village that can be used as a camping ground for the forward brigade. .

When there was no hope for the convoy to move forward and there was no resting place ahead, Hamamoto Lin had no choice but to give his subordinates the order to get off the car and move forward and enter the village ahead to rest.

As a result, the more than 600 Japanese officers and soldiers who were originally loaded on the vehicle, except for the temporary engineer squadron performing road repair work and an infantry team guarding the vehicle, the rest had to abandon the vehicle and walk, postponed the drive, and headed to the front. Set up camp and rest in the village.

(End of this chapter)