The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 359 Night Terror 1
In the early morning of August 8, the 26th Fleet of the Japanese Navy, which had made full preparations for landing operations, quietly began its operation. Under the cover of eight shallow-draft inland gunboats, Ataka, Seda, Atami, Hira, Toba, Nanatsuki, Awa, and Atsushima, dozens of "Daifatsu" type landing craft cargo transport ships carrying more than 11 landing troops including the th Special Marine Corps, the th Special Marine Corps and the Special Tank Squadron of the Japanese Marine Corps Kure Naval Base began to move slowly towards the river beach west of Fuchiguchi.

It is cloudy tonight. Not only is there no moon, but even the stars in the night sky are barely visible.

Such natural conditions are of course the only choice for landing operations. In the command room of a large landing craft, the highest commander of the landing force, Kitaro Tsuchi, looked at the rapidly retreating waves on both sides and the vast landing craft team loaded with marines, ultra-light tanks, supplies and ammunition without saying a word.

For a moment, Kitaro Tsuchiji suddenly felt a little dazed. This scene seemed to take him back to the Battle of Shanghai a year ago.

At that time, he was ordered to transfer from the gunnery chief of the battleship Kirishima to the captain of the 10th Battalion of the Songhu Special Marine Corps. The scene of landing on the beach of Songhu was exactly like the current one. It was because of his meritorious service in leading the Marines in ground combat in the Battle of Songhu that Kitaro Tsuchi was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel. Now the same scene appeared again, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

A gust of night wind blew on Kitaro Tsuchiji's face, pulling him out of his brief sigh. He then cast his gaze towards the Fuchiguchi River Beach in the distance, and a fierce and fanatical look instantly appeared.

Thanks to his achievements in leading the Marines in the Battle of Songhu, he was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel. Kitaro Tsuchiguchi believed that this landing battle at Tomichiguchi would surely bring him immense glory again, enough for him to be promoted to colonel!
"Sir, the gunboat unit has sent a signal. They have reached the maximum draft area and want us to continue to advance and land. They will provide us with cover with naval gunfire."

The landing craft operator pointed to a faint flickering light on a distant gunboat.

"Well, use flashlights to notify all boats to speed up. The machine gunners on each landing craft must pay close attention to the situation on the beach and land in an orderly manner according to the pre-war deployment."

"Yes!"

After a burst of light signals, the formation of the Japanese fleet on the river changed rapidly. The gunboats responsible for the cover mission gradually reduced their speed and stopped on the river.

All of these gunboats are inland gunboats with a relatively shallow draft. Compared with other minesweepers, destroyers and other large ships in the Japanese Navy's 11th Squadron, these inland gunboats with a relatively shallow draft can advance to waters closer to the river beach, and can better provide close-range artillery fire support for the landing troops.

However, although the gunboat has a shallow draft, it still cannot directly advance to the river beach. The ones that can really carry the landing troops directly to the river beach are those dozens of large iron landing craft.

This landing craft with a flat-bottomed metal hull, double-bottom structure, and raised bow and stern ends is the most commonly used landing and transport equipment by the Japanese navy and army. It can carry up to 70 armed soldiers or up to 12 tons of cargo, and can also carry lighter trucks and small and medium-sized tanks.

During landing, this type of landing craft can directly impact the beachhead of the landing site and transport the landing troops to the landing site. Each landing craft is also equipped with a Type 92 heavy machine gun fixed on a machine gun rack, which can provide the most direct fire cover for the landing troops.

Soon, the eight gunboats that had stopped advancing adjusted their formation, and the guns on each gunboat turned their muzzles and aimed at the silent and dark river bank where no light or fire could be seen. Dozens of landing craft accelerated forward and quickly rushed to the river beach.

In this cloudy, moonless night, the riverbank near Fuchikou was completely dark. Standing next to the landing craft command room, Kitaro Tsuchiji listened to the thumping of the river waves hitting the landing craft hulls and the sound of the engines. He watched the layers and waves of landing crafts, and secretly shouted in his heart, "It must go smoothly!"

Dozens of landing craft were arranged in several horizontal formations, and they paddled across the river in teams, rushing towards the river beach west of Fuchikou. Soon, the first wave of landing craft rushed onto the river beach, and the sound of collisions came one after another. That was the sound of the bottom of the Dafa landing craft that rushed onto the river bank colliding with the underwater reefs and the river beach.

After the first wave of landing craft rushed onto the river beach, the hatch in front of the landing craft opened quickly, and the steel springboards on the front of the landing craft were lowered one after another, heavily hitting the river beach.

Immediately afterwards, a large number of fully armed Japanese Marines rushed down from the landing craft, rubbing against the mud on the river beach at a very fast speed, and then deployed into battle formation under the command of the officers, searching forward cautiously to open up a landing site for subsequent landing troops.

Although after several days of reconnaissance, the Japanese army concluded that the Chinese army did not deploy large-scale garrisons on the river beaches on the east and west banks of Fuchikou.

However, as the safety of the troops was concerned, the first wave of Japanese Marines who had successfully landed had to be cautious. But after a careful search, these Japanese Marines did not find any traces of Chinese troops at the landing site.

As a result, the Japanese landing force's landing speed was further accelerated. In less than an hour, more than 1,500 people from the 4th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Naval Base, which served as the first echelon, completed their landing.

Then forty minutes later, the 5th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Naval Base, which was organized into the second echelon, also completed its landing. Then, six Carden-Lloyd ultra-light tanks produced by the British Vickers Company of the Special Tank Squadron also drove down from the landing craft one after another, and the supplies in the last echelon of landing also quickly completed the landing operation.

Just like that, in the pitch-black and extremely quiet night, in just over two hours, the 4th Special Marine Corps, the 5th Special Marine Corps, the Special Tank Squadron of the Japanese Navy's Kure Naval Base, commanded by Kitaro Tsuchi, and a total of more than 3,000 Japanese Marine Corps officers and soldiers completed the landing.

During the landing process, the Chinese army did not fire even a single shot, and all the troops stood intact on the river beach west of Fuchikou.

The landing was so smooth that it surprised many people, from the most ordinary Japanese Marine Corps private in the landing force to the highest commander of the landing force, Kitaro Tsuchi, who was surprised at the smoothness of the landing. Some Japanese officers and soldiers who landed began to doubt whether the unguarded landing site was a tactic adopted by the Chinese army or some other strategy.
The officers and soldiers on the eight Japanese naval gunboats anchored on the river, ready to cover the landing of the Marines with heavy artillery fire, also felt the same way.

In line with the principle that it is better to be cautious than to err, after all the troops had landed, Tsuchi Kitaro once again organized a large-scale carpet search near the landing site and appropriately expanded the scope of the search.

During this large-scale search, the landing Japanese troops still found no trace of the Chinese army except for some empty trenches and fortifications.

It was not until then that Kitaro Tsuchigumo dared to confirm that there were indeed no Chinese troops near the landing site.

The quiet river beach, as seen by the Japanese Marines who had completed the search, was indeed empty, with no large-scale field defense positions deployed, let alone the main forces of the Chinese army.

Even the Chinese army's scattered soldiers and individual guard posts were not there, which was like an undefended area. As early as the day when the Fuchikou Fort was destroyed, the panicked commander of the Fuchikou garrison, the 18th Division Commander Li Fangbin, urgently asked He Wei for help, hoping that He Wei would lend a hand. He Wei, who took the overall situation into consideration, put aside the previous grudge between the two and sent people to support the 18th Division. He also gave Li Fangbin advice and assisted him in adjusting the 18th Division's defense configuration.

At that time, in order to prevent the 18th Division's troops from being bombarded by Japanese naval guns, He Wei suggested that Li Fangbin withdraw his troops beyond the maximum range of the Japanese naval guns. Li Fangbin also obediently accepted He Wei's suggestion and withdrew the 18th Division's defensive positions.

It is for this reason that the Japanese Navy's 11th Fleet did not find any trace of the main force of the th Division near the river beach, either in its previous close-in reconnaissance or in its actual landing at this moment. The decision to withdraw the main force of the th Division out of the coverage of the Japanese naval artillery fire on the river bank was essentially not wrong.

If the 18th Division still deployed near the river bank, the Japanese naval warships that arrived at the river bank for reconnaissance would inevitably bombard the 18th Division's positions.

In the face of large-caliber naval guns, the 18th Division was simply unable to resist, and the Japanese landing operation tonight would also be successful. It was just that it would consume more shells during the landing and would need naval gun fire to cover the landing.

After the destruction of the Fuchikou Fortress, the 18th Division, which only had infantry light weapons and mortars, had no ability to fight back against the firepower attack of the Japanese naval guns. The civil engineering fortifications deployed near the river bank could not withstand the fierce concentrated fire of large-caliber naval guns. The final outcome of the Japanese landing tonight would not be changed in the slightest.

He Wei suggested that Li Fangbin withdraw his troops out of the range of the Japanese naval guns' firepower so that the 18th Division would not make unnecessary sacrifices and the main force could be kept outside the range of the Japanese naval guns' firepower to conduct deep defense operations.

However, it was not He Wei's intention that there was not even an observation post or a single sentry near the river bank. In fact, it was because Li Fangbin had no idea how to command the army. In addition, the 18th Division was a ragtag unit that had recently been annexed by the Tumu clique and had suffered heavy losses in the Songhu battlefield. The overall combat effectiveness level of the unit and the quality of officers and soldiers were very worrying. The combination of many factors led to a defense loophole.

He Wei, who was on top of the mountain at this moment, probably could not have imagined that under the leadership of a bastard commander like Li Fangbin, the overall combat effectiveness and tactical quality of the 18th Division had reached an extremely low level, even to the point where even guard posts and forward troops were not sent out.

As soon as the retreat order was given, the 18th Division really retreated thoroughly, cleanly, leaving no one behind, forming a de facto vacuum zone on the river beaches on the east and west banks of the Fuchi River.

In other words, He Wei's suggestion was good, but it was badly implemented by the 18th Division led by Li Fangbin, a stupid teammate. This resulted in more than 3,000 Japanese Marines landing openly and easily on the river bank west of Fuchikou tonight.

In any case, the landing Japanese troops have completely established a foothold on the west bank of Fuchikou.

The troops of the 18th Division were currently hiding in a field position several kilometers away, completely unaware of the Japanese landing and the impending danger.

At the landing site on the west bank of Fuchiguchi, the chief officers of various units of the Japanese landing force gathered around Kitaro Tsuchi, reporting the situation of their respective units one by one.

"Report to the commander, all members of our 4th Special Marine Corps have landed, and there are no casualties!"

"Reporting to the commander, all members of our Fifth Special Marine Corps have landed. Except for a box of 6.5mm rifle bullets that fell into the river and were affected by the damp when we were beaching, the rest of the personnel and ammunition were not lost."

"Report to the commander, my special tank squadron's six light tanks and all personnel have landed!"

The landing was completed easily. Major Kizunaji, captain of the 4th Special Marine Corps, who had finished reporting, Major Kuroi, who replaced Kitaro Tsuchi, in command of the 5th Special Marine Corps, and Captain Tadokoro of the Special Tank Squadron were all looking at Kitaro Tsuchi with fanatical and expectant eyes.

From the landing to the initial search, and then to the second expanded search, the more than 3,000 Japanese Marines who landed suffered no casualties except for almost negligible material losses, and no trace of Chinese troops was found.

The combat intentions, confidence and enterprising spirit of the commanders of these landing Japanese troops naturally grew rapidly.

Kitaro Tsuchi was also very excited. Almost all of his troops completed the landing without any casualties, but there was no trace of Chinese troops near the landing site. There were no defensive positions, no outposts, no sentry lines, and not even a single sentry.

The Chinese military's violation of the most basic combat principles can only mean that the nearby Chinese troops are either short of manpower or negligent in taking precautions.

Faced with such an opponent, Kitaro Tsuchiji's conservatism and caution were greatly reduced, and he immediately decided to use the special tank squadron as the vanguard to implement bold and rapid attack tactics.

Tsuchi Kitaro said to Captain Tansho, the leader of the special tank squadron: "Tansho, this landing shows that the Chinese troops' defense deployment near here is not very tight. Our army should fight quickly and make a quick decision. I order your squadron to open the way for the main force of my landing force, launch an attack, and quickly defeat the Chinese troops on the west bank of the Fuchi River!"

The captain of the special tank squadron, Tansho, who was called upon, stood up with a snap and pointed at the six light tanks not far away and said, "Please rest assured, sir. My special tank squadron will definitely pave the way for our troops and break through the Chinese army's defense line at all costs, winning honor for our Imperial Marines and glory for our Imperial Navy!"

"Okay, then attack immediately. I wish you a successful start!"

Tsuchi Kitaro waved his hand and said heroically.

"Yes!"

Upon receiving the order, the captain of the special tank squadron, Major Tansho, returned immediately. After a brief speech, he stepped into his own car. Six Carden-Lloyd ultra-light tanks started one after another and moved forward. In the dark night, they drove forward strangely like ghosts.

(End of this chapter)