The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 364 Let the enemy take the initiative!
"Captain He, do you mean to take the initiative to attack? Isn't it a bit risky to fight like this?"

Hearing that He Wei was actually going to change from defense to offense and take the initiative to cross the river to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army, Luo Guangwen couldn't help but raise his doubts.

The 18th Division was badly beaten by the Japanese army in the surprise attack last night. Even Luo Guangwen, a good general with rich combat experience, still has lingering fears about last night's battle.

Although the leading command of the operation against the Japanese troops on the west bank of the Fuchi River has been handed over to He Wei, Luo Guangwen still had doubts when he heard that He Wei was going to launch an active attack on the Japanese troops.

He Wei smiled and replied, "Commander Luo, although fighting requires stability first, we should also be decisive when it is time to act. I think that although the Japanese army won last night, they just captured the west bank of the Fuchi River. Now we can take advantage of their unstable foothold to launch a river crossing attack, which may be a surprise attack."

Luo Guangwen said: "In this case, then let Captain He make the decision. Our 18th Division will also fully cooperate with your unit and do a good job of defending the east coast position."

He Wei nodded and said, "That's it. Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Commander Luo, let's start planning our attack as soon as possible."

He Wei has now made up his mind to let go and take the initiative to launch an offensive battle. Firstly, taking the initiative to attack now may have the effect of a surprise attack. Secondly, although it was the friendly 18th Division that suffered heavy losses last night, and although the dead were not his soldiers, they were all Chinese troops. He Wei really couldn't bear to see the miserable situation of the friendly forces. No matter what, He Wei must avenge the 18th Division on the Japanese.

Thirdly, the main infantry force of the assault corps has not yet had any large-scale battles with the Japanese army. Today is the best time for the main infantry force of the assault corps to get some meat, see some blood, and train the troops through offensive operations!
He Wei was determined to cross the river and take the initiative to attack. The key to launching an attack as quickly as possible was just one word: fast!

Therefore, He Wei did not formulate a combat plan in advance like in a normal offensive operation process, or analyze the battle situation according to the map in the command post, and let the staff prepare multiple plans and reserve deployment according to various possible situations. Now he simply did not have the time to formulate a complete combat plan for this rapid river crossing attack.

In order to attack quickly and strike quickly, after learning from Luo Guangwen about the deployment of the 18th Division on the east bank of the Fuchi River, as well as the width and depth of the Fuchi River in its defense zone, as well as locations suitable for crossing the river and locations and hydrological conditions suitable for infantry wading assaults, He Wei immediately worked out a river crossing assault plan based on his own ideas and judgment at an extremely fast speed.

According to He Wei's order, Fu Chen's 18st Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps, after being assigned to reinforce the first row of the tank defense artillery company of the Assault Corps' artillery battalion, will enter the right side of the 18th Division's defensive position on the east bank of the Fuchi River, and use the fortifications built by the th Division as the starting position before crossing the river for the attack.

The engineering company directly under Zhao Jiansan's assault corps was carrying out engineering bridge-building operations on the Fuchi River in front of the starting position. He Wei's requirement for the engineering company was to build two pontoon bridges within two hours that could allow the infantry to cross the river and attack.

As for the First Mountain Artillery Company of the Artillery Battalion of the Assault Corps, it chose to set up its position behind the First Infantry Battalion's position and used its six Type 75 mm mountain guns to carry out artillery fire alert on the opposite bank, using artillery fire to cover the engineering company's bridge-building operations and the subsequent infantry battalion's river crossing attack.

He Wei personally sat in the command post of the 18th Division and coordinated and communicated with Luo Guangwen. The special forces company directly under the assault corps that came with He Wei was personally taken over by He Wei to serve as a reserve force for crossing the river and attacking in case of any emergency.

The main garrison force on the east bank of the Fuchi River - Luo Guangwen's 18th Division, under the coordination of He Wei, was responsible for squatting and filling the line, guarding the long positions on the east bank of the Fuchi River, and performing garrison, alert and observation tasks.

After everything was arranged properly, under He Wei's strict order, the reinforcements from the assault corps immediately began preparations for battle, and quickly took up their positions. A reinforced battalion-level assault crossing the river was about to begin.

On the east bank of the Fuchi River, at the right position of the 18th Division, in an observation structure of a civil engineering structure, Fu Chen, commander of the st Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps, who was appointed by He Wei as the front-line commander of the landing assault force, Zhao Jiansan, commander of the engineering company directly under the Assault Corps, and the company commanders of the three infantry companies of the st Battalion, the mortar company, the heavy machine gun company, and the battalion headquarters company all stood side by side, holding up telescopes and looking at the Fuchi River directly in front of them through the gaps in the observation structure.

Even after a night of scouring and baptism, the surface of the Fuchi River could still be seen dotted with corpses of officers and soldiers of the 18th Division and various broken limbs. Military uniforms, leggings, equipment and grenades floating on the river were also common. This showed how tragic the attack on the 18th Division was last night and how huge the losses were.

This starting position and river crossing point for the landing assault operation was the most suitable location selected by He Wei after comprehensively considering the hydrological conditions near the Fuchi River. The width of the river is just over 200 meters, almost the narrowest part of the Fuchi River, and the water depth is also the shallowest, and the water flow rate on the river surface is also the slowest.

In general, the landing operation starting point selected by He Wei is the most suitable landing operation launching area along the Fuchi River from any perspective.

Now Fu Chen's First Battalion has all entered the position. Since the First Battalion of the Assault Corps is very large and has received additional reinforcements, the First Battalion has almost taken over the positions of half of the Infantry Regiment of the 18th Division.

After entering the position, Fu Chen directly deployed the three infantry companies and the heavy machine gun company, as well as the reinforced assault corps artillery battalion tank defense artillery platoon in a parallel line to guard the narrow strip of land near the landing starting position, forming a situation of directly controlling the river surface with firepower.

The mortar company of the 81st Infantry Battalion completed the deployment and firing of four mm mortars in the second-line position, and was ready to use indirect fire to engage in combat shooting on the river surface and the opposite bank of the river.

The communications platoon, supply platoon, supply platoon and command platoon of the headquarters company of the first battalion also performed their respective duties and completed their respective combat preparations in accordance with their functions.

Behind the first battalion's position, the first mountain artillery company of the assault corps' artillery battalion was also ready to deploy and fire. All six Type 94 75mm mountain cannons had completed the first round of loading, and also formed artillery fire surveillance on the river surface of the landing starting position and the opposite bank.

What is lacking now is the engineering company's river crossing and bridge building operations.

Fu Chen put down the telescope and said, "Captain Zhao, how long will it take for your company to complete the construction of the floating bridge?"

"Sir, the fastest time will be one and a half hours. My company does not have standardized rubber boats and special ferry equipment. If we want to cross the river, we can only use wooden boats, door panels and other iron and wooden materials to build a pontoon bridge on the river. The captain has already coordinated with the 18th Division and mobilized a large number of door panels and wooden boats for my company. Now the materials have been collected, but the construction will take considerable time. Moreover, building a pontoon bridge on the river is equivalent to operating in front of the enemy, and the operating troops are completely exposed to enemy fire. Therefore, I hope that your infantry and artillery can provide cover for my company." Zhao Jiansan, the company commander of the engineering company of the assault corps, gave his opinion very practically, and at the same time sighed in his heart that the war of resistance was not easy.

For professional engineering units, if they want to transport infantry troops across the river, the best and fastest way is to use steel ferry boats or rubber boats, which is fast and saves trouble. The second best way is to use steel ferry boats or rubber boats combined with wooden boards to build pontoon bridges, so as to facilitate larger troops to cross the river.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the Chinese military's engineering units are not equipped with standardized, specialized steel river-crossing boat equipment or self-powered rubber boats, and the assault corps' engineering company currently lacks such equipment.

Therefore, in the absence of sufficient professional technical equipment, Zhao Jiansan could only adopt the most crude method, which was to use the most primitive materials such as wooden boats and wooden boards to build the pontoon bridge.

Even though the Assault Corps was always wealthy, it was still very inadequate in terms of professional engineering equipment. But given the situation, could they not fight this battle with poor equipment? The answer was obviously no. Zhao Jiansan could only withstand the difficulties and use the most primitive and crude tools to perform the mission!

Fu Chen pondered for a moment and said, "How about this? Since your company needs cover, I will use the 81mm mortars of my battalion's artillery company to fire smoke bombs at the river near the landing starting position to cover the nearby river surface with smoke. The infantry company and heavy machine gun company at the front-line position will also remain alert and cover your company's operations with 60mm mortars and general-purpose machine gun fire at any time. How do you think?"

"Yes, if we can form a continuous smoke screen on the river surface, our company's bridge-building operations in front of the enemy will be guaranteed. It won't be a problem to build two pontoon bridges within two hours!"

As soon as Zhao Jiansan finished speaking, Fu Chen shook his head and said, "Captain Zhao, although the captain gave us two hours, we must be as fast as possible. Let's think of a way to overcome the difficulties and be faster."

Zhao Jiansan did not refute Fu Chen's additional request. He was a graduate of the 9th engineering department of the Whampoa Military Academy. After graduation, he was assigned to the engineering battalion of the 1st Division of the 1st Army of Hu Zongnan, which was known as the best army in the world, as a second lieutenant platoon leader of the engineering corps. Later, he served as the noon adjutant of the engineering battalion of the 1st division. He participated in the Battle of Shanghai with the 1st Army and was injured in the battle. Later, he went to the Chengdu Central Military Academy in Chengdu as an engineer tactics instructor. He was transferred from the military academy to take up the post when the assault corps was established.

Zhao Jiansan boasted that he came from the best army in the world and was very proud. He would not bargain with Fu Chen's seemingly unreasonable request.

After thinking for a while, Zhao Jiansan said, "Captain Fu, I have an idea. When the pontoon bridge is about to be built to the other side, once it reaches the place where the infantry can wade through, my company will stop building the bridge. This can reduce the workload of building the bridge, and the operation time should be shortened to more than an hour. However, this will make it difficult for the infantry brothers to wade through the water."

Fu Chen said without hesitation: "Okay, let's do it. Wading assault is nothing. Soldiers are not afraid of death, so how can they be afraid of treading water? As long as we can launch the attack as soon as possible, it's a good idea. It's enough to build a pontoon bridge beyond the wading depth of the river. When we get there, the infantry will just jump in and charge. Let's do it according to your method, Captain Zhao. How long do you think it will take to start the engineering bridge construction work?"

"It will take at least twenty minutes to get everything ready."

Fu Chen nodded to Zhao Jiansan, then turned to look at the commander of the mortar company of the first battalion and said, "Just do as Captain Zhao said. The four mortars of your company will start firing in fifteen minutes. Fire a large number of smoke bombs to form a smoke shield belt of at least 200 meters wide in the waters where the engineering company's bridge construction operations are taking place!"

The mortar company commander readily agreed and said, "Yes! In fifteen minutes, my company's four 81mm mortars will fire on time!"

Fu Chen looked around at everyone with satisfaction and said, "Okay, everyone, go down and prepare immediately. The artillery bombardment will begin in fifteen minutes, and the engineering company will begin building the bridge in twenty minutes. The three infantry companies must also be prepared to cross the river and assault from now on. Once ordered, rush over along the built pontoon bridge. This is the first battle of our First Battalion and also the first battle of our Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps. No one can lose face!"

"Yes!"

Just as the officers of the First Battalion were preparing to return to their units to prepare for battle, suddenly, a sharp whistle was heard from the forward guard post on the river beach in front of the First Battalion. All the officers stopped and looked towards the river in front of the First Battalion. All the officers were surprised because the scene they saw was too shocking.

On the river beach opposite the First Battalion, a large number of Japanese troops suddenly appeared like rats crawling out of the ground, rushing out of the well-concealed trenches arranged along the river beach.

These Japanese troops, numbering at least two to three hundred, quickly rushed toward the river beach after uncovering the camouflage nets and hastily built concealment facilities made of grass and branches covering the concealed fortifications.

What surprised the officers of the First Battalion even more was that the uniforms of these Japanese soldiers who looked like ground rats were completely different from the Japanese troops that Fu Chen and other officers had seen before. They were all wearing navy blue uniforms instead of the shit-yellow uniforms most commonly used by the Japanese Army.

These Japanese soldiers who suddenly appeared and were dressed strangely rushed to the river beach, carrying a large number of black inflatable rubber landing craft and folding boats. Waves of Japanese soldiers rushed to the river, pushed the rubber boats and folding boats into the river, and then stepped onto the rubber boats and folding boats. Then, amid the roars one after another, one rubber boat after another was started and began to rapidly rush in the water.

Streams of white water mist and waves were split and stirred up by the high-speed rubber boats. Soon, at least dozens of rubber boats loaded with Japanese infantry rushed straight towards the first battalion's designated starting position for crossing the river.

"Captain Fu, that's the Japanese standard landing craft. These devils want to cross the river and attack just like us! These bastards are well-equipped with landing craft, so they have the upper hand!"

Engineer Company Commander Zhao Jiansan was the first to react and shouted, pointing at the group of Japanese rubber boats rushing towards them at high speed.

(End of this chapter)