The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 367: Blood Road on the Beach

The addition of 81mm mortars and 75mm mountain guns meant that the Japanese landing boats, which had already been "unable to take care of themselves" by the various light and heavy firearms of the First Battalion, were subjected to even more intense and fierce bombardment.

One shell after another accurately landed on the Japanese army's rubber boats and steel boats. The French Bronde 81mm mortars equipped by the mortar company of the first battalion are the best performing medium-caliber mortars in the world today.

The 94st Mountain Artillery Company of the Artillery Battalion of the Assault Corps is equipped with the Type 75 mm mountain cannon captured from the Japanese army, which is also the newest type of mountain cannon currently used by the Japanese Army and its performance is also excellent. The power and effect of the firepower network composed of these two types of artillery are self-evident.

Boom boom-
bang bang
boom

On the river, dense 81mm mortar instantaneous grenades and 75mm instantaneous grenades were fired one after another. After falling and exploding on the river surface, they stirred up waves of water columns, directly blowing many rubber boats and steel boats carrying Japanese Marines into pieces or destroying and deforming them, along with the people and boats.

Behind the water column stirred up by the explosion was a blood mist mixed with broken limbs and arms. In between, there was a dense barrage of fire consisting of 60mm mortar shells, 45mm tank defense shells, and mm caliber machine gun and rifle volleys.

Except for the shorter-range submachine guns and twenty-shot machine pistols, all the light and heavy firearms of the First Battalion roared continuously, spewing out strings of flames.

For a moment, the surface of the Fuchi River in front of the First Battalion’s position became a bloody and horrific slaughterhouse, and the entire river surface exploded like a boiling oil pan.

The battalion commander of the First Battalion, Fu Chen, did not need any command at all, and even the company commanders under his command did not need to issue any command orders to their respective companies. All the officers and soldiers of the entire First Battalion had to do was to use the various firearms in their hands to easily aim and hit the Japanese troops crossing the river and launch a powerful attack on them.

The battle that the First Battalion is now fighting against the Japanese river-crossing attack force is more of a slaughter-style battle similar to target shooting training than a combat.

There were few voices of command from officers and sergeants in the First Battalion's position. Apart from the shouts of officers and soldiers, there were constant roars for ammunition. For the First Battalion at this time, the current battle situation did not test the command ability of officers and sergeants at all, but was a complete battle of ammunition and firepower.

Faced with the fire attack of the First Battalion, the officers and soldiers of the three infantry companies and the heavy machine gun company of the 4th Special Marine Regiment of the Wu Naval Base of the Japanese Marine Corps, who had been passively beaten and at the mercy of others on the river, were unable to organize any decent counterattack to resist the fire.

All the Japanese soldiers on the river were riding in rubber boats and steel boats. The narrow space of the vehicles did not allow the Japanese soldiers on the boats to launch fire counterattacks. The Type 92 heavy machine guns of the 4th Special Marine Corps Heavy Machine Gun Squadron, which were originally placed at the bow of the steel boats for fire suppression during river crossing attacks, had all been destroyed in the intensive fire attack of the First Battalion.

This also meant that the Japanese troops on the river had not yet completed their landing, but had lost all of their heavy machine gun firepower, which they relied on as their core support firepower!

The Japanese troops hiding in boats and advancing with difficulty on the river could only occasionally fire a few shots and throw a few grenades at the positions of the First Battalion on the other side of the river with Type 38 rifles, Taisho 11-year Type 99 light machine guns and Type 89 50mm grenade launchers. However, such sporadic firepower counterattacks could not play any substantial role except giving the Japanese troops some spiritual comfort.

On the contrary, the Japanese artillery on the west bank of the Fuchi River, which had been providing fire cover for the Japanese troops crossing the river, was very active. After seeing the tragic situation of the Japanese troops crossing the river, this artillery unit composed of the 4th Special Marine Artillery Squadron of the Wu Garrison and the 5th Special Marine Artillery Squadron of the Wu Garrison, immediately increased the intensity of its firepower and used its eight Type 41 mountain cannons to launch fierce suppressive fire on the positions of the First Battalion.

However, the Japanese artillery's suppressive fire on the First Battalion's position did not last long, as it was met with counter-artillery suppressive fire from the First Mountain Artillery Company of the Assault Corps Artillery Battalion.

The Type 6300 mountain gun equipped by the Japanese artillery is an old-style mountain gun developed and equipped by the Japanese Army in the s. Its performance in all aspects has long been outdated, especially its range is only meters.

The First Mountain Artillery Company of the Artillery Battalion of the Assault Corps was equipped with the Type 94 mountain artillery captured from the Japanese independent mountain artillery unit during the Battle of Nanjing. It was the latest product developed by the Japanese Army in the 8300s. It introduced advanced recoil and recovery mechanisms, single-layer self-tightening gun barrels, and horizontal slide breech blocks, which greatly improved the performance of the artillery. The range was up to 41 meters and the rate of fire was faster than that of the Type mountain gun.

Relying on the advantages of range and shooting speed, the observation officer of the mountain artillery company of the assault corps artillery battalion quickly discovered the Japanese artillery units' positions on the other side of the river that were firing intensively.

Immediately, a mountain artillery platoon of the first mountain artillery company began to shift firepower, changing the target of attack from the Japanese troops on the river to the Japanese artillery on the opposite bank. After determining the approximate location of the Japanese artillery positions on the opposite bank, the two Type 94 mountain cannons immediately responded to the Japanese artillery with accurate and fierce rapid fire.

Under the accurate and rapid interference and suppressing fire of two Type 94 mountain cannons, the fierce suppressing fire of the Japanese artillery on the opposite bank against the positions of the First Battalion was quickly suppressed.

In this way, the situation on the battlefield became completely one-sided. The Japanese crossing attack force in the river was in a completely passive state and could only advance with difficulty under the fierce firepower of the First Battalion.

Under the intensive attacks of mortars, mountain artillery, various machine guns and rifle fire, the formation of the Japanese boat fleet landing on the river was completely disrupted. The chaotic formation resulted in a significant decrease in the overall forward speed.

The width of the river chosen by the Japanese army for crossing was only a little over 200 meters. If it were under battlefield conditions, a voyage would only take more than two minutes for rubber boats and steel boats equipped with engines. But now facing the fierce firepower of the First Battalion, the Japanese rubber boats and steel boats moved as slowly as a turtle. After struggling to move on the Fuchi River for four or five minutes, they had not yet reached the edge of the river beach.

In the center of the Japanese boat group, Major Mu Zhener, the captain of the 4th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Garrison, was lying on the bottom of a steel boat, hiding behind the body of a Marine soldier. His eyes were red as he looked at the opposite bank of the river where fierce fire was spewing out. A two or three centimeter high layer of blood-red river water had accumulated on the bottom of the boat, and the surroundings of the steel boat were full of bullet holes caused by the 7.92mm heavy pointed bullets fired by the Chinese army.

Mu Zhener's entire body had been stained red by the deep red blood. He looked extremely miserable, without any trace of the demeanor of a major officer of the Imperial Japanese Marine Corps.

All around him, there were dense water columns and explosions, and all kinds of screams were coming one after another. The hot air waves produced by the exploding shells and the cold water vapor hit by the flying water columns overlapped and intertwined, just like Mu Zhener's angry and cold heart at this moment.

Mu Zhener was very confident about this landing operation. The battle that quickly defeated the 18th Brigade of the 54th Division on the west bank of the Fuchi River last night and the intelligence confessed by the prisoners made Mu Zhener characterize this river crossing attack as a battle of picking on the weak before the battle began. But when the Chinese troops on the other side opened fire, Mu Zhener found that the firepower of the Chinese troops on the other side was far beyond his imagination. The accuracy of the shooting and the strict combat discipline shown by the Chinese troops when opening fire also made Mu Zhener 18% sure that the Chinese troops now opening fire were definitely not the th Division of the Chinese Army as confessed by the prisoners captured last night.

The expected soft persimmon turned into a hard walnut overnight!
At this moment, Mu Zhener knew that it was impossible for him to pull the troops back to the west bank. The river was already boiling, and the rubber boats and steel boats of the attacking force crossing the river were also in chaos. If he stopped the attack at this time and turned around on the river and returned to the west bank, it would only further aggravate the chaos of the attacking force crossing the river, and by the way, provide the Chinese army with a more perfect shooting target.

In other words, retreating now would be tantamount to seeking death.

All Mu Zhener could do was to lead his troops and charge onto the river beach under the firepower of the Chinese army. Retreat was impossible, and only by landing could there be a glimmer of hope!
"Charge forward, don't stop, there is a way once you get to the riverbank!"

"Warriors, hold on! Charge to the riverbank!"

Mu Zhener lay on the bottom of the boat, constantly shouting to encourage his subordinates. Some Japanese soldiers who heard Mu Zhener's orders also shouted along, constantly repeating Mu Zhener's orders.

Although Mu Zhener's subordinates were beaten badly, the tenacity and obedience of these Japanese Marines were no less than those of the Japanese Army. After receiving Mu Zhener's order to rush to the beach at full speed, despite heavy casualties, despite the continuous intensive gunfire from the Chinese army, and despite the chaos in the formation of the Japanese crossing force's boats, all the Japanese soldiers still faithfully carried out Mu Zhener's orders.

The boat operators on each rubber boat and steel boat adjusted the direction of the boats as much as possible, while the Japanese soldiers on the boats all lay low, enduring the shrapnel and bullets flying around, waiting for the final moment to rush onto the beach.

Boom
咣咣
As the Japanese army's river crossing attack force's boats gradually approached the east bank, the First Battalion's firepower on the Japanese river crossing attack force gradually increased, and the Japanese casualties became more and more serious. Japanese rubber boats and steel boats were continuously hit directly and destroyed by various artillery shells, and pieces of blood mist flew on the river. However, despite this, all the Japanese rubber boats and steel boats on the river that had not been destroyed or sunk still withstood the fierce firepower, suffered huge losses, and launched a landing attack on the beach with an extremely stubborn and crazy disregard for casualties.

Finally, after paying a heavy price in casualties, the Japanese rubber boats and steel boats that survived the intensive firepower finally touched the beach on the east bank of the Fuchi River.

At this time, of the more than 600 officers and soldiers of the three infantry companies and one heavy machine gun company of the 4th Special Marine Regiment of the Japanese Marine Corps Wu Naval Base, which were fully equipped when they set out, only less than 300 were left!

With a bang, after feeling the violent friction between the bottom of the steel boat and the beach, the captain of the 4th Special Marine Corps, Major Mu Zhener, suddenly jumped out of the steel boat, stepped into the mud on the beach, waved his command knife and shouted: "Warriors, charge, attack!"

"Onboard!"

"Come on!"

After experiencing the fierce fighting on the river, all the Japanese soldiers who landed on the beach had become blood-eyed. Many of them had even forgotten about death after being tempered by the bloody fighting on the river.

The Japanese Marines who landed on the beach, under the command of Mu Zhener, all howled and launched an attack on the position of the First Battalion, but what greeted them was still the extremely hot and fierce firepower of the First Battalion.

Seeing that the Japanese army had successfully landed on the beach, the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion in the position immediately began to adjust the aiming direction of various firearms, and changed the firepower of various firearms that were originally attacking the river surface to attacking the Japanese army landing on the river beach. The First Mountain Artillery Company of the Artillery Battalion of the Assault Corps, which was deployed behind the First Battalion's position, also began to adjust their shooting targets.

Since the adjustment of firing parameters of artillery such as 60mm mortars, 81mm mortars, 75 mountain guns, and 45mm tank defense guns was more cumbersome and time-consuming than that of infantry and machine guns, the Japanese troops who successfully landed on the beach were not immediately hit by artillery fire. However, the adjustment of the firing direction of infantry and machine guns was very simple. The machine gunners only needed to turn the muzzle and change the shooting target to the three-point and one-line aiming to complete the adjustment of the shooting direction and shooting target.

As a result, as soon as the Japanese troops who rushed onto the beach landed, they were first hit by dense infantry and machine gun fire. The Japanese troops who had just rushed down from the rubber boats and steel boats were knocked down one after another under the dense machine gun fire of the MG34 general-purpose machine guns, ZB37 heavy machine guns and ZB26 light machine guns. The riflemen of the first battalion also opened fire continuously. Many Japanese soldiers had just stepped onto the muddy water on the river beach when they were swept down by the mm heavy pointed machine gun bullets onto the cold mud mixed with blood.

Originally, after the successful landing, many Japanese soldiers breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts, thinking that by successfully landing and leaving the rubber boats and steel boats, they could be freed from the situation of being passively beaten on the river. However, when the fierce firepower of the First Battalion was transferred to the beach, these Japanese soldiers realized that the beach they stepped on was just the beginning of another bloody road.

Mu Zhener, the major of the 1920th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Garrison, rushed to the front with a Swiss-made SIG submachine gun he had picked up from a corpse. While leaping forward flexibly, he kept shouting to the Japanese soldiers behind him: "Warriors, charge forward, rush closer, charge into their positions, and kill them with submachine guns!"

Since all the Type 1920 heavy machine guns they carried were lost in the river crossing operation, the only weapons available to the Japanese troops who rushed onto the beach were the Type rifle, Type grenade launcher, Taisho -year Type light machine gun and the Swiss-made SIG submachine gun unique to the Japanese Marine Corps.

It can be said that the Japanese troops that landed on the beach had no heavy firepower to provide suppression, and basically only had light weapons.

Therefore, Mu Zhener placed all his hopes on close combat. Mu Zhener believed that as long as he rushed forward and shortened the distance with the Chinese army, he could avoid the fierce artillery fire and dense machine gun fire of the Chinese army in front of him, and then turn the form of battle into close combat and hand-to-hand combat.

According to Mu Zhenger's combat experience, the Chinese army is completely inferior to the Japanese army in close combat bayonet skills. Therefore, close combat and hand-to-hand combat will be of great advantage to their side.

More importantly, the equipment of the Japanese Marine Corps is quite different from that of the Japanese Army. The submachine guns that the Japanese Army has always disdained are the standard equipment of the Japanese Marine Corps. The Swiss-made SIG1920 submachine gun is exactly the standard submachine gun currently in mass production by the Japanese Marine Corps.

The submachine gun is a powerful weapon for close-range combat. Mu Zhenger is also very clear about the advantages of submachine guns in close combat.
At the same time, he also knew that the Chinese army, like the Japanese army, did not use submachine guns as standard equipment. Its grassroots infantry squads were equipped with submachine guns and rifles, and lacked automatic firepower for close-range combat. Once the fighting between the two sides turned into close combat, the submachine guns equipped by his own troops would exert a fierce firepower advantage.

Based on the consideration of avoiding the Chinese army's artillery and machine gun fire and giving full play to their own close combat bayonet skills and submachine gun firepower advantages, Mu Zhener, who led the charge, had only one idea, that is, to rush forward, close the distance with the Chinese army, fight in close combat with the Chinese army in front, and use close combat bayonet and submachine guns to capture the Chinese army's positions!
(End of this chapter)