The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 368 Close Combat
"Charge forward, everyone put on bayonets! Submachine gunners in front, riflemen in the back, prepare for hand-to-hand assault!"

"Grenade throwers, line up in a row, follow at the end, and concentrate on firing upon command!"

Mu Zhen'er shouted at the Marines behind him at the top of his lungs. The sound of bullets whizzing through the air was heard everywhere. The dense machine gun bullets flying in the air formed a hot stream that kept lashing at Mu Zhen'er's face. The screams of the soldiers who were hit kept coming from behind him.

At this time, some of the more skilled 60mm mortar groups in the first battalion's position also completed the conversion of shooting targets and the adjustment of shooting parameters, and began to fire at the oncoming Japanese troops. From time to time, 60mm mortar shells fell in the Japanese attack column, and the flying mortar grenades exploded pieces of shrapnel, creating a cloud of blood mist in the Japanese attack column.

Even so, Mu Zhener still led the charge and risked being hit at the forefront of the attacking team, constantly issuing combat orders that implemented his close combat assault tactical thinking to the Marines behind him.

"Submachine gunners, come over here and line up!"

"Riflemen in the second row!"

The officers and non-commissioned officers in charge of the command quickly responded to Mu Zhener's battle orders. Various commands were heard one after another, and more than 200 Japanese officers and soldiers of the 4th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Naval Base quickly took action.

The submachine gunners equipped with Swiss-made SIG1920 submachine guns rushed to the first row, while the riflemen equipped with Type rifles followed the submachine gunners and formed the second row. Following behind the riflemen were the light machine gun team soldiers equipped with the Taisho -year type Type light machine gun.

Soon, the Japanese army's originally slightly chaotic attack formation was quickly adjusted to form a three-row horizontal skirmish line attack formation of submachine gunners, riflemen, and light machine gun teams.

A dozen grenade launcher teams equipped with Type 89 50mm grenade launchers followed at the end of the team. They gathered together under the organization and command of officers and non-commissioned officers, and distanced themselves from the three-row horizontal skirmish line attack formation of "submachine gunners, riflemen, and light machine gun teams" in front, and took a posture of covering shooting.

Seeing that his men had completed the change of attack formation, Mu Zhener immediately shouted loudly: "Bayonet!"

Immediately there were bursts of sounds of bayonets being drawn out of their sheaths and of bayonet latches engaging with bayonet lugs. The Japanese Type 38 riflemen who did not have bayonets installed pulled out their bayonets and installed them on their rifles.

Even the Japanese submachine gunners in the first row pulled out their bayonets from the bayonet holsters on their waists and installed them on the bayonet mounts of the Swiss-made SIG1920 submachine guns in their hands.

Although the Japanese Marine Corps is more open-minded and flexible in the selection of weapons and equipment than the Japanese Army, its emphasis on close combat is no less than that of the Japanese Army.

The SIG1920 submachine guns held by the submachine gunners of the Japanese Marine Corps in the first row were improved by the Swiss SIG company based on the German MP18 I submachine gun. In line with the persistence of close combat, the Japanese Marine Corps installed detachable bayonet mounts on these Swiss-made submachine guns.

So, there is the strange scene where the Japanese Marine submachine gunners who are now at the front are installing bayonets on the short submachine guns in their hands.

However, no matter what, all the weapons capable of hand-to-hand combat in the hands of the Japanese troops who had successfully landed had been equipped with bayonets, and close combat assault formations based on different levels of firepower had also been deployed. The more than 200 Marines under Mu Zhener were fully prepared for close combat assaults.

Mu Zhener shouted again: "Warriors, hold on! Get to a hundred meters in front of the enemy's position, crawl on the ground, and charge!"

"Kill!"

"dash forward!"

Although more than 200 Japanese Marines completed the change of battle formation and launched a frantic attack on the position of the First Battalion in front of them, the dense firepower of the First Battalion was no pushover. On the way of the charge, Japanese soldiers were constantly knocked down by the fierce cross-machine gun fire, and people were constantly hit by bullets and fell heavily on the black and yellow mud.

The route for the Japanese officers and soldiers of the 4th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Garrison to charge from the river beach to the position of the 1st Battalion of the Assault Corps was still a bloody road that needed to be paved with flesh and blood.

In the battalion command post of the First Battalion, Battalion Commander Fu Chen was quietly watching the dark blue crowd gradually approaching the front of the position. Although the attacking Japanese troops were gradually approaching under the firepower of the First Battalion and the tactical formation used during the attack had also changed, Fu Chen was completely unmoved. He had absolute confidence in defeating this group of Japanese troops!
Suddenly, the platoon leader of the command platoon of the first battalion headquarters company beside Fu Chen put down his binoculars, pointed at the Japanese soldiers rushing towards him and said, "Battalion commander, the Japanese formation has changed. The Japs in the front seem to be holding submachine guns with bayonets on them."

The SIG1920 submachine gun equipped by the attacking Japanese army was an improved version of the German MP18 submachine gun, which is what the Chinese army called the Hua machine gun. The assault corps was also equipped with an improved version of the MP18, which was also commonly known as the Hua machine gun by officers and soldiers. The appearance of these guns is similar, and the biggest feature is the thick cylindrical barrel and the densely packed heat sink on it. Because the shape is very similar, the commanding platoon leader naturally mistook the SIG1920 in the hands of the attacking Japanese army as a Hua machine gun.

Fu Chen raised the binoculars and saw that the Japanese soldiers rushing in the front were indeed holding submachine guns, and there were even bayonets hanging on the short and thick machine guns.

Do the Japanese still want to use submachine guns to fight bayonets?

Looking at the reflection of the bayonets under the submachine guns in the hands of the Japanese soldiers in the sun, Fu Chen became extremely curious about this Japanese army that was equipped with submachine guns and had strange uniforms. He was even more puzzled about the Japanese army's thought process in designing weapons and equipment.

However, Fu Chen was very clear about what the Japanese troops in front of him wanted to do. The Japanese were now rushing forward desperately and concentrating the submachine gunners together. It was obvious that they wanted to rely on the fierce firepower of the submachine guns and their automatic firepower advantage in close combat to engage in close combat with the First Battalion.

He Wei himself attached great importance to the performance and application of automatic firepower in close combat, and therefore equipped the Assault Corps with a large number of light machine guns and submachine guns. Each infantry squad of the Assault Corps was equipped with four light machine guns. In the basic infantry tactics of the Assault Corps, submachine guns played an extremely important role. All the tactics of the basic infantry squads of the Assault Corps were formulated by He Wei around light machine guns and submachine guns.

In terms of tactics and experience in using submachine guns, the Assault Corps can be regarded as the ancestors of the Japanese army on the opposite side.

Fu Chen said coldly: "This group of devils is very weird. Not only are their uniforms unprecedented, but their equipment is also very weird. They even have submachine guns. This group of devils has made a good plan. They want to rely on submachine guns to fight us in close combat. Humph, don't you want to fight? Then let them fight hard. Send orders to each company. Keep the firepower of light and heavy machine guns and general machine guns unchanged. Kill as many Japanese soldiers as possible during the charge. All companies immediately gather the submachine gunners and wait until the Japanese get close before hitting them hard! Let the submachine gunners rush up and use grenades and submachine gun firepower to eliminate this group of Japanese soldiers!"

"Yes!"

The platoon leader of the battalion headquarters company command platoon immediately left to pass on the order.

Fu Chen's order was quickly conveyed to all companies of the First Battalion. Immediately, the firepower of the three infantry companies and the heavy machine gun company of the First Battalion became more intense. The Czech ZB26 light machine guns, MG34 general-purpose machine guns and ZB37 heavy machine guns all fired at the Japanese army with all their might. The gunners of the two 45mm tank defense guns assigned to the First Battalion also leveled the muzzles and fired directly at the Japanese attack formation.

The Japanese army's three-row skirmish line attack formation paid a bloody price for every step forward in the charge. Some Japanese soldiers were knocked down by the crossfire of machine gun bullets, while others were mowed down by shrapnel from the exploding 60mm mortar shells that were dropped obliquely from the air.

There were even some Japanese soldiers who were directly hit by the 45mm tank defense shells, their bodies were blown to pieces and their bodies were left without a complete corpse.

However, after the high-intensity firing just now, the firepower continuity and intensity of the various light and heavy machine guns of the first battalion have inevitably declined. The barrels of the Czech light machine guns and mg34s have had to be replaced many times due to long-term continuous shooting. Even the spare machine gun barrels carried by some machine gun groups have been replaced a round.

The eight ZB37 heavy machine guns of the heavy machine gun company of the first battalion also experienced barrel overheating due to long-term continuous high-intensity shooting. In order to prevent the barrel from exploding, the shooters had to replace the barrel frequently. The process of replacing the barrel of this air-cooled heavy machine gun was much more cumbersome than that of a light machine gun. Therefore, the firepower of the heavy machine gun company was no longer as continuous and intensive as before.

Even though the machine gunners of the First Battalion's light and heavy machine guns and general-purpose machine guns were firing with all their might, the firepower intensity of the First Battalion's machine guns inevitably declined due to force majeure factors such as barrel overheating.

Not only did the machine gun firepower of the 75st Battalion decrease, but the intensity of the 81st Battalion's own and its assigned artillery firepower also decreased. Because the Japanese army rushed closer and charged too quickly, the mountain guns and mortars were unable to fully maintain their firepower pursuit of the Japanese attacking forces at any time and in any place.

Moreover, the 81 mortar and 60 mortar also experienced barrel overheating due to the high-intensity shooting just now, so they had to reduce the firing speed of the artillery to ensure shooting safety.

The barrel of a machine gun can overheat and explode due to continuous firing, and the same is true for the barrel of a mortar.

Therefore, only a part of the 60mm mortars and two 45mm tank defense guns were chasing the Japanese army, completely maintaining firepower pursuit on the Japanese attack forces.

Of course, although the intensity of the firepower projected on the attacking Japanese troops has dropped a lot, this decrease is only compared to the firepower projected by the position of the First Battalion at the beginning of the battle. But even now, the reduced firepower still brings continuous casualties to the Japanese army, making the attacking Japanese troops pay the price of their lives for every step forward.

Although the Japanese army continued to suffer casualties, they also felt the decline in the intensity of the firepower projected by the First Battalion, so they gritted their teeth and rushed forward. In the end, after paying the price of more than 100 casualties, the remaining 100 officers and soldiers of the 4th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Garrison finally rushed to a position about 100 meters away from the First Battalion's position according to Mu Zhener's order and quickly crawled and hid.

"Everyone, crawl, hide, stop moving forward!"

After shouting out an order with all his strength, Mu Zhener, the captain of the 4th Special Marine Corps of the Wu Garrison who was leading the charge, fell to the ground and crawled forward violently. His navy blue military uniform, which had been stained with blood and whose original color could not be seen, left a long and narrow bloodstain on the ground. After crawling forward for five or six meters, Mu Zhener finally stopped behind a small mound of earth mixed with mud.

Mu Zhener breathed in the air filled with the smell of blood with big gulps, his eyes occasionally swept over the one hundred or so remaining subordinates behind him, and he felt waves of pain in his heart.

In just a short while, of the more than 600 fully equipped brave warriors of the Japanese Imperial Marine Corps who had started the river crossing attack, only more than 100 were left when they rushed to the Chinese army's position 100 meters away!

How could Mu Zhen not feel heartbroken after such a huge loss?
Suppressing the grief and anger in his heart, Mu Zhener raised the telescope and could clearly see the intensive machine gun fire of the Chinese army on the battlefield and the dust kicked up by the high-intensity shooting. The distance scale in the telescope showed that he was only a hundred meters away from the Chinese army's position.

Mu Zhener believed that as long as they rushed forward and attacked with submachine guns and bayonets, the final outcome of the battle would be unknown. You know, the biggest feature of the Chinese army is that they are not good at hand-to-hand combat and close combat. The Chinese army often performs very tenaciously and toughly in the firepower offensive of positional warfare, but once the Japanese army breaks into the position and starts hand-to-hand combat and close combat, the Chinese army will quickly collapse!

The Chinese army in front of him would be no exception, Mu Zhener thought to himself.

Mu Zhener shouted fiercely to his subordinates behind him: "Grenade launchers, light machine guns, concentrate your suppressive fire on the Chinese army's positions, submachine gunners and riflemen prepare for hand-to-hand assaults!"

More than one hundred Japanese soldiers who survived the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood quickly took action. More than thirty submachine gunners and more than sixty riflemen formed two rows in a crawling posture.

The six Taisho 11-Year Type Type 99 light machine gun teams set up machine gun positions behind the submachine gunners and riflemen and mounted light machine guns, while the fourteen Japanese grenade launcher teams advanced to a position parallel to the submachine gunners and set up fourteen Type 89 50mm grenade launchers.

"Captain, we are ready for battle!"

"The light machine gun team is ready!"

"The grenade launcher is ready to fire!"

Soon, Mu Zhener received a report from the officers that they were ready for battle. More than a hundred Japanese Marines, covered in blood, were quietly crawling on the ground.

The submachine gunners and riflemen all held their submachine guns and rifles with fixed bayonets and prepared for a charge. The six Taisho 11-type light machine guns and fourteen Type 89 50mm grenade launchers were also set up, with bullets loaded and grenades thrown into the tubes, ready for shooting.

Seeing that the time had come, Mu Zhener shouted without hesitation: "Open!"

The shooters of six Taisho 11-Year Type light machine guns and fourteen Type 89 50mm grenade launchers opened fire almost at the same time. First, six streams of fire consisting of machine gun bullets were fired at the position of the First Battalion a hundred meters away. Then, amid the booming sounds of grenade launchers, fourteen 50mm grenades were also fired at the position of the First Battalion in front.

Boom
Boom
Violent explosions then rang out one after another on the position of the First Battalion. Fourteen grenades fell back onto the position of the First Battalion, creating bursts of dust. The Japanese grenade launcher shooters who had completed the first round of shooting quickly reloaded and fired again, firing rounds of grenades at the position of the First Battalion in a volley.

Dense grenades hit the position of the First Battalion continuously, and the bullets fired by the Type 99 light machine gun also penetrated into the smoke caused by the explosion on the position of the First Battalion and shot towards the position of the First Battalion with crackling sounds.

Whoosh-bang-bang
After the Japanese army's grenade launchers and light machine guns opened fire, the Japanese artillery units that were deployed on the west bank of the Fuchi River seemed to be encouraged by the suppressing fire from the grenade launchers and light machine guns. The eight Type 41 75mm mountain guns of the Japanese artillery units also increased their speed, completely ignoring the possible suppressing and counter-artillery fire from the Type 94 mountain guns of the first company of the artillery battalion of the East Coast Assault Corps, and roared like crazy, desperately firing artillery shells at the positions of the first battalion.

Suddenly, the First Battalion's position was filled with smoke from the explosion of grenades and mountain artillery shells, and flying machine gun flames. The various light and heavy machine gun fire points of the First Battalion inevitably paused and stopped firing in the sudden "Xiongqi" fire attack by the Japanese army.

At the same time, there were some cries and shouts in the First Battalion's position. Under such fierce fire attack by the Japanese army, the First Battalion also suffered some casualties.

Seeing that the suppressive shooting had achieved results, Mu Zhener was immediately delighted, raised the SIG1920 submachine gun in his hand, and shouted: "Warriors, charge forward and kill!"

"Kill!"

Nearly one hundred Japanese submachine gunners and riflemen howled as they rushed towards the smoke-shrouded position of the First Battalion. A hundred meters was a short distance, and soon, more than one hundred Japanese Marines who launched the charge reached the first-line trenches of the First Battalion.

Some Japanese submachine gunners didn't care about anything and fired indiscriminately at the First Battalion's position with their submachine guns, while taking big steps to jump into the First Battalion's trenches.

But just as the Japanese troops were about to break into the First Battalion's position which was within reach, the First Battalion's position, which had been somewhat silent under the Japanese army's suppressive firepower, suddenly issued a series of loud charge calls.

The shrill sound of the military bugle call echoed over the first battalion's position.

From the smoke-filled position of the First Battalion caused by mountain artillery shells and grenade launchers, densely packed long-handled grenades suddenly flew out, and these grenades rained down on the Japanese attack formation that was about to break in.

Immediately, in the bursts of grenade explosions, the Japanese soldiers who rushed up were killed in large numbers, and the position of the First Battalion was filled with smoke and dust produced by the grenade explosions.

Some Japanese soldiers were killed by flying grenades, some tripped over the bodies of their fallen comrades, and others were still roaring and rushing forward for their lives in the smoke and dust. The Japanese attack formation was suddenly thrown into chaos.

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese soldiers who had suffered heavy casualties from grenades saw an even more terrifying scene. Nearly a hundred officers and soldiers of the First Battalion holding machine guns jumped out of the trenches, shouting and killing, holding machine guns spraying flames, at the sound of the charge. They fired fiercely with their submachine guns and rushed towards the Japanese army with an all-consuming momentum.

Nearly one hundred machine guns opened fire almost simultaneously, and dense bullets whizzed over, forming a dense wall of fire at close range, playing a strange concerto for the attacking Japanese army.

Because the attacking Japanese troops and the submachine gunners of the First Battalion who launched the counterattack were extremely close, they were almost engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and the firepower counterattack by the First Battalion, which was mainly composed of submachine gunners, came very suddenly, the Japanese troops had no time to dodge, and were caught off guard and were soon mowed down in large numbers by the dense hail of submachine gun bullets.

Of course, the Japanese army, which was blinded by killing, would not just passively take the beating. The attacking Japanese army was also equipped with dozens of submachine guns. Naturally, the Japanese army desperately used submachine guns to shoot at the submachine gunners of the first battalion who launched the counterattack.

From this moment on, the form of battle quickly changed to a close combat firepower confrontation centered on submachine gun firepower!

The submachine gunners of the First Battalion shouted and rushed towards the Japanese army while firing indiscriminately, causing extremely heavy casualties to the Japanese army in a short period of time.

Similarly, the Japanese Marines holding SIG1920 submachine guns desperately pulled the triggers and fired at the submachine gunners of the First Battalion, who outnumbered them by several times. Seeing this, the Japanese riflemen following behind them also desperately fired their rifles to resist the shooting. Although the Japanese submachine gun and rifle firepower were not as powerful as the nearly machine guns of the First Battalion, the Japanese still managed to knock down some of the submachine gunners of the First Battalion after a desperate resistance.

However, the numerical gap between the two sides was too great, and the gap in firepower was immeasurable. There were nearly a hundred submachine gunners in the first battalion who launched the counterattack, while the attacking Japanese army had only dozens of submachine guns. With such a gap in firepower, there was no need to say much about the consequences of this face-to-face submachine gun firefight. Faced with the fierce firepower of the submachine gunners of the first battalion that was several times greater than their own, the attacking Japanese army gradually lost its support and was knocked down in large numbers.

After dozens of Japanese submachine gunners fell under the submachine gun fire of the First Battalion, the Japanese troops attacking the First Battalion's position completely lost their precious and rare close-combat automatic firepower. The remaining Japanese riflemen were holding bolt-action Type 38 rifles, and they had almost no ability to fight back against the First Battalion's submachine gunners who were like killing gods. In close combat, how could a rifle possibly beat a submachine gun?

The submachine gunners of the First Battalion who launched the counterattack were even more furious when they saw this. They rushed at the Japanese riflemen with their submachine guns like tigers into a flock of sheep, and indiscriminately shot and killed the Japanese riflemen who only had single-shot rifles with the completely overwhelming firepower of their submachine guns.

Soon, a wall of corpses formed in front of the First Battalion's position.
(End of this chapter)