The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 379 The most tragic day for the Japanese Marines 2
The barrage of 60mm mortars and 81mm mortars rolled firepower towards the Japanese outer trench. The main attacking battalion of troops also quickly deployed in a skirmish formation after passing through the passage in the Japanese obstacle area, and followed up with a charge behind the mortar barrage.

On both wings of the infantry attack formation, armor-piercing shells and explosive grenades fired from 45mm tank defense guns passed by at an initial velocity of 870 meters per second, continuously hitting the outer trench in front of the Japanese main position.

"Come on!"

"Follow the battle formation and charge forward!"

The main attack force of the first battalion successfully completed the deployment of the battle formation. They were holding rifles with bayonets, submachine guns, light machine guns and general-purpose machine guns. They walked on the hot ground that had been bombed by mortar shells, stepped over one crater after another, shouted "kill" with unstoppable momentum, and rushed towards the Japanese outer trench as steadily as a chisel.

When the main attack force of the 37st Battalion completely broke through the passage of the engineering company in the obstacle area, the officers and soldiers of the heavy machine gun company of the st Battalion also followed the assault route of the main attack force of the st Battalion, rushed out of the communication trench built by the close operation, carried six zb heavy machine guns and used skillful tactical movements to alternately cover the charge to the entrance of the passage in the obstacle area, quietly waiting for the signal from the main attack force of the st Battalion.

Although He Wei had withdrawn a platoon from the 37st Battalion's heavy machine gun company to guard the river crossing point, there were still three machine gun platoons left in the company. The six Czech-made ZB34 air-cooled heavy machine guns were not as light and flexible as the MG general-purpose machine guns of the general-purpose machine gun squad of the infantry platoon of the assault corps, but they were also very powerful weapons in positional warfare.

Now the main attack force of the First Battalion has already attacked the outer trench of the Japanese army. As soon as the First Battalion takes over the outer trench, the heavy machine gun company of the First Battalion will immediately rush to the outer trench following the signal from the front and set up machine gun positions in the outer trench captured by the First Battalion to consolidate the results of the battle and provide cover for the First Battalion!
The main attack force in the front is advancing at full speed, and the reinforcement force in the rear must follow up closely one by one. This is the difficulty of offensive operations. Every link and every participating force must perform its tasks in a timely and accurate manner. Any carelessness will endanger the battle situation and even cause a catastrophe.

The roar of artillery and the deafening shouts of killing were intertwined as the attacking formation of the main attack force of the first battalion rolled forward. It was not until the three infantry companies of the attacking first battalion fully deployed their battle formation and rushed towards the Japanese outer trench with the "fierce and courageous spirit to overwhelm the enemy" required by the infantry drill manual that the Japanese army, which was caught off guard by the sudden attack, turned on all the searchlights and directed all the lights to the main position. The Japanese Marine Corps infantry guarding the position also fired many flares one after another.

Under the illumination of searchlights and various flares, the sky and the earth became very bright. The strong white light made the area in front of the main position of the Japanese army look white, and the Japanese soldiers in the position could only see the attacking enemy.

Hundreds of Chinese soldiers wearing imitation German M35 steel helmets were seen rushing forward in a very neat battle formation. The white light produced by searchlights and flares cast layers of cold light like mist on the blades of the Czech-made VZ24 rifle bayonets in the hands of the Chinese soldiers, flashing as they approached the outer trench in front of the main position of the Japanese army.

In order to provide protection for the main position, the Japanese army built an outer trench behind the obstacle area and in front of the main position, and built many difficult-to-find bunkers and firepower points in the outer trench. These firepower points were either hidden in the corners of the outer trench or hidden in the cliffs in the outer trench. They were all equipped with machine guns and were extremely cleverly constructed.

Originally, these cross-bunker firepower points, which should have served as the first line of fire defense of the Japanese positions and were sufficient to inflict fatal damage to the charging first battalion of troops, were rendered mute because the special forces company had detected their locations in advance through a feint attack.

大量的60毫米迫击炮弹和81毫米迫击炮弹以高抛的弹道连续不断的砸进了日军的外壕中，9个60毫米迫击炮班的炮手发挥了60毫米迫击炮的高射速优势，不断的调整着60毫米迫击炮的射击诸元，以密集的火力对日军的外壕来了一次大清洗。

杀伤力较大的4门81毫米迫击炮，则配合战车防御炮连的5门苏俄造m1932式45毫米战车防御炮重点攻击了日军外壕中的各处暗堡火力点。

The 81mm mortar heavy shell with a delayed fuse did not explode immediately after hitting the outer wall of the bunker in the Japanese outer trench like ordinary instantaneous fuse grenades. Instead, it relied on the weight and gravity of the 81mm mortar heavy shell to smash into the soil layer on the outer wall of the bunker before detonating.

As a result, many machine guns in the Japanese bunkers were hit repeatedly and continuously by 75mm mortar shells, which had the same destructive power as 81mm mountain artillery shells and had destructive power against civil fortifications, before they could even open fire, until they were completely destroyed. Whenever a Japanese bunker's firepower point was hit and destroyed by a heavy shell from an 81mm mortar, the location of the bunker's firepower point would instantly become a large hole or a shallow pit.

The Japanese Marines hiding in there and the weapons they used were turned into flesh and twisted steel residues in the hot mud.

The firepower points that were not destroyed by the 81mm mortar were subjected to direct fire from blasting grenades and armor-piercing shells fired from the 45mm tank defense gun, as well as point-to-point precision strikes, and were all destroyed one after another.

Boom
Boom boom-boom

A large number of mortar shells and tank defense shells whizzed towards the Japanese outer trench. The 81mm mortar shells, 60mm mortar shells and 45mm tank defense shells continuously swept the Japanese outer trench until the main attack infantry of the first battalion was less than 100 meters away from the Japanese outer trench, and then they stopped attacking the Japanese outer trench.

When the officers and soldiers of the main attacking battalion rushed to the outer trench of the Japanese army shouting and killing, there was not a single gunshot from any of the bunkers in the outer trench of the Japanese army, and none of them caused any casualties to the officers and soldiers of the attacking battalion.

Thanks to the accurate enemy situation detected by the special forces company during the feint attack, all the Japanese bunkers were hit with precise attacks by mortars and tank defense guns. Under the precise artillery bombardment, none of the Japanese bunkers were spared. They were all destroyed before the main attack force of the first battalion entered the outer trench without firing a single shot or bullet.

This also enabled the attacking force of the first battalion to capture the outer trench in front of the main Japanese position at the cost of zero casualties.

Fu Chen, the battalion commander, yelled as he was the first to jump into the Japanese outer trench. He stepped on the hot soil, breathed in the scorching air filled with the smell of gunpowder in the trench, and half-crouched. He turned around and shouted to the messenger who was following closely behind him: "Hurry up and fire the signal flare, and ask the heavy machine gun company to follow up and occupy the Japanese outer trench to consolidate the existing victory."

"Yes!"

The messenger immediately raised his flare gun and started shooting. Soon, two red flares and one green flare rushed into the air with a "hissing" sound.

Now the First Battalion has successfully captured the Japanese outer trench and will continue to launch an assault on the Japanese main position. The two red and one green flares are the signal to notify the heavy machine gun company of the First Battalion to advance towards the Japanese outer trench.

As the signal was sent, the heavy machine gun officers and soldiers of the first battalion, who had been hiding in the passage of the obstacle area, quickly launched a charge along the passage and soon rushed into the outer trench of the Japanese army. They used the remnants of the bunker left by the Japanese army to set up six ZB37 heavy machine guns and quickly established a machine gun position. When the heavy machine gun company set up the machine gun position in the outer trench of the Japanese army, the officers and soldiers of the main attack force of the first battalion had already stepped on the corpses and broken limbs of the Japanese army torn apart by artillery fire at the bottom of the outer trench. Under the command of officers and sergeants, they assisted each other in rushing out of the Japanese army's trench, shouting fiercely and continuing to rush towards the main position of the Japanese army meters away from the outer trench.

After covering the main infantry attack force's successful attack on the Japanese outer trench and stopping the bombardment of the Japanese outer trench, the mortar group did not stop, but began to approach the main position of the Japanese army after a short ceasefire.

The Blond 81mm mortar equipped by the Assault Corps has a range of only 1200 meters when using heavy explosive grenades that have the ability to attack and destroy earthworks. The maximum range of the Blond 60mm mortar is also 1200 meters.

However, since the mortar group was deployed relatively forward and the front edge of the Japanese main position happened to be at the limit of its range, whether it was the 81mm mortar using heavy shells or the 60mm mortar, the impact point when shooting at the maximum range happened to be the first line of the Japanese main position.

Therefore, there is absolutely no reason for these 18 60mm mortars and 4 81mm mortars to cease fire. Even if they cannot bombard the depth of the Japanese positions, they can still cover the front-line positions at the front edge of the Japanese main positions.

So, after a short rest, the mortar group's firepower began to erupt again, projecting towards the front edge of the Japanese main position.

In the outer trench, Battalion Commander Fu Chen looked at the three main attack infantry companies that rushed out of the outer trench, deployed battle formations and steadily advanced towards the main position of the Japanese army. He also looked at the battalion's heavy machine gun company in the trench that had completed the emergency construction of machine gun positions and the mortar barrage that was gradually advancing towards the main position of the Japanese army, and he felt a little relieved.

The attack just now was perfect. The three infantry companies of the first battalion in the main attack, the assisting mortar group, the engineering company, and the heavy machine gun company of the battalion that just rushed up all completed their respective combat tasks. During the entire assault, the Japanese army did not fire a single shot in the bunker in the outer trench, and the main attack force did not suffer any casualties.

It can be said that up to now, all participating troops have fought extremely well, but Fu Chen also knows that although his main attack force has been very successful and has captured the Japanese outer trench beautifully, the real tough nut to crack is the Japanese main position not far away. Only by attacking the Japanese main position can there be a possibility of victory.

The densely packed fortresses, machine gun nests and various cross-fire points on the Japanese main position have provided the best illustration of the firepower intensity of this main position and the difficulty of conquering it. However, the result of conquering the Japanese outer trench with zero casualties has given Fu Chen enough confidence.

Since they could capture the enemy's outer trench without losing a single soldier, they would surely be able to capture the enemy's main position smoothly and easily. Fu Chen encouraged himself in his heart, then suddenly stood up, jumped out of the trench and shouted: "Brothers, charge up, capture the Japanese position, kill!"

"Captain, Captain Fu and his men have captured the Japanese outer trench and are charging towards the main position of the devils. The mortar shells are about to hit the main position of the damn devils."

In He Wei's temporary command post, the special forces company commander Yang Biao listened to the rhythmic artillery fire from the mortar group and looked at the main attack force of the first battalion rushing towards the main position of the Japanese army. He excitedly shouted to He Wei who was observing the situation with a telescope at the side, and kept shouting that it was great.

He Wei put down the telescope and looked at the First Battalion of troops charging towards the main position of the Japanese army in the distance with the barrage of mortar shells. He nodded slightly and then shouted to Tao Heiwa in the distance: "Heiwa, give me the phone!"

The messenger Tao Heiwa immediately handed the telephone transmitter to the mountain artillery company to He Wei. He Wei took the receiver and said two words loudly and cheerfully: "Start!"

"Yes!"

A brief reply immediately came from the transmitter in He Wei's hand.

Immediately, bursts of artillery fire were heard from the mountain artillery company's position not far from He Wei's command post.

Boom
Boom
同时担任着对阵地中日军炮兵阵地和日军碉堡，机枪巢压制射击任务的突击总队炮兵营山炮第一连的6门日造94式75毫米山炮几乎同时发出怒吼，向日军的主阵地投射出了产自日本大阪炮兵工厂的最新式90式75毫米榴弹。

The Type 94 mountain gun equipped by the First Mountain Artillery Company of the Artillery Battalion of the Assault Corps is the most advanced mountain gun in Japan. Only a part of the independent mountain artillery regiments of the Japanese Army have completed the replacement, and the vast majority of the Japanese Army divisions are not equipped with this new type of mountain gun. The Japanese Marines guarding the positions now have no way to equip them. This batch of mountain artillery of the Assault Corps was captured from the independent mountain artillery units of the Japanese Army during the Xiaguan Campaign in Nanjing.

The Type 90 75mm sharp-pointed grenade fired by the first mountain artillery company is also the latest grenade developed by the Japanese Army. The Type 94 mountain artillery can reach a range of 8200 meters when using this new grenade.

Six of the latest mountain cannons captured from the Japanese army accurately smashed the latest grenades, also captured from the Japanese army, on the bunkers and machine gun nests at the front edge of the first line of the Japanese main position. The barrage fire of the mortar group had also been pushed to its maximum range, and its maximum range position was also the bunkers and machine gun nests at the front edge of the first line of the Japanese main position.

As a result, the 75mm mountain artillery delayed-blasting grenades, 81mm heavy delayed-blasting grenades and 60mm instantaneous grenades formed a series of violent explosions that were difficult to distinguish in order. Although the shooting power of the 75mm mountain artillery, 81mm mortars and 60mm mortars was not as good as that of field artillery and howitzers of larger caliber, a large number of shells fell to the ground and exploded intertwined with each other, and the frequent flashing sparks set off at the front edge of the Japanese main position were also extremely spectacular.

Suddenly, the front line of the Japanese main position was covered by dense falling bombs and gun smoke. However, since the various firepower points of the Japanese army had already been discovered by the special forces company, most of the falling bombs accurately hit the bunkers, machine gun nests and other firepower points in the Japanese front-line positions.

The Japanese troops in the main position were completely stunned by the fierce, accurate and tricky artillery bombardment and the swift and rapid offensive of the first battalion's main attack force. It was not until the first battalion's main attack force was less than 500 meters away from the Japanese main position that the sound of return fire was heard in the Japanese position.

In the command post in the center of the Japanese position, Kitaro Tsuchi held the transmitter to the front-line position, looked at the Chinese officers and soldiers rushing towards the main position, and kept shouting: "Open fire quickly, all positions open fire!"

(End of this chapter)