The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 390: The Strong Hata Detachment

He Wei was extremely surprised when he learned that the Japanese troops, whose whereabouts had been unknown, suddenly appeared on the west bank of the Fuchi River.

In the past few days, he has not interrupted his reconnaissance and search for the Japanese army. He not only asked Ma Ji's 385th Brigade, which was equipped with a cavalry company, to send cavalry troops to search forward, but he also contacted the 18th Division which was deployed on the east bank of the Fuchi River. He hoped that Luo Guangwen, the acting commander of the 18th Division, would send some appropriate troops to search forward to detect the enemy situation if conditions permit.

Ma Ji carried out He Wei's request 18%. Originally, his brigade was temporarily under He Wei's command, so He Wei's request was naturally an order. Luo Guangwen, grateful for He Wei's previous assistance to the 18th Division in Fuchi River, also sent the th Division's direct cavalry company to search forward.

He Wei had actually already planned the search and reconnaissance operation at this time. After the annihilation battle on the west bank of the Fuchi River, although He Wei led the main force to withdraw to Banbi Mountain, he did not destroy the pontoon bridge built by the assault corps' engineering company using the captured Japanese engineering equipment. Instead, he handed the pontoon bridge over to the 18th Division troops stationed on the east bank of the Fuchi River for guarding and management.

In the past few days, the cavalry units of the 18th Division and the 385th Brigade have used the pontoon bridge left by He Wei as a route forward, crossing the Fuchi River continuously and advancing to the west bank of the Fuchi River for reconnaissance and search.

However, neither the 18th Division nor the 385th Brigade found any enemy during several days of searching.

And now, the 385th Brigade actually discovered the Japanese army when the main force of the assault corps was mobilizing and transferring. This extremely strange enemy situation instantly made He Wei's already extremely sensitive nerves even more alert.

Therefore, He Wei immediately ordered the troops to speed up their advance. The artillery units that were marching by car went at full speed and advanced at the fastest speed. The main force of the assault corps that was marching on foot changed from a combat readiness march to a combat readiness forced march.

At the same time, He Wei also personally led the forward command post to speed up and drive all the way, arriving at the defense zone of the 385th Brigade before the main force of the assault corps.

Of the three infantry regiments of the 385th Brigade, one was deployed on the Big and Small Bear Mountain heights within its defense zone, and the other two were deployed in the vast open areas with water networks on the left and right sides of the heights.

Among the defense zones of the three regiments, the defense line of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights, which occupied the terrain advantage, was undoubtedly the most important, and Ma Ji naturally deployed his brigade command post on the reverse slope of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights.

In the command post of the 385th Brigade, He Wei, led by Adjutant Ma Ji, rushed along the communication trench and met Ma Ji, the commander of the 385th Brigade, who had just sent him an urgent telegram.

Inside the command post, various telephones rang and reports were heard one after another, but the brigade commander Ma Ji was very calm and composed. He was sitting on a camp chair, smoking a cigarette and thinking intently. When he saw He Wei hurriedly walking into the command post, Ma Ji's face lit up, he put out his cigarette, stood up and said, "Captain He!"

He Wei steadied his pace, stood at attention, saluted and said, "Hello, Brigade Commander Ma!"

Ma Ji also smiled in return. He saw that even at such a critical moment in the war, He Wei, who had actual command of the 385th Brigade, still maintained the basic courtesy of a subordinate to his superior. He had also continuously provided various assistance to the 385th Brigade, and had always been respectful to him, a former officer of the Beiyang warlord army. Even though he suddenly discovered the enemy situation, Ma Ji still felt warm in his heart.

He Wei said: "Brigade Commander Ma, what is the specific enemy situation?"

Ma Ji pointed to the west bank of the Fuchi River on the map and said, "In the past few days, the cavalry company of my brigade and the cavalry company of the 18th Division have been searching near the west bank of the Fuchi River. The previous searches did not find anything, but just two hours ago, the cavalry company of my brigade suddenly found at least six floating bridges on a small river about kilometers from the west bank of the Fuchi River. They were extremely wide large floating bridges made of standard steel boats. The cavalry company commander said that two or three of the floating bridges were at least four or five feet wide."

"This river is marked as Songchuan River on the map. Its width and flow are smaller than Fuchi River, but like Fuchi River, it is an inland river system that eventually flows into the Yangtze River. However, until last night, there was no enemy activity on this river, which shows that the Japanese army suddenly built these six floating bridges overnight."

He Wei asked in a deep voice: "Have any enemy forces or Japanese troops crossing the bridge been spotted nearby?"

Ma Ji thought for a moment and said, "Our brigade's cavalry company only found about a hundred Japanese engineers responsible for building bridges and guarding. As for the large-scale troops, we haven't found them yet during the reconnaissance. However, according to the general marching requirements, six large floating bridges are needed to ensure the crossing of the river. The scale of the troops must be large. In my opinion, this Japanese army is not only coming for our Banbi Mountain, but it is also very likely a large Japanese heavy-armored unit with a large number of people and even a considerable number of heavy artillery and heavy equipment."

Although He Wei remained calm, he felt a chill in his heart. He stared at the map, trying his best to eliminate distractions and think about the current enemy situation based on the information provided by Ma Ji.

What Ma Ji, a former Beiyang Army veteran with many years of military service and rich military experience, just said was true. In fact, after hearing Ma Ji say that there were six pontoon bridges, He Wei felt that something was wrong. When he learned that the six pontoon bridges were large pontoon bridges made up of standard Japanese steel boats, he secretly thought that something was wrong.

This is because, if one uses the speed of a general infantry unit's marching column, the length of the marching formation, the distance between individual soldiers in the marching formation, and the marching speed data of individual soldiers, combined with the width of the river built by the Japanese army, these six wide pontoon bridges are sufficient to allow more than 10,000 field infantry troops, mainly infantry and mule and horse troops, to cross the river smoothly within an hour.

There are several pontoon bridges that are about four or five zhang wide. Today's one zhang is about three meters. It is obviously a waste of resources to use a pontoon bridge that is four or five zhang wide to transport infantry and mules and horses. Such a wide pontoon bridge is most likely used to ensure the crossing of large vehicles, large artillery vehicles and other heavy equipment!
After a rough calculation of the enemy's situation, He Wei felt a tingling sensation on his scalp. Although he did not want Ma Ji's speculation about the size of the Japanese army to become a reality, the conclusion he came to after a round of speculation and estimation was roughly the same as Ma Ji's.

The Japanese troops that suddenly appeared with strange movements were most likely a large-scale armed group with heavy equipment and heavy firepower.

Before this, He Wei had always been on guard against the Hata Detachment of the Japanese Army, and he had always been very sure that the Japanese army attacking Banbi Mountain from the land direction must be this Hata Detachment, so He Wei had always regarded it as the number one enemy.

Since the advancing column sent by He Wei successfully killed the vanguard troops of the Hata Detachment, seized many Japanese documents, and captured some Japanese soldiers, He Wei was naturally very clear about the composition of the Hata Detachment. Although the Hata Detachment had a large number of troops, including two field infantry regiments and a mountain artillery regiment, a force of this size did not need to build as many as six extremely wide pontoon bridges to cross such a not-so-wide river.

In addition to the recent strange whereabouts of the Hata Detachment and the strange situation that has not appeared for a long time, He Wei now even suspects whether the Hata Detachment has stopped its offensive operations in the direction of Banbi Mountain, and that another Japanese army unit with stronger manpower and more powerful equipment and firepower has replaced the Hata Detachment to attack the Banbi Mountain Fortress?

Even though he had a lot of doubts and puzzles in his heart, with the enemy at the doorstep, He Wei did not let his mind fall into doubts. Instead, he immediately came back to his senses and said to Ma Ji: "Commander Ma, has the 18th Division known the enemy situation?"

"I have informed the 18th Division, and the 18th Division's Acting Division Commander Luo Guangwen is aware of this matter."

Ma Ji waved his hand, signaling He Wei to rest assured, but then he sighed and said, "According to the current situation, the Japanese troops discovered by our brigade's cavalry company will probably cross the river soon. After crossing the river and reaching the west bank of the Fuchi River, they will certainly continue to advance to the Fuchi River, and then continue to cross the Fuchi River and advance to the east bank of the Fuchi River to attack our Banbi Mountain."

"The 18th Division is now on the east bank of the Fuchi River. Once the Japanese army crosses the Fuchi River, they will inevitably engage in a fierce battle with the 18th Division. From what we know about the enemy now, the Japanese army attacking us is a strong enemy. The 18th Division is a unit mostly composed of new recruits, and it was severely damaged not long ago. Facing such a strong enemy, they may not be able to withstand it."

Ma Ji sighed again with a serious expression.

He Wei was not worried about the 18th Division and said, "It's okay. Commander Li Yannian has already issued an order to the 18th Division's Acting Division Commander Luo Guangwen, allowing him to decide the time of retreat on his own. Once he encounters the Japanese army, he does not need to defend to the death. Acting Division Commander Luo is much better than his predecessor Li Fangbin in both command ability and command ethics. I believe he can command the 18th Division well."

Then, He Wei looked at Ma Ji and said solemnly, "Commander Ma, the 18th Division is already at the forefront. Even if we notify them to retreat now, it may not be too late. Moreover, if we retreat hastily, there may be chaos. It is better to inform Division Commander Luo Dai of the entire enemy situation and let the 18th Division prepare for battle as soon as possible. They can fight the attacking Japanese troops as a vanguard on the east bank of the Fuchi River. We must also prepare for battle as soon as possible to respond and meet the enemy."

Ma Ji's speculation and He Wei's estimation were both correct. Just as He Wei and Ma Ji were planning the battle, on the small river called Songchuan River, a huge column of Japanese troops was rolling along the Liudao pontoon bridge.

On three simple floating bridges about three meters wide, made of wooden boards supported by steel boats, densely packed Japanese infantry were trotting across the bridges and rivers in dense formations. The bayonets of their Type 38 rifles emitted frequent white reflections under the sunlight.

On the other three wide and heavy-loaded floating bridges, which were more than ten meters wide and supported by steel boats and folding boats, covered with steel plates and reinforced with pointed steel columns and iron chains, were marching columns composed of a large number of mules, horses, carts, trucks and tracked tractors.

The marching column of mules and horses and rubber-wheeled horse-drawn carts carrying many dark green mountain artillery parts and ammunition and supplies marched in the front, and following the marching column of mules and horses carrying mountain artillery supplies was a huge convoy consisting of more than 60 Japanese Type 94 trucks loaded with ammunition and supplies and eight Type 92 tracked field heavy artillery tractors.

Especially the eight Type 96 tracked field heavy artillery tractors that emitted bursts of black smoke and roars. Their huge bodies, special mobile travel methods and the eight latest Japanese Type 150 mm field howitzers towed behind the tractors were particularly eye-catching against the backdrop of mules, horses and trucks.

The footsteps of the infantry, the neighing of war horses, and the roar of tracked vehicle engines turned into a terrifying torrent, resounding on both sides of the Songchuan River.

This Japanese troop that was crossing the river and advancing rapidly towards the Fuchi River and Banbi Mountain was precisely the Japanese heavy force discovered by the 385th Cavalry Brigade. This troop had another identity, that is, the Japanese Army's Hata Detachment, which He Wei had always regarded as the number one enemy and had been searching for in vain.

Ever since the advance column sent by He Wei wiped out the vanguard troops of the Hata Detachment, the Hata Detachment, which had been in high spirits after the capture of Jiujiang and was madly advancing towards Banbi Mountain, was like being hit by a club head-on and suddenly "shrinking".

After confirming that the vanguard troops had been completely wiped out by the Chinese army, the arrogance and underestimation of the enemy by the detachment commander Hata Shigekazu was largely eliminated. In order to prevent the Hata detachment from repeating the mistakes of the vanguard troops, Hata Shigekazu had to order the Hata detachment to stop advancing and report the heavy losses to the Japanese 11th Army Command responsible for the attack on Wuhan.

After the Japanese 11th Army Headquarters learned that the Hata Detachment had lost almost a battalion of vanguard troops, Hata Shigeichi was undoubtedly reprimanded and admonished by the senior commanders of the army.

But reprimands and admonitions aside, despite suffering heavy losses, the Hata Detachment was still the Japanese army's land-based unit that was closest to the Banbi Mountain Fortress. It had previously performed very well in the battles to capture Madang and Jiujiang. Even though it suffered heavy losses this time, its merits did not outweigh its faults.

Therefore, after giving Hata Shigekazu a mild verbal and written punishment, the Japanese 11th Army Command still assigned the task of capturing the Banbishan Fortress to the Hata Detachment and further strengthened the strength of the Hata Detachment.

The Japanese 11th Army not only replenished all the personnel and equipment shortages and battle losses of the Hata Detachment, but also transferred the newly established 8th Independent Engineer Regiment and the 150mm heavy artillery battalion under the Chinese Garrison Artillery Regiment to reinforce the Hata Detachment in order to enhance its engineering operations and artillery attack capabilities.

Of the two units, the 8th Independent Engineer Regiment is a newly established professional engineering regiment of the Japanese Army. It is equipped with complete engineering equipment and has strong engineering technical capabilities covering earthworks, bridge construction, river crossing, city building and many other aspects.

The 150mm heavy artillery battalion of the Chinese garrison is even more valuable. The eight Type 96 150mm howitzers it is equipped with are the most advanced field howitzers of the current Japanese Army. This battalion is the only Japanese artillery unit equipped with this new type of howitzer on the battlefield in inner China.

At this point, after being reinforced by the 11th Army, the strength of the Hata Detachment has expanded to nearly 1 people, including the Taiwan Island Infantry 2st Regiment, the Taiwan Island Infantry 8nd Regiment, the Taiwan Island Mountain Artillery Regiment, the Independent Engineer th Regiment, the China Garrison Artillery Regiment Heavy Artillery Battalion, the Motor Vehicle Team, the Medical Team, and two transport surveillance teams. The combat strength of its infantry is almost the same as that of a fully-established field brigade, and its artillery firepower far exceeds that of an ordinary fully-established field division. It can be said to be a strong force.

(End of this chapter)