The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 407: Early Morning Encounter

On the morning of September 10, the Japanese Army’s Hata Detachment stationed on the right side

The dazzling morning sun shone sparsely through the clouds. A tall sun flag was blown by the breeze and rolled repeatedly in the air. Hata Shigekazu stood solemnly with his head held high, holding a knife, staring at the sun flag without moving.

Behind him were 17 Type 94 light armored vehicles and more than 2,000 neatly lined up, fully armed Japanese officers and soldiers. All the Japanese riflemen had bayonets fixed on their guns. The Taisho 11-year Type 92 light machine guns, Type 92 heavy machine guns, and Type 92 infantry guns were also arranged in several rows and neatly placed on the ground in accordance with the requirements stipulated in the Infantry Drill Manual.

There was not a single extra sound in the huge column of more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers and 17 Type 94 light armored vehicles. The only sounds in the air were the whistling sounds of shells breaking through the air from the distant horizon and the violent explosions of shells landing in the Japanese positions.

However, the neatly lined Japanese troops seemed numb and immune to the fierce bombardment; no one was panicked or disturbed.

Standing in front of this parade formation that was clearly inconsistent with the wartime concealment requirements, Shigeichi Hata felt the vibrations from his own positions after being frequently hit by the Chinese army's 150mm heavy artillery shells, and his mind was filled with emotion.

Ever since the failed attack on the Chinese army's defense line centered on the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights a few days ago, the Chinese army's heavy artillery has been bombarding his positions continuously. Most Japanese troops have become accustomed to the Chinese army's routine bombardment.

At the same time, in recent days, the casualties suffered by the Hata Detachment under the irregular heavy artillery bombardment of the Chinese army have exceeded 200 people. Since yesterday, the intensity and severity of the shelling have increased sharply.

Shigekazu Hata had no time to care about why the intensity of the Chinese army's artillery bombardment suddenly increased, nor did he want to care, because today he had to lead almost all of his combat forces to launch a last-ditch desperate attack on the Chinese army's defense line near the Big and Small Bear Mountains.

After the previous attack failed, the only remaining infantry combat force under Hata Shigekazu was the two damaged infantry battalions of the Taiwan Island Infantry 2nd Regiment and the only two remaining infantry companies of the Taiwan Island Infantry 1st Regiment, attacking the combat strength of two infantry battalions and two infantry companies.

In order to fight this battle, Shigekazu Hata simply disbanded the two infantry companies of the Taiwan Island Infantry Regiment's 1st Infantry Regiment and dispersed them into the two infantry battalions of the Taiwan Island Infantry Regiment to complete its structure.

These two barely complete infantry battalions, plus an independent light armored vehicle squadron recently supported to the Hata Detachment by the 11th Army Command, formed all the capital that Hata Shigekazu had to defy the 11th Army Command's order to stop the attack and fight to the death before being transferred from his duties as detachment commander.

Amid the roar of cannons and the gusts of breeze, Hata Shigekazu suddenly turned around, facing the more than 2,000 officers and soldiers under his command, and shouted loudly: "Samurai! All of you! Bow to the east!"

More than 11 Japanese officers and soldiers bowed in unison facing the east where the Japanese Emperor's palace was located. The densely packed bayonets reflected dazzlingly in the sun. In this reflection, Hata Shigeichi's face suddenly became ferocious and looked extremely terrifying. This time, his unsolicited attack was completely in violation of the order of the th Army Command.

Once the attack was launched, if the risk of failure awaited him, he would either be killed in battle or face a tragic end in a military court. Even if the attack was successful, the previous disastrous failure would not allow him to continue to stay in the position of a frontline military commander. However, Shigeichi Hata was unwilling to suffer such a disgraceful defeat, so he planned this crazy and desperate attack.

However, the expressions of the more than 2,000 Japanese officers and soldiers were extremely solemn and pious, and their ranks were filled with the sadness of a journey with no return. However, they were completely unaware of Hata Shigeichi's disobedience to military orders during the attack.

This seemingly heroic and tragic attack was nothing more than a combat action decided on arbitrarily by their superior out of reluctance, and they were nothing more than pawns and cannon fodder for Hata Shigeichi's self-willed and crazy behavior.

"Warriors, today is the day we will die in service to the Emperor!"

Hata Shigekazu swung his saber fiercely, then turned around and led a massive mixed attack column of armored vehicles and infantry to rush towards the Big and Small Bear Mountains.

In the morning light, the attack force of the Hata Detachment quickly began to advance towards the designated assault area. Having learned the painful lesson from the previous failure in the attack on the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights, Hata Shigeichi readjusted the attack tactics and targets. He no longer attacked the heights fiercely, but instead selected the attack breakthrough point as the open position on the right wing of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights.

Although in the previous attack battle, the attack force of the Hata Detachment also failed in the attack on the right wing position of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights, and suffered heavy losses in the indiscriminate shelling of the Chinese army's heavy artillery, this position was the only place where the Japanese army had made progress in the previous attack, and the open terrain was more suitable for armored vehicle maneuvers.

Therefore, Shigekazu Hata directed his attack again towards the open area on the right side of the Big and Small Bear Mountains.

In this attack, he divided his attack force into two parts, with the 17 Type 94 light armored vehicles of the Independent Light Armored Vehicle Squadron as the vanguard, advancing quickly to the open area on the right side of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights. Hata Shigekazu himself led the main forces of the two infantry battalions to follow up.

Amid the roar of engines, an independent light armored vehicle squadron consisting of 17 Type 94 light armored vehicles quickly galloped away from the main force of the Japanese infantry, and with the cover of morning mist, approached the open area on the right side of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights at an extremely fast speed.

The Japanese Type 94 light armored vehicle, nicknamed the Bean Tank, has always been criticized by Japanese tank soldiers for its weak protection and firepower, but its tracked mobility and extremely light weight became a great advantage when advancing in the open field in front of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Plateau where it is not easy to deploy heavy equipment and vehicles.

Therefore, these 17 Type 94 light armored vehicles actually achieved an extremely fast speed in the wild. The Japanese tank soldiers driving the tanks stepped on the accelerator all the way, rushing forward recklessly, and quickly advanced to the open breakthrough area on the right side of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights.

At the same time, in the field in front of the open area near the Big and Small Bear Mountains, a large convoy and mixed infantry column was slowly advancing.

A convoy of Bofors 75mm anti-aircraft guns, including more than a dozen tracked tractors towing Bofors anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft gun observation equipment and more than a dozen German-made large trucks, slowly drove into the center.

Within two kilometers directly in front of the convoy, officers and soldiers from the special forces company directly under the assault corps spread out in battle formation, carefully clearing a path and searching forward in the fog which was slightly heavier than usual this morning.

He Wei and Hata Shigekazu chose to launch an offensive against the enemy at the same time. Coincidentally, they chose the same day to launch their attacks, but He Wei was slightly faster. Before dawn, He Wei ordered the main assault corps, the 2nd Infantry Battalion, the 3rd Infantry Battalion, the Engineer Company, the Artillery Battalion, the 2nd Infantry Battalion as the reserve, and the Communications Company as the communications company to advance early, using the cover of night to advance to the Japanese positions and prepare for the attack.

He Wei personally led the anti-aircraft artillery company with more heavy equipment, the special forces company directly under the assault corps and the temporary command post to set out in the early morning after daybreak. What was even more coincidental was that the place where He Wei, the anti-aircraft artillery company, the special forces company and the command post were advancing to was exactly the target of the Japanese army's attack, that is, in front of the "right wing open area position of the Big and Small Bear Mountain Heights" from the Japanese army's perspective.

In a tracked tractor towing an anti-aircraft gun, He Wei was holding a telescope and carefully observing the foggy surroundings. Beside him, Captain Huang Diaoqi, the commander of the anti-aircraft gun company, was also looking around with worry.

"Captain He, is there going to be any problem?"

Huang Diaoqi asked He Wei anxiously. As an officer of the anti-aircraft artillery unit, what he worried about most was that the unit would go wrong during the march. The artillery unit was extremely vulnerable during the march, and its own self-defense capabilities were poor. Once it was attacked by the Japanese army during the march, the situation would be unimaginable. Huang Diaoqi was naturally very worried.

He Wei put down the telescope, patted Captain Huang on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, my special agent company will clear the way for the anti-aircraft guns. We are not afraid even if something happens."

"Captain, the Communications Company sent a telegram saying that the 2nd Infantry Battalion, the 3rd Infantry Battalion, the Engineer Company, and the Artillery Battalion have all arrived at their designated locations and are currently constructing infantry attack starting positions and artillery firing positions. The 1st Infantry Battalion, which is the reserve force, is currently constructing its reserve position. The Communications Company has completed the establishment of a communications network connecting all units."

The tarpaulin on the rear compartment of the truck running parallel to the crawler tractor where He Wei was was lifted. Zhao Zhanhai stuck his head out and reported to He Wei while throwing a telegram.

"Okay, tell them to build fortifications at the designated locations to prepare for the attack and wait for orders."

"Yes!"

As soon as Zhao Zhanhai finished answering, after a moment of silence, a crisp gunshot with the sound of wind tearing the air broke the silence around.

Immediately afterwards, more intensive gunfire and explosions were heard, including the dull gunfire and explosions of the Czech-made vz24 rifles and Czech-type zb26 light machine guns equipped by the special forces company, as well as the dense and continuous high-intensity shelling sounds of the mg34 general-purpose machine guns. In between were the explosions of mm mortar shells and the continuous and intensive shooting sounds of the mm bullets used by the Japanese army.

Apparently, the special forces company that was searching ahead had encountered the Japanese army and a fight had already started!
After the sudden sound of gunfire, the convoy stopped abruptly. Then, a messenger from the special forces company ran over with his back bent and reported to He Wei: "Captain, we suddenly found enemy tanks in front of us. There are about a dozen of them. We are resisting on the spot!"

Coincidence upon coincidence, accident upon accident, He Wei and Shigekazu Hata were both preparing to launch a large-scale offensive against the other side, and the departure point of He Wei's troops happened to be the same as the attack breakthrough point selected by Shigekazu Hata. In the early morning full of coincidences and accidents, the special forces company of the assault corps that was clearing the way and searching forward suddenly encountered the vanguard light armored convoy of the Japanese Army.

The sudden battle started without any plan.

Hearing that the Japanese tanks were coming, the anti-aircraft artillery company commander Huang Diaoqi suddenly said to He Wei in a panic: "Captain He, what should we do now?"

Faced with the sudden situation, He Wei did not panic. He waved his hand to signal Huang Diaoqi to calm down, and immediately thought about how to use the anti-aircraft artillery company and the special forces company to deal with the incoming Japanese tanks. He asked the messenger of the special forces company: "Does the Japanese army have infantry? Are there any guns on the tanks? How is your company's resistance at present?"

"Captain, we only saw the Japanese tanks, but no infantry. The Japanese tanks are not big, and there seem to be only machine guns on them. My company is now using light machine guns and general-purpose machine guns equipped with steel core armor-piercing bullets to attack the Japanese tanks."

He Wei was relieved when he heard the messenger say that there were no cannons on the Japanese tanks.

The absence of cannons means that the Japanese army did not deploy the Type 89 tanks or Type 95 tanks equipped with cannons. It is very likely that they deployed the Type 94 ultra-light armored vehicles or Type 92 heavy armored vehicles equipped only with machine guns. If it was these two types of armored vehicles, it would be much easier to deal with them.

At this time, the surrounding anti-aircraft artillery companies were also noisy. Facing the sudden encounter with the Japanese tanks, the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery company were also quite nervous. He Wei frowned and turned his head, looking at the artillery company officers and soldiers who jumped out of the car and surrounded the huge 75mm anti-aircraft gun. He looked stern and asked Huang Diaoqi: "Captain Huang, how long does it take for your company's anti-aircraft guns to switch from a mobile state to a firing state at the fastest speed?"

Huang Diaoqi said: "It will take at least five minutes."

"Okay, then you should immediately organize your company's anti-aircraft guns to deploy on the spot and prepare to fire at the Japanese tanks. I will have the special forces company hold back the Japanese tanks and buy you five minutes."

He Wei finished speaking swiftly, grabbed the 20-shot machine gun at hand, and swiftly jumped off the tracked vehicle with Tao Heiwa. He said to the messenger of the special forces company, "Tell your captain Yang to hold the Japanese tanks for five minutes and try to lead them to the anti-aircraft artillery company. Don't fight them to death, just hold them back. Go quickly."

"Yes!"

Huang Diaoqi, who had been performing air defense missions for a long time and commanding large-caliber anti-aircraft guns to perform air defense, seemed to have subconsciously ignored the anti-tank shooting function of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns. He did not react immediately, but was stunned for a moment before he understood He Wei's intention, which was to flatten the anti-aircraft guns and use them to attack Japanese tanks.

Huang Diaoqi then calmed down and stood up from the tracked vehicle with some excitement. He waved his arm at the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery company and shouted, "Brothers, four guns are one hundred meters apart. Deploy the formation and level the artillery! Prepare armor-piercing shells! Knock out the Japanese iron bastard for me!"

(End of this chapter)