The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 417: Break through the Japanese position in less than 30 minutes!
The officers and soldiers of the 1st Infantry Battalion, the 2nd Infantry Company, and the Engineer Company of the Assault Corps quickly charged forward in a fully deployed skirmish group battle formation. The entire attack formation launched the attack in the order of the Engineer Company in front and the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Infantry Battalion in the back.

The infantry was advancing and the artillery barrage was also shifting forward. The two mountain artillery companies of the assault corps artillery battalion stopped bombarding the main positions of the Japanese front line and began to coordinate with the 150mm heavy artillery battalion to transfer firepower deep into the Japanese positions.

Instead, they were replaced by eight Brandt 8mm mortars from the mortar companies of the 81st Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps and the 81nd Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps. The mm mortar shells whizzed along the curved trajectory into the trenches of the main Japanese position, creating clouds of smoke and bullets.

Amidst the continuous screams, mortar shells killed the Japanese troops in the front-line trenches with dense shrapnel. The powerful Bronde explosive grenades with delayed-action fuses even flattened the outer walls of several Japanese trenches.

In the trenches of the Japanese front-line positions, strange cries and screams came one after another. From time to time, broken limbs and arms were blown out of the trenches by the shock waves and air waves caused by the explosion of mortar shells. The torn bodies of Japanese soldiers and remnants of weapons also appeared from time to time in the sky above the main positions of the Japanese army.

Just as He Wei predicted, the main infantry units of the Hata Detachment had already come out in full force. Currently, those defending the trenches on the Japanese front line were only the 8th Independent Engineer Regiment under the Hata Detachment and a part of the baggage service soldiers temporarily transferred.

The 8th Independent Engineer Regiment was just an engineering regiment with only a few subordinate squadrons and less than a thousand men at full strength. It had also suffered heavy losses. Even with the baggage soldiers temporarily transferred, the total strength was pitiful, with only more than men, which was not enough to meet the defense of the entire main position of the Japanese army.

As for the combat effectiveness, there is no need to talk about it. The combat effectiveness of this group of engineers and logistics soldiers is no match for the regular infantry units of the Japanese army. In terms of infantry combat skills, the Japanese logistics soldiers can only be said to know how to use the most basic infantry weapons, and can fire rifles and light machine guns. As for the mastery of infantry tactics, they are nine out of ten good at it, but not at all.

Although the Japanese engineers' mastery of infantry combat skills was slightly better than that of the baggage soldiers who were at the bottom of the contempt chain within the Japanese army, it could only be said that their mastery of skills was limited.

The artillery battalion of the assault corps had just begun to shift its firepower when the Japanese engineers and supply soldiers, who had endured long periods of bombardment in the front-line positions, became exhausted and lost their composure. They came out of their hiding places in the trenches and prepared to take combat positions to meet the oncoming Chinese troops.

But before they could get into the battle position, mortar shells fired by the two mortar companies of the assault corps' artillery battalion came crashing down on them. The Japanese soldiers maneuvering around in the trenches were blown to pieces. After several rounds of shelling, at least dozens of panicked Japanese soldiers were sent to hell by shrapnel before they could even climb up the wall of the trench to fire.

Simultaneously with the artillery bombardment, the assault corps' offensive forces launched a swift charge.

Exploding shells flashed frequently, smoke and dust billowed up, and the officers and soldiers of the engineering company directly under the assault corps, who were rushing in the front, stepped on the scalding ground that had been loosened by the explosion of the shells, stepped over the bomb craters, and advanced steadily towards the main position of the Japanese army like a steel chisel.

"Go ahead, go ahead!"

Captain Zhao Jiansan, the commander of the engineering company directly under the assault corps, bent over and fired twenty guns, commanding the officers and soldiers of the engineering company to rush forward. Behind him were the officers and soldiers of the engineering company holding explosive packs, explosive blocks, fuses, detonators and other engineering demolition equipment, as well as wooden boards, sandbags, earthbags and other earthwork tools.

Their mission was to thoroughly blast the obstacle area in front of the Japanese main position, clear a path for the subsequent main attack forces such as the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps, and at the same time annihilate possible small ambush forces in front of the Japanese main position.

The soldiers of the engineering company, who had deployed themselves in a scattered attack formation, attacked very smoothly. Under the fierce bombardment of the artillery battalion of the assault corps, the obstacle area in front of the main position of the Japanese army was almost completely destroyed, leaving only a few remaining barbed wires, stakes and chevaux de frise that had not been cleared.

After several battles, the engineers' combat skills were very proficient. After advancing to the Japanese obstacle area, Zhao Jiansan quickly ordered the engineer company to stop advancing. Most of the officers and soldiers crawled on the spot for cover, while a small number of engineers quickly moved forward with explosive packs and rushed to the Japanese obstacles that had not been destroyed, and quickly placed the explosives used to break the obstacles.

Boom
Boom
In several violent explosions, some wooden stakes with barbed wire, chevaux de frise and barricades were blown into the sky by the air waves. The engineering company completed the task of blasting the obstacle area in front of the main position of the Japanese army in less than two minutes.

After the explosion, the engineers who were lying in front of the main Japanese position quickly cleared a large number of debris from the obstacles in the area in front of the main Japanese position that had been blown up, and used wooden boards, sandbags and earth bags to create relatively flat passages in the obstacle area filled with craters.

These passages are the necessary routes for subsequent infantry units to attack the Japanese army.

The engineering company completed its mission extremely smoothly. It was not blocked by Japanese artillery fire, nor was it attacked by fire from possible Japanese hidden forces. From the engineer charge to the blasting to the opening of a path for the infantry attack force, the entire process went extremely smoothly, and the engineering company did not even suffer a single casualty.

"kill!"

The deafening shouts of killing soon approached the front of the Japanese main position. Under the command of Fang Jing, the commander of the Second Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps, the six infantry companies of the First Infantry Battalion and the Second Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps launched a charge in parallel. They quickly charged to the rear of the engineering company in a standard skirmish formation, and after a slight adjustment, they bravely attacked the Japanese front-line trenches along the multiple paths opened up by the engineering company.

The officers and soldiers, with high morale and their bayonets shining coldly, calmly rushed through the path opened by the engineering company and quickly approached the main position of the Japanese army.

Suddenly, there was a crackling, unpredictable and irregular return fire from the main position of the Japanese army. The Japanese army, which had been under pressure in the front-line trenches of the main position of the Japanese army, finally began to fight back. First, there were some scattered and sparse firing sounds from Type 38 rifles, and then the sound of light and heavy machine guns was heard in the Japanese position.

The Japanese army's counterattack fire was not dense and was very panic-stricken, but the bullet streams it fired still swept the assault corps' charging columns in the swift charge, knocking down some officers and soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Assault Corps.

Boom
Boom
Immediately afterwards, artillery fire was heard from the Japanese positions again. After the Japanese machine gun fire attack, the Japanese blocking artillery fire followed.

First, the Japanese army's deep artillery positions, which had been suppressed by the 150mm heavy artillery battalion, fired more than a dozen shells with difficulty. Then, artillery fire was heard from the second and third line positions of the Japanese army, and fierce artillery fire was launched at the officers and soldiers of the First Infantry Battalion and the Second Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps who were charging.

Whizzing
Whizzing
The shells whizzed in, and just like the hasty and panicked infantry and machine gun fire of the Japanese army just now, the Japanese artillery counterattack was also chaotic. Seven or eight of the twenty or so shells fired by the assault corps artillery battalion and the 150mm heavy artillery battalion missed the target and exploded in an open space far away from the assault corps' offensive forces.

The remaining bullets did not accurately hit the forward position of the assault corps' offensive force, but fell at the back of the assault corps' offensive formation.

Boom
Boom
The Japanese 75mm shells exploded one after another. Fang Jing, the commander of the second battalion, who was commanding the attack from behind the attacking troops, was following the assault corps infantry attack line. He was instantly enveloped by the hot air full of the smell of gunpowder. Realizing that he was being bombarded, Fang Jing quickly threw himself forward and lay down. Amid the rumbling explosions, although the Japanese artillery fire was not accurate or fierce, the continuous shells still caused some casualties to the attacking assault corps troops. The flying shrapnel and shotgun shells knocked down some officers and soldiers of the assault corps who were unable to dodge.

Just before Fang Jing fell to the ground, he saw a 60mm mortar team of his infantry company suddenly enveloped by a dazzling white light while marching, followed by a violent explosion. When Fang Jing looked up again, the location of the mortar team was filled with smoke, and there were no longer any standing soldiers of the 60mm mortar team around, but instead many bloody corpses that had been blown apart.

A pungent smell of blood rushed into Fang Jing's nose. Less than one meter away from where he was crawling, half of the arm of the assault corps gunner, who was still holding the leather carrying strap of the mortar, was mixed with the mud on the ground. The fingers that were still tightly grasping the mortar carrying strap were opening and closing, and horrifying blood was flowing out.

Other shells from the Japanese artillery also exploded one after another, killing or wounding some officers and soldiers of the attacking force.

"Fuck it, fire the signal flares and let the artillery fire hard!"

At Fang Jing's command, the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion Headquarters Company beside him immediately fired two red and one green flares in succession. This was the agreed signal for the attacking force to request artillery support from the rear command post.

Fu Chen, who was directing the attack in the rear command post, saw the signal flare and quickly ordered the artillery battalion of the assault corps and the 150mm heavy artillery battalion to adjust their firing targets again to suppress the Japanese artillery that had just opened fire on the attacking forces.

Whizzing
Whizzing
The whistling sound of dense artillery shells breaking through the air constantly swept over the heads of the assault corps' attacking troops. The firepower response speed of the assault corps' artillery battalion and the 150mm heavy artillery battalion was very fast and the division of labor was very clear.

The two mountain artillery companies of the assault corps' artillery battalion attacked the artillery that had just opened fire from the second and third line positions of the Japanese army, while the 150mm heavy artillery battalion with a longer range bombarded the artillery positions deep in the Japanese army, quickly silencing the Japanese artillery.

The infantry and machine gun firepower of the Japanese front-line positions also paid a price for the firepower attack on the assault corps' offensive forces. The 81mm mortars of the Assault Corps' 60st and nd Infantry Battalions opened fire quickly, and the mm mortar squads under the various infantry companies of the offensive forces also stopped advancing, urgently set up artillery, and fiercely bombarded the exposed light and heavy machine gun firepower points in the Japanese front-line positions.

"Bang, bang, bang" the sound of shells being fired from the guns rang out, and 81mm and 60mm mortar shells landed accurately in the front-line trenches of the Japanese army, destroying all the exposed light and heavy machine gun fire points of the Japanese army at a very fast speed, and creating a series of "screams" in the trenches with dense shrapnel.

The not-so-fierce infantry and machine gun fire attack and artillery counterattack on the Japanese front-line positions resulted in frenzied retaliation from the assault corps with mountain artillery, howitzers, and mortars of various calibers.

The fierce firepower made the earth tremble. The violent shock wave blew up the floating things on the ground, adding another layer of smoke and dust above the Japanese positions.

Two minutes later, Fang Jing looked at the Japanese front-line positions submerged in intensive mortar bombardment and shouted decisively: "Mortars cease fire, infantry continue to attack!"

Under Fang Jing's order, the 60mm mortars of each company of the attacking force and the 81mm mortars of the mortar company of the st and nd Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps ceased firing one after another. What followed was a deafening shout of killing. The officers and soldiers of the six infantry companies of the Assault Corps who were crawling on the ground jumped up and continued to rush towards the Japanese positions while roaring.

The officers and soldiers of the assault corps had already rushed to a position very close to the Japanese front-line positions. The mortar fire had just begun to extend, and the officers and soldiers rushed into the Japanese front-line trenches like tigers descending from the mountains, following the sweeping mortar barrage.

The battle instantly turned into close combat, as soldiers from the six assault corps infantry companies charged into the front-line trenches which were guarded only by the severely damaged 8th Independent Engineer Regiment of the Japanese Army and a part of the baggage and special forces.

On the one hand, there are the elite infantry of the assault corps with strong combat effectiveness, fierce firepower and well-trained; on the other hand, there are the engineers and baggage soldiers who were temporarily used by the Japanese army as cannon fodder when the infantry was insufficient. The combat effectiveness of the two sides is naturally not on the same level, and the close combat form of fighting shows the difference in combat effectiveness to the extreme.

In terms of military strength, a crippled engineering regiment of only a few hundred people and a group of baggage soldiers combined could not defeat the six assault corps infantry companies with a total strength of more than a thousand people.

When the officers and soldiers of the assault corps broke into the Japanese army's first-line trenches, the fall of the Japanese army's first-line trenches was a foregone conclusion.

The officers and soldiers of the assault corps who attacked the Japanese army's front-line positions immediately used a large number of machine guns to give the Japanese troops in the trenches a baptism of blood and fire, and used intensive close combat firepower to sweep down the Japanese troops in the trenches in large numbers.

Many Japanese soldiers barely mustered up their courage, raised their bayonets and prepared to rush forward to fight in close combat with the ferocious soldiers of the Assault Corps, but the soldiers of the Assault Corps did not give them the opportunity. They launched a fierce burst of fire, which made the Japanese engineers and baggage soldiers in the position scream in pain and suffer heavy casualties.

Afterwards, they used their extremely superior forces to overwhelm the panicked Japanese troops in the trenches and engaged in close-range hand-to-hand combat.

Shouts, screams, wails, and continuous gunfire filled the first trench of the Japanese army. The fight between the two sides was brutal, but due to the combat effectiveness, firepower and manpower advantages of the assault corps' attacking forces, the brutal fight in the front-line trenches did not last long.

Only fifteen or sixteen minutes after the six infantry companies of the assault corps rushed into the front-line trenches, the Japanese troops in the position could no longer hold on. After leaving behind a large number of corpses, only more than a hundred survivors fled in panic. The front-line trenches of the Japanese main position were thus captured by the assault corps.

It took less than half an hour from the time the assault corps launched the attack to the complete capture of the Japanese front-line positions. The attacking force not only broke through the Japanese positions, but also almost wiped out all the Japanese defenders in the positions, including an independent engineering regiment.

In the command post at the rear, Fu Chen punched the sandbag, put down the telescope, and shouted, "What a pleasure! What a pleasure!"

Then he looked at He Wei who was observing the enemy situation. He Wei nodded at Fu Chen with praise and said, "Go up, stick to them, and continue to break through!"

(End of this chapter)