The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 424 Battlefield Inspection Team

On the top of Banbi Mountain, He Wei stood behind the artillery telescope and looked at the Tianjiazhen Fortress on the opposite bank through the observation port of the command post. Although separated by the Yangtze River, the river surface between Banbi Mountain, which is adjacent to the key to the Yangtze River, and Tianjiazhen Fortress was only a few hundred meters. He Wei could see the situation of Tianjiazhen Fortress on the opposite bank with his naked eyes.

Now with the use of the artillery scope, the situation on the other side can be seen clearly.

Amid the rumbling of artillery fire, the Tianjiazhen Fortress was already shrouded in a cloud of smoke and bullets. Dense bomb impact points continued to hit the defense zone of the Tianjiazhen Fortress. From time to time, a few shells fell into the Yangtze River and exploded, creating high splashes of water. Fine columns of water flew everywhere under the influence of the shock wave, forming patches of dirty water mist in the air. Countless columns of water floated in the air, emitting a bloody glow when the setting sun shone through them.

Several high ground near the fortress had been engulfed in flames under the bombardment of artillery fire. The sounds of exploding shells and continuous firing from light and heavy machine guns mixed together, covering the sky above the entire Tianjia Town fortress area.

In recent days, the Japanese Sixth Division attacking Tianjia Town has been launching continuous fierce attacks on the Tianjia Town Fortress. Every day, as long as it is not dark, the Japanese army is almost always attacking.

The battle was extremely fierce, either using heavy artillery fire to cover the infantry's attack on the Tianjiazhen Fortress, or simply using artillery fire to carry out precise destructive shooting on the Tianjiazhen Fortress.

Basically, as long as it was still daylight, the Japanese army's various artillery attacks and infantry assaults never stopped. It seemed that the attacking Japanese troops did not need to rest at all, and seemed to have no idea of ​​fatigue. Every day they launched a fierce attack on Tianjia Town like crazy.

The Japanese 6th Division that attacked Tianjia Town was worthy of being the best of the Japanese Army's regular divisions. After two months of continuous fierce fighting in Huangmei, Guangji and other places outside Tianjia Town, it still maintained extremely strong combat effectiveness. In the day-to-day attacks on the Tianjia Town fortress, not only did the offensive not fail, but it became more fierce every day, worthy of the name of the "Beast Army".

When in Nanjing, He Wei had inflicted heavy damage on the Sixth Division many times, and even annihilated a battalion-level unit of the Sixth Division, severely punishing this beastly army division many times.

Therefore, in He Wei's opinion, although the Sixth Division is strong, it is just so-so. However, after witnessing the Sixth Division's continuous daily attacks on Tianjia Town recently, He Wei has to say that he admires the resilience hidden behind the Japanese Sixth Division's reckless and tireless attacks.

The Japanese army's attack on Tianjia Town showed a strong force in terms of manpower, firepower, determination and will to capture the Tianjia Town fortress. Its attacking force was almost a field division with enhanced firepower. Such a large force could be considered a strategic unit on the Chinese battlefield. This also shows how much importance the Japanese army attached to the capture of Tianjia Town.

The offensive force deployed by the Japanese army on land was strong enough. If He Wei had not fought a battle with the Japanese naval fleet on the river before, resulting in several Japanese warships being sunk blocking the waterway on the river and preventing the Japanese huge naval fleet from going up the river, the Tianjiazhen Fortress would have had to endure the bombardment of Japanese warships from the river. This could be regarded as an unexpected benefit brought to the friendly forces by He Wei's defeat of the Japanese fleet.

Fortunately, Li Yannian's Corps guarding the Tianjiazhen Fortress was not given to them for nothing. Although it only had two divisions under its command, the 9th Division and the 57th Division, these two divisions were not ordinary ones. The 9th Division was the foundation of the old Second Teaching Regiment of the Whampoa Military Academy, and it still retained the flag of the old teaching regiment during the Northern Expedition. It was known as the "ancestor of the revolution" among the Central Army troops of the National Army. It was an elite force of the Central Army, an honorary unit in the National Army, and attached the most importance to the Whampoa spirit.

The Ninth Division, from the division commander, regiment commander to the company and platoon leaders, almost all officers at all levels are graduates of the Whampoa Military Academy. Its combat effectiveness ranks among the best in the national army.

Not to mention the 57th Division. Although it is currently a unit that has just been annexed and reformed by the Central Army and comes from the original Five Provinces Coalition Force system, this unit will be further transformed in the near future and will be completely transformed into a Central Army unit. It will be incorporated into the 74th Army and promoted to the famous Tiger Ben Unit, becoming the backbone of the 74th Army, one of the five main forces in the future.

Although the equipment of these two divisions was not as good as that of the Japanese army, they both belonged to the so-called German-equipped adjustment division sequence during the pre-war reorganization of the National Army. Facing the fierce attack of the Sixth Division, the two divisions also fought tit-for-tat, fighting for every inch of land with the Japanese army, fighting hard, and repeatedly sawing off, also showing the style of the elite of the National Army.

Gradually, after a long period of artillery preparation, the sound of fierce mountain artillery bombardment gradually weakened, and was replaced by the sound of light and heavy machine guns and infantry artillery firing.

Through the artillery telescope, He Wei saw that the smoke from falling bombs on a large high ground around the Tianjia Town Fortress had not yet dissipated, and a large number of Japanese infantry rushed over from the foot of the mountain, shouting and killing. The Japanese infantry's offensive tactics were very sophisticated. Within a few minutes, they deployed according to the tactical formation of the skirmisher group and attacked the top of the high ground in an extremely sparse formation.

Boom
Da da da

Fire streams composed of infantry artillery shells and light and heavy machine guns continuously hit the top of the high hill. Amid the rumbling explosions, corpses and firing points of the hilltop defenders were hit and thrown into the air from time to time. Hot mud mixed with corpses and weapon remnants flew into the sky and then fell heavily to the ground.

In He Wei's artillery mirror, the Japanese soldiers shouting and charging towards the high ground were like a group of madly crawling ants, quickly arching and charging towards the high ground. The visible surface of the high ground had lost its original color and appeared a gray-black color like charcoal.

The slopes of the high ground were dotted with bullet holes and bodies, weapons, ordnance, and equipment left behind after the recent fierce battle between the two armies. The soil where the bodies were densely piled had been dyed dark red by the seeping blood and body parts. The rifle bayonets left by the dead soldiers on both sides on the mountain were illuminated by the setting sun, emitting bursts of dazzling reflections.

The top of the mountain guarded by the Chinese army had been blasted with several gaps by the fierce artillery fire of the Japanese army. The highland mountain, which was originally covered with trees and lush greenery, had been completely changed by the continuous destruction of the artillery fire.

Just as the charging Japanese troops crossed the halfway point of the high ground and continued to rush upward, fierce machine gun fire and Type 82 mortar fire suddenly erupted from the top of several high grounds. The garrison troops of the 9th Division of the Li Yannian Corps stationed on several high grounds suddenly opened fire, attacking the charging Japanese troops fiercely with machine guns, mortars and grenades.

Suddenly, the Japanese troops who were heading towards the high ground were knocked down. Then, waves of more violent noises rang out from the artillery position of the Tianjia Town Fortress.

The field guns and fortress guns deployed on the Tianjia Town fortress battery also opened fire, launching shells at the Japanese troops on the high ground, knocking down many of them.

However, since the number of fortress guns and field guns on the Tianjia Town Fortress Fort was too small and the models were too old, despite its fierce bombardment, the barrage formed was not enough to stop the Japanese army's fierce attack.

He Wei's eyes were already numb. Since the Japanese army launched a fierce attack on the high ground near the Tianjia Town Fortress, such scenes have been played out every day, even more than a dozen times a day. The Japanese army first bombarded with artillery fire, and then rushed with infantry. Immediately, the National Army defenders on the high ground opened fire to return fire. The two sides attacked and defended each other on the high ground, fighting to the death.

The two sides followed this process every day, even every offensive and defensive battle. The periphery of the core fortress position of Tianjia Town Fortress was almost all large and small highlands. If the Japanese army wanted to capture the fortress, they had to capture the highlands. Therefore, the fighting method of the Tianjia Town defenders and the Japanese army was a very monotonous offensive and defensive battle around the highlands. The fighting method was very monotonous and very cruel.

He Wei could no longer remember clearly how many times the Japanese attack on the high ground he had witnessed was the nth high ground assault launched by the Japanese army today.

Amid the heavy artillery fire, the charge of the Japanese officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division was not repelled by the artillery fire. Instead, they continued to charge shouting under the dense firepower. The charging Japanese soldiers stepped on the rotten and stinking corpses and bomb craters, and rushed madly to the top of the high ground.

Even some wounded Japanese soldiers who fell on the high ground were trampled underfoot by the Japanese officers and soldiers who rushed over with red eyes from behind. They screamed in pain and were trampled to death. This became the "necessary price" that the Japanese army had to pay to take the high ground.

The shells fired by the Japanese 37mm rapid-fire guns and 75mm mountain guns that were set up at the foot of the mountain whizzed past the heads of the Japanese attacking forces, and they continuously fired at the defenders' firepower points on the top of the high ground, causing sparks of bullets to burst out.

He Wei slowly turned the gun scope, his eyes following the Japanese vanguard attacking the high ground. At the same time, he constantly estimated the approximate distance between the Japanese assault team and the high ground based on the distance scale on the gun scope. When the Japanese attacking the high ground advanced to about 100 meters from the top of the high ground with difficulty, He Wei suddenly shouted and ordered: "Open fire, bomb them!"

After receiving the order to fire, Zhao Zhanhai behind him immediately repeated He Wei's order to the intercom leading to the artillery position on the top of Banbi Mountain: "Fire!"

Boom
Boom
Immediately, violent vibrations and loud noises came from the top of half the mountain, shaking the entire command post. The chandelier on the ceiling of the command post kept shaking, and dirt fell down.

The 150mm heavy artillery battalion located on the top of Banbi Mountain, the two mountain artillery companies of the assault corps artillery battalion, and the 120mm large-caliber naval guns of the naval artillery team all opened fire, launching rounds of dense artillery shells.

Artillery shells of various calibers whizzed across the narrow river surface and landed on the Japanese troops who were about to attack the high ground. The shells exploded continuously on the high ground. The Japanese assault team that was rushing towards the high ground screamed after being bombed. Then a strong light appeared and a violent explosion sounded.

The powerful energy of the explosion instantly covered the entire front of the high ground. The Japanese troops on the high ground were blown away one after another in the fierce flames. Corpses and mud were flying everywhere, and dust rose into the sky. The entire front of the high ground was unrecognizable like purgatory.

In He Wei's artillery mirror, the "ant colonies" that were originally struggling to charge towards the high ground were thrown into the sky one after another by the shock waves of the shells that exploded in the violent explosion, forming small black dots in the air. Many lives disappeared instantly at the moment of the shell explosion, and after being torn into pieces, they soared into the sky with the shock wave and air wave.

At this moment, the lives of the Japanese soldiers under bombardment were not much more noble than those of ants. Even the soldiers who were armed to the teeth, even the Sixth Division, which was known for its ferocity in the Japanese Army, were as cheap as ants in the face of fierce bombardment.

After the artillery group on Banbi Mountain bombarded the Japanese troops attacking the high ground for half a minute, the Japanese artillery counterattack fire began. One after another, 75mm caliber mountain artillery roared and launched a counter-artillery bombardment on the Banbi Mountain artillery group. However, due to the high altitude of Banbi Mountain, the Japanese artillery could not directly hit the artillery group fortifications located in the artillery fortifications on the top of Banbi Mountain.

Therefore, although the Japanese army's counterattack fire was also very fierce, more than half of the whistling shells fell into the river, and more than a dozen shells fell on the river banks on both sides of Banbi Mountain. Only a few sporadic shells were lucky enough to fall on the artillery positions on the top of Banbi Mountain, but they could not cause any damage to the artillery of the Banbi Mountain artillery group that was hidden in the solid artillery fortifications.

The Japanese army retaliated with a burst of crackling artillery fire, which was quite fierce, but most of the shells hit the river and blew up the fish, causing minimal damage to half of the mountain artillery group. This fierce artillery counterattack gave people a feeling of impotence and rage.

Faced with the Japanese army's anti-artillery fire, the half-mountain artillery group would not sit idly by. The two mountain artillery companies of the assault corps artillery battalion and the 120mm naval guns of the naval artillery team continued to bombard the Japanese troops attacking the high ground, while the eight SFH150 8mm howitzers of the 18mm heavy artillery battalion with a longer range quickly ceased fire, adjusted the firing parameters, and began anti-artillery fire at the Japanese artillery positions.

The heavy artillery battalion ceased firing for half a minute before resuming firing. Dense 150mm grenades once again swept across the already bombarded surface of the Yangtze River and smashed into the Japanese artillery positions.

Bang Bang
Bang Bang
The Japanese artillery positions that had just been frantically launching artillery shells were suddenly shrouded in explosions and dust. Of course, the Japanese artillery positions were extremely tricky to construct and could not be destroyed by a single wave of the heavy artillery battalion. However, in the face of the concentrated fire of 150mm heavy grenades, the Japanese artillery positions and the mm caliber artillery placed on the artillery positions were not directly destroyed, but were bombed by the continuous falling shells and were unable to fire.

"Captain, the 9th Division in Tianjia Town on the other side called and thanked us for our artillery fire. They hope we stop bombarding the high ground. Their infantry will start to counterattack."

In the command post, a staff officer reported loudly.

He Wei yelled: "The heavy artillery battalion continues to suppress the Japanese artillery, and the remaining artillery stops firing!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Zhanhai quickly gave orders to the artillery group. Soon, the artillery battalion of the assault corps and the naval artillery team, which were frantically firing at the Japanese troops on the high ground, came to an abrupt halt. Almost at the moment they stopped firing, deafening shouts and cries of killing came from the high ground. At the top of the high ground, hundreds of officers and soldiers of the 35th Division, wearing yellow uniforms and German m helmets, rushed out of their positions, with their bayonets flashing with cold light, and launched a counterattack against the Japanese troops in front of the high ground.

The officers and soldiers of the 9th Division were like tigers descending from the mountains. After dropping a row of grenades from a high position, they quickly rushed into the enemy group. The Japanese troops on the high ground had just been ravaged by artillery fire from Banbi Mountain and suffered heavy casualties. There were only a few surviving Japanese troops on the high ground. Although the remaining Japanese troops still maintained a strong fighting will, they not only did not retreat, but rushed towards the counterattack troops of the 9th Division. However, in the face of the absolute advantage of the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division, the stubborn resistance of these remaining Japanese troops was doomed to be useless.

He Wei let out a long sigh and stopped looking at the Ninth Division's counterattack on the high ground on the opposite bank. Instead, he looked at the setting sun amid the deafening shouts and sounds of fighting coming from the high ground, and said in a relaxed tone: "The sun is setting. It's time to end the fight for today."

As soon as He Wei finished speaking, Chief of Staff Wang Yuanling hurried over and whispered to He Wei, "Captain, I just received a notice that the Military Training Department's battlefield inspection team sent by the Military Commission to verify the inspection will arrive at Banbi Mountain by boat tonight. The Military Commission sent a telegram asking our team to respond as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)