The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 440: The Grave of the 6th Division 2
Under 201 Heights, the artillery fire from the direction of Banbi Mountain became more and more fierce. The dense falling bombs caused sparks to rise from time to time, and bursts of bullets appeared. The rumbling sound of artillery never stopped for a moment, and continued to sound with a more rapid firepower projection speed and shooting intensity.

Just as the 13th Infantry Regiment was struggling to hold on under heavy bombardment, the attacking forces of the 9th Division also set out one after another, quietly advancing towards the vicinity of Hill 201.

He Wei had no idea about the number and strength of the Japanese troops underground at Hill 201. Under the fierce bombardment of the Banbi Mountain artillery group, even the 201st Infantry Regiment of the 9th Division, which had already assaulted to the top of Hill 51, was unable to find out the details of the situation of the Japanese troops underground at Hill 201.

The battlefield was filled with artillery smoke that blocked out the sun, and the situation was extremely chaotic. In this situation, He Wei could only infer that the Japanese troops on the hill were roughly an infantry regiment based on the number of Japanese troops who had just attacked Hill 201 and were destroyed on the hill by the half-mountain artillery group.

The Japanese army of this size is not a small number.

Therefore, the annihilation war plan agreed upon by He Wei and Zheng Zuomin must involve sufficient investment.

The 9th Division was a two-brigades-and-four-regiments infantry division, with the 25th Infantry Brigade (49th and 50th Infantry Regiments) and the 26th Infantry Brigade (51st and 52nd Infantry Regiments) under its command.
Zheng Zuomin deployed the forces of the 9st Infantry Regiment, the 51nd Infantry Regiment and the 52th Infantry Regiment of the 49th Division at one time. At the suggestion of He Wei, he also deployed the special forces company directly under the division that served as the guard of the division headquarters and the engineering battalion directly under the division that could be used as infantry in emergencies. Almost all the mobile forces that could be mobilized by the 9th Division were emptied by Zheng Zuomin.

The 9th Division was indeed an elite unit in the National Army's Central Army, but it took tremendous courage and determination to send out three infantry regiments at once and take the initiative to attack and besiege a Japanese unit that was most likely a reinforced infantry regiment-level unit.

You know, if the National Army took the initiative to launch a siege and annihilation war against the Japanese Army, a Japanese infantry battalion would be enough to give the besieging National Army division-level units a headache. Needless to say, it is difficult and dangerous for the 9th Division to fight a regiment now.

In fact, Zheng Zuomin was able to make such a decision because of the encouragement of He Wei. He Wei had won a great victory in Yangxin not long ago, defeated a reinforced brigade of the Japanese army, and controlled an artillery group consisting of dozens of artillery pieces. In Zheng Zuomin's eyes, He Wei's words were extremely important.

Therefore, Zheng Zuomin made up his mind, took the initiative, and did it hard!

Amid the bombardment of the Banbi Mountain Artillery Group which had almost reached its maximum rate of fire and maximum firepower projection capability, the attacking forces of the 187th Division appeared one after another near several heights including Hill 214, Hill 244, and Hill 9.

The 187nd Infantry Regiment of the 9th Division, located on Hill 52, took the lead in the attack. More than 201 officers and soldiers of the regiment who participated in the attack quietly drove down the hill along the ridge and reverse slope. After reaching the bottom of the hill, they took advantage of the cover of the foothills and many nearby hills and hills, and quietly rushed to the left wing of Hill 201 along the path, advancing to less than two kilometers away from Hill .

At the same time, similar contact actions also took place near Hill 214, Hill 244, and Hill 199. The 9th Infantry Regiment of the 49th Division deployed there also began to move, approaching a small hill two kilometers to the right of Hill 201 and began preparations for the attack.

The 9th Division's direct special forces company and direct engineering battalion also set out quickly and reached the top of Hill 201. After joining up with the 201st Infantry Regiment that had already occupied Hill 51, they also made combat preparations for the attack.

The mortar units of the various infantry regiments of the 230th Division, which had been concentrated and deployed on Hill 9, were also reorganized and returned to the combat structure of each regiment, and moved to the designated preparatory attack positions with each regiment.

The 9th Division dispatched three infantry regiments, a direct special forces company and a direct engineering battalion. Even though the various units under the 9th Division suffered many casualties in the fierce fighting during this period and the shortage of troops in each part was relatively serious, the total strength of each attacking unit exceeded .

A force of more than 201 people moved towards Hill . Conducting an enemy engagement operation in broad daylight was a real big move. It was normal to organize a force to conduct such a large-scale enemy engagement operation in a % secretive manner, let alone hide it from the enemy in front of them.

However, the bombardment of the 201th Infantry Regiment under 13 Hill by the Banbishan Artillery Group became the best cover for the army's operations. In order to cover the attack of the 9th Division and to cause as much casualties as possible to the Japanese troops under 201 Hill before the infantry troops launched the attack, Chen Xinsheng, commander of the Banbishan Artillery Group, under the order of He Wei, "squeezed" the artillery group's firepower projection capability to the extreme.

All the artillery pieces in the artillery group cancelled the concentrated volley fire at the platoon, company and battalion levels and switched to single-gun firing. The artillery pieces in the artillery group fired freely according to the determined firing parameters, and this single-gun free-firing tactic without unified command further increased the firing speed of each gun in the artillery group. The firing rate potential of the entire artillery group was now tapped to the extreme!
Therefore, half of the mountain artillery group launched even more intense firepower in the last five minutes of shelling!
Round after round of falling shells had already produced thick smoke and dust rising into the sky. The shells that missed the area where the 13th Infantry Regiment was located due to shooting errors also had an unexpected effect.

Some of the missed shells, which accounted for nearly half of the shells fired by the mountain artillery group, hit the hilltops near Hill 201, some exploded on the hilltops, and some exploded on the nearby foothills. The landing points were varied, and the explosions were everywhere.

These indiscriminate missed shells actually muddied the waters, greatly distracting the attention of the 201th Infantry Regiment on 13 Heights and the 6th Division troops on other heights. Several bombings even caused raging fires, with thick black smoke and columns of smoke rising into the sky.

The violent explosions, the whistling of shrapnel, the sound of wind when the shock wave encountered obstacles in the air, the roar of shells of various calibers breaking through the air, the shouts and yells of Japanese officers and soldiers of the 13th Infantry Regiment, the wails of wounded soldiers, the violent shaking of the earth, the flames and dust rising into the sky, and the bright light groups produced by the explosions of various shells.
Under the fierce bombardment, all kinds of sounds and scenes mixed together, the earth was shaking, the air seemed to be cut apart, and the entire battlefield was like a boiling pot.

Such a chaotic battlefield situation just happened to successfully conceal the 9th Division's attack force's approach to Hill 201. The 13th Infantry Regiment, which was struggling to support the enemy under the fierce artillery bombardment, did not notice the 9th Division's attack force approaching from multiple directions under the influence of the rain of artillery shells and the chaotic battlefield situation.

At Hill 230, in the 9th Division Command Post, Zheng Zuomin stood silently in front of the observation port of the command post, looking at the thick smoke rising into the sky near Hill 201. Outside the command post, the sound of artillery fire and the billowing dust were heard, along with the deafening roars.

The command post was extremely quiet and silent. Dozens of officers and soldiers silently guarded their positions, waiting for the moment of attack in the tense atmosphere.

Suddenly, a phone in the command post rang, breaking the silence. A staff officer picked up the phone and reported loudly: "Report to the division commander, the 49th Regiment has arrived at the attack position and is ready to attack!"

Immediately afterwards, several more phones started ringing.

"Report to the division commander, the 52nd Infantry Regiment is ready for battle!"

"Reporting to the division commander, the 51st Regiment, the Special Service Company, and the Engineer Battalion are ready to attack at Hill 201!"

Following the reports of the staff officers, the 9th Infantry Regiment, 49st Infantry Regiment, 51nd Infantry Regiment, 52th Division Special Service Company and Engineer Battalion participating in the attack had all completed their combat attack preparations and completed the semi-encirclement of the 9th Infantry Regiment under Hill 201 from all directions.

Zheng Zuomin was holding the telephone receiver leading to Banbi Mountain. Beside him, the adjutant, with a sweaty face, stared at the pocket watch in his hand. The second hand ticked away little by little. When it pointed to 10, the adjutant raised his voice and said, "Commander, there are ten seconds left before the bombardment ends. Time's up!"

Zheng Zuomin nodded slightly and held his breath. Just as the adjutant finished speaking, He Wei's loud roar came from the microphone in Zheng Zuomin's hand: "Commander Zheng, the time has come. The shelling will end soon. This is all I can do. It's up to you now. As long as your troops launch an attack as soon as possible after the shelling ends, get involved with the damned ones, and crush them as soon as possible, the battle will be over."

The bombardment was about to end, and the 9th Division would launch an attack to annihilate the Japanese troops in the high ground. Zheng Zuomin was under great pressure as he was about to launch an attack. However, he was more excited about the initiative to annihilate the enemy. He took off his helmet, wiped the sweat off his face, and said proudly: "Thank you, brother. Our division will live up to your trust and will definitely defeat this enemy!"

Almost at the same time, Zheng Zuomin put down the receiver and shouted: "Attack begins!"

"The attack begins!"

Several staff officers holding the phones repeated Zheng Zuomin's attack order almost at the same time.

The staff officers' repetition had just stopped, and the artillery fire from the direction of Banbi Mountain also stopped abruptly. What followed was the deafening shouting and the dense sound of machine guns and mortars.

The first to launch the attack were the 201st Regiment and the 51th Division's Special Service Company and Engineer Battalion, which had already occupied the top of Hill 9.

Boom
Boom
On the high ground, several 51mm mortars of the 82st Regiment opened fire first, launching dozens of 82mm mortar shells in a short period of time.

Dozens of yellow phosphorus bombs and explosive grenades exploded one after another below Hill 201, marking the beginning of the 9th Division's attack. Immediately afterwards, tongues of fire spit out from Hill 201 again.

Dozens of light and heavy machine guns from the 9st Regiment of the 51th Division, the division's special forces company and the engineering battalion spit out tongues of fire, cutting through the heavy artillery smoke that was gradually dissipating below the high ground and making sharp whistling sounds in the air.

The 201th Division troops on Hill 9 had a sufficient geographical advantage compared to other 9th Division troops that were preparing to participate in the encirclement and annihilation of the troops below the hill. After the bombardment of the Banbi Mountain artillery group stopped, the smoke and dust that filled the air gradually dissipated.

The troops of the 201th Division on Hill 9 gradually discovered the situation of the 13th Infantry Regiment below the hill and of course they showed no mercy and started to attack with light and heavy firepower.

Da da da

boom

Da da da

The 20-year-old 82mm mortar fired, the Type 24 heavy machine gun fired, the Czech light machine guns and the Zhongzheng rifles in the hands of the infantry also fired continuously, projecting intensive firepower from a high position.

The sudden intensive firepower from the high ground stunned the 13th Infantry Regiment below the high ground. Before the 13th Infantry Regiment, which was struggling under the bombardment, could figure out why the Chinese artillery on half of the mountain suddenly stopped firing, a intensive burst of machine gun bullets and mortar shells smashed down from the high ground above, sweeping down many unprepared Japanese officers and soldiers and knocking them to the hot and smoking ground.

"kill!"

After two minutes of fire attack, high shouts of killing broke out on the hill. Now, the 13th Infantry Regiment, which had been obscured by the smoke and unable to see the situation on the hill, finally figured out the situation on Hill 201.

Amid the loud charge, officers and soldiers of the 9st Regiment of the 51th Division, the Special Service Company, and the Engineer Battalion bravely rushed down the heights. Led by the blue sky and white sun flag, they rushed over like a tiger descending from the mountain. The entire heights were filled with Kuomintang officers and soldiers who were shouting and rushing over with their regular rifles with bayonets fixed.

When the Japanese soldiers on Hill 201 looked up, they saw the black mass of Chinese troops pressing down from the hill!

Fortunately, the 13th Infantry Regiment was also well-trained. After suffering a sudden fire attack, the Japanese officers quickly stabilized the troops and organized them to resist the Chinese troops rushing down from the high ground.

The infantrymen of the 13th Infantry Regiment dodged the dense rain of bullets that swept over their heads, entered their positions amid the shouts of the Chinese army, and began to resist the shooting.

Infantry guns, regimental guns, and rapid-fire artillery units also took up their positions and hastily opened fire to meet the enemy.

But before the Japanese army could resist for long, shouts of killing and charges were heard again on both sides of Hill 201.

"Woo woo!" The officers and soldiers of the 201nd Regiment hidden on the left side of Hill 52 sounded the charge.

"L"

"woohoo"

The charge bugles and whistles of the 201th Regiment deployed on the right side of Hill 49 also sounded.

Bugles sounded and shouts shook the sky. The main forces of the two National Army infantry regiments emerged from the left and right sides of Hill 201 respectively and launched a charge with roars. A black crowd of people suddenly appeared on the left and right wings of Hill 201. Countless National Army officers and soldiers with bayonets held high rushed out from behind the hill and from the paths between the hills.

The crowd surged in waves. Including the officers and soldiers of the 51st Regiment, the 9th Division's Special Service Company and the Engineer Battalion who rushed down from the high ground, the 9th Division's more than 13 attack forces quickly attacked the Japanese army from the front and the left and right wings in a semi-encirclement of the th Infantry Regiment.

(End of this chapter)