The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 443: New Achievements
The entire battlefield was filled with the rumbling sound of artillery fire from the half-mountain artillery group, the loud shouts of killing, the desperate screams, the clash of bayonets and the sound of gunfire.

Whether it was He Wei who was assisting in the command far away in Banbi Mountain, or Zheng Zuomin who was directly commanding the attack of the 9th Division, the combat strategy at this time was very clear, that is, to use absolutely superior forces to make up for the gap in firepower and combat quality of the troops, and to use almost all the combat forces of the 9th Division, an elite infantry division of the National Army, to attack and annihilate the 13th Infantry Regiment, a crippled Japanese infantry regiment, and to rely on piling up heads to eat up the 13th Infantry Regiment.

If we are inferior to our enemies in firepower, equipment, and the quality of our officers and soldiers, then we must make up for it with our advantage in manpower and rely on numbers to fight the enemy. There is nothing shameful about this method of fighting!

The effect of this tactic was immediate. After the main force of the 9th Division came out in full force and joined the battle, the situation of the battle was completely changed. Under the multiple heights centered on Hill 201, the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division shouted loudly and with their bayonets gleaming with cold light, they completely defeated and dispersed the 13th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army.

The various units of the 13th Infantry Regiment, which were dispersed and then divided and surrounded, gradually lost their strength under the continuous attack of the 9th Division's superior forces and were subsequently divided and annihilated.

Faced with the absolute superiority of the 9th Division's four main infantry regiments, its direct special service company, its cavalry company, and its engineering battalion, the Japanese 4th Infantry Regiment, which had suffered more than half of its casualties at 201 Hill, was quickly overwhelmed and defeated. The combat form between the 13th Division troops at 201 Hill and the Japanese 9th Infantry Regiment quickly changed from a brutal melee to an annihilation battle after the 13th Division gained absolute advantage!
The Japanese troops who had managed to gather their troops and resist in squadrons and teams were defeated one after another and collapsed under the attack from all sides by the 9th Division. Soon there was no Japanese army on the battlefield that could maintain a squadron-level combat organization, or a collective force of more than a hundred people to engage in a melee with the Chinese army.

After being completely defeated, most of the Japanese troops could only flee in all directions in the form of squads, companies, or even skirmishers under the siege of the 9th Division, and then fell into the tragic fate of being hunted, besieged, and slaughtered.

Some Japanese troops, relying on their excellent bayonet combat skills and other tactical advantages, fought their way out of the siege of the National Army officers and soldiers and attempted to break out of the front line of the 201th Division's position behind Hill 6. However, before these Japanese troops could break out and reach the positions of other troops of the 6th Division, they were hit by intensive machine gun fire from the top of Hill 201.

Although the 201st Regiment of the 9th Division, which occupied Hill 51, launched a charge and fought with the Japanese army, the heavy machine gun companies and mortar platoons under its various battalions had established heavy machine gun firing positions and mortar deployment positions on the hill.

Seeing some Japanese soldiers rushing out and breaking through the enemy line behind Hill 201, the heavy machine gunners on the hill had no reason to let them go. Naturally, they immediately opened fire, using multiple Type 24 heavy machine guns to organize a dense cross-fire network from a high position, strafing the Japanese soldiers who were desperately trying to break out of the National Army's siege and knocking them down in a pool of blood.

The Japanese troops trapped in the siege were even more miserable. The officers and soldiers of the 9th Division, relying on their superior numbers, stabbed with bayonets, chopped with sabers, shot with guns, and chopped melons and vegetables to deal with the Japanese troops fleeing around the battlefield. Some Japanese soldiers were stabbed into sieves by the bayonets of the Zhongzheng Army, some were shot into bloody sieves by bullets, some were hacked to death by the sabers of the 9th Division cavalry who dismounted and fought on foot, and some were even smashed to death by the helmets, gun butts, and even gun butts of the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division who swarmed over.

After being defeated and dispersed, even the soldiers of the 13th Infantry Regiment, the Japanese Army's top elite field infantry regiment, could only exert their combat effectiveness to the lowest point. Their tactical qualities and combat qualities could not be brought into play under the continuous attacks of the National Army soldiers who came from all directions. They could only struggle in vain and finally fell into a tragic death.

With the added advantage of troop strength, the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division devoured the Japanese troops of the 13th Infantry Regiment at an extremely fast speed.

No matter how fierce the Japanese soldiers of the 13th Infantry Regiment were, they could only become fish on the chopping board when the situation was hopeless and they were besieged by the extremely superior forces of the 9th Division.

Soon, there were fewer and fewer Japanese troops on the battlefield, and the officers and soldiers of the 9th Division completely dominated the battlefield.

In the corner of the Japanese position below Hill 201, in a low earthen structure bunker-style machine gun nest, Major General Katsuji Imamura, commander of the 6th Infantry Brigade of the 11th Division, gripped his sword tightly, his ears filled with shouts and gunfire, and witnessed the 13th Infantry Regiment being divided and besieged, his officers and soldiers suffering heavy casualties under the siege of the Chinese army, and falling in a pool of blood screaming in pain.

Afterwards, his eyes looked from the firing port of the machine gun nest toward the towering artillery fire and the dust raised by bullets in the distance, accompanied by the rumbling sound of artillery.

Those were the positions of other troops of the 9th Division outside the defense zone of the 6th Division of the National Army. These positions included high ground, hilltops, and hills, as well as open areas with a large number of strong fortifications and shelters, as well as the offensive starting and assembly points of the 6th Division troops.

At this time, most of these positions were under artillery fire from the direction of Banbi Mountain. The positions closer to Banbi Mountain were being hit by dense grenades and shrapnel fired from 75mm mountain artillery. Although the smoke, flames, flying shrapnel and exploding shrapnel were not very accurate, the huge number of projectiles made these positions shrouded in a rain of bullets.

As for the positions further away, they were bombarded by large-caliber shells fired by 150mm howitzers from half of the mountain artillery group and 120mm naval guns.

In the tug-of-war battle outside Tianjia Town, the troops of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army that besieged the 6th Division of the National Army also built strong fortifications. Although the fierce bombardment of the Banbi Mountain artillery group did not necessarily cause many casualties to the Japanese troops hidden in the bombarded positions, it played a sufficient suppressive role. The continuous bombardment prevented the Japanese troops hidden in those bombarded positions from carrying out large-scale troop movements.

What's more, due to the fierce artillery fire from Banbi Mountain, they were unable to dispatch a large-scale force to attack Hill 201 to rescue the 13th Regiment which was on the verge of extinction.

As for the artillery units of the 6th Division, there has been no movement until now. Although Katsuji Imamura had already applied to the division headquarters for artillery fire, it was obvious that the 6th Division did not want to take the risk of suppressing or even interfering with the Chinese artillery on Banbi Mountain in order to rescue the 13th Infantry Regiment.

There was no other way. Given the terrain near Tianjia Town, if the artillery of the 6th Division wanted to reach Banbi Mountain, it would have to maneuver and fire within the artillery coverage of the Chinese artillery on Banbi Mountain, risking being shot down by the Chinese artillery's counter-artillery fire.

The troops had been defeated, and there was no external reinforcement of troops and firepower. Imamura Katsuji knew that the situation was irreversible. He had a painful look on his face and ordered the only remaining lieutenant staff officer brought from the brigade headquarters with an extremely desperate tone: "Order the 13th Regiment to break out and retreat on their own."

"Yes!"

The lieutenant officer just responded and nodded slightly, but did not take any actual action to rush out to convey Katsuji Imamura's order. The several Japanese soldiers who were also hiding in the machine gun nest were also indifferent. No one rushed out of the machine gun nest to convey Katsuji Imamura's so-called retreat order.

The battlefield had already become a mess. The various units of the 13th Regiment had long been dispersed and collapsed. Even the basic combat structures such as the battalion and squadron were gone. The battlefield communication and command systems had long been out of order. It was impossible for Katsuji Imamura to convey the retreat order.

This so-called retreat order was just a subconscious reaction of Katsuji Imamura as a commander in the face of hopelessness and extreme despair. Katsuji Imamura did not care that no one in the machine gun nest followed his order, but stared at the tragic situation on the battlefield with wide eyes.

The battlefield was filled with officers and soldiers of both armies fighting. However, the Chinese army's soldiers were becoming more and more ferocious, and their numbers were increasing, while the Japanese army on the battlefield was becoming fewer and fewer.

The Japanese soldiers who were beaten or stabbed to death let out bursts of shrill wails and screams before they died, which sounded terrifying.

Just as everyone in the machine gun nest was waiting for the final moment with great sadness, the sandbags at the entrance of the machine gun nest were suddenly kicked open. Then, a second lieutenant officer holding a bloody command knife rushed into the machine gun nest and shouted, "Sir, please follow me!"

Imamura Katsuji said to the lieutenant anxiously: "Lieutenant Noshita, what's going on?"

"Sir, please follow me, let's break out quickly!"

The man called Second Lieutenant Noshita was a second lieutenant observation officer of the artillery company of the 13th Infantry Regiment. Originally, Imamura Katsuji knew that the battle situation was irreversible and he did not think he could break out of the encirclement of the Chinese army. He was ready to commit suicide in the machine gun nest. Now that he saw someone gathering the troops to break out, Imamura Katsuji saw the hope of survival and immediately grabbed Second Lieutenant Noshita's arms and asked loudly: "Break out? How to break out?"

Immediately, Imamura Katsuji remembered something and asked, "Where is your regiment's flag?"

Lieutenant Noshita then revealed a look of sorrow and said, "The flag of our regiment has been burned by the flag guard squadron. After the flag was burned, the officers and soldiers of the flag guard squadron fought desperately with the attacking Chinese army. Now they have all died!"

Upon learning that the 13th Infantry Regiment's flag had been burned, Imamura Katsuji felt sad but also breathed a sigh of relief. He breathed a sigh of relief because the flag, which was the highest honor of the 13th Infantry Regiment and was awarded by the Emperor himself, had been burned, thus avoiding the possibility of the flag falling into the hands of the Chinese army.

Sadly, the burning of the regiment flag represents the complete destruction of the 13th Infantry Regiment, and also means that the number of the 13th Infantry Regiment, which has a long history, is about to disappear forever in the combat sequence of the Japanese Army.

This top-notch elite field infantry regiment of the Japanese Army under his command fell into the tragic situation of being annihilated, destroyed, and even having its unit number permanently cancelled!
However, before Imamura Katsuji's heart was filled with humiliation, anger and depression, Lieutenant Noshita said anxiously: "Sir, the machine gun nest we are in is behind our regiment's position. There are not many Chinese troops nearby. Five hundred meters ahead is a communication trench dug by our regiment's artillery squadron before the battle began. This communication trench has been concealed with branches and camouflage nets and has not been discovered by the enemy. The end of the communication trench is not far from the position of the friendly forces. Follow this communication trench. As long as we are careful and concealed, we should be able to break out."

Although he felt humiliated, angry, and ashamed, upon learning that there was a way to break out as soon as possible, Katsuji Imamura's desire to survive overcame everything, and the determination to commit suicide by seppuku that had just emerged in his extreme despair was thrown out of his mind.

The Japanese military officers' fighting will, fighting tenacity, fighting spirit and command qualities were indeed very strong. However, not everyone had the courage to commit suicide to thank the Emperor when there was still hope of survival.

Therefore, taking advantage of the chaos on the battlefield where the 13th Infantry Regiment was besieged and slaughtered, Katsuji Imamura, along with the few remaining people around him, escaped in a hurry along the secret communication trench mentioned by Lieutenant Noshita and left the battlefield, covered in dust.

Just two hours after Imamura Katsuji "broke through", the remaining Japanese officers and soldiers on the battlefield were all wiped out by the besieging troops of the 9th Division.

At this point, the 6th Infantry Regiment of the 11th Infantry Brigade of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army was completely wiped out by the National Army at 201 Heights.

One day after the Battle of Hill 201 ended, He Wei, who was remotely controlling and assisting friendly forces in commanding the entire battle from Banbi Mountain, received the statistical results of the battle sent by the 9th Division.

In this offensive and defensive battle around Hill 201, the National Army planned to annihilate the entire 6th Infantry Regiment of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, a squadron of the 6th Engineer Regiment of the 6th Division, and a squadron of the 6th Independent Mortar Battalion assigned to the 4th Division, and achieved the brilliant result of killing more than 13 people including Colonel Yasuda Shouichi, the commander of the th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army, captured no one, and seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition.

However, the losses on the National Army side were also quite heavy. In order to eliminate the Japanese troops underground at 9 Heights, the main attacking 201th Division of the National Army paid the price of losing people, including the death of a lieutenant colonel regimental adjutant (equivalent to the deputy regiment commander) and injuries.

Although this number of casualties was very worthwhile compared with the results achieved, the casualties of more than 9 people still resulted in the th Division, which had been fighting the Japanese army in Tianjia Town for more than half a month, suffering more than half of its casualties and its combat effectiveness was seriously damaged.

This battle was quite a surprise to He Wei. Originally, he just wanted to give the Japanese a severe blow before leaving, and it would be enough to inflict a heavy blow to the Japanese army, but he ended up destroying an elite field infantry regiment of the Japanese army, which was an unexpected surprise.

Of course, after reading the battle report and communicating with friendly forces after the war, He Wei no longer paid attention to this great victory that he helped the friendly forces to achieve.

Because, just two days after the end of this battle, He Wei will lead the assault corps to the temporary capital on a ship allocated by the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs. All his energy will be devoted to the deployment and redeployment of the troops and how to face the new situation that the assault corps and he himself will soon face.

However, He Wei could not have imagined that just after he led his troops to set off, the Battle of Hill 201 would bring him yet another military achievement.

(End of this chapter)