The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 512 Beach Battle 2
With the cover of night and artillery fire, the Japanese army successfully deployed the remaining troops of the 21st Brigade to the beach. After landing, the commander of the 21st Brigade, Masao Nakamura, immediately established a temporary command post for the 21st Brigade.

With such a large force, Masao Nakamura would certainly not let his troops wait in misery on the beach in the cold sea breeze. After organizing the landing troops, he immediately decided to launch a night assault on the Chinese army positions in front of them.

Night is the best cover for nighttime military operations. In order to provide sufficient fire cover for the landing troops, the Japanese naval warships in the open sea continued to bombard the positions of the 56th Regiment after nightfall.

In the darkness of night and the deafening sound of artillery fire, after listening to the entire process of the daytime battle from the commander of the 21st Regiment, Yoshinosuke Miki, Masao Nakamura immediately worked with the officers of the brigade to come up with a plan for a night assault.

This night assault plan was not complicated. Simply put, it was to send a small and elite force under the cover of darkness and naval guns to secretly approach the Chinese army's position, launch a surprise attack at close range, and open a breakthrough in the Chinese army's position. The main force behind would then launch an attack at the breakthrough point and capture the Chinese army's position.

The 21st Regiment, which had suffered heavy losses during the day, was selected by Masao Nakamura as a small assault force. Although they had suffered heavy losses in the daytime fighting, the 21st Regiment was most familiar with the Chinese army's defense line, so they were naturally responsible for the assault mission.

In order to strengthen the 21st Regiment's firepower for offensive operations, Masao Nakamura also transferred the flamethrower squadron of the 5th Engineer Regiment assigned to him to the 21st Regiment. This squadron was equipped with 20 flamethrowers, which can be regarded as a powerful weapon for offensive operations. It can use high-temperature flames to efficiently eliminate enemy personnel in fortifications that cannot be destroyed by mountain artillery, infantry artillery, and rapid-fire artillery!
Similarly, the 5th Battalion of the 4th Field Artillery Regiment was also assigned to the command of the 21st Regiment. After the night attack began, the battalion's 12 Type 91 105mm howitzers, under the coordinated guidance of the 21st Regiment's artillery, would use armor-piercing shells to carry out flat-fire destructive attacks on the Chinese army's solid bunker fortifications.

As for the fully equipped 42nd Infantry Regiment, it served as the main force and was on standby at the end.

Late at night, amid the rumbling of artillery fire, the shells dropped by the Japanese naval guns on the 56th Regiment's position gradually became sparse. As the intensity of the Japanese artillery bombardment decreased, more than 21 Japanese officers and soldiers of the two infantry squadrons of the 56st Regiment and the attached engineer flamethrower squadron crawled slowly on the beach and quietly approached the center of the th Regiment's defensive position.

The sound of cannons, wind, and sea water became the best cover for this Japanese night attack force.

More than 56 Japanese soldiers quietly stopped advancing when they were meters in front of the th Regiment's position. Then, the communications personnel immediately conveyed the signal to the rear that the assault force had arrived.

The 21st Brigade Headquarters quickly sent a signal to the naval fleet to stop the shelling. Almost at the same time when the shelling stopped, a Japanese sergeant and corporal from a squad leaped forward quickly and skillfully, and rolled into the communication trench of the 56th Regiment's position.

Previously, the Japanese naval artillery firepower was extremely fierce, and the entire position of the 56th Regiment was covered by dense barrage of bullets. Therefore, almost all the defending officers and soldiers hid in bunkers and shelters, and the sentries also hid in single-person anti-artillery holes used exclusively by guard posts.

The Japanese troops that rushed into the 56th Regiment's communication trench acted as if they were in an empty space, searching in a dispersed manner on the hot soil in the communication trench.

The Japanese detachment that broke in moved very smoothly and soon sent a signal to advance to the assault troops that were on standby in front of the position. More than 56 Japanese soldiers quickly leaped forward and broke into the position of the 56th Regiment at an extremely fast speed. Until then, the sentries of the th Regiment hidden in the anti-artillery caves realized something was wrong after hearing the footsteps of the Japanese army. When these guards went out to investigate, what awaited them were cold bayonets and the hideous faces of the Japanese army.

A few minutes later, a red flare whooshed into the sky, leaving a bright red trajectory.

Seeing the red flare, the commander of the 21st Brigade, Masao Nakamura, was overjoyed and immediately gave the order to attack.

野炮兵第5联队第4大队的12门105毫米榴弹炮和21联队的92步兵炮，41式山炮几乎同时开火，以高角度向天空中抛射出了照明炮弹，将56团阵地照的犹如白昼。

The communications soldiers equipped with signal guns also fired flares into the air, and the range of the bright light above the 56th Regiment's position expanded rapidly.

After firing the first round of illuminating shells, the 5th Battalion of the 4th Field Artillery Regiment immediately replaced the artillery with armor-piercing grenades, and under the guidance of the artillery of the 21st Regiment that participated in the battle during the day, they quickly opened fire at the bunker fire point in the 56th Regiment's position.

The Type 91 105mm howitzer trembled backwards with a "boom", and the extended muzzle spurted out orange-yellow sparks and fired the shell straight at the bunker in the 56th Regiment's defensive position. The violent sound of howitzer explosions and flames instantly appeared in the position of the 56th Regiment.

The armor-piercing shells equipped with the Type 91 howitzer can penetrate 500 mm steel plates when hitting at a 90-degree angle at a distance of 76 meters, and have considerable armor-piercing destructive capabilities.

As the 12 howitzers continued to roar, several bunkers in the 56th Regiment's positions were destroyed after being hit continuously.

The commander of the 21st Regiment, Yoshinosuke Miki, was extremely excited when he saw the position of the 56th Regiment under the light of the flares. A feeling of revenge suddenly filled his body. Then, he immediately issued an attack order.

Loud shouts of killing suddenly broke out on the beach. The main force of the 21st Regiment acted quickly and launched an attack. Immediately afterwards, more than 400 Japanese troops who took the lead in the assault launched a charge towards the position of the 56th Regiment.

"Onboard!"

Under the fierce artillery fire and offensive of the Japanese army, the officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment also reacted at this time. They came out of their hiding places and anti-artillery holes and engaged in fierce battles with more than 400 Japanese soldiers who had first broken into the position. The balance of victory in the battle tilted towards the Japanese army from the very beginning.

The 56th Regiment was a newly formed Gui Army unit. The quality of its officers and soldiers was incomparable to the elite Japanese troops such as the 21st Regiment. Especially their close combat level and bayonet fighting techniques were far inferior to those of the Japanese troops. Not long after the melee began, the officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment suffered heavy casualties and were repeatedly stabbed and chopped down by the Japanese troops who were holding bayonets and wielding sabers.

Not long after the two sides came into contact, fire dragons appeared in the positions of the 56th Regiment. After the Japanese flamethrowers, accompanied by infantry, entered the trenches, they began to attack the bunker fortifications in the positions of the 56th Regiment with flamethrowers. High-temperature fire streams and flames flew everywhere, and the officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment instantly turned into fire men wherever they reached, and screams and cries of pain rang out one after another.

The officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment, who were trapped in close combat, were unable to withstand the attack of more than 400 elite Japanese troops, and the main force of the 21st Regiment soon swarmed in. Waves of yellow people shouting and killing quickly attacked the breakthrough opened by the Japanese vanguard and attacked the position of the 56th Regiment.

Gunshots, explosions, screams, and sounds of fighting rang out over the 56th Regiment's position. Intertwining bullets, shining bayonet reflections, steel helmet reflections, and the orange-yellow flames from flamethrowers spread across the entire position.

The melee in the 56th Regiment's position soon alarmed the regiment commanders Yang Tian and He Wei who were commanding in the rear. Yang Tian, ​​like an ant on hot pot, called the battalions and companies at the frontline to inquire about the situation.

He Wei, who was awakened by the sound of artillery fire, was also very surprised by the sudden attack of the Japanese army. After all, he knew very well how badly the Japanese troops who captured the beach during the day were beaten. It was unexpected that the Japanese troops on the beach were able to organize such a fierce night attack!
The landing operation of the 21st Brigade was extremely secretive. He Wei could not have imagined that the Japanese army had already deployed almost half of the brigade's troops to the beach after dark.

In the rear command post, He Wei could see through the telescope that the position of the 56th Regiment had become a melee. A large number of Japanese troops had already broken into the position of the 56th Regiment. It seemed that the position was full of two waves of soldiers crowded together and fighting.

He Wei had no idea about the battle situation or how many Japanese troops had broken into the position, but the situation was indeed not good, because he heard the sound of large-caliber artillery and saw through a telescope that there were balls of dazzling flames appearing in the position of the 56th Regiment.

That was obviously the effect of a flamethrower. The fact that the Japanese army had deployed so many special firearms was enough to show how fierce their night attack was.

Although the battle situation was unclear, the three mortar companies, the anti-aircraft artillery company and the tank defense artillery company of the assault corps were still in the position of the 56th Regiment. He Wei could not lose these precious treasures. He immediately ordered Wang Yuanling to contact several companies in the frontline positions, and ordered the assault corps to prepare for battle. No matter what, the several companies in the position of the 56th Regiment must be saved.

Not long after, Wang Yuanling hurried over to report to He Wei: "Captain, I have contacted the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery company. His company command post is still connected. He reported that the situation ahead is very bad. A group of Japanese troops launched a night attack. The Japanese troops quietly approached when the ship's gun fire was not stopped. After the ship's gun fire stopped, they sneaked in. The friendly forces of the 56th Regiment had no time to prepare. Now a large number of Japanese troops have entered the position. There are a lot of people, using flamethrowers. There are also many more Japanese troops on the beach, and large-caliber artillery is conducting direct attacks on the beach."

When He Wei heard this, he thought to himself that this was not good. The Japanese troops that landed during the day had no large-caliber artillery at all. At most, they only had regiment-level mountain artillery and infantry artillery.

As for the flamethrower, he had never seen the Japanese army use it during the day. Combined with the reports from the front line that the number of Japanese troops on the beach was increasing, He Wei immediately deduced that the Japanese army must have sent heavy troops to the beach again.

"Captain, the Japanese artillery is quite powerful. Many bunkers in the frontline positions have been destroyed by enemy artillery fire. The enemy also used flamethrowers. The friendly forces are no match for the Japanese in close combat. The friendly forces can no longer hold on. Our companies are fine. The brothers in these companies are equipped with rifles and submachine guns and are resisting. They can also break out, but the artillery cannot be lost. I hope we can reinforce them quickly."

He Wei raised his voice and ordered: "Let the first and second battalions go up to fight back, and be sure to bring out our artillery companies with their men and artillery!"

As soon as Wang Yuanling left to pass on the message, the head of the 56th Regiment, Yang Tian, ​​also put down the phone to the front line and said to He Wei anxiously: "Commander He, many battalions and companies in my regiment have been disconnected. The Japanese attack is too fierce. Please help us take back the position."

"Captain Yang, my two battalions will soon launch a counterattack, but looking at the situation on the front line, we should focus on protecting our troops first. Please notify your people as much as possible to quickly break out and withdraw from the position after my troops launch a counterattack. Otherwise, staying in the position and fighting the Japanese will only lead to death."

Yang Tian was stunned. He wanted to ask the troops of the assault corps to help counterattack and retake the position, but He Wei did not want to keep the position, but to keep the troops. He, Yang Tian, ​​was the nominal supreme commander and person in charge of the Qisha position. If the position was lost, he would be the first to be punished by military law. He Wei could see Yang Tian's thoughts, but he did not want to launch a night battle counterattack to retake the position within the firepower coverage of the Japanese naval guns when the enemy situation was unclear, so he said solemnly: "I will help you take back the position tomorrow. The most urgent thing is to keep the troops first!"

In the position of the 56th Regiment, the battle has entered a white-hot stage. The Japanese troops that have broken into the position have been thoroughly engaged in a melee with the defenders. The howitzers deployed by the Japanese on the beach and the flamethrowers of the assault troops have all been silenced because the battle situation in the position no longer allows these firearms to exert their power.

Although the troops of the 56th Regiment were not strong enough and were basically composed of new recruits, they still had some of the style of the elite Gui army. After the initial panic, they fought desperately with the Japanese troops who had broken into their positions. Some fired, some bayoneted, some gouged out eyes, some broke fingers, some bit throats, some smashed with helmets, and some pulled grenades to die together.

The fighting between the two sides was extremely brutal. It can be said that they fought the Japanese army with bravery, the spirit of exchanging lives for lives and the local consciousness of defending Guangxi. This Guangxi Children's Army Corps with insufficient combat effectiveness relied on its blood and courage to survive the offensive of the 21st Regiment.

At this point in the melee, the Japanese artillery stationed on the beach did not dare to continue firing lethal ammunition in order to avoid accidental injuries. They could only continuously shoot flares into the air to provide illumination for the invading 21st Regiment. The Japanese flamethrowers who had broken into the 56th Regiment's position did not dare to use flamethrowers in the melee.

Of course, what made the Japanese troops who broke into the position even more troublesome were the anti-aircraft artillery company, tank defense artillery company and three mortar companies directly under the assault corps. The command ability and quality of the officers of these companies were much higher than those of the officers of the 56th Regiment.

When the Japanese army broke into the trenches, several company commanders quickly gathered their troops, reorganized and collected their artillery, and concentrated their troops in the hidden areas of several communication trenches to hold on and wait for reinforcements. They successfully avoided the first round of Japanese army's sudden attack, and the troops were not defeated by the Japanese army. The 20mm machine guns and 81mm mortars of each company were not damaged or lost.

The Japanese troops who broke into the trenches found the artillery companies of the assault corps and thought they were easy targets, so they immediately pounced on them. However, as soon as they went up, they were subjected to intensive automatic fire. Not only did they fail to destroy these artillery companies, but they also suffered considerable casualties.

At the corner of the communication trench of the 56th Regiment's position, Captain Huang Tingjia, the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery company directly under the assault corps, half-knelt in the trench, looking at the Japanese troops rushing in front of him, and shouted: "They are coming again, shoot!"

Huang Tingjia raised the submachine gun in his hand and pulled the trigger to launch a sweeping fire. The anti-aircraft artillery company officers and soldiers beside him also opened fire. Twenty rounds of rapid-fire and slow-moving machine guns, submachine guns, Czech vz24 rifles and Czech light machine guns fired a burst of crackling fire. The dense rain of bullets shot out and immediately wiped out the rushing Japanese troops.

Although the artillery units of the assault corps mainly use artillery as their weapon, basically everyone has a gun. They are equipped with a large number of submachine guns, light machine guns, rifles, grenades and other weapons. Their firepower is no worse than that of the infantry companies of the general National Army. The powerful close-combat automatic firepower makes it impossible for the Japanese infantry, which is mainly equipped with rifles, to defeat the artillery companies of these assault corps.

Huang Tingjia removed the magazine from the submachine gun in his hand and inserted the new magazine into the feed port. Before he could load the magazine, another burst of chattering sounds came from behind, and several Japanese soldiers appeared in the communication trench.

Without waiting for Huang Tingjia's order, the surrounding soldiers opened fire. Amid the sound of gunfire, the Japanese soldiers rushing in were knocked down one after another. The Japanese soldiers following behind hurriedly crawled down. Seeing this, several soldiers from the anti-aircraft artillery company threw long-handled grenades.

The smoking long-handled grenade spun above the communication trench, and fell diagonally over the pile of Japanese corpses. Then there were a few more loud explosions accompanied by screams, and the Japanese troops attacking along the communication trench finally stopped moving.

Huang Tingjia frowned as he looked at the piles of Japanese corpses in the communication trench ahead, and he became extremely anxious as he looked at the brutal melee in the position.

When the Japanese army just broke into the position of the 56th Regiment, he gathered all the officers and soldiers of the company, and took the company's 8 machine guns to guard in front of a hidden place and wait for reinforcements, and did not let these artillery pieces fall into the hands of the Japanese army. His company was equipped with 8 Suratong 20mm machine guns, which were impossible to take away by manpower.

If they retreated directly, they could only blow up the artillery. However, as an artillery company commander, how could he bear to destroy the artillery of his comrades and then retreat on his own?

Apart from this, the only option was to order the gunners to prepare to blow up the artillery and then hold their positions and wait for support from their own assault corps.

So far, the anti-aircraft artillery company has repelled at least seven attacks by the Japanese army along the communication trench, and the mountains of Japanese corpses in the communication trench are proof of this.

However, the anti-aircraft artillery company's submachine guns, pistols, grenades and other close-combat firearms had run out of ammunition, and the battle situation in the entire position became increasingly unfavorable.

There were too many Japanese troops breaking into the position, and their close combat skills were strong. Seeing that the friendly 56th Regiment could no longer hold on, and when the friendly forces collapsed and retreated, their company's ammunition was used up. They could only blow up the artillery and break through and retreat, or stay in the position and fight the Japanese to the death!

At this moment, the other three company commanders of the mortar company and the tank defense artillery company of the assault corps battalion who were fighting desperately in their positions had the same thought.

In the 56th Regiment's position, as the fighting lasted longer, the balance of victory in the fierce battle gradually tilted towards the Japanese army.

The officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment who fought bravely with the Japanese army were indeed brave and courageous, but courage and bravery could not completely make up for the gap in combat quality. More and more officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment fell in close combat.

Trenches after trenches and bunkers after bunkers were captured and cleared out by the Japanese army. Officers and sergeants after officers were killed in battle. Some officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment had exhausted their courage and no longer had the courage to continue in close combat and began to retreat in twos and threes.

Masao Nakamura, commander of the 21st Brigade, who was watching the battle in the temporary command post on the beach, also witnessed the decline of the 56th Regiment. Seeing that the 21st Regiment had completely broken through the position of the 56th Regiment, Masao Nakamura also breathed a sigh of relief.

The 21st Regiment had broken through the enemy's position. Although the Chinese army was trying its best to resist, it was obviously at a disadvantage. However, the 21st Regiment suffered heavy losses in the daytime fighting and was short of manpower, so it could not resolve the battle immediately.

In this case, it is time to send the 42nd Regiment under his command forward and make it the last straw that breaks the camel's back for the Chinese army.

Masao Nakamura, who thought he had the situation under control, was about to give an order, but before the staff officer who delivered the order could take a few steps, suddenly, a series of loud trumpet sounds rang out from behind the Chinese army's position. Masao Nakamura was very familiar with that trumpet sound; it was the standard charge of the Chinese army.

"Kill!"

Loud shouts of killing rang out immediately, and at least a thousand Chinese soldiers wearing steel helmets and holding sharp bayonets rushed over like ghosts suddenly emerging from the ground, and swept towards the positions of the 56th Regiment in the melee amid the sound of charge that resounded throughout the battlefield.

After receiving the order to counterattack, the 56st Infantry Battalion of the Assault Corps and the eight infantry companies of the 56nd Infantry Battalion rushed towards the position of the th Regiment with shouts of war. The officers and soldiers were like tigers descending from the mountains. After charging into the enemy in a skilled skirmisher formation, their attack formation stabbed the Japanese troops in the position of the th Regiment like a sharp bayonet.

The assault corps troops, equipped with a large number of submachine guns, rushed into the position of the 56th Regiment on the scorching ground and immediately gave the Japanese army a head-on blow with fierce close combat firepower.

Suddenly, the battlefield was filled with the sound of dense machine gun fire, and a burst of submachine gun fire turned a large number of Japanese troops into sieves.

Caught in a melee of close combat, the infantrymen of the Assault Corps fought the Japanese in basic units of squads. Facing the Japanese in close combat, they first strafed them with submachine gun fire, and then fought with bayonets when they got close. Not only were the machine guns equipped by the Assault Corps powerful weapons in close combat, but even the Czech vz24 short rifles of the Assault Corps' officers and soldiers were superior to the Japanese slender Type rifles in close combat in the trenches.

The assault officers and soldiers, with the squad as the basic tactical unit, cooperated with each other and covered each other. Their skilled squad tactics, fierce close combat firepower and excellent assassination techniques directly stunned the 21st Regiment, which thought it was on the verge of victory.

In the trench held by the anti-aircraft artillery company directly under the assault corps, Company Commander Huang Tingjia felt particularly cordial when he saw the brothers of the assault corps rushing in.

Witnessing the bravery of the assault corps infantry brothers, Huang Tingjia's blood boiled. He was grateful for the support and also excited by the sense of honor brought by the assault corps. All the blood in his body rushed to his head. Huang Tingjia suddenly stood up, picked up a Type 38 rifle from the corpse of a Japanese soldier, and ordered the brothers of the anti-aircraft artillery company behind him: "Brothers, counterattack, bugler, our artillery will also blow the charge horn, follow me, kill!"

The anti-aircraft artillery company of the assault corps sounded the charge, followed by the officers and soldiers of the tank defense artillery company and the three battalion mortar companies.

Immediately, an extremely crazy scene appeared in the eyes of the Japanese soldiers of the 21st Regiment. The officers and soldiers of the four artillery companies of the assault corps, who had just been besieged, actually rushed out shouting and launched a counterattack against the 21st Regiment.

The officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment of the Gui Army, which were on the verge of collapse, were also boosted. Their morale, which was on the verge of collapse, suddenly rose. Even some soldiers who had already been defeated took the initiative to rush back and participate in the counterattack. The situation on the battlefield was reversed in an instant.

After the eight infantry companies of the assault corps joined the battle, the 56st Regiment, which had originally gained an advantage in the 21th Regiment's position, instantly fell into a slump, with its manpower and close combat firepower at a disadvantage.

After more than ten minutes of fighting, the 21st Regiment, which was about to win, withdrew from the 56th Regiment's position.
(End of this chapter)