The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 519 Fighting and Reinforcement

In the position of the new 19th Division, the hand-to-hand combat between the two sides was extremely brutal. The position was full of Liang officers and soldiers fighting each other. One and a half regiments of the National Army and two battalions of the Japanese army were fighting in a melee. The position, which originally had one and a half infantry regiments deployed, was not spacious to begin with. Now with the influx of two battalions of the main force of the Japanese infantry, the entire position looked as if it had been submerged by a mixture of yellow and gray people.

Amid the deafening shouts and cries of killing, people were dying every moment.

The Japanese troops that broke into the position demonstrated their fierce close combat skills at the very beginning. With their relatively excellent bayonet fighting skills, they caused heavy casualties to the new 19th Division troops in the position.

The new 19th Division's Field Replacement Regiment, which was engaging in close combat with the Japanese for the first time, suffered heavy casualties and gradually could not hold on, and was on the verge of collapse. But just as the Field Replacement Regiment was about to collapse, the 56th Regiment, which had experience in fighting the Japanese and was tempered by close combat, played the role of a stabilizing force.

Yang Tian, ​​the commander of the 56th Regiment, who had already experienced the pain of losing a position, became ruthless. Under his strong persuasion, the commander of the new 19th Division's Field Replacement Regiment quickly organized a supervision team to suppress the rebellion. The officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment also set an example by fighting the Japanese army to the death, and managed to suppress the defeat of the Field Replacement Regiment.

In the battlefield, fierce hand-to-hand combat was still going on. In the center of the battlefield, in the command post of the 56th Regiment, the regiment commander Yang Tian, ​​who was covered in snow, and the commander of the field replacement regiment gathered together, holding up their binoculars and nervously observing the situation in the battlefield.

Not long after the battle began, the headquarters of the new 19th Division's Field Replacement Regiment was overwhelmed by the Japanese army, but the officers and soldiers of the 56th Regiment tightly guarded the regimental command post and prevented the command agency from being destroyed by the Japanese army. The command personnel of the two regiments were then combined into one command.

Through the telescopes of the two regiment commanders, the Chinese and Japanese armies in the battlefield were already fighting each other. Although the field supplementary regiment of the new 19th Division had not been defeated and was still fighting with the Japanese army in the battlefield, the Japanese army's strength was also increasing.
The first to attack the position of the New 19th Division were the five infantry companies of the 42st and 1nd Battalions of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army. After a fierce battle between the two sides, the remaining Japanese troops who had not broken into the position of the New 5th Division with the infantry units, such as the ammunition soldiers of the heavy machine gun companies of the two infantry battalions, the general soldiers of the battalion headquarters, and even some ammunition soldiers of the regiment's artillery company, rapid-fire artillery company and two infantry artillery squads, saw that their own infantry strength was insufficient, and they also rushed towards the position of the New 19th Division one after another with great ferocity.

This batch of Japanese non-infantry troops that rushed in one after another had few soldiers and incomplete weapons, but they were very fierce. When they rushed to the front of the position, they picked up the Type 38 rifles from the bodies of the dead Japanese infantrymen and rushed into the position shouting. Some of them were so bloodthirsty that they rushed up with iron sticks for carrying cannons. Their combat qualities were not as good as those of the infantry.

However, its ferocity and the pressure it brought to the officers and soldiers of the new 19th Division on the position were enormous.

The commander of the field replacement regiment was on the battlefield for the first time. He was so anxious that he didn't know what to do. He had just managed to control the defeat of his troops, but looking at the situation of the two armies on the battlefield, it seemed that the collapse of the troops was imminent.

On the long defense line, all that could be seen were the officers and soldiers of both sides fighting with bloodshot eyes. More and more officers and soldiers of their own side fell down, and the gunshots and shouts around the command post were getting louder and louder. The Japanese army kept attacking the command post. Although they were constantly repelled by a company of officers and soldiers of the protection regiment command post, the Japanese army's attacks were getting more and more fierce, and their numbers were also increasing.

The balance on the battlefield was constantly tilting towards the Japanese army, making the commander of the field replacement regiment very anxious.

In comparison, Yang Tian, ​​the commander of the 56th Regiment, was much calmer.

"Captain Yang, our position is about to be lost. Hurry up and ask for help from the troops behind us."

The commander of the field replacement regiment said anxiously.

Yang Tian hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but look towards the rear of the position, to the hiding place of the assault corps troops.

After the position was breached, there has been no movement from the assault corps so far. No infantry units have rushed up to reinforce, there is no fire support, and even the mortar fire has stopped.

Yang Tian’s first reaction after his position was breached was to ask He Wei for help.

But after experiencing the loss of the first line of defense, Yang Tian truly felt the difference in combat effectiveness between the assault corps and his own troops, and learned a principle of command - forbearance, calmness, and seizing opportunities to seek the greatest results. Therefore, after the Japanese army broke through the position, Yang Tian did not call He Wei for help, but tried his best to organize the troops to resist, even personally engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and led officers and soldiers to meet the officers and soldiers of the field supplementary regiment.

Then, it was time to wait, waiting in the command post, amidst the fighting and continuous death of officers and soldiers from both sides.

In Yang Tian's opinion, the assault corps in the rear was slow to move, which definitely meant that the best time to launch an attack had not yet arrived.

The assault corps has not yet called him to inquire about the situation. This silence just proves Yang Tian's guess.

The commander of the friendly force, He Wei, must have been waiting for the best opportunity to fight. As soon as the opportunity arrived, the assault corps would repel the Japanese troops that had invaded the position with just one counterattack, just like they did in the first line of defense. Just one counterattack would instantly turn the situation around. With just one counterattack, the officers and soldiers of the assault corps were like a tiger descending from the mountain, causing extremely heavy casualties to the Japanese army in a short period of time.

What the new 19th Division's Field Replacement Regiment and the 56th Regiment have to do now is to hold on, fight, hold their positions and avoid collapse.

"Captain Yang, you have fought with the Central Army before. If we continue to fight like this, our army will collapse. Let them rush up and fight."

"The lives of us Guangxi people are not our lives, Captain Yang, give me the phone, I'll call, our brothers are bleeding, and the Central Army is watching from behind!"

The commander of the new 19th Division's field replacement regiment roared with bloodshot eyes, and rushed forward to grab the phone, but was held down by Yang Tian.

"Brother, we have a half regiment of troops. No matter whether the reinforcements from the rear come or not, we must stick to this position and fight with the Japanese army. If we stick to the Japanese army, reinforcements from friendly forces will surely come! The longer we fight here, the harder the attack on the enemy will be when the friendly forces come up."

With just one sentence, Yang Tian blocked the request for help from the commander of the new 19th Division's field replacement regiment.

The commander of the Field Supply Regiment cursed, threw away the phone, picked up a rifle, and cursed: "Okay, okay, fight to the death, let us Guangxi boys die as an example to the Central Army behind us."

The melee around the position became increasingly fierce. In this melee involving thousands of people, the Japanese army undoubtedly achieved better results and won repeatedly in close combat and hand-to-hand combat. Among the officers and soldiers of the two armies who fell on the battlefield at every moment, the number of officers and soldiers of the National Army was far greater than that of the Japanese Army.

But just as Yang Tian said, the battlefield had become a mess. The Japanese troops that had attacked the new 19th Division's position had been completely meleeed and entangled with the Nationalist troops that far outnumbered them.

Even though all the artillerymen of the 42nd Regiment and the officers and soldiers in the heavy machine gun unit who could be used as infantry had rushed forward, the Japanese troops engaged in a melee with the National Army in the position were not enough to quickly drive the National Army out of the position and resolve the battle quickly.

In the command post of the 42nd Regiment of the Japanese Army, the commander of the 42nd Regiment, Motoichi Sakata, looked at the increasingly tense and intense battlefield situation through the telescope and asked the commander of the 21st Brigade, Masao Nakamura, who was beside him, for instructions: "Brigade Commander, the enemy has too many troops. I request to increase the reserve force! Defeat the enemy in front of us as soon as possible and end the battle!"

Without giving it much thought, Nakamura Masao immediately replied, "Sure!"

Sakata Motoichi immediately called the signalman to give orders, and after thinking for a moment, Nakamura Masao suddenly remembered the last extremely terrible counterattack of the Chinese army when attacking the first line of defense. Then, Nakamura Masao ordered the staff around him: "Order the 21st Regiment, after the 42nd Regiment reserve launches the attack, all members will enter the 42nd Regiment's departure position and be ready to fight and support the 42nd Regiment!"

(End of this chapter)