The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 534 Bloody Night 3
The mortar group that had caused heavy casualties to the Japanese army roared again. Five mortar companies fired fiercely, and round after round of shells accurately covered the attacking formation of the Japanese army that was raiding at night. Violent explosions sounded one after another, and red lights were blazing. The Japanese army that was fighting with the new 19th Division troops was caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties.

Several rounds of mortar shells were fired rapidly, blasting the attacking Japanese army into pieces and causing them to scream in pain. The artillery observation officers in the position were also extremely vigilant about the Japanese night attacks. They not only directed the mortar group to fire at places where Japanese troops appeared, but also reported even places with extremely low visibility and no enemy situation to the mortar group by the observation officers, so that they fired completely indiscriminately.

Amid the fierce bombardment, the Japanese army's surging attack momentum suddenly came to a standstill, broken limbs, blood and flesh, dust and dirt flew into the air, and the flames and thick smoke of the explosion were everywhere.

With the support of mortar fire from the rear, the officers and soldiers defending the position also increased their firepower. All light and heavy machine guns fired at the maximum rate. Under the fierce attack and shooting, the momentum of the Japanese attack was immediately suppressed.

"Whizzing"

"Whizzing"

Mortar shells streaked across the night sky, making a sharp whistling sound. The horrifying whistling sound and the continuous and dense falling of shells immediately reminded the harassing Japanese troops of the fear of being bombarded by the Chinese army's mortar fire when they launched an attack on Qisha's first and second lines of defense.

The Japanese troops that had been attacking in waves and batches all stopped their offensive. Of course, although the Japanese infantry were forced to stop their charge and attack due to mortar bombing and were in a mess, they were not repelled or defeated. Instead, they crawled on the spot and built simple firing fortifications and began to shoot at the officers and soldiers of the New 19th Division in the front position.

The Fifth Division ordered them to attack with all their might. Although the harassing Japanese troops were blown to pieces by the mortar fire, no one dared to retreat. They all endured the fierce machine gun and mortar fire from the defenders, determined to fight to the death. The heavy machine guns, Type 92 infantry guns, and Type 41 mountain guns that provided covering fire also opened fire repeatedly, and the exchange of fire from both sides became more intense.

The Japanese army's flares rose into the air, illuminating the earth. The Japanese army's various covering firearms fired at full speed and full strength. The covering heavy machine guns, mountain cannons, rapid-fire cannons, infantry cannons, and grenade launchers kept firing. The chaotic machine gun ballistics were twisted and shot towards the defenders' positions. Various artillery shells and grenades exploded in the positions from time to time.

The National Army defenders in the position did not give in. The crossfire network spewed out by the machine guns flew everywhere over the heads of the Japanese attacking forces. The red and green ballistics were intertwined. The defenders, with more than 20 Type 24 heavy machine guns as the core, continuously accumulated firepower, rolling the mud in front of the position, and suppressing the Japanese troops in front of the position with the dense firepower network.

The dense mortar shells fired by the mortar group fell all over the sky, creating one crater after another with steam rising up amid screams.

In the command post of the assault corps, Chief of Staff Wang Yuanling, who had just received a report from the commander of the frontline position, Yang Tian, ​​hung up the phone and ran to He Wei to report: "Captain, the Japanese army was repelled by our artillery fire, but they did not collapse. Commander Yang said that the enemy is still holding on in front of the position. There was no large-scale charge, but they did not retreat. They were exchanging fire with Commander Yang's troops in front of the position, and the artillery was also firing fiercely. Now the two sides are in a stalemate."

He Wei frowned, listening to the increasingly intense gunfire from the frontline, and said, "It looks like the enemy wants to make a breakthrough with a night attack."

"Captain Yang said that the Japanese attacked fiercely and suffered heavy casualties after our bombardment, but they refused to retreat, withstanding the artillery fire and the machine gun fire from the front-line positions. I guess the Japanese saw that they couldn't take us down during the day, so they wanted to try a night attack."

He Wei nodded in agreement and said, "Ask about the preparations of the tank battalion?"

"Yes!"

Wang Yuanling knew that He Wei was going to mobilize the chariot battalion, so he immediately went to contact him in person.

After the Japanese attack began, He Wei judged based on recent conditions that the Japanese were preparing to attack Qisha's second line of defense at night. He also judged the so-called "feint attack" by the Japanese to be a real attack.

Although the Japanese army's organized large-scale attack has been repelled, his vigilance has not diminished in the slightest.

It would be fine if the battle took place during the day, but now it is a night battle, and the troops guarding the front line are the new 19th Division of the friendly army. Their foundation is still too weak, and he does not have full confidence in the night combat capabilities of the friendly army.

The correct thing to do is to completely defeat and drive away the Japanese troops in front of the position as quickly as possible.

"Captain, Captain Zhao's tank battalion is ready to go!"

Wang Yuanling took the phone to the tank camp and reported loudly to He Wei.

"Tell Captain Zhao to send out a tank company to drive up and defeat the Japanese troops in front of the position. Also, don't underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. You must withdraw your troops when you see an advantage!"

"Captain, Battalion Commander Zhao requests to mobilize the entire battalion to encircle and annihilate the enemy in front of us!" Wang Yuanling repeated the order again. Zhao Huzhen was extremely excited when he received the battle order. In the victory battle not long ago, the tank battalion defeated an entire infantry battalion of the Japanese army in one fell swoop. The morale of the entire tank battalion was high. He Wei asked him to mobilize a company, but he actually wanted to mobilize the entire battalion.

He Wei would never send out the entire tank battalion for a night battle. As he listened to the increasingly fierce gunfire from the front lines, he became even more anxious. He shouted, "No, a night battle is not that easy. It's just one company. This is an order. Let them attack quickly!"

Under He Wei's strong order, a company of the tank battalion quickly moved forward. A tank company set out from its hidden position, bypassed the right wing of the frontline position, and rushed diagonally into the Japanese army that was engaged in a bitter battle.

More than a dozen tanks were dispatched, all running at full speed, and launched an attack on the Japanese army at almost the fastest speed. The T26B tanks and CV35 tanks swayed their bodies, large or small, and emerged from the night. It was not until they were several hundred meters away from the Japanese army that the Japanese infantry in front of the front line discovered these dozen steel monsters.

Seeing the Chinese army's tanks rushing towards them, the attacking Japanese soldiers were all nervous, but they had no time to retreat. More than a dozen tanks continued to accelerate, and the searchlights on each tank were all turned on. Then, the tank cannons and vehicle-mounted machine guns all opened fire, firing a rain of bullets.

One after another, the 45mm tank shells exploded, and the turret machine guns and coaxial machine guns left dark red tracer marks. The dense artillery shells and machine gun bullets swept the Japanese army as if calling out their names. For the Japanese soldiers crawling in front of the defenders' positions, such tank firepower attacks were tantamount to a one-sided massacre.

Wherever the barrage of bullets went, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and screams were heard. Many crawling Japanese soldiers were shot and blown to death on the ground before they could get up to resist. As the tanks rushed up, the mortar group in the rear also stopped firing in time. After the mortar fire completely stopped, more than a dozen tanks accelerated again and rushed directly into the enemy group.

Faced with the majority of Japanese infantrymen who were crawling on the ground and being suppressed, a dozen tanks were like hungry wolves rushing into a flock of sheep, rushing around and ramming around. Many Japanese soldiers were caught off guard and were directly knocked down by the scattered tanks, and were caught in the tracks and crushed into meat paste.

Some Japanese soldiers were so blinded by the high-intensity military searchlights on the T26B tanks that they could not open their eyes, and were hit, shot, or crushed to death.

When the defending officers and soldiers in the position saw their own tanks display their power, they all cheered and fired a large number of flares to provide light for the tank attacks.

As flares were launched one after another, all the Japanese harassing troops were immediately exposed to the bright light.

The tanks, which were killing with great pleasure, became even more powerful, charging forward and firing fiercely. The tanks and the Japanese soldiers were mixed together, steel collided with flesh and blood, Japanese soldiers were constantly being knocked down, and poor guys were constantly being rolled into meat paste by the tracks.

Faced with the tank attack, the Japanese offensive, which had just shown great tenacity and refused to retreat, was instantly shattered. After a tank company charged and fought for less than five minutes, the Japanese troops that had rushed up stopped attacking and retreated under the "courtesy" of the tank-mounted machine guns and tank cannons.

Seeing the Chinese army's tanks appear, the Japanese heavy machine gun units and infantry artillery units that provided cover after the Japanese harassment of the infantry were also frightened.

In a battle not long ago, the Chinese army's tanks wiped out the 42nd Regiment's direct rapid-fire artillery, the regiment's artillery, and the heavy machine gun squadron under its infantry battalion in front of Qisha's second line of defense, as easy as chopping melons and vegetables. The Japanese heavy machine gunners and infantry artillery soldiers who were providing cover at this time still remembered vividly the tragic situation of their counterparts in the 42nd Regiment. They immediately ceased fire, and when they saw the infantry units that had rushed up retreating, they lifted their heavy machine guns, pushed their infantry artillery, and turned around to retreat.

The Japanese rapid-fire artillery units with anti-tank capabilities also quickly ceased firing and began to change the type of ammunition. The ammunition handlers began to look for armor-piercing shells for the rapid-fire guns, preparing to replace the explosive grenades with armor-piercing shells to meet the sudden attack of the Chinese tanks.

However, the tank company that went out to attack obviously did not give the Japanese rapid-fire artillery unit a chance to fire. They faithfully carried out He Wei's orders and did not pursue the Japanese infantry after they retreated. Instead, they immediately withdrew and drove away before the Japanese rapid-fire artillery opened fire, and drove back to the starting position.

A small-scale night battle ended here, and Qisha's second line of defense returned to silence again. The sound of gunfire stopped abruptly. Only more than a hundred Japanese corpses emitting white smoke, broken limbs, and blood and flesh in front of the defenders' positions told of the intensity of the battle just now.

In the Qisha direction, just as the Japanese harassment attack was repelled, the temporary commander of the second Japanese landing force, who was already standing on the Beihai beach, the commander of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army, Hisana Makoto, also received the latest order telegram from Ando Rikichi.

"The success or failure of the Nanning attack depends entirely on the success of your troops. Immediately launch an attack on the enemy in Beihai. I hope that the officers and soldiers will fight hard and strive for victory."

Kuna Seiichi put down the telegram with a surging heart, and looked at the landing craft that kept coming ashore on the beach, and a feeling of great ambition suddenly arose in his heart.

The landing of the second batch of Japanese landing troops on the North Sea beach was extremely smooth. After the 23rd Brigade completed the landing, another infantry regiment completed the landing. Even some tank units and artillery units had also landed.

The progress was so smooth that Ando Rikichi sent a telegram urging the attack, and in the telegram he entrusted the success or failure of the Nanning attack to himself. So, Kuna Seiichi knew that tonight, now, was the time for his 18th Division to show its prowess.

(End of this chapter)