Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Under the command of Colonel Herkilong, the Japanese 120th Regiment immediately launched a fierce attack on the main position of Zhangjiashan.

The Japanese artillery units concentrated their fire and first bombarded the main position of Zhangjiashan.

"Chirp chirp chirp~!"

With a sharp whistling sound, the shells flew towards the Zhangjiashan position one after another, and the dense shells hit the position like raindrops.

"Boom~! Boom~!"

Violent explosions sounded one after another, and pieces of fire shot into the sky.

The entire Zhangjiashan position was soon covered by the Japanese artillery fire.

Inside the headquarters of the 568th Regiment, Li Guotao listened to the explosions coming from afar, lit a cigarette, and stared at the map in front of him.

"It seems that the Japanese are going to attack Zhangjiashan again."

Li Guotao and his men are now used as a reserve force. Zhangjiashan is more important and has become the focus of the Japanese attack. Therefore, after receiving orders, they have moved to the rear of Zhangjiashan and are ready to support the Zhangjiashan defenders at any time.

Yang Jihe said: "We just received news that the Japanese troops attacking Zhangjiashan have become the 116th Division."

Li Guotao frowned slightly and said, "Wasn't it always the 68th Division before? Why did it suddenly change to the 116th Division?"

Yang Jihe shook his head and said, "Who knows? Anyway, I don't know what happened to these guys. They suddenly changed their units."

Li Guotao said: "No matter which division it is, it's the same to us."

Li Guotao stared at Zhangjiashan on the map and said with a smile: "The terrain of Zhangjiashan is quite good. As long as we hold this place, the Japanese will have to keep sending people in."

Yang Jihe nodded slightly to show his agreement.

The terrain of the Zhangjiashan position is indeed very conducive to defense.

Zhangjiashan is composed of three mountain peaks, and the main position is the main peak of Zhangjiashan, located in the back of the north.

In front of the main peak there are two small hills, Hill 227.7 in the east and Hill 221 in the west. The two hills are about fifty meters apart.

If the Japanese want to attack, they must first capture the two small hills in front.

The main peak of Zhangjiashan is higher than these two hills. Even if the two hills in front are lost, the machine guns and even rifles on the main peak position can kill the enemies on these two hills, because the main peak position is only about 150 meters away from these two small hills.

In addition, defensive fortifications such as Fang Xianqie Trench were also built in front of the mountain.

It would also be extremely disadvantageous for the Japanese to capture the two hills in front.

The 68th Division fought for a whole day and suffered hundreds of casualties before finally capturing the two hills, but was still blocked in front of the main peak position and suffered heavy losses.

The defenders then used machine gun fire from the main peak position to suppress the enemy on the hill in front. The infantry immediately launched a counterattack and recaptured the two hills in one go, making all the previous efforts of the 68th Division go to waste and resulting in nearly a thousand casualties.

Li Guotao took a puff of his cigarette and continued, "But if we continue to consume like this, the casualties of the troops on the front line will increase."

"We must ensure that we can transport troops to Zhangjiashan at any time to ensure the safety of Zhangjiashan."

"Otherwise, if the battle continues like this, the defenders of Zhangjiashan will be exhausted sooner or later."

Yang Jihe pointed to the map and said, "We have dug several trenches here that lead directly to Zhangjiashan. Our troops can use these trenches to support Zhangjiashan."

"The trenches are very deep. Even if the Japanese blockade us with artillery fire, we can use these trenches to break through their fire blockade."

Li Guotao stared at the map and felt that the Japanese artillery fire was no match for the American troops at Shangganling. With these trenches, they should not be completely blocked by their artillery fire.

Li Guotao nodded slightly, and then said: "But the enemy does not only have the artillery blockade as a method, they can also make two detours and cut off Zhangjiashan's retreat."

Yang Jihe said: "There are also heavy troops guarding the two wings of Zhangjiashan. It should be difficult for the Japanese to bypass and cut off Zhangjiashan's retreat."

"Especially the Tiger Nest next to Zhangjiashan. If the Japanese attack here, they will suffer heavy losses. The terrain here is enough to bury a large number of Japanese soldiers."

Li Guotao stared at the map for a while, nodded and said, "That makes sense. In this case, we probably don't need to worry too much in the next few days. We may even end up like before, with no war to fight."

"Hey~! It's really boring."

Although it was a defensive battle, the defenders took advantage of the terrain to gain certain advantages and were able to kill a large number of enemies.

However, since the 10th Army had too few troops and was unable to organize a counterattack, the battle was fought somewhat passively. The completely passive defense was indeed a bit boring.

At this time, the artillery fire on the front line suddenly stopped. Li Guotao stood up abruptly, walked quickly to an observation post, held up a telescope, and observed the direction of Zhangjiashan in front.

"The Japanese artillery fire has stopped. I guess they are about to launch an attack."

Yang Jihe nodded and said, "Inform the scouts to keep a close eye on the situation in the Zhangjiashan direction. Report any abnormalities immediately."

"Yes!"

"Notify the brothers to be ready for battle at any time."

"Yes!"

……

On the smoke-filled battlefield, a large number of Japanese soldiers, holding guns, rushed towards the Zhangjiashan position with great momentum.

In previous battles, the defenders had accumulated some experience and summed up the three principles of no fighting.

"Don't hit those you can't see, don't hit those you can't aim at, don't hit those you can't kill."

The so-called seeing does not mean seeing the figures of the Japanese devils, but seeing their facial features.

The distance was too far, the shooting was too early, the shots were inaccurate, the targets could not be killed, and bullets were wasted. At the same time, it was easy to expose the position and attract retaliatory fire from the Japanese.

Therefore, the brothers guarding the position would not easily open fire unless they were absolutely sure. They would just wait for the Japanese to approach and then beat them to death.

There is no way around it. Hengyang has been surrounded and it is difficult for the defenders to get support, so the ammunition must be saved as much as possible.

The Japanese launched an attack, and the brothers on the Zhangjiashan position all calmly took up their combat positions and prepared for battle.

After the Japanese approached, the brothers calmly blocked them with side fire and sudden fire.

Then they threw grenades at the Japanese soldiers who had entered the outer trench and were preparing to climb up the mountain.

Then grenades flew down on our heads, and some of them exploded in the air before they even hit the ground.

"Boom~! Boom~!"

There were loud explosions one after another, and the enemies in the outer trench suffered heavy casualties in an instant.

The crazy Japanese soldiers rushed up the mountain desperately, but they could not rush up the mountain at all. They could only fill the outer trenches one after another. The wide trench was full of Japanese corpses. When Colonel He Erjilong saw this scene, he was also furious and roared: "Order the attacking troops to withdraw."

"Hayi~!"

"Notify the artillery unit to fire special bullets to kill these bastards."

"Hayi~!"

Colonel He Erjilong, who was furious and humiliated, did not hold back this time and immediately ordered the artillery unit to fire poison gas bombs.

Soon, poison gas bombs fell on the Zhangjiashan position with a sharp whistling sound, and the entire position was gradually shrouded in poison gas.

Colonel Heerjilong looked at this scene with a proud look on his face. He felt that God was still on his side. Today's weather was quite good, just right for using poison gas bombs.

In this way, the defenders on Zhangjiashan will definitely lose their combat effectiveness, and it will become easy to capture Zhangjiashan.

This is also the biggest killer of this old Japanese. Otherwise, they would not come to grab the credit even though they knew that Zhangjiashan is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Li Guotao saw poisonous fog gradually rising from the Zhangjiashan position, so he stretched out his hand to feel the wind direction.

"Notify the brothers to prepare for gas protection. Those who have gas masks should wear them. Those who don't have any should wet at least two towels and wrap their entire faces. Wrap them up tightly and wet your entire body to avoid exposing any skin directly to the air. Poisonous gas is heavier than air, so no one should gather in low-lying areas. Hide on the hillside behind."

"Yes!"

The messenger responded quickly and turned to convey the order.

At this time, Yang Jihe came over and asked, "Did the Japanese really release poison gas?"

"Ok!"

"These idiots!"

Li Guotao said: "Judging from the wind direction, the poison gas may spread to our side."

Yang Jihe said: "Even if it spreads, it won't be too strong. As long as we take precautions in advance, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Li Guotao asked: "It's mainly the defenders on Zhangjia Mountain."

Yang Jihe said: "Don't worry, they all have gas masks. Zhangjiashan is so important, the gas masks can be used first by the defenders on the mountain, there shouldn't be any big problems."

Li Guotao nodded and said, "That's good. Besides, the defenders on the mountain will stay on the mountain, and the poison gas will sink, so the poison gas on the mountain will dissipate faster."

"But I guess these damn Japanese won't wait for the poison gas to dissipate before launching an attack."

"These guys all have gas masks."

At this point, an idea suddenly occurred to Li Guotao.

"Captain, if the Japanese can't take the city for long, they will definitely continue to use poison gas in large quantities. We don't have enough gas masks to begin with, and if some are damaged in battle, our number will only get smaller and smaller."

"But in order to deal with poison gas, the Japanese will definitely prepare enough gas masks. We don't have enough, so we should just steal some from them."

Yang Jihe asked: "You mean, we can take the opportunity to let the devils go up the mountain, and then beat them up, so that we can seize a batch of gas masks."

Li Guotao shook his head and said, "This means we can only seize a small number of gas masks. What I mean is, we can raid the enemy's rear baggage base like we did last time and seize a batch of them."

Yang Jihe frowned and said, "With our current military strength, we are unable to launch a counterattack."

"Besides, it is too dangerous to attack their rear base from behind. If we are not careful, our entire army may be wiped out."

Li Guotao smiled and said, "We have to give it a try."

Yang Jihe said unhappily, "Still trying? You might lose your life if you are not careful."

Li Guotao said nonchalantly: "Do you think I would joke about my life? I won't act rashly unless I am absolutely sure. Let me plan carefully."

……

At the same time, the Japanese 120th Regiment launched another fierce attack on Zhangjiashan.

A large number of Japanese soldiers wearing gas masks and protective clothing rushed quickly towards the Zhangjiashan position.

He Erjilong said with a smug look on his face: "This time, let's see how you can resist the attack of the locust army."

However, when the Japanese rushed to the foot of the mountain, they were once again hit by fierce fire from the defenders. Grenades flew into the crowd of Japanese like raindrops. Violent explosions continued to sound, and the Japanese died in groups in the outer trenches.

Although poison gas bombs are powerful, they also have disadvantages. That is, as long as you are prepared in advance, they are basically useless.

The defenders of Zhangjiashan were all equipped with gas masks, and they had received special training before and had rich experience in gas prevention. Therefore, the Japanese poison gas bombs had no effect on the defenders of Zhangjiashan.

The attacking Japanese once again suffered heavy casualties.

Colonel Heerjilong was so angry that he changed his offensive strategy again. In addition to the frontal attack, he also sent troops to attack the Tiger's Nest position nearby.

Tiger Nest is about 200 meters east of Zhangjia Mountain. To the west are large paddy fields and to the south are open areas, which can be seen at a glance.

If the Japanese want to attack this side, they can only attack the Tiger's Nest through the open area in the south.

The ones guarding here are part of the 10th Regiment of the 29th Division. The defenders have already used the terrain here to build solid fortifications.

The Japanese 120th Regiment launched seven assaults on Tiger's Nest in one day, but all were repelled by the defenders.

A large number of Japanese soldiers fell in this open area, and the entire battlefield was covered with their corpses.

In seven attacks, the Japanese lost more than 900 lives.

The Japanese soldiers who attacked Zhangjiashan head-on ended in disastrous defeat after several attacks, and the corpses of the Japanese soldiers almost filled the outer trench under Zhangjiashan.

After a whole day of fighting, the Japanese 120th Regiment suffered a total of more than casualties.

However, a Japanese regiment had less than 120 people, which means that in just one day, the th Regiment suffered more than % casualties. Among these casualties, most were killed in battle, and only a few were injured.

In other words, after one day of fighting, the entire 120th Regiment was completely destroyed.

Moreover, despite paying such heavy casualties, the Japanese still failed to capture Zhangjiashan.

When Lieutenant General Yanyong Wang heard the news, he was so furious that he scolded He Erjilong severely.

Moreover, since the 120th Regiment had been completely destroyed, Yan Yongwang had to withdraw the 120th Regiment and replace it with other troops to continue the attack.

At the same time, due to the casualties on the front line, Iwanaga Wang had sent telegrams to Yokoyama Isamu several times, requesting support.

Under the command of Yokoyama Isamu, the Japanese soldiers continued to arrive at the battlefield to replenish the 68th and 116th Divisions to ensure the combat effectiveness of the frontline troops. (End of this chapter)