Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

At this moment, Takano Jiro was leading his troops forward when a Japanese officer suddenly ran over and said respectfully, "Report to the commander of the regiment. We have just received an order from the commander of the regiment, Iwanaga, asking our 65th regiment to rush to the Tianma Mountain front immediately."

"Pegasus Mountain?"

Takano Jiro took the telegram, read it carefully, frowned and said, "I heard that Hariya-kun's troops were attacking Tianma Mountain."

A Japanese officer said, "I think the Hariya Regiment encountered a stubborn resistance from the enemy, so Commander Iwanaga asked us to rush to Tianma Mountain for emergency assistance."

"you're right."

Takano Jiro nodded slightly and ordered: "Go to Tianma Mountain immediately."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese soldiers present responded in unison.

Fortunately, Jiro Takano's troops were not far from Tenma Mountain, and the 65th Regiment soon arrived at the Tenma Mountain line.

Jiro Kono arrived at Itsuki Hariya's headquarters.

At this moment, Ichiro Hariya's face was gloomy, as if his father had died.

Kono Jiro asked, "Hariya-kun, what happened?"

Itsuki Hariya glanced at Jiro Takano and felt somewhat jealous.

But he couldn't show it, so he just sighed deeply and said, "Takano-kun, now that you're here, it's time for us to leave."

Seeing that Yishiro Hariya was unwilling to say more, Jiro Takano did not force him and said, "Mr. Hariya, according to convention, before the shift change, you should introduce some information about Mount Tenma to me."

Itshiro Hariya sighed deeply again, knowing that he could not escape, and then carefully explained the defensive situation of the Tenma Mountain defenders to Jiro Kono.

Then he said, "Mr. Kono, the enemy army on the opposite side is very cunning. They have used fire attacks more than once to block the locust army's offensive with fire."

Takano Jiro looked at the sand table in front of him, frowned and said, "If it's true as you said, the situation here is more difficult than Zhangjiashan."

"It may not be that easy to take over Tianma Mountain."

Yilang Jingu nodded and said, "Yes, judging from the current situation, it will be too difficult for the locust army to take Tianma Mountain."

"But I believe that Koya-kun will be able to successfully capture Tianma Mountain and avenge us."

Takano Jiro said, "Then I'll have to ask for your guidance, Hariya-kun."

With a wry smile, Ichiro Hariya said, "How dare a defeated general talk about bravery?"

"You should also be careful not to repeat our mistakes."

"The most troublesome thing now is the trench below the cliff. The trench is deep and wide. If you want to go up the mountain, you have to climb up the cliff more than ten meters high."

"Once the locusts enter the trench, the enemy can use grenades to kill a large number of locust soldiers, and also use fire attacks. At that time, the entire trench will be engulfed in a sea of ​​fire, which will not only burn a large number of attacking locust warriors, but also delay the locust army's attack."

"At present, I don't have a good way to crack the enemy's method."

Jiro Kono frowned, feeling that the situation at Tianma Mountain was somewhat tricky.

After the battle of Zhangjiashan, Jiro Takano had been beaten to the point of doubting his own life and no longer had the arrogance he had before.

Even though Iwanaga Wang finally gave them two thousand new recruits, Takano Jiro's advance speed was relatively slow this time, and he was obviously scared.

At the same time, Jiro Takano was constantly reflecting. If most of the fortifications of Zhangjiashan had not been destroyed in the previous battle, the subsequent attack would have been much easier. Otherwise, it would have been unlikely for them to take Zhangjiashan so quickly, or they might have paid a heavier price.

The situation in Tianma Mountain is now worse than that in Zhangjia Mountain. Although the Zhengu Squadron has been fighting here for a day, there has been basically no progress and one squadron was crippled.

Faced with such a situation, how could Jiro Kono not be worried?

After introducing the general situation to Takano Jiro, Hariya Itshiro left Tenma Mountain, the sad place, with his remaining troops and retreated to the rear to rest.

After dark, Jiro Takano looked at Mount Tenma in the distance and couldn't help feeling a little hesitant.

A Japanese officer nearby said, "Colonel, when do we launch the attack?"

Takano Jiro said with a worried look on his face: "This Tianma Mountain is not so easy to attack. If we attack it by force, we will definitely pay a very heavy price."

"The information provided to us by the Hariya United is relatively limited. I am also hesitant now."

A Japanese officer said: "But the commander of the Iwanaga Division ordered us to capture Tianma Mountain as soon as possible."

Takano Jiro said coldly: "Don't these guys care about the casualties of the locust soldiers at all?"

A Japanese officer said: "Sir, the current situation is not favorable to the empire. The headquarters urgently needs to open up the mainland transportation line as soon as possible."

"I guess General Iwanaga was forced to do so, and even Commander Yokoyama himself couldn't make the decision."

"The pressure from above is too great, so the troops can only launch the attack regardless of casualties."

Jiro Takano also understands this, but it is difficult for him now!

A Japanese officer said: "Sir, we can't hesitate. If we can't take Hengyang, more Locust Army warriors will die, and the empire will be in greater danger."

Takano Jiro gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind. He ordered: "Immediately dispatch a squadron of troops to attack Tianma Mountain tonight."

"If we have the chance to take over Tianma Mountain, that would be the best. Even if we can't, we must try our best to understand the situation on the mountain."

"The main force will be ready to launch a strong attack early tomorrow morning."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese officers present responded in unison.

After some preparation, the Japanese selected a squadron of troops that night and prepared to launch a surprise attack at night.

In the second half of the night, these Japanese soldiers quietly left their positions and cautiously approached Tianma Mountain.

Under the cover of darkness, the Japanese devils successfully reached the trench.

The Japanese soldiers, who served as the vanguards, quickly found the gap that was blown open. Then they entered the tunnel one by one and dispersed.

A group of Japanese soldiers hid beside the collapsed gap, preparing to climb up Tianma Mountain through the gap.

The other Japanese soldiers divided into several waves and began to build human ladders, piling up one layer at a time, preparing to climb up the cliff.

The reason they did this was because they were worried that carrying a ladder would make the target too big and easily exposed, so they did not carry any ladders at all.

All the ladders that the Japanese had brought into the trench had been burned, so they could only climb up in this most clumsy and primitive way.

Soon, a dozen Japanese soldiers climbed up first. They did not rush to continue attacking the mountain, but lowered ropes to allow more Japanese soldiers to climb up.

Soon another group of Japanese soldiers climbed up the mountain. Only then did the Japanese soldiers send out a group of scouts and continue to climb up the mountain carefully.

At this moment, a burst of intensive gunfire rang out, and several Japanese soldiers in the dark were instantly knocked to the ground.

Then a bright flare rose into the sky, illuminating the surrounding area as if it were daytime.

At this time, a Japanese officer who climbed up the broken wall shouted, "Follow me and destroy all the enemies."

"Give me the rabbit~!"

As the flares were launched into the air, the gunfire became more frequent.

Then one grenade after another was thrown out and fell into the trench one after another.

The soldiers were also experienced and had observed that wherever the Japanese soldiers climbed up, there must be other Japanese soldiers below, so they specifically threw grenades at such places.

"Boom~!"

"Boom~!"

Violent explosions rang out one after another, and the Japanese soldiers in the trenches were blown to the ground, with heavy casualties.

The Japanese soldiers who successfully climbed the mountain were ultimately unable to break into the defenders' blocking positions and were all shot to death.

The Japanese suffered heavy losses, and the remaining Japanese saw that the situation was not good and were so scared that they immediately turned around and fled back.

In the end, most of the Japanese soldiers in this squadron were wiped out, and only more than 20 of them managed to escape.

Li Guotao came to the front line and asked, "What's going on?"

Chen Jianghe said, "Reporting to the battalion commander, there are Japanese sneak attacks. Fortunately, the sentry on duty discovered them in time. They are almost reaching our first trench."

Li Guotao ordered: "Continue to strengthen the vigilance, especially at night. If the Japanese really sneak into the position, it will be troublesome."

Chen Jianghe quickly responded, "Yes! Please rest assured, Captain. We promise that we won't let the Japanese get close to us."

Li Guotao nodded slightly.

At this time, Chen Jianghe continued, "Battalion Commander, I estimate that we have killed at least dozens of Japanese soldiers this time. I will have someone quietly go down and bring back all the weapons and ammunition."

Li Guotao nodded slightly and said, "But be careful not to alarm the Japanese on the other side." Chen Jianghe assured him solemnly, "Don't worry, we are very familiar with this kind of thing, there will be no problem."

After a while, when everyone had quieted down, Chen Jianghe selected a dozen soldiers, quietly left the position, and first picked up all the weapons and equipment left behind by the Japanese who climbed up the hillside. As for the corpses of the Japanese on the hillside, they were quietly thrown into the trench.

Afterwards, Chen Jianghe personally led the soldiers down into the trench, where the environment was not very good.

There were charred corpses everywhere. Some were burned to the point where only bones were left, while others were burned like charcoal. The stench was nauseating.

However, these soldiers were used to seeing many storms and waves, so they could only suppress their nausea and carefully carry back all the weapons and equipment in the trench.

In the Japanese command center, Jiro Takano was so angry when he saw the miserable appearance of the Japanese soldiers in front of him.

These little Japanese devils have just escaped.

Takano Jiro was too lazy to argue with them and asked, "What's the situation on the mountain?"

One of the Japanese soldiers said, "We didn't climb up at all. The cliff is very difficult to climb. Everyone who climbed up was killed."

"The enemy is on high alert. It seems that a sneak attack will not work."

Takano Jiro asked, "How many soldiers are there on the mountain?"

The Japanese soldiers looked at each other, but no one could tell what was going on.

Takano Jiro couldn't help but curse: "Baga, a bunch of rubbish."

A Japanese soldier said: "We can only roughly judge that there should be more than one company."

Takano Jiro said angrily: "This is all bullshit, all right, you bunch of rubbish, get out of here."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese soldiers responded respectfully and fled away one by one as if they had been pardoned.

Takano Jiro cursed: "Bakayaka, we lost so many troops for nothing and got nothing in return. This is really unreasonable."

A Japanese officer asked, "What about tomorrow's attack?"

Takano Jiro said seriously: "It has been reported, so we must execute it according to the original plan."

"Tomorrow morning, launch a strong attack."

"Hayi~!"

As soon as day broke, the Japanese artillery started firing. In order to break through the Tianma Mountain defense line, Yan Yongwang fully cooperated and ordered his artillerymen to concentrate their firepower to bombard the Tianma Mountain position. The artillery fire plowed the Tianma Mountain position again.

Seeing that the gunfire was gradually stopping, Takano Jiro ordered: "Send out a small team to launch a tentative attack first."

The previous battle at Zhangjiashan resulted in heavy casualties, and this time Takano Jiro had changed his mind and did not dare to let his soldiers take risks again, so he only sent out a small team to launch a tentative attack.

Because he concluded that this round of artillery fire would not be able to kill the defenders on the mountain.

So let’s send someone to try it first.

"Hayi~!"

A squad of about fifty Japanese soldiers dispersed, holding bayonets, and rushed towards Tianma Mountain in a sparse manner.

Li Guotao hid in an observation post, raised his telescope, and observed carefully for a while through the thick smoke and dust.

When he saw that the Japanese were few in number, Li Guotao could not help but frown and said, "There are only so few of them."

Chen Jianghe said: "This is at most just a squad of devils."

"Damn it, it seems that these little devils are really scared by our attack, and they dare not send anyone to attack us."

Li Guotao frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "I guess the Japanese have learned their lesson and want to continue to consume our ammunition."

"They are ready to wear us out."

Chen Jianghe said: "But such an offensive will not pose much threat to us. Isn't it just sending people to die in vain?"

……

At the same time, Takano Jiro hid in the command center and ordered his soldiers: "Attack in units of one or two teams at a time, and rush up wave after wave."

"Also, we have contacted the artillery and asked them to continue to provide us with artillery support."

"Scouts must pay attention to the enemy's firepower deployment and point out the direction for the artillery."

"Hayi~!"

A Japanese officer responded respectfully.

At this time, a Japanese soldier said, "Colonel, this is just a small-scale attack. It is impossible to take Tianma Mountain. Isn't this just sending ourselves to die in vain?"

"To die in vain?"

Takano Jiro said in a cold voice: "If we send out a squadron-scale attack, or a larger-scale offensive, do you think the casualties we will suffer in order to capture Tianma Mountain will be small?"

"From the lessons learned from Zhangjiashan, we will only pay a heavier price if we do that, so we will attack with small teams first, two teams at most, to test their strength and to continuously consume their firepower."

"We've been fighting for so long, the enemy must be running low on ammunition and supplies. If we continue to waste their ammunition, it will be more advantageous for us."

At this time, a Japanese lieutenant colonel said: "But will our superiors give us so much time?"

Takano Jiro said helplessly: "Let's leave it at that for now! We can waste one more day at a time."

"Order the machine guns and mortars to provide full cover. We must also take this opportunity to kill as many enemies as possible."

"Hayi~!"

A Japanese officer responded quickly and turned to convey the order.

At this time, sporadic gunshots suddenly rang out on the mountain. More than a dozen soldiers wandered around the position, firing a shot and moving to another position, constantly sniping and killing the Japanese soldiers who rushed up.

However, the Japanese were relatively scattered, and their charging speed was not slow at all. They quickly broke through the fire blockade line and entered the trench.

However, out of the fifty Japanese soldiers, only twenty of them successfully rushed in.

When Takano Jiro saw this, he was so angry that he yelled, "Bagayaka, these bastards, they didn't even fall for it."

Jiro Takano's goal was to consume the defenders' ammunition. However, relying solely on accurate shooting with a rifle would obviously not achieve the goal of consuming the defenders' ammunition.

A Japanese officer said: "The enemy is too cunning."

Takano Jiro said: "Send two more teams to try. I want to see how long they can endure."

"Hayi~!"

……

"Battalion Commander, about twenty Japanese soldiers have entered the trench. What should we do now?"

Li Guotao sneered and said, "Twenty little devils can't cause any big trouble."

"These little devils will definitely be scattered. If we use grenades to bomb them, it will hardly have much effect."

"It's not worth wasting a lot of grenades if we use fire to burn them."

"Wait, have the brothers step up their guard and keep a close eye on them. If any Japanese soldier crawls up, kill him in seconds if he shows his head."

"Show your head and you'll be killed in seconds?"

Chen Jianghe couldn't help but frown, obviously not understanding what Li Guotao meant.

Li Guotao explained: "When shooting with a rifle, you must aim carefully and don't waste bullets."

Chen Jianghe smiled and said, "I understand. Don't worry."

Li Guotao then reminded: "Brothers, be careful. The firepower of the Japanese machine guns and mortars is still very fierce. Pay attention to safety."

"Yes!"

……

Seeing that there was still no movement on the mountain, the defenders did not throw grenades.

Takano Jiro was almost mad with anger, and cursed: "Bakayaka, these damn enemies are so cunning."

A Japanese officer said, "Colonel, we didn't bring any ladders. The brave men who rushed over were afraid of being killed by the explosion, so they didn't dare to gather together. They all scattered and couldn't use ladders to get up."

"If everyone gathers at that gap and climbs up, the enemy only needs to hold the gap to stop the locust army." (End of this chapter)