Zhu Tian: Beginning to Cross the Changjin Lake

Jiro Takano looked at Tianma Mountain which was engulfed in artillery fire, but he did not dare to be careless at all.

Because he knew that such intense artillery preparation would not be able to completely eliminate all the defenders on the mountain.

Every time they thought they could wipe out the defenders on the mountain, but when they rushed up, the defenders jumped out from somewhere and continued to beat them.

Takano Jiro ordered in a cold voice: "Keep firing the flat-firing cannons and create as many gaps as possible to facilitate the infantry's attack."

"In addition, we need to prepare more ladders and set them up in different places. When attacking, personnel should be dispersed as much as possible. This will reduce the casualties caused by grenades."

"Hayi~!"

A Japanese lieutenant colonel next to him responded respectfully: "Please rest assured, Commander, we have made sufficient preparations this time and will definitely be able to capture Tianma Mountain."

"I hope so!"

The repeated disastrous defeats made the old Japanese lose some confidence, so he did not dare to hold too high hope.

At least it is definitely not easy to take over the Tianma Mountain ahead, and this time we may have to pay a greater price.

But as the battle situation developed to this point, they were completely out of options and could only grit their teeth and persevere.

The artillery preparation was finally over, and artillery fire and smoke enveloped the entire Tianma Mountain.

Takano Jiro ordered: "Order the attacking forces to launch an attack immediately. Take Tianma Mountain at all costs."

"Hayi~!"

Following Jiro Takano's order, the Japanese immediately launched another fierce attack on the Tianma Mountain position.

A large number of Japanese soldiers rushed out of their positions screaming and attacked Tianma Mountain fiercely.

At the same time, the Japanese machine guns and mortars continued to suppress the defenders' positions on the mountain.

Bullets and mortar shells kept hitting the Tianma Mountain position as if they were free.

The dense sound of gunfire, explosions, and the roar of the Japanese charging mixed together.

The defenders on the position also entered the blocking position one after another, relying on the messy position to stubbornly block the Japanese attack.

After this period of fighting, the Japanese also accumulated a lot of experience.

They had dug trenches through the defenders' fire blockade zone.

The Japanese rushed directly to the foot of the mountain along the winding trenches, avoiding the machine gun fire of the defenders.

This made it impossible for the defenders to effectively kill the Japanese from a distance, and a large number of them quickly and safely reached the foot of the mountain and entered the trenches.

A number of ladders were set up, and groups of Japanese soldiers secretly came to the bottom of the gentle slope, preparing to climb up.

These Japanese soldiers have also learned their lesson. There are only three Japanese soldiers at most under each ladder. They try to set up as many ladders as possible and then climb up together.

In this way, no matter how many grenades the defenders threw, they could only kill two or three Japanese soldiers at a time.

The same situation occurred at the bottom of every collapsed slope. There were only three or four Japanese soldiers at most, scattered on both sides, secretly climbing up.

The first wave of Japanese soldiers were almost all killed before another batch of them arrived.

In this way, the Japanese offensive was not weak, but it could minimize casualties and consume the ammunition of the defenders on the mountain to the maximum extent.

The defenders on the mountain could not see the situation in the trenches. According to past experience, they would just shoot the Japanese soldiers climbing up wherever they saw them, and then throw grenades at that place.

But there are only two or three Japanese soldiers below. No matter how many grenades are thrown down, only these two or three Japanese soldiers can be killed at most.

And it is not necessarily possible to kill these two or three Japanese devils.

Because there were many large and small craters in the trenches, the Japanese had accumulated some experience and all hid in these craters, wearing helmets. The grenade fragments could not penetrate the helmets. Once the Japanese found a grenade thrown down, they would shrink into these craters and curl up into a ball to minimize the possibility of being killed by grenade fragments.

As long as the grenade does not fall directly into their small pit, even if it explodes in mid-air, it will be difficult for the shrapnel to kill them all.

Therefore, this greatly reduced the casualties of the Japanese.

Once the grenades stopped being thrown from above, they immediately started climbing the ladders.

If the ladder is blown up, continue to transport the ladder up from the back.

In order to capture Hengyang, the Japanese also prepared a large number of ladders, and the surrounding trees and bamboo forests were basically cut down by the Japanese.

Jiro Kono was observing the situation on the battlefield through a telescope. The fighting on the front line was very fierce.

However, it was still difficult for the Japanese to rush up the mountain.

The Japanese lieutenant colonel next to him said: "Although the progress is not smooth, our casualties are much less."

"If we keep going like this, the enemy won't be able to hold out for much longer."

Takano Jiro said coldly: "Then we must do our best to take over Tianma Mountain as soon as possible."

"The Commander is about to go to the front. Our performance has already disappointed him. If there is no further progress, he will be furious. Who can bear the consequences?"

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese lieutenant colonel replied respectfully: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the commander, we will definitely capture Tianma Mountain as soon as possible."

……

At the same time, the news also reached the military.

Commander Fang said with a worried look on his face: "Now the enemy has launched a large-scale offensive again. The Japanese have made up their minds to take Hengyang at all costs."

"We have been forced into a desperate situation. The only way is to resist with all our might and fight the Japanese to the end. We must not give up until the last moment."

Sun Mingyu said: "All the troops have been deployed to the battle. Judging from the current trend, it will be no problem to hold out for a while."

Commander Fang said helplessly: "But our troops are getting fewer and fewer."

Sun Mingyu said: "We have tried our best to mobilize some lightly wounded soldiers to return to the battlefield."

"Basically, all personnel who can be deployed to the battle have been mobilized."

"Although our current situation is not good, the morale of the brothers is still very high. Now the brothers are all holding the belief that they must die, and are ready to fight the Japanese to the death."

Commander Fang nodded and said, "Well done! As long as the morale remains, we can continue to fight this battle."

"At this point, everything depends on us."

"No matter what, we must hold our ground."

"As a reserve force, we must be ready to return to the battlefield at any time."

"Tianma Mountain is still the enemy's main target of attack. Let the 568th Regiment be ready to return to Tianma Mountain at any time."

"I feel very relieved to leave Tianma Mountain to Li Guotao." Sun Mingyu reminded: "But Li Guotao and his men just came back and are resting."

Commander Fang frowned and said, "The troops above should be able to hold out for a while. Let them hold on as long as they can."

"If we encounter any danger, mobilize the 568th Regiment for support. All the troops on the mountain will be under the command of the 568th Regiment. We must ensure the safety of the Tianma Mountain position at all costs."

"Yes!"

Sun Mingyu responded quickly and passed the order on.

The fighting on the front line was extremely fierce. The Japanese launched a desperate attack in order to capture Hengyang as soon as possible.

Relying on the strong defensive fortifications and favorable terrain, the defenders on Tianma Mountain annihilated a large number of attacking Japanese invaders, but they also suffered heavy casualties under the continuous fierce attacks of the Japanese invaders.

The battle lasted until the evening, and Jiro Takano still did not give up. He continued to command his troops to launch wave after wave of attacks.

Li Guotao strode into the regiment headquarters. Yang Jihe looked up at Li Guotao and said casually, "You're here?"

Li Guotao found a random seat and sat down, saying, "I heard that the war situation on the entire front is not going well."

Yang Jihe sighed helplessly and said, "The Japanese concentrated their forces and launched another all-out offensive. Now everything is in chaos."

"Looking at this situation, the Japanese want to take advantage of this opportunity to capture Hengyang City in one fell swoop."

“The current situation is really not very good.”

Li Guotao asked: "Captain, do the superiors have any new instructions?"

Yang Jihe raised his head and glanced into the distance, then said, "According to the commander's order, we must be ready to support Tianma Mountain at any time."

"Tianma Mountain is still the main attack direction of the Japanese. According to the current trend, the casualties of the defenders on the mountain are increasing, but the Japanese offensive has not decreased at all. This battle is not easy to fight."

"I have asked the brothers to be ready for reinforcements at any time, and to prepare as many flammable objects as possible. We are ready to use fire attacks as usual to stop the enemy and delay the time as much as possible."

Li Guotao was somewhat helpless about this. Facing the crazy attack of the Japanese, the defenders really did not have any better solution. The difference in troop strength was too great, and it was an impossible task to repel the Japanese. Now they could only grit their teeth and hold on. As long as they could hold on for 47 days, all difficulties would naturally be solved.

Now Li Guotao has gathered tens of thousands of troops, but he can only summon them all after 47 days.

By then, the Japanese will surely be at the end of their strength, and we can take the opportunity to defeat them all.

So all they can do now is grit their teeth and hold on.

Li Guotao said helplessly: "No matter what, we have to try to hold on for a while longer."

"Only by holding on can we wait for reinforcements to arrive."

"I guess we won't have to wait long this time."

Yang Jihe thought that according to the current trend, they might not be able to hold on for much longer.

However, the Japanese casualties were increasing day by day. Even if they were defeated in the end and Hengyang was lost, it was worth it to be able to kill so many Japanese.

At this moment, the defenders on Tianma Mountain could only set fire again to stop the Japanese attack.

The fire quickly spread throughout the trench, burning all the Japanese corpses piled up in the trench.

The fire temporarily blocked the Japanese offensive. Although Jiro Takano was angry, he had no better solution and could only order his troops to temporarily stop the attack.

A Japanese lieutenant colonel nearby advised: "Don't worry, Commander. We have almost consumed all of their forces now. They will not be able to hold out for much longer."

"As long as the locust army continues to launch attacks, it will only be a matter of time before we capture this small Tianma Mountain."

Takano Jiro sighed helplessly and said, "But the commander will be here tomorrow. We have not even conquered a small mountain like Pegasus, so we must be prepared to face the commander's wrath."

The Japanese lieutenant colonel said helplessly: "But we have really tried our best, I think the commander should understand."

Takano Jiro took a deep breath, tried to suppress the anger in his heart, and said through gritted teeth: "Pass the order, the troops must be ready to attack at any time."

"Once the fire is out, launch an attack immediately. Don't give the enemy any chance to catch their breath."

"Hayi~!"

The Japanese soldiers present responded respectfully.

When the fire weakened a little, the Japanese soldiers transported a large amount of water in wooden barrels to the front line, and then used the water to extinguish the remaining fire in the trenches.

Streams of steam rose into the air, and the temperature in the trench dropped rapidly.

It seems that these Japanese devils are really anxious. They are determined to take Tianma Mountain at all costs and are not willing to wait even a moment longer.

Late that night, after the fire was completely extinguished, a large number of Japanese soldiers once again attacked Tianma Mountain and fierce fighting broke out again.

In order to stop the Japanese attack, the brothers on the mountain could only keep throwing grenades. With bursts of violent explosions, more and more Japanese were killed.

But even so, the Japanese were not prepared to give up.

The fierce battle continued until dawn, when Jiro Takano ordered a temporary halt to the attack.

The follow-up troops readjusted and prepared to launch a new round of offensive.

In order to capture Tianma Mountain, Jiro Takano ordered his troops to attack in turns. The continuous and uninterrupted attacks were intended to exhaust the defenders on the mountain and capture Tianma Mountain in one fell swoop.

However, it now seems that the progress is not smooth.

Jiro Takano was now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but there was nothing he could do.

Yang Jihe found Li Guotao and said, "The defenders on the mountain have been fighting for a day and a night, suffered heavy losses, and are exhausted."

"Plus, the ammunition consumption is too high. I don't think we can hold on any longer."

"The military has ordered us to take over the Tianma Mountain position and take the opportunity to transport a batch of ammunition up there."

"While the Japanese have stopped attacking, we need to take over the position and deliver all the ammunition and supplies as soon as possible."

Li Guotao nodded and said, "No problem, let's go up as soon as possible."

Yang Jihe asked, "Are you okay now? Do you need to rest for a while?"

Li Guotao shook his head and said, "I am fine now. I have endless energy. I just want to kill more devils."

Yang Jihe said with a smile: "You are really a freak."

"However, with the new troops supplied to us by the military, our 568th Regiment only has about people left."

"With less than a battalion of troops, how long can they hold out?"

Because the defenders on the mountain were all assigned to the 568th Regiment, the 568th Regiment now has more than soldiers. Otherwise, the number of soldiers would be even smaller, after all, the previous casualties were too great. (End of this chapter)