Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 130 Tunnel Excavation (One more chapter)
It is said that an expert can tell the outcome of an attack with just one move. Although the 2th Regiment only deployed one squadron in the attack, the pressure it exerted on the defenders was comparable to that of two squadrons of the Marine Corps. Their teams cooperated very skillfully, and their long-range, medium-range, and short-range weapons were reasonably matched, giving the Japanese the capital to be arrogant.
Because it was a tentative attack, the cunning Japanese skirmish line only advanced to a distance of eighty or ninety meters and then stopped. Their machine guns stopped at a distance of about 150 meters, suppressing the defenders with precise point-fire, while the infantry team continued to tease the defenders.

If it were an ordinary Kuomintang army unit, it would definitely fall for their trick, but this time their opponent was the 527th Regiment, which was well aware of the tricks of the th Regiment.

Since the Japs like to compete in marksmanship, the Second Company of the First Battalion sent out a dozen sharpshooters to play with them using the Kar98k sniper rifles that Yue Qianli purchased from Custer;
Half of these guns are equipped with 4x scopes and are real sniper rifles, and are used by veterans of the former 527th Regiment.

The sharpshooters specialized in targeting Japanese officers, sergeants, and machine gunners. Not to mention 150 meters, even within 300 meters their hit rate was extremely high. They changed shooting positions after each shot, and Japanese soldiers were constantly shot and fell, just like hunting.

The squadron leader who led the attack could no longer bear it and could only command the skirmishers to continue to advance and send out a small number of demolition personnel to blow up the gate;
The defenders naturally couldn't let them get close. They had a clear division of labor. The sharpshooters focused on hitting the demolitionists, and the machine guns suppressed the other infantry. However, they only exposed 6 light machine guns and dozens of rifles, which were enough to block the Japs.

As the firefight got closer, Takano's squadron suffered more casualties, while their results were minimal;

Seeing that the defenders only had light machine guns, Captain Takano ordered his troops to continue advancing. The skirmish line had already rushed to a distance of only 50 meters from the building, but the defenders still did not increase their firepower. This made Captain Takano a little confused, and the effect of the exploratory attack was not obvious.

The Japanese wanted to test the firepower of the defenders by attacking with a squadron, but the second company commander refused to let him do so and only sent a platoon to fight with the Japanese.
Since the defenders had the advantage of terrain, a platoon of 80 people could completely block the attack of a Japanese squadron. The six light machine guns would change firing positions after firing three bursts, suppressing the Japanese and making it impossible for them to move.

Captain Takano decided to take another risk and commanded his troops to advance another 20 meters. Seeing the rare opportunity, the platoon leader, Lieutenant Liu Xingtong, shouted:
"Throw a grenade and blow the bastard to death!"

The riflemen immediately threw a round of long-handled grenades at the Japs. Dozens of grenades fell from the sky and landed among the Japs, knocking down more than half of them in an instant.

The power of the German long-handled grenade is equivalent to half a mortar. This is not a grenade made in the border areas that the Eighth Route Army would blow in half. Each grenade can produce dozens of fragments with a killing radius of 7 meters, with almost no dead angles.

This hit Takano's squadron hard. They had no shelter and could only endure it. Thousands of explosion fragments caused heavy casualties to the Japanese.

Captain Takano very wisely gave the order to turn around, but he was still hit by the second round of grenades, and another twenty or thirty people were knocked down.

This round of exploratory attack finally yielded some practical results, such as the defenders having a large number of grenades and the skirmish lines could not get too close.

"Bakayarō! How did you break into the building without getting close to the target? Were you beaten stupid by the Chinese?"

Captain Takano, who retreated, was scolded by Major Araki and slapped twice. No wonder he was angry. Half of the squadron was lost in a tentative attack, and two squad leaders were killed, so he came to this conclusion.

Captain Takano knew he was in the wrong, and still stood respectfully after being slapped. Major Araki still gave him some face and did not slap him twice more.

After suppressing the anger in his chest, he said:
"Takano-kun, it seems that the Chinese are well-defended now, and it's not like the Marines were incompetent before. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Captain Takano thought for a moment and said:
"Captain, the best way is to blast it. Use earthwork to dig into the basement of the headquarters building, and then use a large amount of explosives to blast it!" After hearing this, Major Araki was moved, but then gave up and said to Captain Takano:

"This method is very good, but the surrounding area is all concrete ground. It will take a long time to dig a tunnel of hundreds of meters, and it will also be discovered by the Chinese."

“Sir Captain, even if the Chinese discovered them, they couldn’t stop them. Tunnel digging is almost unsolvable for them, it just takes a little longer;
The Imperial Army can attack and dig tunnels at the same time to prepare for both situations."

Captain Takano is indeed a capable person. Tunnel digging is the dumbest method, but it is also the most effective. It can be said that it hits the weak spot of the defenders. Major Araki thought that this was the only way, so he nodded and said:
"Yoshi, this mission is now handed over to the Gaoye Squadron. Dig two tunnels as quickly as possible. There should be no delay."

Captain Takano accepted the order and left. Although the groundhog was very tired, his life was not in danger.

The dozens of Japanese soldiers who died in the first exploratory attack were not in vain. Major Araki calculated in his mind that it would take at least three days to dig a tunnel, and their mission was to capture the headquarters building within three days.
He couldn't put all his eggs in one basket, so he had to continue the attack. This time he placed his hopes on the infantry artillery, using it to blast open the gate and then have the infantry rush in.

As soon as they said it, Araki Battalion gave the order and the second round of attack began. This time, they also deployed an infantry squadron and an infantry artillery squad.
According to the intelligence passed on by the Marine Corps, the defenders had a large number of heavy artillery. Araki didn't quite believe it. He estimated that the defenders had at most a few mortars, which posed a great threat to their infantry artillery. They had experienced the power of the Type 20 mortar.

He set up the artillery positions 800 meters away and required them to change positions after firing three shots to avoid being locked on by the defenders' mortars.

The front wall was 50 meters thick and made of concrete, so he could only hope to break through the gate;
The two infantry guns fired several shots in succession, but the effect was not very good. The gate was reinforced with tank wreckage and sandbags and could not be destroyed at all.

Then they gave up attacking the main gate and instead bombarded the other side gates. The effect was much better and a large hole was blasted open after a few shots. However, their infantry gun had run out of luck and was destroyed by the mortar on the roof.

"Bagaya road!"

Major Araki was so frustrated that he wanted to curse. However, blasting a hole would not be very effective. Even if the side door was blasted open, the passage in and out was only two meters wide and full of rubble.

The infantry could not charge fast enough, and the defenders only needed one machine gun to block the front. If they wanted to attack, they would have to pay with their lives.

Major Araki decided to give it a try, but was driven back by the dense firepower of the defenders, leaving behind dozens of corpses, and was unable to get any closer.

A few more passages had to be blasted out. After Araki realized this, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask the captain for tactical guidance.

(End of this chapter)