Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 252 Mountain Tunnel Warfare (1)

The attack on Mountain No. 2 also resulted in heavy casualties. When Colonel Kawanami received the statistical report, he felt dizzy and immediately cursed:
"Bakayaro, you are all a bunch of rubbish, when did the combat effectiveness of the Nagoya regiment become so poor?

You have been attacking these two small hills for two days but have not yet taken them. Do you still have any glory left as an imperial warrior?
Even if we drove a group of pigs there wouldn't be so many casualties!"

Facing the insults from the regiment commander, several battalion commanders could only listen with gritted teeth. They really didn't fight well, and they deserved to be scolded. Major Yoneyama was so ashamed that he wanted to commit seppuku on the spot to thank the emperor, but was stopped by Major Hirose.

This is not a joke. His brigade suffered similar casualties. If Major Yoneyama committed seppuku, he would have no face to live. The death of the rabbit will make the fox mourn, so he must stop.

Colonel Kawanami was too lazy to watch their performance and snorted coldly:

"My lords, His Majesty still needs you to expand the empire's territory. It's not that the imperial army can't afford to lose these warriors, but you have lost your courage to move forward when facing a strong enemy!
I have to admit that the guerrilla column is indeed an elite force and they must be given enough respect;
If the Imperial Army wants to conquer China, it must have the ambition to destroy anyone it meets. Haven't we annihilated enough elite troops since landing?"

Everyone was excited after hearing this, and Major Yoneyama immediately stepped forward and asked for a fight:
“Sir, the Chinese have retreated to the last line of defense. Although their fortifications are very strong, there is no fortress in this world that the imperial army cannot break through.

I ask that we give the Mishan Brigade another chance tomorrow. We will destroy them even if we have to sacrifice our lives!"

Major Hirose and others also stood up and asked to fight. Colonel Kawanami's face looked better and he nodded with satisfaction.

"Yoshi, Bengbu is a small city with no strategic location to defend. As long as we take over Tuofeng Ridge, the imperial army will be able to march down to the city.
Faced with the absolute firepower of the division's heavy artillery brigade, the guerrilla column and Bengbu City would surely be blown to ashes.

The battle of Bengbu is related to the success or failure of the Xuzhou campaign. We must not let a small Camel Hump Ridge block the imperial army's advance, and we must not let the North China Front Army laugh at us!"

Everyone stood up and shouted slogans again, full of murderous intent. This made Kawanbe very satisfied, at least the morale was still there.

Next, he arranged the battle plan for the next day. The Yoneyama Battalion would attack the main peak, the Chiba Battalion would launch a diversionary attack on the No. 2 mountain on the left wing, and the Hirose Battalion would serve as the reserve.
In order to help the Mishan Battalion restore its combat effectiveness, he assigned all of the regiment's "luggage team" to the Mishan Battalion, restoring their strength to more than 900 people.

That night, the 6th Regiment did not launch a new attack, and both sides had a night's rest.

When the red sun rises again in the east, the heavy artillery regiment's thick gun barrels will be raised high again, and the earth will tremble;
After a night's rest, the soldiers of the Mishan Battalion were in high spirits. They were confident that they could capture the defenders' positions. The thick gun barrels of the heavy artillery regiment gave them enough self-confidence.

And the defenders' positions were still as quiet as the morning here, as still as a mountain;

Most of the soldiers hid in the tunnels, leaving only a small number of observation posts. The real elite were silent when facing powerful enemies and did not take the murderous devils seriously at all. They had long since become indifferent to life and death.

Such indifference and even contempt put great pressure on the Japanese. Colonel Kawanami would never allow such a powerful Chinese army to exist, and angrily gave the order to open fire.

The entire earth began to tremble, and rows of heavy artillery shells whizzed towards Tuofeng Ridge, bringing the defenders the power of steel and the power of destruction.

The defenders' positions were plowed through by powerful artillery fire, and the entire mountain was on fire. Colonel Kawanami could not imagine how the Chinese could survive under such heavy fire;
Modern warfare is fought with steel. He has enough steel, and the Chinese can only rely on their flesh. He believes that victory will eventually belong to the Sixth Regiment.

Major Yoneyama once again tied a sanitary napkin on his back, which represented his attitude and was also a means of boosting morale;

Other Japanese soldiers followed suit and sang "Kimi ga Yo" before launching the attack, which brought the bleak atmosphere before the war to the maximum. This made Keiji Imamura feel that he would be sorry to the Emperor if he did not die on the Chinese position.

"His Majesty the Emperor!" After the funeral song was sung, the usually low-key Lieutenant Imatsun shouted slogans reflexively, and the other Japanese soldiers were similar to him;

At first, the slogans were shouted sparsely, but then they became uniform and full of fighting spirit.

The artillery fire began to extend, Major Yoneyama pointed his sword forward, and Lieutenant Imamura rushed out first. Other Japanese soldiers followed suit, screaming and rushing towards the main peak.
Huang Qi saw that the Japanese were serious about their move, so he stopped hiding it and pulled out the battalion's artillery battalion, which he had hidden until then. He also wanted to let the Japanese know that China also had "steel".

"Fire, six rounds in rapid succession, target the devils at the foot of the mountain, blow them up!"

The battalion's artillery battalion had four imported 4mm mountain cannons and 75 Type 12 mortars. After receiving the order, they fired rows of shells at the Japanese, blowing their flesh and blood to pieces and leaving their shit-yellow corpses all over the ground.

"Baka, the Chinese are so cunning!

Order the field artillery squadron to blow them up!"

Colonel Kawanami, who had rich battlefield experience, knew that if the heavy artillery regiment was used, it would not be able to react in time, so he could only order the regiment's artillery to fight back.

The defenders' six rounds of rapid fire took only a few minutes, and the regimental artillery, let alone the battalion artillery, could not react in time;

After firing 6 rounds totaling 96 shells, the artillery battalion quickly moved its position. The Bofors mountain gun equipped by the German-equipped division had a combat weight of only more than 700 kilograms, and after being dismantled, it could be carried by four mules and horses.

The Type 20 mortar weighed only 69 kilograms and could be carried by two people, so the artillery battalion quickly retreated to the tunnel on the reverse slope after the attack.
The four mountain cannons were also transported by 4 mules and horses and hid in the woods, so the Japanese's retaliatory artillery bombardment was in vain.

Although the artillery battalion was on the scene for a short time, the 96 shells still caused great damage to the Japanese, killing at least one or two hundred people.
The most important thing is that the Japanese attack formation was blown to pieces, and their morale was greatly reduced. At the same time, it also warned the Japanese that I also have cannons.

Although the Mishan Battalion suffered a loss, they did not give up the attack. Instead, driven by officers at all levels, they continued to charge towards the core position of the defenders.

When they rushed to the middle of the mountain, the defenders' light and heavy machine guns opened fire, and tongues of fire devoured the lives of the Japanese.

Seeing that the defenders' firepower points were exposed, the Japanese army crazily fired at the defenders' positions with their pre-deployed infantry guns, rapid-fire guns, and anti-tank guns. The defenders suffered many casualties, and one secondary fort was destroyed, leaving only two main forts and one secondary fort.

After suppressing the heavy firepower of the defenders, the Japanese infantry accelerated their advance and soon entered the range of light weapons;

Light machine guns stretched out from the tunnel entrances, shooting tongues of fire at the Japanese. The Japanese were shot and fell continuously, and casualties rose sharply.

These light machine guns hidden in the tunnels were the nightmare of the Japanese. They hid in the narrow tunnels without fear of the Japanese artillery fire.
There is one machine gun group hiding in one tunnel. Three machine gun groups are deployed in a V-shape. The cross fire formed can control a large area.

A large number of riflemen were hidden in the communication trenches connecting the tunnels. They cooperated with the machine gun crew, making it difficult to eliminate the machine gun crew and played a huge role in close combat.

The Japanese offensive was contained, and the two sides were in a stalemate, with neither side able to do anything to the other.

(End of this chapter)