Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 323: All in (2)

The company commander had used up all the bullets in his submachine gun and it was too late to change ammunition. Several Japanese bayonets were thrust at him from multiple directions, and the sharp bayonets reflected a creepy light in the sun.

Captain Lu Honglei knew there was no way he could escape today, so he didn't retreat but rushed forward to face the two stabbing attacks from the front.

With two sounds of "Puff", two bayonets pierced his body almost at the same time, and blood flowed from the corners of his mouth;

He did not show any fear but smiled. Before the Japanese soldier who stabbed him could react, Lu Honglei used up his last bit of strength to swing the butt of his gun and smashed it hard on the Japanese soldier's head.

With a loud bang, the devil's head was split open, and even the brains spurted out. Captain Lu then fell down with a smile on his face. He had earned another...

"fire!"

"fire!!!"

When the remaining brothers of the first and second companies were all wiped out by the Japanese, the captain of the third position, Major Lin Zhongfei, was furious and gave the order to fire. He wanted to use the flying thunder cannon to avenge his brothers.
After finally attacking the second trench, before they could feel happy, rows of explosive packs were thrown out from the third trench and smashed into the group of Japanese soldiers from above. With a series of explosions, hundreds of Japanese soldiers on the position were knocked down in an instant.

In the exposed position, the killing power of the flying thunder cannon reached its extreme, and there was no one alive within a radius of 20 meters from the explosion center;

The hundreds and thousands of small iron pieces thrown out by the explosion became the nightmare of the Japanese. The killing radius was as high as over 50 meters. Anyone who was touched would die, and anyone who was touched would be crippled.

If you are hit by one of those iron pieces soaked in feces, you cannot be saved with current medical conditions. It is more toxic than poison.

Not to mention those Japanese soldiers whose internal organs were shattered by the shock, their death was unbearable to watch. The "heartless" cannon is not in vain.

Explosive packs were dropped one after another, clearing out a large number of Japanese soldiers on the battlefield, estimated to be hundreds, and the rest were blown into a trance;
Before the Japanese could recover, hundreds of machine rifles from the 3rd Company fired crazily at them, knocking down a large number of them.

The remaining three Maxim heavy machine guns opened fire at full capacity, pouring bullets on the remaining Japanese soldiers, almost completely destroying the remaining Japanese soldiers on the position;

There were about a thousand Japanese soldiers who first rushed to the second trench. Except for a few who escaped, most of them lay down on the battlefield to accompany the brothers from the first and second companies.

The Japanese soldiers in the second echelon saw that the situation was not good, so they turned around and ran away. The Japanese captain in the third echelon was so angry that his nose was crooked. He ordered to open fire frantically, and instantly killed 20 to 30 Japanese soldiers.

Apparently the supervision team still showed some mercy. Seeing that the supervision team was ready to kill them, the fleeing Japanese had no choice but to turn around and charge again.

However, after this back and forth, morale had been completely exhausted. Further attacks would only increase casualties and would be completely worthless.

The Japanese attacked for dozens of minutes, but were easily repelled by the Third Company. Apart from leaving behind dozens of corpses, it was completely useless.

Major Fukushima had no choice but to order them to withdraw and make plans after they had regrouped.
As the Japanese retreated, the battle between the two sides came to an end. Lin Zhongfei took the opportunity to send two squads to the second position to rescue the wounded and search for survivors.

God has mercy on us. In the end, seven seriously injured soldiers were found among the dead bodies. There were two in the first company and five in the second company. One of them was the captain of the second company.

Lin Zhongfei cried with joy and said with tears in his eyes:
"It's good to have seven. Even if there is only one left, the first and second companies can be rebuilt. With them, the first and second companies will be there!"

Lin Zhongfei sent a squad to escort them back to the main position and told them not to come back. He also drove the rocket launcher platoon back to the main position.

This was equivalent to leaving a squad of seeds for the third company, and the rest of the people had to fight the Japanese to the death, which made the third company commander look at him with gratitude.

Even if they were all wiped out now, the Third Company could be rebuilt with the seeds left behind, and the First Battalion could be rebuilt as well;

The third position is where they are buried, as long as they are alive, they will be there!

At this time, hundreds of reinforcements came from the right wing, led by Captain Wang Kefu, the commander of the second company. He said loudly to Lin Zhongfei:

"Our captain asked me to come and reinforce you. The pressure on the Second Battalion is not that great. If the Japs can concentrate their forces, so can we!"

Lin Zhongfei nodded heavily. This company was like timely help to him, so there was no need for him to be polite. Everything he did was to defend the position.

Before the reinforcements from the Second Company of the Second Battalion arrived, the First Battalion only had the Third Company, the Artillery Company, and three heavy machine gun groups. Even with the battalion headquarters, there were only about 3 people left. Now there were 3 more people, which greatly increased Lin Zhongfei's concentration on holding the position.

While the Japanese were adjusting their troops, he called the three company commanders together for a meeting and also made minor adjustments to the troops and weapons.

The original three heavy machine guns plus the two brought by the second company were all deployed on both wings, which could form cross fire and was much safer;

Normally, it is much more difficult to hit the machine gun positions on the flanks than on the front. There are exactly two on the left wing and three on the right wing.

The second and third companies were also deployed on the left and right. The two mortars and two infantry guns of the artillery company moved back 2 meters for mobile defense, focusing on attacking the enemy's infantry guns and mortars.

There are only 9 explosive packs left in the Flying Thunder Cannon, and 4 of them are usable. They are still on standby and can attack the Japanese when needed.

In the core position, the first battalion commander Wu Qiujian had a grim look on his face. After learning about the tragic events of the first and second companies, he wanted to withdraw the two battalions at the front position back to the core position, but he held back.
The fierce battle has just begun, and he cannot abandon the front line too early, otherwise the core position will not be able to be defended.

Lanfeng City has no strategic locations to defend. If the outer positions cannot be held, the defense inside the city will be equally difficult. So they must fight the Japanese to the death and make the Japanese sacrifice their lives for every position, so that they can hold out to the end.

There is only one infantry battalion left in the core position, and the only one he can use to support the frontline positions is the artillery battalion. As long as the Japanese dare to launch a group charge, he will have to give them enough firepower support even if he has to use up all of his artillery battalion.

At the 59th Regiment, Colonel Itanishi was also adjusting his forces. The losses in this attack were beyond his imagination, but he did not scold Major Fukushima. Instead, he comforted him:
"Fukushima-kun, victory and defeat are common in the military. The Imperial Army suffered heavy losses, and there are also many Chinese. Now it depends on who can hold out to the end!
Our opponent's guerrilla columns are good at defensive battles, and even elite units like the 3rd, 9th and 6th Divisions have suffered losses at their hands.

Now it was a life-or-death moment for the division. If the 14th Division could not capture Lanfeng City and defeat the guerrilla column, it would be caught in the dilemma of fighting on two fronts.
Facing an attack from hundreds of thousands of Chinese elite troops, the 14th Division is worried about following in the footsteps of the 10th Division in Taierzhuang. For the survival of the Utsunomiya Division, please!"

After Colonel Itanishi finished speaking, he bowed to Major Fukushima in a proper manner. This bow was not in vain, as it was tantamount to leaving Fukushima no way to live.

Major Fukushima naturally understood this principle, as they were all in the same circle, and he knew what kind of shit Colonel Itanishi was going to do as soon as he lifted his butt;

It was one thing for him to understand, but he had to pretend to be confused because he had no choice. He immediately stood up and saluted Colonel Itanishi, and then said tragically:
"I am willing to serve His Majesty the Emperor with all my heart! I will not withdraw my troops until the defenders' positions are broken."

Colonel Itanishi nodded with satisfaction and said:
"Yoshi, Fukushima-kun is truly a role model for our generation. I'm waiting for good news about your victory at the regiment headquarters."

Fukushima knew that it was useless to say more, so he bowed again and walked away with his command sword slung over his shoulder. Colonel Itanishi praised him generously:
"Kurokawa-kun, there is a good saying in China: a poor family produces filial sons, and a loyal son is seen in times of adversity. Fukushima-kun's loyalty to your majesty is enough to move heaven and earth, and it is worth learning from you and me!"

Major Kurokawa felt a sense of grief for the other party. Although the commander of the regiment spoke nicely, who knows what he was thinking. He was just trying to trick people into dying. One day, it might be his turn.

Of course, he couldn't embarrass the captain, so he followed his words and said:
"Sir, the empire is in great demand for heroes like Fukushima-kun, which is why we have occupied half of China within less than a year of the war.
With your Majesty's wise leadership and thousands of loyal and brave men, it is only a matter of time before we conquer China. It is just around the corner for our Utsunomiya Division to break through the siege and defeat Yue Boling's army of more than 100,000."

The little devil Kurokawa, in accordance with the principle that it was not wrong to shout slogans, shouted a few empty nonsense to deal with the situation. He now did not want to stay with Colonel Itanishi, who was a hypocritical and vicious man;
Cherish life and stay away from Banxi!
Colonel Itanishi was just pretending to be cool out of habit to diffuse the awkward atmosphere. After all, he had just tricked someone into going to his death, so he had to cover it up.

Major Kurokawa is of no value to him, so he naturally won't let him go to die. Now it's up to Major Fukushima.

It was obvious that the defenders' manpower and firepower were very weak. Fukushima still had more than 2 people in his hands, and he was still full of hope of capturing the defenders' positions.

The reinforced Banxi League now had nearly 4 men, and he still sent a battalion on the right wing to launch a diversionary attack;
As a left-handed man, he was obsessed with attacking from the left. This time, the main attack was still on the left, and he deployed 2 people at a time. He only left an understaffed battalion and the regiment headquarters by his side.

Before launching the infantry charge, he ordered the mountain artillery squadron to provide several rounds of artillery preparation to the attacking troops, which was better than nothing!

After his heavy artillery regiment was blown up by the guerrilla column, he now does not have much capital. The three 3mm mountain cannons are really shabby. He has to put all his hopes on the infantry.

Through the telescope, he praised Major Fukushima out of habit:

"Yoshi, Fukushima-kun is really brave!"

Major Imagawa looked in the direction he was talking about, and saw that Major Fukushima had a sanitary napkin tied on his head, had taken off his military jacket, and was only wearing a white shirt with a stand-up collar. He was rushing to the front with his command knife held high, looking very showy!
Behind him, the death squad members dressed in the same attire rushed to the front with rifles, just like the warriors participating in the "village fight" in the Middle Ages;

But now it is the 13th year of the Showa era (the 27th year of the Republic of China), and if we still fight in this stupid way, we are just calling ourselves "death squads"!
The words in Imagawa's heart almost came out, but he suppressed them. It was not his turn to make the decisions for the 59th Regiment. As long as he was not allowed to die like this, it was already merciful enough. What else did he want?

Major Imagawa wisely kept his mouth shut and watched the "death squad" step by step towards the abyss of death...

300 meters!
Major Fukushima is still a show-off;

200 meters!
Major Fukushima even waved his ancestral sword a few times, and drew out a few chrysanthemums;
150 meters!
The defending sniper was about to explode the little red dot on his head, but Major Fukushima suddenly stopped, slashed the sky with the command knife in his hand, and shouted "Kill the chicken, give it to me" with the strength of a squatting shit;
Those soldiers whose brains were dominated by the Bushido spirit surpassed him in minutes. The sniper's gun fired, and the bullet only hit a Japanese sergeant who was blocking his flank.

Major Fukushima cleverly escaped the disaster. He just pretended to be smart in front of the regiment commander and tricked other Japanese soldiers into going to their deaths.

Colonel Itanishi fooled him, and he in turn fooled others into dying. This is the normal operation, and he is even more slippery like a loach.

The heavy machine guns of the defenders opened fire, spraying rows of bullets at the Japanese "death squads", knocking them to the ground without any suspense;
In front of the Maxim heavy machine gun, Bushido is nothing!

Although he escaped the disaster by lying on the ground, Major Fukushima was still frightened. The charge of two or three hundred suicide squads still did not cause much waves.

Practice has once again proved that the Itaya charge is only effective when the defenders have insufficient firepower, and the tactics of the "military god" Nogi Maresuke cannot be replicated;

If the Russian army at that time had such fierce firepower, the military god of that year would have become a pig that everyone despised!

"Bagayalu! Warriors, kill the chicken!"

Major Fukushima had no way to retreat, so he could only drive more cannon fodder to charge at the defenders' positions until they were captured.

This is war, we do it even though we know it is impossible!
"Brothers, beat them to death and kill all these sons of bitches!"

On the defending position, Lin Zhongfei issued an order to open fire on all fronts. At once, Maxim heavy machine guns, Czech light machine guns, MP28 submachine guns, short-barreled Mauser rifles, etc., all fired at the Japanese.

The Japanese soldiers fell down in rows, and the front of the position was filled with their bodies. It looked very relaxing. It turned out that the dead Japanese soldiers were the good ones.
Those surviving Japanese were very evil. They hid in large and small bomb craters and fired at the defenders. Their shooting skills were very accurate and the casualties of the defenders continued to increase.

Seeing that the heavy firepower of the defenders had been exposed, Colonel Itanishi ordered the mountain artillery squadron and the infantry artillery squadron to fire at the defenders, and from time to time a machine gun was blown up;

The artillery battalion of the 1st Battalion also joined the battle, focusing on attacking the Japanese artillery and relieving pressure on the frontline positions.

After losing two artillery pieces, the Japanese no longer dared to support the infantry in combat, but instead focused on engaging in an artillery battle with the defenders, resulting in casualties on both sides.

The fierce battle outside also attracted great attention from the top leaders of the guerrilla column. Although they still had enough troops to deploy, Yue Qianli held them tightly in his hand. Tian Yuanxi asked Old Yue in confusion;

Yue Qian knew that Lao Tian felt sorry for the soldiers on the front line, so he had to patiently say to him:
"Kenji Doihara is a famous spy chief who never plays by the rules. He has a reinforced division at his disposal, so we have to be on guard!"

(End of this chapter)