Songhu: Never Give Up

In order to cover the infantry crossing the river, the two mountain artillery battalions of the Japanese continued to pour bullets on Heishi Ferry, and the infantry artillery also continued to fire at the defenders' bunkers on the other side of the river. From time to time, a fire point was destroyed, and the casualties of the defenders continued to increase.

Gao Zhisong naturally would not allow the Japanese artillery to be arrogant, and immediately ordered the artillery battalion deployed on the back mountain of the town to open fire.

Rows of artillery shells roared and smashed into the Japanese mountain/field artillery positions, destroying mountain artillery and infantry guns one by one, causing the Japanese commander to scream in pain;

They no longer cared about the infantry crossing the river and immediately turned their guns around and fired in the direction of the artillery camp. Unfortunately, they were at a disadvantage from the very beginning and one wrong step led to another, and they were completely suppressed by the artillery camp's artillery fire.

The artillery battalion directly under the detachment was not weaker than the two mountain/field artillery battalions of the Japanese, and they took the initiative, so they quickly suppressed the Japanese artillery.

Without the fire support of artillery, the Japanese infantry found it difficult to move forward. Although they had already rushed to the river beach, every step forward came at a heavy price, and the river was littered with Japanese corpses.

Keita Oguchi was very strong. Although the bodies of his companions were lying around him, he was not injured at all and continued to struggle painfully in the hail of bullets.

The cruelty of war was far beyond his imagination. He now knew that he had been deceived. If he could go back in time, he would never offer his delicate girlfriend to the old man in the military service office. He hasn't even enjoyed her yet.

"Bagaya road!"

When he thought of the old man with only three front teeth standing guard and nudging Xiaomei like a pig, he felt sick and wanted to vomit. This deal was a huge loss!
He transferred all his hatred onto the Chinese, picked up his gun and kept firing at Du Mingkun's bunker - it was all Old Du's fault!

"Damn it! Go to hell!"

Du Mingkun didn't want to take the blame, so he continued to fire at the devils and sent them back home.

The first wave of Japanese landing troops finally climbed onto the dock. They lay on the ground and kept firing at the defenders. It didn't matter whether they hit the target or not, the important thing was to participate!
On the other side of the river, seeing the remnants of the first battalion gaining a foothold on the riverbank, the Japanese regiment commander sent out a second wave, shouting excitedly:
"Yoshi, the warriors are really powerful. They finally attacked. When the second group arrives, the Chinese defense line will be completely broken.
I'll sleep in Heishifuda Town at night, there are many beautiful girls there!"

As soon as he heard the word "flower girl", Senior Staff Officer Shimazu Keisuke reacted and excitedly took over the conversation and said:

Sir, the firepower of the defenders has been reduced by at least half, and another fire will defeat the defenders;

Black Rock Crossing is surrounded by mountains and water, and the flower girls are very beautiful. Can I also join the carnival?"

"Shimazu-kun, I didn't expect you to be a fellow traveler. The beautiful girls in China are second only to the women in the Empire, and they are full of wild beauty... Yoshi!"

After Colonel Akashiba finished speaking, he took a deep breath, describing himself as extremely despicable. The same was true for Major Shimazu. The two old Japanese did not take the defenders seriously at all.

Seeing that the Japs were crossing the river in large numbers, the 1st Battalion Commander Liao Lingqi estimated that there should be more than a thousand of them, so he decided to launch a counterattack;
As Yue Qianli's old captain, he has fully understood Yue's defensive strategy, which is that one cannot just defend blindly, and a short and efficient counterattack is very necessary.

For this counterattack, he even consciously showed weakness. The battalion's artillery battalion had not been used. This was a powerful firepower of 4 75mm mountain guns, 6 90mm mortars, and 6 infantry guns, which was not weaker than the enemy's regimental artillery.
In terms of infantry, he decided to use only the two infantry battalions of the 1st Battalion deployed in the town, with more than a thousand people. The 3rd Battalion as a reserve would not be easily used.

Following his order, the 16 guns of the artillery battalion bombarded the Japanese troops on the riverbank and wharf, making the Japanese troops who had just crossed the river howl in anger;
At this time, the second group of Japanese soldiers who had landed had just come ashore. Two hundred meters ahead was the defenders' fortifications. Waiting for them was a dense firepower network of an infantry battalion, making it difficult to rush through.

Behind us are rain and mud flats, like a mouse trapped in a bellows, with no way forward or backward;

When Colonel Akashiba saw that the defenders had deployed their artillery, he quickly ordered artillery support. However, after only two rounds of firing, they were attacked by the artillery battalion of the rear mountain detachment. In a short period of time, they lost several cannons. Frightened, they dared not show their heads out again.

The enemy infantry formation began to loosen and was shattered by artillery fire, resulting in heavy casualties;

At the critical moment when the Japanese were at a loss as to how to advance or retreat, a loud military bugle sounded, and the two infantry battalions in the core position of the 1st Battalion launched a counterattack.

Before the counterattack, they had secretly moved behind the first line of defense and, led by the sound of military bugles, rushed towards the Japanese like a tidal wave;

In their counterattack, they even adopted advanced tactics such as the barrage of bullets, and killed the Japanese troops by stepping on the artillery points.

It didn't take long to charge at full speed over a distance of two to three hundred meters. Before the confused Japanese could react, the counterattack troops had already arrived.
After just one encounter, the Japanese soldiers near the river bank collapsed and were passively driven into the river. Those who ran slowly became victims of the counterattack troops' guns.

The Japanese soldiers who were driven into the river swam to the other side in a swarm. Many who could not swim were drowned. Keita Koguchi knew that he could not swim, so he chose to pretend to be dead.
The river beach was littered with the corpses of the Japanese soldiers. He could only bet that the Chinese had no time to deal with them. Before the outcome was decided, it would be very risky to finish them off on the river beach. The machine guns and cannons on the other side of the river were not just for show.

In order to help the remaining Japanese soldiers cross the river, the Japanese machine gun positions on the other side of the river fired a crazy hail of bullets to prevent the defenders from shooting their fleeing soldiers on the river bank;
Seeing that he had gained enough advantage, Liao Lingqi immediately ordered the counterattack troops to withdraw to the core position. The guerrilla column always obeyed orders as strictly as mountains, and after hearing the order to withdraw, they withdrew like a tide under the command of officers at all levels.

They came quickly and left quickly, leaving no chance for the Japanese artillery to retaliate.

Liao Lingqi was very satisfied with this counterattack. Not only did he drive the devils into the river, he also killed hundreds of them and forced them to abandon a large amount of baggage.
Many of the Japanese soldiers who swam across the river even threw their uniforms into the river. After all, it was difficult to swim across the river in wet uniforms, not to mention guns and ammunition. "Bakayarō, you have brought shame to the Empire!"

Seeing the fleeing soldiers wearing only loincloths, Colonel Akashiba wanted to order them all to be shot, but Major Shimazu persuaded him.

There were only a thousand men left in the two battalions that had crossed the river. If they all went out, he would be the captain of a regiment without any men.

Colonel Akashiba could only resist the urge to shoot them. As the law did not punish the masses, he could only vent his anger on Major Akita, the leader of the vanguard battalion. He swung his hand and slapped him more than a dozen times until he was slapped like a pig's head and his hand was aching.

I couldn't slap him anymore. My hands would swell up if I slapped them again. So I started to talk:
"Bagayalu, how dare you come back?
The ancestors of the Akita family will be awakened by you!

There is no such a cowardly captain in the 10th Regiment. You should die in the river and feed the turtles, which would be more dignified than now..."

Colonel Akashiba cursed for more than ten minutes, with the word "death" in every sentence, hoping that he would commit suicide by seppuku;

He still underestimated Major Akita's thick skin. In order to save his life, he even took off his loincloth. How could he have the courage to commit suicide by disembowelment!
Is there anything more embarrassing than walking ashore with your bare bottom and a toothpick sticking out of your head?
"Hey!"

"Hai!"

"Hey, what the Captain is teaching you is..."

Major Akita was like a "chicken pecking at rice". When Colonel Akashiba scolded him, he bowed to express his gratitude, including the Japanese version of "Fuck his ancestors";
If his ancestors had not passed away, he would have offered it with both hands and washed it clean.

With this attitude, Colonel Akashiba had no choice but to give up and kicked him away. After Major Akita happily left, Major Shimazu persuaded him:

"Sir, victory and defeat are common in the military, this is just a minor setback;

The defense of Heishifa was very tight, the manpower was sufficient, and it was equipped with a large number of artillery, so it was not easy to capture it.

As the saying goes, every inch has its own strengths and weaknesses. The terrain of Black Rock Crossing is very narrow and there is not much room for maneuver. I suggest you request air support to raze the small Black Rock Crossing to the ground!"

Colonel Akashiba finally smiled and praised:
"Yoshi, Shimazu-kun is indeed a top student who graduated from the Imperial Army University and is also a member of the Saber Team. He really has a lot of clever ideas!
I will ask the division commander for tactical guidance and launch another attack. With the help of the air warriors, it will be easy to destroy the Chinese artillery and fortifications and break through the Black Stone Crossing."

When Major Shimazu saw that the regiment had praised him, he quickly said modestly:

"Your Excellency, the commander of the wing, is too kind. Shimazu lacks the most important practical experience and needs to learn a lot from our seniors. Please feel free to give me your advice!"

He was very satisfied with Major Shimazu's attitude. There were very few young officers who were so humble, let alone the elite of the saber group.

"Shimazu-kun, Niden!"

The old Japanese couldn't wait to call for air support. The defenders of Heishifuda had humiliated him so much that he wished he could wipe Heishifuda off the map.

The Japanese were mobilizing their troops, and the Black Rock Crossing battlefield temporarily returned to calm, with only the wounded Japanese soldiers wriggling in pain;
As the two sides were still fighting, the defenders did not send anyone to clean up the battlefield, leaving them to struggle in pain and then die silently. This is the cruel battlefield.

Keita Oguchi finally saw the cruelty of war. He was deceived by those officials who were enjoying the huge dividends brought by the war.
On the other hand, they trick cannon fodder like him into the battlefield to gain greater benefits. Who cares about their life or death at this time?

At this moment, he, who was familiar with ancient Chinese poetry, remembered a line:
"Poor bones by the river, still the man in the spring girl's dream."

His thoughts flew back to his hometown campus. When he left the campus, it was the romantic season of cherry blossoms. Many men and women were piling under the cherry trees.
Now those men are lying in the mud of a foreign land just like him, and it is estimated that it will not be long before they become a pile of dry bones by the bank of the Wei River.

What's the point of them traveling all the way to China to fight?

The disgusting old man lying on Xiaomei appeared in his mind again, and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat...

"Ya meow die!"

"I must return to my hometown alive, go to hell, Yuren!"

(End of this chapter)