The sun never sets

The People's Army had cut off the supply lines of the Japanese Army in Outer Northeast China, but the dumpling skin was extremely thin, as if it would break with just a slight poke. Because it could not take advantage of its firepower, the Seventh Division fought very hard and had already given up two lines of defense. If it retreated any further, it would have to retreat to Laolong Mountain.

The order received by the Seventh Division was to stick to the Japanese army. If the Japanese army retreated to Haishen, the Seventh Division would launch a brave attack. If the Japanese army attacked westward, the United Nations Command also had a plan to let the Seventh Division retreat after resisting for a period of time, but Xu Wuji still wanted to resist for a while longer. It would be even better if the Japanese army could be stopped in Khasanski. Guo Songling became famous in Zhimaling and was repeatedly received by the principal. It is said that he will be trained as a key person and his future is limitless.

Xu Wuji fought well in the Battle of Huludao, but that battle was an ambush of the landing Russian troops. Although he did have some merit, many people said strange things behind his back, thinking that with intelligence advantage and two artillery regiments, anyone who took command would have won a great victory. In the final analysis, it was because he was too young and was promoted too quickly, so many people were dissatisfied with him becoming the commander of the Seventh Division.

If you want to gain a firm foothold in the army, you must have real military achievements. He is the first chief of the quick-training department and was personally taught by Marshal Lin. This is an advantage.

, which made his promotion in the army extremely smooth, but it also brought some negative effects. Many generals and officers thought that he was just lucky and won all the easy battles.

Xu Wuji was determined to fight a good battle in Khasanski, not only to justify himself, but also to consume the Japanese army's spirit and manpower as much as possible. The Japanese army in Outer Northeast China was trapped, and it would take some effort to destroy them.

Chapter 321: Bravery

The soldiers in the trenches above and below the city of Khasansky opened fire together, and the hot bullets knocked down the Japanese soldiers one by one. The Japanese army did not just take the beating without fighting back. They did not pull up their heavy artillery, but they had a lot of machine guns, field artillery, and mountain artillery, which were pulled in close to fire together, and the casualties of the People's Army increased rapidly.

After capturing Vladivostok, the Japanese army obtained a large amount of munitions, and now all of them are used. On the battlefield of Khasansky, the firepower of the Japanese army is not inferior to that of the People's Army. As time goes by, the number of heavy machine guns and artillery of the Japanese army will become more and more. The power and range of field artillery and mountain artillery are not as good as howitzers, but they are artillery after all, and they are more powerful than the mortars equipped in large quantities by the People's Army.

It's just that they were attacking, and even though their artillery was strong, they were at a disadvantage in terms of exchange ratio. One by one, the Japanese soldiers fell on the road of charge. After paying thousands of casualties, the Japanese army had to face the barbed wire that they hated. The Japanese did not use barbed wire, not because they advocated the spirit of Bushido, but because it was too expensive. There were no machines to produce barbed wire in Japan, and Japan did not have enough steel. It would cost money to import it from abroad.

On the defense line outside Vladivostok, the Japanese saw for the first time how evil barbed wire was. They saw it again in Khasansky. The 7th Division had already abandoned two blocking positions, but the previous battle was not meaningless. While they fought with the Japanese with bayonets on the snow, the main force of the 7th Division built a snow and ice defense line outside Khasansky.

Because the weather was too cold and the shovel could not dig the frozen soil, Xu Wuji learned from Cao Cao's old trick of conquering Xiliang and piled up the ice and snow, then melted water and poured it on top. After one night, it froze hard. The barbed wire was also fixed in the same way. Although there was only one wire, it also caused a lot of trouble for the Japanese army.

If possible, Xu Wuji would fill the hills outside the city with cannons and put up seven or eight wire meshes, but he didn't have that many troops, cannons, or even enough wire meshes. There was wire mesh, but it was only enough to put up one wire mesh. In the ice and snow, the Japanese army directly broke through the thin defense line, and they didn't care even if there were soldiers hanging on the wire mesh and wailing. Anyway, it wouldn't take long for the wounded soldiers hanging on the wire mesh to die. In addition, because the weather was too cold, the wire mesh became very brittle and its effect was greatly reduced, and it didn't work as well as usual.

After breaking through the barbed wire, the Japanese army continued to face a double blow from both above and below the city. Because of the shortened distance, their casualties were rising rapidly. The Japanese army, which had suffered more than half of its casualties, rushed up fiercely, and was killed or injured by the defenders' mortars and heavy machine guns. After that, they were counterattacked by the defenders, and finally could not hold on and retreated.

After a long battle, the Japanese regiment suffered two-thirds casualties, including all officers and non-commissioned officers, and completely lost its combat capability. After withdrawing from the battlefield, many people were still shouting and screaming, and they were beaten several times but still could not wake up.

Mitsuharu Tsuchiya had seen such tragic scenes outside Vladivostok. Many Japanese soldiers were bombarded by Russian 280mm mortars and mowed down by heavy machine guns. Now the Russian army was replaced by the People's Army. Although the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties, Mitsuharu Tsuchiya firmly believed that as long as he continued to attack, he would be able to crush the enemy.

After one regiment was destroyed, he did not hesitate and immediately dispatched another regiment to attack. The position outside Khasansky was not wide, only enough for one regiment to launch an attack. If too many people went up at the same time, they would only become targets for Chinese artillery and machine guns. In terms of infantry support firepower, the People's Army is second to none in East Asia, and even among the great powers, it is also among the best, far exceeding the Japanese army.

The Japanese army attacked from morning till night, and launched a large-scale attack after nightfall, and finally withdrew at around 11 or in the evening. Then, Tsuchiya Mitsuharu reported to Oyama Iwao who came over, "Your Excellency Marshal, the th Division has completely lost its combat effectiveness!"

Dashanyan: ".........."

What can Dashanyan, whose body and face are covered with frost, say? War is such a cruel thing. The People's Army is more powerful than the Russian Army, and more casualties are expected. Tsuchiya Mitsuharu has fought very well, clearing the outer defense of Khasansky, dismantling the barbed wire, and flattening a section of the Chinese ice and snow defense line. The previous Japanese troops only took down two small hills and had to withdraw to repair.

"General Tsuchiya, you have worked hard. Let the other troops handle the rest."

"Hai!"

The Japanese army made adjustments overnight and prepared to continue the attack the next day. The large-scale troop movement could not be hidden from the defenders in the city. Xu Wuji wanted to launch a counterattack, but after calculating the troops and ammunition in his hands and looking at the ice and snow outside, he gave up the idea. "Are the Japanese all mad dogs? They are still advancing after so many people died.

attack?"

An officer smiled bitterly and said, "Now that they are trapped in a jar, aren't they going crazy?"

The Japanese suffered heavy casualties, and the People's Army also suffered heavy casualties. Not counting the two previous blocking attacks, an entire brigade was crippled in Khasanski alone and had to withdraw to the city for repairs. The Seventh Division fought well, with the casualty ratio remaining at about one to three. In front of their positions, the Japanese were dead everywhere, but the barbarity and bravery of the Japanese also left a deep impression on them.

The Russian army was also very brutal and brave, but compared with the Japanese, it lacked some resilience. An officer recalled what happened a few years ago and said that the Russian army four years ago was similar to the Japanese army today. Later, it suffered too many defeats and gradually lost its resilience and courage to charge to the death.

"As long as they keep fighting, the Japanese will become like the Russians sooner or later!"

"Maybe. The Japanese... really can't be underestimated!"

When Xu Wuji was studying at Taiyuan Army University, he read many military books, including On War by Carl von Clausewitz and Wei Liao Zi, a traditional Chinese military strategy. Wei Liao Zi said, "If you can kill half of your soldiers, your power will spread throughout the country." Did the Japanese army kill more than half of their soldiers? Entire squadrons and battalions of the Japanese army fell on the road of the charge.

When fighting against such an enemy, we must take it seriously.

"Fortunately, they don't have enough heavy weapons. If they had more infantry guns and machine guns, or pulled heavy howitzers over..." Xu Wuji shook his head, expelling the terrible situation from his mind. He looked at the officers and staff in the headquarters and said, "I originally wanted to stop the Japanese here, but now it seems that it is probably impossible. Let's arrange it according to the plan of the headquarters. Transport the wounded first, and we still have a fight to do next! It's good to hold on for one more day."

Chapter 322: Retreat and Fight

The fierce attack of the Japanese army overthrew the outer defense line of Khasanski, and many parts of the ice and snow barrier were destroyed and flattened, but it was not a big problem, and the ice and snow defense line could be repaired very quickly. Pile up some ice and snow, and pour melted water on it, and it would freeze hard again in one night.

Soldiers who were repairing the defense line used local materials, such as stones, wood, and even the bodies of Japanese soldiers. The cold weather and fierce fighting made the soldiers on the front line lose their sympathy, and they used the enemy's bodies as repair materials without hesitation. The densely packed bodies embedded in the ice and snow looked weird and terrifying, as if the ice and snow hell appeared on earth.

Some officers thought this was not a good idea, but the weather was too cold and people were numb. Since they were enemies and had already become corpses, let them play a role. The People's Party was a materialist and did not believe in ghosts or gods, at least not on the surface.

When Xu Wuji was patrolling the defense line, he also saw the soldiers' behavior, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The Japanese army had carried out a massacre in Lushun, and after taking Vladivostok and Shuangchengzi, they also carried out large-scale killings of local people. These were all part of the People's Party's propaganda.

The People's Army pays attention to treating prisoners well, that's for the living, forget about the dead. Only the divisional political commissar thought this was bad and not conducive to the work of the united front. Xu Wuji said disapprovingly: "We are at war now, instead of letting the soldiers work hard to carry stones, what's wrong with using local materials? If you will be criticized, you can just put the blame on me."

The political commissar rubbed his hands and said, "Even if we have to be beaten, that is our job as political workers. Commander, you should just take care of the fighting. Oh, it's really cold today!"

When you speak, your breath will form white mist in the air, as if you are smoking, or as if the water in a pot is boiling.

"Even the waves are frozen, how can it not be cold?"

Xu Wuji seemed to be spewing white smoke when he spoke, "We managed to hold on today, but we consumed too much ammunition and don't have enough fuel... Political Commissar, you should go to the back. We will leave tomorrow morning. It's too dangerous to travel at night."

The divisional political commissar was much older than Xu Wuji. The frozen skin on his face twitched, as if he was laughing. "Are you kidding? I'm the divisional political commissar. How can I run away from the battlefield?"

"This is not desertion, but we are going to reorganize the defense line. The Japanese are fighting hard, and we can only hold them out for three or four days at most. If they still don't retreat after three days, we can only close the city gates and defend to the death. The Japanese are fighting hard, and we don't have to. We should retreat gradually first, and wait until the enemy's spirit is exhausted, and then fight them decisively. This is the strategy that was hastily used in the Battle of Guandu, retreat and fight decisively!"

"I understand the strategy. The Jin army's retreat is also based on the same principle. But I still can't withdraw first. Just let other political workers go over. Commander, you can send some officers over."

The weather was too cold, so Xu Wuji didn't bother to be polite. "I gave you a chance, so don't blame me when the time comes."

"Ha, Commander, you underestimate me too much. I have also attended Chairman Lin's lectures."

The next morning, just after daybreak, the Japanese army launched an artillery attack. Three heavy howitzers transported overnight joined the shooting. In order to transport the 280mm cannon to the city of Vladivostok, the Japanese army built a simple railway and used wood to make transport vehicles. After the snow, many equipments were not as good as before, but they were still usable.

The power of heavy howitzers is beyond the reach of field artillery and mountain artillery

Even though the Japanese shells were a little light in charge, the power of the heavy grenades was still considerable. The bombardment shattered the ice and snow barrier and tore the bodies inside into pieces. Because the weather was too cold, even if the bodies were broken into pieces, no blood splashed out. Soon after death, the blood had already coagulated.

The People's Army not only built barriers with ice and snow, but also built artillery positions, heavy machine gun firing points, etc. with ice and snow and other materials. Although they don't look very strong, they are actually quite effective. The thick ice and snow provided strong defense, and sometimes the Japanese artillery shells would not even explode when they landed on them.

A similar problem occurred in Vladivostok. Japan's national strength was limited, and it had a tradition of "building a temple in a snail shell". In many aspects, it seemed to be stingy. The amount of gunpowder in their shells was one-quarter to one-third less than that purchased from abroad. In this way, the price was reduced, but the power was also reduced.

The Japanese bombardment caused some casualties to the People's Army, but not too many. The number of artillery that could be pulled to the city of Khasansky in such a short time was not large, and the number of howitzers was even smaller. The Japanese 280mm howitzers and the captured 280mm mortars were still on the way.

Xu Wuji said that they could only hold out for three or four days at most, considering the transportation speed of the Japanese 280mm cannon. Hasanski said it was a city, but in his opinion it was just a walled area, which could withstand some mountain and field artillery bombardments, but was not so effective in defending against heavy howitzers. If the Japanese brought in 280mm howitzers... well, it would be better to retreat decisively.

The biggest advantage of the People's Army is not defense, but "mobility" and "flexibility". Destroying the enemy in mobile warfare is what the People's Army is best at. Xu Wuji originally wanted to stop the Japanese army in Khasanski, but now he no longer thinks so. The bravery of the Japanese army proved that the Japanese were not weak, so they had to retreat and shorten their supply lines.

Modern warfare is carried out in the hell of firepower. Without heavy artillery support, it is too disadvantageous to fight against the Japanese army. Why did he fight so smoothly in Huludao? In addition to the advantage in intelligence, it was because he had two artillery regiments. Cannons are the god of war, and excellent generals are good at using artillery firepower.

Since only by retreating can we get more food, ammunition and artillery support, let's retreat. Many people think that Xu Wuji is brave and fearless. They only see that Xu Wuji always leads the charge and gave him the name "Xu Dadan". In fact, Xu Wuji is not so brave or stubborn. When fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance, he was rushed to the battlefield by the foreign devils several times. How can he not fight hard? If he doesn't fight hard, the army will collapse.

Xu Wuji was not so stubborn, and he would not use the corpses of soldiers to pave the way for his climb. If he had to, he would not care about the lives of soldiers, and if necessary, he would even sacrifice his own life. But since there was another way, he should not fight desperately, and it would be good if one less soldier died.

From this point of view, Xu Wuji is not as good as the Japanese and Russian generals. The Russian generals regard their soldiers as gray animals, and the Japanese generals never care about casualties, whether enemy or their own, so the Japanese army often behaves like beasts that walk on two legs.

Chapter 323: Terrible

"The enemy's generals care too much about their soldiers and have too many concerns when fighting. If they hadn't relocated the Russian civilians here, their defense would have been much stronger."

Oyama Iwao put down the telescope and said to Kodama Gentaro who came running despite his illness in the interval between the rumbling of artillery fire: "The Art of War says that a general will face five dangers." He stretched out his right hand, then bent four of them, leaving only the index finger still upright, "Love the people, how annoying! With this one thing, the enemy will be defeated and our army will win!"

Kodama Gentaro was in a very bad state. The days and nights under the city of Vladivostok destroyed his body. His face was red, but it was not a healthy red, but a sick red. "That is the source of the Chinese people's strength... Marshal, let the soldiers pass through the frozen sea and attack the enemy's rear. This... cough cough... may have some effect."

Dashanyan's brow twitched, and several grains of ice and snow rolled down. "You wouldn't have made such a suggestion before."

"Yeah...but we don't have time."

Kodama Gentaro looked at the battlefield in the distance, and then his sight passed Hasansky and went to a place even farther away. He shuddered, as if some terrible monster was lurking behind the gray mountains.

"Our army is making good progress. As long as we defeat the enemy in front of us, we will be able to contact Kuroki and his men. Kodama, you think too much."

"No, it's not that I think too much, but that you, Marshal, think too little."

Kodama Gentaro tightened his military coat, but still couldn't stop the cold from seeping into his body. "Lin Yongchang's guards might be waiting for us in front, as well as the Mongolian cavalry. General Yamaguchi... the Fifth Division can be said to have been defeated by the Mongolian cavalry."

Dashanyan's voice was as hard as iron. "They are just some cavalry and the so-called guards. We have 200,000 people! It would be fine if they don't come. If they come, they will be crushed by us! Do not stop the army. Do you see the high morale of the soldiers? All officers and soldiers know that if they don't defeat the enemy, they will die here.

In front of this will to survive, even the highest mountains will be crushed!"

"It's different. Lin Yongchang's Guards... are not the Guards Division. And there are those Mongolians."

Kodama Gentaro closed his eyes, thought of the cavalry he had seen in Jinzhou and Liaoyang, and murmured, "I can feel them coming."

The Imperial Guards Division had the best equipment in the Japanese army, and their treatment and supplies were first-rate, but their combat effectiveness was hard to describe. The Imperial Guards Division was the imperial guards who protected the emperor, and it was filled with the children of the nobility and the chaebols. Those people were dressed very gorgeously and were arrogant all day long, but their true colors were revealed when fighting. After being attacked by the Chinese, it took only half a day for the Imperial Guards Division to collapse and run all over the mountains and plains. But Marshal Lin's [Imperial Guards] were not like this. The combat effectiveness of the [Imperial Guards] far exceeded that of ordinary troops.

A soldier ran over and stopped two meters away, "Sir, the Okayama Regiment has arrived!"

Oyama Iwao ordered: "Let them rest for an hour, and then take over the attack from the 11th Infantry Brigade!"

"Hai!"

Oyama Iwao turned around and found that Kodama Gentaro was already shaky and looked like he would fall to the ground at any time, so he said, "Kodama, you should go and rest for a while. It's warmer in the tent."

"boom!"

"boom!"

The battle of Khasanskiy had already gone on for the third day, and both the People's Army and the Japanese Army had suffered heavy casualties. Xu Wuji's two brigades and one regiment had already been rotated. After the troops were withdrawn for repair, they shrunk a lot and were pushed to the front line again. All the positions outside the city had been lost. After the Japanese suffered losses, they occupied those ice and snow lumps and refused to leave. They stayed inside at night, even if many people froze to death.

By the day of the third day, the Japanese artillery force had been significantly strengthened, and more heavy howitzers joined the firing. Even the headquarters of the Seventh Division was hit by a shell, almost killing Xu Wuji and his staff officers.

"Commander, we can't fight any further!"

"It's time to retreat!"

"boom!"

Heavy grenades exploded in the north of the city, and the air waves rolled, the ground shook, and the ice and snow on the roofs of the houses were cracked. Large pieces of ice slid down from the roofs and hit the cold snow. Xu Wuji sighed and said, "I originally thought I could stop the Japanese here, and then I thought I could hold out for ten days, but now..."

He shook his head and said, "Retreat according to the plan. Use up all the shells and don't take the cannons with you. Burn all the documents and other things that can't be taken away."

The Japanese army bypassed the frozen sea at night, causing some trouble for the People's Army. It's not that there were many casualties, but the Japanese army's actions hit the morale of the People's Army, and many people realized that their retreat might not be safe. The original retreat plan was to pull the cannon away first, but now it has to be abandoned.

Mortars are fine, as the arsenals across the country will be able to produce more soon. However, those field guns are getting harder to replenish as each one is gone.

"Commander, please take your men and retreat first. We will take care of things here."

"Humph, can you do it? I'm not bragging, when we were fighting the Eight-Nation Alliance, we encountered more dangerous things than this..."

In the evening, Oyama Iwa received a report, "There's a fire in the city? Did the shells ignite the buildings inside?"

"No, sir. According to the reports from the soldiers at the front, it seems more like the enemy is burning documents and supplies."

"Oh, they are retreating? Then intensify the attack. We can't let them get away like this!"

"........Sir, it will be dark soon!"

"So what if it's dark?"

The voice of the 10th Division Commander Kawamura Keiaki was heard again, "Many soldiers will freeze to death if we fight in the dark."

"Oh, it's Lieutenant General Kawamura. When did you arrive?"

"We just arrived. General Nogi will be here in two days." Kawamura Jingming patted the ice and snow on his body, bowed to Oyama Iwao, and then said: "Marshal, many people have been frozen to death or frostbitten. If we chase them at night, I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of?" Dashanyan picked up the unknown liquid that was boiling on the fire and drank it all. "You just came here, I'm afraid you don't know what the situation is like in front."

"I heard that the battle is going well and the enemy is about to be defeated."

"Ha, don't you know? That's for the soldiers and officers below to hear."

Kawamura Jingming frowned, "We saw some wounded on the way here, but not many, less than in Vladivostok."

Dashanyan said calmly: "There will be fewer casualties, because most of the soldiers who participated in the attack have become gods."

"Becoming a god" and so on, means death. Kawamura Jingming was shocked and asked hurriedly: "Is the situation so bad?"

"I don't know how bad you think it is, but the actual situation is definitely worse than you think!"

Chapter 324 Cavalry

Soon, Lieutenant General Kawamura Jingming knew how bad the actual situation was. In the last rays of light before the sun set, he saw the horrific scene on the battlefield outside the city of Khasansky. Black and red marks were scattered throughout the ice and snow, and densely packed corpses were piled up on the ground.

Together, hard and stiff, like a scene from hell in a Ukiyo-e painting.

At first, the Japanese army would chop wood to burn their dead officers and soldiers, then they changed to chopping off a piece of their fingers, and finally they stopped doing the superficial work. The Japanese army learned from the People's Army and used corpses and ice and snow to build a defense line. After the Japanese advanced to the city of Khasansky, they used various methods to build fire points and advanced step by step. Now they have occupied one-third of the city.

But it was too easy to build a defense line with ice and snow. The Chinese built several battle lines in the city. Although those battle lines were simple, it was difficult for the Japanese infantry to rush through them. They could only drag in artillery to gnaw at them bit by bit. Many officers and non-commissioned officers on the front line lamented that it would be great if they also had mortars.

The mortar's accuracy may not be that good, but its wide-angle trajectory is very suitable for trench warfare and street fighting in cities.

When Kawamura Keiaki came over, many corpses were built into the ice and snow walls. The bombardment and vibration destroyed some barriers, revealing the incomplete bodies inside. Kawamura Keiaki saw a Japanese soldier's body standing upright in the cracked ice wall through the telescope, facing him. One of the corpse's eyeballs popped out and froze into a lump of ice on the cheek.

Next to the corpse, there were corpses scattered around in various weird angles, which made people feel chilly just by looking at them.

"Namo Hachiman Great Bodhisattva!"