The sun never sets

Ijichi Kosuke hesitated for a moment and said, "There are still some left. I will arrange them."

The Japanese attack was very crazy from the beginning. Rows of Japanese soldiers were killed by machine guns on the way to the charge. Mortars fired shells continuously from behind the ice and snow barriers, killing and injuring many Japanese soldiers. But the Japanese rushed to the front of the People's Army's position. Then they were driven back by the bayonets of the People's Army soldiers after being hit by a round of grenades.

When the Japanese army retreated, their artillery fired without hesitation, engulfing both the People's Army and the Japanese army in flames and air waves.

Chapter 332: Suicide Squad

The 10th Provisional Division, commanded by Wu Peifu, was defending Kraskino. The 10th Division's manpower and firepower had been greatly enhanced. In addition to an additional company of heavy howitzers, it also had a field artillery regiment, two reserve supplementary brigades, and a Mongolian cavalry brigade.

Wu Peifu fought the Russians in Northeast China for three years. He rose from a junior officer to a major general and experienced many battles. But even when the Russians were at their strongest, they did not take the initiative to use artillery to bombard their own people. The Japanese, however, did not care and used artillery to kill both the People's Army and the Japanese Army.

"Xu Wuji is right, the Japanese are really crazy!"

Wu Peifu muttered to himself for a few words, then sneered: "Do you think you can scare us like this? Order the artillery regiment to be ready, and each cannon to prepare a flare. When the Japanese come up again, I will give them my orders to kill them!"

The People's Army's defense line was built from the foot of the mountain to the sea. It was just some ice and snow. They used anything as the frame, covered it with ice and snow, patted it down, and poured melted water on it. It didn't need to boil the ice and snow, a few degrees would be enough. After the water was poured on it, it would soon be frozen, and after one night, it would be very hard.

The snow barrier looked like a child's snowman, which seemed to collapse with a push, but it was not like that. The Japanese mountain artillery and field artillery did not cause much damage, and even if some of the defensive facilities were destroyed, they could be repaired quickly. The Japanese artillery shells were limited, but the ice and snow in Outer Manchuria were endless. Artillery bombardment could not solve the problem, and the Japanese army finally had to use infantry charge.

The soldiers of the 10th Division dragged heavy machine guns and artillery out of the ice storage and fired at the Japanese army, killing them in the snow. The infantry charge of the 3rd Army was more fierce than that of other troops, so they died very quickly. An entire regiment was wiped out in one afternoon, and another was killed in the evening. Ichichi had seen the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in Vladivostok, but he was still shocked by the speed of casualties. A thought ran through his mind, could the rumors in the army be true?

On the way here, Ijichi Yukisuke heard the officers talking about the heavy casualties of the troops that had fought against the Chinese before, and the death toll was said to be more than 20,000. But on the way here, he didn't see so many corpses or wounded soldiers. Ijichi Yukisuke thought the officers were exaggerating, and he reprimanded them and gave some of them a few slaps in the face. Now it seems that perhaps the marshal concealed the truth?

The Japanese army has such a tradition. For example, when attacking Kaiseiwa, due to the heavy casualties, Marshal Oyama Iwao ordered the construction of the wounded camp behind the remote mountains to prevent the other troops from seeing it and hurting the morale. It is estimated that this time is the same. After one day, the three regiments were beaten into one regiment. That's fine, but the key is that General Nogi Maresuke's second son was also killed. Two sons died in one day. Ijichi Yukisuke didn't know how to face General Nogi, but this kind of thing can't be concealed for a long time. He couldn't pass the blame to others, so he had to bite the bullet and appear in front of Nogi Maresuke again.

"Ichichi, why are you standing there? Is there some bad news again? Is our artillery out of ammunition? I heard the artillery has stopped firing."

"Yes, sir, our artillery has used up all the shells that were delivered to us. But... that's not the bad news."

"Oh, there's some other bad news. Tell me all at once."

Ijichi Kosuke lowered his eyes and said in a sad tone: "Hosunori..."

Nogi Maresuke said slowly: "Did Baosuke also die in the battle?"

"Yes."

"When I went to war, I had people prepare three coffins. Two of them have been used now. Next, it's my turn, Nogi Maresuke."

"Commander, please accept my condolences."

Nogi Maresuke walked back and forth for a few steps, then suddenly stopped. His voice became hard again, "I am the commander of the Third Army. Now I am only concerned about the outcome of the war. Ijichi, are all the warriors ready for the night attack?"

"We're ready. We'll be leaving in an hour."

"I will go to cheer them on in person!"

"Hai!"

第1师团特别步兵第25连队二个大队、第12、第35联队各一个大队、工兵第9大队一个小队、及第7师团卫生队总计3100余名兵员成立敢死队，队员右臂缠上白布作标志

, named "White-leafed Squad". Most of the Japanese soldiers who participated in the suicide squad were volunteers, and even if they were not volunteers, they were forced to volunteer. Ijichi Yukisuke drew personnel from several troops to organize the suicide squad. Everyone was gathered together, and each person was given two rice balls and a cup of sake mixed with water.

The suicide squad drank the bland sake together, and then silently gnawed on the cold and hard rice balls. Some ate both rice balls. The battle was so brutal that those who joined the suicide squad would probably not come back, so it was better to be full before dying. Some only ate one, and then put the remaining one in their arms, ready to enjoy it before launching the charge.

Nogi Maresuke mobilized the suicide squad for war, but what can be said about this? Having already joined this team, can anyone regret it? In the Japanese army, if a soldier slightly disobeys the will of his superior, he will be beaten and severely beaten. With the harsh discipline of the Japanese army, let alone escaping in the face of battle, anyone who dares to say the word "no" will be shot immediately. There are those in the suicide squad who disregard life and death, and there are also those who are pale and nervous and at a loss. But no matter what they think, since they have been selected, their fate is already determined.

".......The fate of the Great Japanese Empire is in your hands!" Nogi Maresuke bowed, "Please!"

The officers and soldiers who were kneeling on the ground bowed together in the snow. The detachment commander, Major General Nakamura Kaku, shouted, "Commander, please wait for the good news we bring!" Then he stood up and shouted, "Let's go!"

The soldiers with cross-shaped white cloths tied around their bodies picked up their weapons and silently filed out towards the enemy positions shrouded in the strong wind. Nogi Maresuke stood on the high platform built at the entrance of the camp, watching the figures of the suicide squad gradually disappear in the wind and snow. He asked Ichichi Yukisuke who appeared beside him: "Can it succeed?"

"............Yes!" After a moment of silence, Yijichi answered firmly.

"From the looks of you, you don't seem very confident! Even if we fail, it doesn't matter. We didn't succeed in Shuangchengzi in just one try. As long as we keep fighting, we will win."

"Yes, my lord!"

Chapter 333 Field Battle

Snowflakes kept falling from the sky, sometimes heavy, sometimes light. The snow was not heavy tonight, but the wind was strong. The strong wind blew up the snowflakes, hitting the houses and the ice and snow barriers, making bursts of noise. Suddenly, a crisp sound rang out in the darkness. Gunshots were heard immediately on the seemingly silent defense line, and flares were fired into the sky. Bright light bloomed in the sky, illuminating the area within a radius of hundreds of meters.

There are several kinds of canned food in the People's Army's supplies, including canned fruits of several flavors, fish, beef, mutton, etc. After eating the canned food, the soldiers generally do not throw it away. The cans can be kept for drinking water, or used to hold various small items. The biggest use is to set up cordons. Put some small stones or other things in the empty cans and tie them to ropes. As long as someone touches them, they will make a crisp sound. This is a use that the soldiers have explored on their own. Because it is simple and easy to use, it was soon promoted throughout the army.

The Japanese death squad took advantage of the wind and snow to get close, tripped by the rope, and the cans tied to the rope started to make noises. Because some of the cans were frozen, the noise was not as loud as usual, but it was enough to alert the soldiers on duty. The soldiers of the 10th Division, who were well prepared, fired in the direction of the noise, and some fired flares into the sky, which completely exposed the Japanese army.

"The Japs are coming!"

The soldiers who were sleeping in the barracks made of ice and snow quickly got up, grabbed their weapons and rushed out. They used the light from the flares to fire at the Japanese. Amid the gunfire, Japanese soldiers were shot and fell to the ground. Even though they knew they were going to die, the Japanese soldiers who were hit by bullets could not help but scream.

Seeing that he had been discovered by the Chinese, Major General Nakamura Kaku no longer remained silent. He brandished his samurai sword and shouted wildly: "Kill them!"

"Kill!"

"It's a black card, it's onboard!"

"Onboard!"

The Japanese soldiers straightened up and charged forward with their rifles. Hot bullets flew everywhere in the cold weather, and the explosions of shells and the shouts of the soldiers intertwined, as if to melt the ice. The Japanese suicide squad rushed to a distance of 30 to 40 meters under the fierce shooting of the People's Army, threw grenades behind the ice and snow barrier, and then killed their way in through the gaps left in the defense line. Some Japanese soldiers also squatted in front of the barrier and let their comrades step on them to turn over.

Wu Peifu was well prepared for the Japanese night attack. Xu Wuji recorded all the Japanese tactics encountered by the 7th Division and compiled them into a book, which was handed over to the General Headquarters of the United Nations Forces, and then distributed to various units. The People's Army is a unit that is good at learning. Good methods will be quickly promoted, and lessons will be quickly summarized. Therefore, the tactics of the People's Army will appear flexible and changeable, and its combat effectiveness will be improved quickly.

Because of the low quality of the Russian army, their tactics were very rigid, and they only used a few tricks. The Japanese army was similar. With the blessing of nationalism, the morale of the Japanese army was higher, but because of the disadvantages in weapons and equipment, they could not use many tactics. Wu Peifu made sufficient preparations for the three axes of the Japanese army.

.

Flares were fired into the sky one after another, and mortar shells landed outside the reserved passages one after another, knocking down the crowded Japanese soldiers in large numbers. The side fire of the heavy machine guns played the greatest effect. In the flickering flames, Japanese soldiers could always be seen falling down screaming. When the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties and poured into the first line of defense, the People's Army on the front line ignited the fuses of mines and bombs. The mines buried in front of several passages exploded suddenly. Hundreds of kilograms of explosives were more powerful than 280mm grenades. Several Japanese soldiers within a radius of meters were knocked to the ground, and a large area of the People's Army's ice and snow defense line was also collapsed.

The flames of the explosion rushed up to a height of more than 20 meters, and the world lost its sound at that moment. It was not really silent, but because the sound was too intense, it gave the illusion of total silence at that moment. The loud bang came only after the air wave blew the human body into the air and knocked down the ice and snow barriers of tens or hundreds of meters.

The air was trembling, the ground was shaking, the dust and snow on the roof fell down, Wu Peifu stumbled, and felt that the earth dragon was about to turn over. But it didn't. The amplitude of the vibration quickly weakened, and the sound of gunfire and fighting and shouting also decreased. The buried explosives were a bit too much, and the soldiers on both sides were dizzy and lost the desire to continue fighting. Many Japanese soldiers looked around blankly, with blood flowing out of their ears and noses, but they didn't notice it. Because the People's Army was well prepared, they were not as miserable as the Japanese army, but many people were dizzy and staggering, as if they were drunk.

"Too much explosives, the engineering corps..."

Wu Peifu had only said half of his words when the world suddenly returned to darkness. The violent explosion not only shook the front-line troops to the ground, but also affected the artillery units in the back, who forgot to continue firing flares at the sky. In the darkness, the groans of wounded soldiers could be heard. Wu Peifu picked up the phone and shook it a few times, "Hello, hello, artillery regiment?"

"Commander, the phone line is probably down."

"Send someone to the artillery regiment, damn..."

"boom!"

Amid the dull roar of artillery fire, flares once again burst into the air, exposing the tragic scene on the battlefield to everyone's sight. Rifles and machine guns once again opened fire, killing the Japanese who had lost their organization and morale. Mortars and field artillery also resumed firing, and the flames of explosions lit up the wilderness from time to time. More violent explosions occurred in the darkness in the distance, which were the result of heavy howitzers firing, but the artillery company only fired a few shots before stopping.

The Japanese army's desperate assault had failed. Major General Nakamura Kaku was killed in the earth-shaking explosion. Many of the remaining Japanese soldiers were killed or injured in confusion and retreated in embarrassment. The People's Army continued to fire more than a dozen flares from their positions, but only stopped when they were sure that the Japanese had really withdrawn.

Wu Peifu looked out into the darkness, the wind howling in his ears, and muttered to himself, "The Japanese will not come tonight."

The Japanese army was a beast-like force, but even beasts would shiver in such cold weather. After suffering such heavy casualties, the Japanese army also needed time to adjust.

Perhaps, we could try to launch a counterattack? The reserve troops in the rear had been gathering strength. Guo Songling was a fierce general. If his regiment took the lead in launching an assault, there would definitely be good results. Wu Peifu looked at the darkness outside, shook his head, and decided to forget it. In this kind of weather, launching a night attack might result in more people freezing to death than dying in battle. He didn't care much about casualties, but he wouldn't let his soldiers die meaninglessly.

Chapter 334 Assault

The earth-shattering explosion sounded far away in the darkness. Nogi Maresuke heard the sound resounding in the front-line command post and saw flares flashing in the sky. He sighed and said to the serious-looking Ijichi Yukisuke: "It seems that the night attack has failed."

Ijichi Yukisuke stubbornly closed his lips and said nothing. But not speaking does not mean that bad things do not exist. Not long after, a surviving officer came back to report that the suicide squad's night attack had failed. Ijichi Yukisuke gritted his teeth and said, "Where is Nakamura Kaku? The night attack failed, he should commit seppuku to apologize!"

Nogi Maresuke shook his head. "The failure of the battle is my fault, not Major General Nakamura's!"

The lieutenant colonel knelt on the snow and cried, "Major General Nakamura was killed in the explosion. There is no trace of his body left."

Ijichi Yukisuke was stunned and could not say a word. Nogi Maresuke asked the lieutenant colonel to retreat, and then said to Ijichi Yukisuke who seemed to be still in a daze: "The attack cannot be stopped. Marshal Oyama Iwao is still watching us from behind. Do you have any other plans?"

Ijichi Yukisuke was from Satsuma, and was a cutting-edge general who had received modern military education. However, his ability to become the chief of staff of the Third Army was not entirely due to his military ability. His wife was the daughter of Marshal Oyama Iwao's elder brother, so his position in the army was unbreakable. Similarly, Emperor Meiji was behind Nogi Maresuke, so he also had someone behind him. Oyama Iwao sent Ijichi Yukisuke to the Third Army to serve as chief of staff for Nogi Maresuke, partly out of consideration for factional balance. Emperor Meiji's desire for power was growing stronger, and both the Satsuma and Choshu domains were wary of this situation.

"........No." Ijichi Yukisuke said in a low voice.

"Then wait until daybreak and attack according to the previous plan."

"Hai!"

Nogi Maresuke's Third Army had many 150mm howitzers, but they were all left behind. Even if they were pulled up, they might not be able to destroy the Chinese defense line in a short time. If it took several months to penetrate the Chinese positions, the Japanese army would be defeated without being defeated. The army had reached the point where horses were killed for food. Even the soldiers who participated in the desperate attack could only get two rice balls with plums or other things. Of course, the generals did not have to starve. Even if there was a lack of food, they could still enjoy sake and fine food.

The next morning, the snow stopped blowing, the blue sky was no longer cloudy, and the sun shone on the ground for the first time in a long time, bringing some warmth to this cold world. The Japanese artillery began to roar before dawn. Shells fell on the defense line east of Kraskino. After emergency repairs, the ice and snow barrier had been repaired. If it weren't for the corpses and blood everywhere on the ground, people would think that yesterday's bloody battle didn't exist at all.

The Japanese artillery bombardment blew up balls of ice and snow on the defense line. From time to time, houses built with ice and snow collapsed in the explosion, and people were seen digging out their companions buried in the snow. Not many shells were transported overnight. After five rounds, the Japanese army's mountain running had fallen into a situation where there were no shells available. Although dozens of lives were lost, the Japanese army's transportation efficiency could not be improved. They lacked food, cold-resistant clothes, tools, war horses and large livestock. Except for the surplus of troops, they lacked almost everything.

But Nogi Maresuke was not a person who would complain. Decades of war had taught him that there would always be a shortage of food and ammunition in war. No matter how much preparation was made before the war, it was not enough. As a general, he could only use what he had.

After the bombardment, it was naturally the turn of the infantry to attack. In another time and space, there is a book that says that the Japanese only have three tricks when fighting. The author uses the characters in the book to describe the Japanese tactics like this: "After the artillery bombardment, the infantry charges, and after the infantry charges, the artillery bombards." This description cannot be said to be wrong, but it is obviously biased. In World War II, the Japanese army's equipment was the last among the great powers, but their combat methods were very flexible, more flexible than most of the enemies they encountered. It was only in the contest with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army that they encountered opponents who were more flexible than them. There are only a few types of infantry tactics, frontal attack, flank attack, and detour. Apart from these methods, are there any other methods?

Using tanks and armored vehicles to launch a blitzkrieg? The Japanese army would have to have so much steel and gasoline to do that.

At Kraskino, the People's Army's defense line was nearly ten miles long. Even if the Japanese wanted to bypass it, they couldn't. On one side was the frozen sea, and on the other side was the continuous forest covered with ice and snow. They could only send a small number of infantry to bypass it, and heavy equipment could not move with the infantry. Nogi Maresuke had only one way left, which was to attack head-on.

The entire regiment of Japanese infantry was thrown into the battlefield. This time, they did not deploy on the wide surface like yesterday, but rushed in from several gaps where the artillery was concentrated. The Japanese will also sum up their experience and lessons. Their middle and lower-level officers have very good qualities. The sergeants and sergeants led the infantry to rush in and fought fiercely with the defenders in the ice and snow channel. The Japanese army used the night attack group: ⑥九四九,三六壹③伍 rifles with bayonets to stab forward and threw grenades at the places where there were Chinese. The Japanese did not have the money to equip heavy machine guns and infantry guns on a large scale, but they could still afford grenades. In addition, the Japanese army dragged up heavy machine guns, infantry guns and mountain guns during the shelling to provide fire support to the troops at close range.

Ijichi Yukisuke is a relative of Oyama Iwao, but he is also an experienced general who knows how to make full use of his limited firepower. He arranged the combat deployment of the Third Army. Instead of evenly distributing the already limited heavy firepower on the long front, it is better to concentrate the heavy firepower. The Japanese army's hard work worked. After switching to a focused attack, they successfully broke through the first line of defense and then killed their way to the second line of defense thirty or forty meters away. The tactics used by the Japanese army already had the shadow of the "Storm Commando", but did not form a tactical theory. It was just the spontaneous behavior of the Japanese army on the front line, so this set of tactics only played a role, but it did not become a killer to overwhelm the Tenth Division of the People's Army.

When the Japanese rushed to the second line of defense, the machine gun fire points on the two lines of defense opened fire on them fiercely. There was no place to hide between the two lines of defense, and the Japanese were killed in groups. Even if they rushed into the second line of defense by chance, they would face several times more people's army soldiers. In hand-to-hand combat, both quantity and morale are indispensable. The Japanese army had the courage to die, but there were too few Japanese who could rush over, and they were quickly killed.

Chapter 335 Human Bomb

The Provisional Tenth Division has more people than the Seventh Division, and the artillery firepower of Kraskino is stronger than that of Khasansky, but the combat effectiveness of the Tenth Division is not as good as that of the Seventh Division. This entire division was formed after the end of the Sino-Russian War. Many soldiers and officers had just met each other when they were pulled to the battlefield in Outer Manchuria. The Seventh Division was able to keep the Japanese army at the first line of defense, but the Tenth Division was somewhat powerless. In yesterday's battle, two Japanese regiments suffered more than half of their casualties, and the Seventh Division

The division also suffered heavy casualties. Later, when the Japanese army retreated, the Japanese artillery fired indiscriminately at both the People's Army and the Japanese army, which shocked the soldiers of the 10th Division and reduced their morale.

Wu Peifu had two reserve infantry brigades. He had enough manpower, but his combat effectiveness was not that strong. He could only think of various ways to make up for the lack of combat effectiveness. Burying explosives and mines in front of the position was one way, and Wu Peifu had many other ways. For example, he first weakened the Japanese army with artillery and machine guns, and then used heavy firepower to concentrate casualties after the Japanese army came in from the roads left specially. This worked very well, but the Japanese army did not act completely according to his idea. The few remaining access passages did attract the Japanese army, but the Japanese infantry also achieved breakthroughs in several other places and almost broke through the second line of defense.

Fortunately, the 10th Division had enough reserve troops and heavy firepower, and a Mongolian cavalry brigade for mobile defense. After intercepting the Japanese reinforcements with artillery fire, the Mongolian cavalry rushed out and repelled the incoming Japanese troops, thus avoiding the collapse of the entire defense line.

"Move all snipers from each unit to the defense line!"

After finally driving the Japanese out, Wu Peifu issued a new order. He always had many ideas and was once called "Mr. Always Have an Idea" by President Lin. Wu Peifu said: "Give priority to shooting the enemy's officers, gunners and heavy machine gunners!"

Under the clear sky, Ijichi Yukisuke reported to Nogi Maresuke with embarrassment, "Commander-in-chief, the attack has failed again."

"Okay, I get it now."

Nogi Maresuke did not look at Ijichi, but looked to the west. "Not only are the Russians difficult to fight, the Chinese have also become stronger. Ten years ago, the Chinese held the Port Arthur Fortress, but we easily defeated them. Now the Chinese have only built a few low defense lines with ice and snow on the flat ground, and we are helpless."

"It is my incompetence..."

"I don't mean to blame you, Yijizhi. Do you have this feeling? The Chinese troops we encountered before were not Chinese at all. The ones standing in the way now are the real Chinese."

Ijichi Yukisuke bent down and bowed his head, "Commander, please give the Third Army another chance!"

Nogi Maresuke helped him up and said, "I promised Marshal Oyama Iwao that we would take the Russian town in three days. Now three days have passed, and we have suffered heavy casualties, but we are still at a loss. We are out of time, Ichichi, use human bombs to attack."

"......Hayi!"

The so-called "human bomb attack" is to have soldiers tie bombs to their bodies, and then blow up the user and the enemy together after rushing into the enemy. This behavior has existed for a long time, but it was mostly used by assassins. It was not used on a large scale on the battlefield until four years ago. Lin Yongchang had no way to defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance in a short time, so he tied bombs to many opium addicts, let those guys smoke enough opium, and then sent them to die together with the foreign devils.

This is a very cruel tactic. Lin Yongchang stopped using it when he had the conditions. But the Japanese liked it very much. To be more precise, some Japanese generals liked it very much. Nogi Maresuke was one of them. As long as he could win, he didn't care about casualties at all. And Nogi Maresuke had no other choice but to pile up human lives to win. He and the Third Army had no other choice.

The attack in the evening became more and more bloody. A large number of Japanese soldiers fell on the road of the charge. Many of the Japanese soldiers with bombs tied to their bodies were killed before they approached the position of the 10th Division. However, just those twenty or so suicide bombers caused a great shock to the People's Army on the defense line. The documents issued from above mentioned this tactic used by the Japanese army, but it was the first time for the soldiers of the 10th Division to see it. The battalion that was attacked was directly bombed by the Japanese and fell into a brief chaos. When they recovered their morale and organization, a large number of Japanese troops had already poured into the defense line. This time, the Japanese army dispatched more infantry regiments and more artillery to join the battle.

The Japanese army, which had captured several fronts, did not advance to the second line of defense, but deployed to both sides. The Third Army gave up the idea of directly breaking through the positions of the People's Army and prepared to adopt a gradual approach. This tactic proved to be effective in the battle to attack Khasansky, but it took a long time and a lot of ammunition. Nogi Maresuke failed to capture Kraskino within three days, so he no longer insisted on a quick victory, but tried to overwhelm the opponent with a huge force.

After discovering that the "human bomb attack" was effective, Ijichi Yukisuke organized more "suicide soldiers", which caused certain losses and chaos to the 10th Division, but Wu Peifu quickly found a way to deal with it. He brought in more heavy machine guns and mortars, and used saturation attacks to destroy the Japanese army on the road to the charge. However, this consumed too much ammunition, and the ammunition reserves of the 10th Division had dropped to a dangerous level. Wu Peifu called the rear to ask for more ammunition supplies, but was rejected. Marshal Lin asked him to evacuate the wounded first, and other troops were also preparing for a strategic transfer.

"If I were given enough ammunition, I could stop the Japs!"

Wu Peifu said this on the phone, but was still rejected. Marshal Lin did not want to stop the Japanese, but to wipe out all the hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops. The retreat was not only to bring the People's Army's supply line closer, but also to keep the Japanese army farther away from Vladivostok.

There were not only a large number of weapons and ammunition, but also the most important food in the Outer Northeast. Although not much, it was enough for the Japanese to support them for more than half a month. If the Japanese army held on to a few cities, it would be really difficult to deal with them. Lin Yongchang remembered the "past" of Leningrad. If it turned into a siege, the People's Army might not be able to capture Vladivostok after suffering heavy casualties.

If that happens, many Japanese will starve to death, but as long as they adopt some extreme policies, they can still hold on. When the flowers bloom next spring - which won't be long, just four or five months - the Combined Fleet will be able to dock again. On the seas of East Asia, the Combined Fleet is still invincible. But if the Japanese army comes out of Vladivostok, things will be much easier.

As for the Japanese troops attacking in Tokugawa and Wulao-ri, there is no need to worry too much. Most of the Japanese technical weapons are in the Outer Northeast. Kuroki Tameshige and Oku Yasuo have few cannons. They cannot defeat Zhao Bi's Third Corps (formerly Liaoxi Corps) by relying on light infantry alone.

Chapter 336 Love has a next life

Nogi Maresuke's Third Army was always fierce. Their infantry launched wave after wave of charges. In a few days, they used up most of the artillery shells and heavy machine gun bullets of the Provisional Tenth Division with human lives. After being stunned by the first night attack, the Japanese army organized several more night attacks, but no longer sent out a large force of thousands of people, but used dozens or hundreds of people to harass. Even though many people were frozen to death, the Japanese did not give up.

They also climbed up the nearby mountains, pulled the field artillery to the top of the mountain, and bombarded the People's Army's defense line from a high position. In order to deal with the Japanese artillery on the mountain, Wu Peifu sent infantry to fight for Shantou, and launched a large-scale counterattack on the front battlefield, using all the reserve infantry and cavalry. The Japanese army, which was preparing for the next attack, was caught off guard. An infantry brigade assembled at the starting position first suffered a fierce artillery bombardment, and in the chaos, it was defeated by the coordinated attack of tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry. Wu Peifu commanded the troops of the 10th Division to the vicinity of the Japanese front-line command. Seeing that the Japanese heavy firepower became dense and it was getting late, he withdrew his troops.

"The 4th Reserve Infantry Brigade lost more than half of its troops, and the infantry artillery regiment that just arrived lost 7 cannons..."

Inside the messy headquarters, a staff officer was reporting the losses to Nogi Maresuke. Nogi waved his hand and said, "No need to read anymore. Ichichi!"

"Hai!"

"Organize troops to attack immediately!"

Ichichi Yukisuke looked embarrassed, "Commander, our army just suffered a setback and needs some time to reorganize the troops. I am afraid that we are not capable of launching an attack now."