PS: A Ding wants to apologize to everyone. I got up this morning and sent out an anti-theft card and went to work. I didn’t find out until 8:30 that it had not been changed back. I kept you waiting for a long time. I guess many people are scolding me.
, I admit this Ading, and I apologize to you all again.
"Boom...boom...boom..."
Within two minutes of Yan Xiaofu's call, artillery shells came from behind.
Only about two hundred meters away from the first line of defense, the roaring shells carried huge kinetic energy and hit the front of the position heavily. More than ten balls of black smoke rose up. This was the smoke produced when the shrapnel exploded. Each shell
There are more than 1,000 steel bullets with a diameter of 17.5 mm in the 105mm shrapnel. A very small amount of explosives in the middle of the shrapnel only explodes the thin wall of the shell, and at the same time scatters the steel pellets. Under the action of the projected explosives and inertia, more than 1,000 steel pellets are scattered several meters apart.
A wide barrage flew around.
The moment the first round of 12 shrapnel exploded, more than 13,000 projectiles with a diameter of 17.5 mm formed a dense barrage, flying to all directions accurately. After each shrapnel exploded, the flying projectiles could cover
The range is at least twenty meters.
Raindrop-like projectiles instantly covered the front of the position. The fragile bodies of the Japanese soldiers who were swarming towards the position in dense formation were immediately hit by the high-speed flying projectiles. For a moment, the entire front of the position was plunged into a miserable state.
Call.
In the first round of shelling alone, at least one squadron of soldiers of the Japanese army lost the battle. There was no other way. In order to seize the defense line as quickly as possible, the Japanese army adopted a dense charge, which is commonly known as the human sea tactic.
The advantage of this tactic is that once successful, more troops can be delivered to local positions in the shortest time, causing maximum damage to the enemy. However, the shortcomings are also obvious. Once the enemy's intensive firepower returns, the loss will be
It is also the largest.
After the shelling, those Japanese soldiers who had managed to escape by lying on the ground in time could see corpses and broken limbs hit by shotguns, skulls shattered by projectiles, and brains splattered.
The uneven ground that had been blasted by artillery shells was completely stained red and black by the blood of the wounded and dead. The wounded soldiers who were hit by shotguns lay on the ground struggling in pain and howling.
Seeing this scene, Ota Ryuji, who personally directed the charge of the regiment, was so heartbroken that he almost bled.
After several days of fighting, the Sixty-seventh Infantry Regiment, which was originally full of more than 3,800 people, now has less than 2,000 people. In order to capture Qixia Pass tonight, he even volunteered to take on the task of frontal attack. Once he can
By taking the lead in capturing the opposite position, the Sixty-Seventh Regiment would not only be able to avoid the humiliation they had suffered due to the failure these days, but could even become famous in the First Army, and he, the commander of the Regiment, might also be able to enter the high-level view.
Taking advantage of the gap between the first round of shelling and the second round of shelling that had not yet arrived, the Japanese troops who had trained quickly found bunkers and hid.
"Whoosh...bang..."
Several more illumination bombs flew into the sky and exploded, illuminating the front of the entire position brightly.
With the help of the light of the flare, a Japanese soldier hiding in a depression saw a black-gray steel ball rolling to his feet. The soldier picked up the steel ball. The cast iron steel ball had a very rough surface and was difficult to hold in his hand.
You can even feel its residual warmth.
Before the Japanese soldier could clearly see the appearance of the steel ball in his hand, another whistling sound of tearing the air was heard in the sky. In a violent explosion, several steel balls identical to those in his hand hit his body.
, the steel pellet entered from the back of his head and rushed out between his eyebrows, tearing his brain out several feet away. He could not let out the scream that was stuck in his throat until he died. The left hand that was broken by the steel pellet still held the radiant weapon.
Yu Wen's steel shot was the same steel shot that took his life.
"Zhuang Mancai, Geng Changshun, you all listen to me, beat me hard, use the fastest speed and fiercest firepower to stop the little Japs, and at the same time, raise the hot air balloon to prevent the Japs artillery bombardment."
In the command post, Gao Hongming shouted loudly at the communications staff officer.
When Gao Hongming first saw the scale of the Japanese charge, he knew that tonight was the moment of life and death for him and thousands of his fellow militiamen.
Looking at this posture, Koizumi Yukio must have made a desperate move and mobilized all the troops at hand to participate in tonight's attack in public. Once they are unable to stop them, the outcome of their attack will definitely be annihilation of the entire army.
However, he was also secretly glad that the Japanese army chose to attack at night, which meant that they could use artillery without any scruples without worrying about Japanese aircraft. The only thing they had to worry about was the Japanese artillery, so he immediately
Ordered the reconnaissance balloon to be raised.
After giving the order to the artillery battalion, he strode out of the command post, came to the observation post, raised his binoculars and looked over.
In the dark night, illumination bombs were shot into the sky as if they were free of charge. The night sky that was originally invisible was now as bright as day.
Under the light of the flares, Gao Hongming could see that the huge Qixia Pass was surrounded by densely packed Japanese troops. They were like zombies who knew neither death nor pain, advancing desperately in the dark, even as shells exploded around them without realizing it.
One soldier fell, and the soldier behind him stepped over his body without hesitation and continued forward until he also fell.
Although the defenders on the position were firing desperately, with MG42 machine guns, MP40 submachine guns, and 98K rifles all pouring out tongues of fire, they were somewhat powerless in the face of the Japanese charge that had no regard for death, and some of the forward positions were even more dangerous.
Like a sampan under huge waves, there is a danger of capsizing at any time.
Seeing this, Gao Hongming was extremely anxious. Although he had ordered the artillery battalions to open fire with all their strength, nearly half of the two artillery battalions had been lost in these days of fierce fighting, and the remaining artillery was less than thirty. He wanted to block this firepower.
The Japanese army's all-round attack was simply too much.
"Sir..."
The combat staff hurriedly came over and said, "The fifth battalion reported that the Japanese offensive on the front was very fierce. They could no longer survive and asked for additional reinforcements."
Seeing Gao Hongming's silence, the combat staff suggested: "Regiment... how about we let the fifth and third battalions withdraw to the second line of defense. After the defense line shrinks, our troop strength will not be so tight."
After pondering for a moment, Gao Hongming ordered: "Tell Yan Xiaofu to withdraw to the second line of defense immediately, and also tell the third battalion to retreat and let us shrink the line of defense."
"Ka ka ka..."
On a protruding position, an MG42 was pouring out tongues of fire. The intensive firepower made it difficult for the Japanese troops in front to raise their heads. Seeing that the firepower here was too fierce, the Japanese troops brought in a Type 92 heavy machine gun to try to suppress it.
, but as soon as two rounds of magazines were fired, this Type 92 gun with a man and a gun was beaten into pieces by the MG42.
"Click click click..."
The MG42, which was pouring out tongues of fire, suddenly stopped and made the sound of the firing pin hitting the air.
"Change the barrel!"
The observer on the right quickly pulled the lever on the right side of the machine gun with his right hand wearing asbestos gloves, pulled out the red barrel and threw it aside, and then picked up a new barrel.
Stuff it in and close the lever.
The deputy shooter on the left took a box of bullets, opened the top cover and pressed the bullets up. The machine gunner pulled the safety and loaded the bullets.
All this sounds very long, but it actually took less than five seconds, and soon the MG42 began to spit out tongues of fire again.
This machine gun was condescending and located in a protruding position. It posed a particularly huge threat to the Japanese army and therefore became a thorn in the side of the Japanese army.
After a few more rounds of bullets, two grenades exploded next to them. The machine gunner who was holding the machine gun and firing rifles lay down on the machine gun without saying a word.
"Dazhuang...Dazhuang..."
"Medic... come here quickly..."
The deputy shooter and observer helped the shooter aside, shouted twice and saw that the shooter did not answer. After the loader shouted several times for the medic, he held the machine gun and continued shooting without hesitation.
On the battlefield, the soldiers who were accustomed to seeing life and death did not show any panic, but only indifference and numbness towards death.
"Left front... right front... straight front..."
The observer had two roles at this time. He was delivering ammunition while observing the target ahead for the machine gunner.
"You idiot...I'll beat you to death..."
The loader pulled the trigger and cursed in a low voice.
Although the maximum rate of fire of the MG42 is as high as 1,200 rounds per minute, you cannot do this when actually shooting. You can only shoot in bursts, otherwise the barrel will be scrapped before long.
Although the soldiers of the fifth battalion fired desperately, they still felt great pressure in the face of the Japanese troops who seemed to have lost their minds.
"Boom...boom boom..."
Grenades thrown from grenade launchers continued to fall on the position, and soldiers from the fifth battalion continued to be shot and fell to the ground. Although every time a soldier fell, Japanese soldiers several times his own fell, but Yan Xiaofu was still anxious.
They were sweating profusely. Less than half an hour after the battle began, their position encountered five or six dangers, and they were almost broken through by the Japanese army several times.
"boom..."
A 75mm grenade landed on the fifth battalion's position, and an MG42 machine gun that was pouring out flames and the machine gunner, observer and loader were instantly blown into the air.
One machine gun was missing, and the firepower in this area was suddenly reduced a lot. The Japanese army took advantage of the situation and stormed towards this place...
A signal soldier covered in blood stumbled into the battalion command post and shouted: "Battal Commander... The company's position is tight, and the company commander is asking for support."
"Support...what kind of support do you want me to use? I only have one correspondent left. Do you want it?"
Yan Xiaofu glared at him, "Go and tell Ge Laocai that if the position is lost, I will kill him."
"clear!"
Seeing that reinforcements were not coming, the signal soldier's eyes darkened for a moment, but then he turned around and walked out without hesitation.
"battalion commander!"
At this time, the communications soldier shouted, "The regiment ordered us to abandon the first position, retreat to the second line of defense, and join the third battalion."
"Understood... we will retreat immediately." After receiving Gao Hongming's order, Yan Xiaofu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ordered each company to withdraw from their positions alternately.
The militia's shrinking defense line was immediately noticed by the Japanese troops involved in the attack, especially Ryūji Ohta. He commanded the 67th Regiment to attack desperately regardless of casualties. What was it for? Was it not to capture Qixia Pass? Now we see
The defenders actually gave up their defense line and were so excited that their whole bodies trembled.
He drew out his command sword and shouted loudly: "Warriors of the Empire, the Chinese have retreated, charge forward...kill them all!"
"Kill me..."
"Half a year..."
The Japanese troops participating in the attack were also extremely excited. Why did they charge desperately under artillery fire? Is it not to capture the pass on the opposite side?
You must know that in the past few days alone, their alliance has been reduced by one-third. Coupled with the desperate charge just now, it is good to have half of his alliance left now.
In fact, just now, in the face of the dense firepower and tenacious resistance of the defenders, he once doubted whether he could win the opposite position. Now it's fine, the enemy finally retreated on his own initiative, even though he also knew which Chinese people were
Withdraw to the next line of defense and resume resistance, but this does not prevent them from cheering. Otherwise, they have fought for so many days and lost so many people but failed to even capture a Chinese position. This will seriously affect the 41st
The morale of the division.
"Yoshi..."
The Japanese voices were sometimes so loud that Yukio Koizumi could faintly hear them from several miles away.
He put down the telescope and breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally, we have taken down the first line of defense of the Chinese. As long as we can take down the second line of defense, this battle will be over."
This is not only the thought of Yukio Koizumi, but also the thought of most of the Japanese officers and soldiers tonight. However, they have forgotten that there is an old Chinese saying, which is called the mantis stalking the cicada and the oriole behind.
Just as thousands of Japanese troops were swarming towards the second and last line of defense at Qixia Pass, a troop was quietly moving around behind them.
"Attention to all units... Do not turn on the lights without orders... Again, do not turn on the lights. Drivers should follow the vehicle in front closely and do not fall into the ditch."
This marching force was the armored battalion that Gao Hongming regarded as his lifeblood. Due to the heavy losses suffered in the last air raid, Gao Hongming, who was so distressed, did not let the armored battalion go into battle anymore and has been resting and recuperating.
Tonight, the Japanese army suddenly launched a full-scale night attack. Gao Hongming, who was a little numb from the Japanese army's desperate posture, finally remembered the troops he had hidden behind and immediately mobilized them.
"Attention all units of the armored battalion!"
At this time, all the tank units heard a familiar voice from their headsets, "I am the regiment commander Gao Hongming. The task of your armored battalion is to go around the back of the Japanese army and attack their butts."
When the attack begins later, Panzer IV and Lynx reconnaissance tanks will take the lead, and the anti-aircraft company will provide fire support from behind. Tonight's battle is related to the life and death of our regiment.
I won't say any more unnecessary nonsense, let's move forward...my armored soldiers! I'm done!"
Gao Hongming quickly hung up the communication, and the communication channels of all tanks fell into silence. After a while, someone shouted loudly.
"Armored...advance..."
"Armored...advance..."
Soon, uniform shouts rang out from the channel. Amidst the shouts, dozens of tanks were like steel monsters marching in the dark night, rushing toward the battlefield with fierce gunfire...