Logically speaking, as the defensive side, the Liantai Militia also deployed a lot of barbed wire cans and anti-infantry mines before the war, but the fighting these days was too fierce, and the positions were ravaged by countless artillery shells every day.
The barbed wire fence and anti-infantry mines had long been blown away.
Under such circumstances, if you want to go out to deploy barbed wire or lay mines during the day, you will die. This is why the 215th Regiment was able to approach the position so quickly tonight.
The fourth battalion responsible for the forward defense of the position outnumbered the Japanese army by one to four. The middle section and right wing were defended by the second and third companies, and the left wing was defended by the first company commanded by battalion commander Nong Tiancai.
When Nong Tiancai saw the red night attack signal flare rising in the sky and a burst of mortar fire following the Japanese army, dozens of mortar shells fell on the entire position in an instant.
Although these mortar shells were not very accurate, Nong Tiancai was sure that this was a night attack by a large Japanese army, rather than a small-scale harassment and infiltration. The target must be the group of bunkers behind him. He did not hesitate to take them.
The walkie-talkie started roaring.
"The artillery platoon... I need flares, 3-1-0, 6-4-16..." As soon as he put down the phone, Nong Tiancai picked up his submachine gun and fired in front of the position.
"Tong...tong..."
The illumination bombs exploded over the high ground one by one. The blazing white light made the soldiers of the fourth battalion unable to open their eyes for a while, but it also allowed them to clearly see the situation in front of the position. Groups of densely packed Japanese soldiers were crouching fast.
Rushing towards the position, the number of people was as large as ants.
The Japanese troops who attacked at night charged wildly under the cover of the firepower of more than a dozen of their own light and heavy machine guns. However, the dense rain of bullets composed of 9 MG42 machine guns and 3 M2 Browning heavy machine guns on the fourth battalion position cut off the charge like a scythe of death.
The Japanese troops were torn into pieces one by one, and the Japanese sneak attack instantly turned into a strong attack.
On the position, Nong Tiancai was talking to the other two wings one by one to determine their situation. At this time, the entire defense line of the fourth battalion was attacked by the Japanese army.
After talking to various positions on the phone, Nong Tiancai then called Gao Hongming and asked the regiment headquarters for support.
"Team leader, the situation here is quite urgent. The Japanese have gone crazy now. They actually launched an offensive at least at the regiment level. There are enemies in front of our position. They are so densely packed that we can't even count them." At this time, the fourth battalion's position has been completely destroyed.
Surrounded, like an isolated island, it was under attack from the Japanese army.
"I don't care how many people are in front of you. Your position is the core of our defense line and must not be discarded. If the position is gone, I will shoot you. Do you understand?"
"Regiment leader, I need artillery support now, the more the better! If the 1st Artillery Battalion can be transferred to us, I promise to hold the position resolutely!"
"impossible!"
Gao Hongming's voice came from the microphone, "Now not only you, Guojialing and Gaojiazhuang are also under attack, especially Guojialing is under greater pressure than us. You must know that they are facing pressure from two divisions.
, so I can only allocate the third company of the second artillery battalion to you, do you understand?"
"Understood, I promise to complete the task!"
Nong Tiancai put down the microphone and was about to issue an order when he saw two soldiers scrambling to retreat. Apparently these people were frightened.
Seeing this scene, Nong Tiancai was furious, ignoring the bullets and mortar fragments flying overhead, jumped out of the foxhole, grabbed the two men, and pushed them back to their positions. This was the first time Nong Tiancai encountered such a situation.
People, he was so angry that he took out his pistol and wanted to shoot them on the spot, but in the end he held back, he gave each of them a kick and roared angrily.
"Here's a man, come up to me. You guys have no guts. If anyone dares to run away again, I will kill him."
Platoon leader Zhang, take a squad and guard the back with a machine gun. Anyone who dares to escape without permission will be punished on the spot. After the war, the number of people will be counted. Anyone who escapes will be reported as a deserter immediately. The signal corps will notify the artillery immediately.
I want them to calibrate their position before bombarding!"
He recognized these two people. They were the new recruits who had just been recruited yesterday, also commonly known as supplementary soldiers.
Let me mention here that in addition to the five infantry battalions, the Liantai Militia also has a supplementary battalion. As the name suggests, it is dedicated to providing blood transfusions to each battalion to fill the gap caused by battle losses.
It stands to reason that the nearly 800 soldiers of the supplementary battalion are enough to consume the usual battle losses, but this time the casualties of the troops are too great, and the supplementary battalion can no longer replenish it, so it can only start to recruit soldiers urgently, and these two soldiers
They are the two new recruits who have just joined the army. They have been in the army for less than a month and were sent here without even completing basic training.
It was precisely because of this consideration that Nong Tiancai did not shoot them, otherwise battlefield discipline would have been enforced long ago.
"Whoosh...whoosh..."
As a burst of artillery shells hit from the rear, the Japanese army's crazy charge was quickly suppressed, but within ten minutes, the Japanese army launched another charge.
This time, the Japanese army first set off smoke bombs, and then shouted in Chinese while charging, "Gas bomb attack, Chinese soldiers, you die!" The purpose of the Japanese army was very simple, which was to use this method to disrupt the morale of the Chinese defenders.
In the smoke and chaos, he was unable to maintain contact with the company. Nong Tiancai still did not order a retreat. He even had a group of bunkers behind him. Once the Japanese army got under the group of bunkers in the dark, the Japanese army could use explosive packs to destroy the bunkers one by one.
When the name is called, the entire defense line will collapse.
Under the heavy rain of bullets, the Japanese troops rushed forward desperately, stepping on the corpses of their own people. Although the speed was not fast, they were extremely determined. They did not stop because of machine gun fire and constant grenade and mortar bombardment.
On the fourth battalion's position, the counterattack artillery fire from the artillery battalion blocked the most frenzied Japanese charge. One after another, 105mm howitzer shells, 60mm and 82mm mortar shells continued to explode among the charging Japanese troops.
It wasn't until about three o'clock in the morning that Nong Tiancai, whose voice was hoarse from shouting, picked up the phone and reported to the regiment headquarters.
"Don't worry, everyone, we can bear it!"
Nong Tiancai looked very angry when he said this. In the battle that lasted more than two hours, deserters had appeared several times in the Fourth Battalion. If he hadn't specially sent a platoon to block the situation at the back, he wouldn't have dared to imagine that there would be deserters.
What consequences.
As soon as Nong Tiancai put down the phone, he saw three Japanese soldiers coming towards him again, shouting "Ban Zai!". One of the officers also waved his command knife, and he quickly raised the button of his MP40 submachine gun.
The trigger was pulled, and with the flames spurting out from the muzzle of the submachine gun, the three Japanese soldiers were knocked down in front of the position.
The battle lasted until around 3:50 in the morning, when the 215th Wing finally could no longer hold on. Captain Yagi Shigeru led hundreds of remaining soldiers to turn to the right. Yagi Shigeru hoped to find fighters in that direction.