"Warriors of the Japanese Empire, you must remember that you are all loyal and brave warriors of His Majesty the Emperor. It is your bounden duty to open up and expand territory for His Majesty the Emperor and to spread power throughout the world, so you must carry forward the spirit of Bushido and serve for His Majesty the Emperor.
His Majesty the Emperor shares your worries and adds glory to the military flag!"
Hikari Sakuma, who was covered in wounds, listened to the hoarse voice of the squadron leader, Major Kenta Kikagawa, while gritting his teeth and chewing on the last [***] rice ball. Behind him, the piece of grass that had just been tenderized
The mountain was already a mess and full of craters. Next to Sakuma Hikaru was the 38-type rifle that had been accompanying him and had turned black because it was stained with blood.
At this time, the shelling of the Chinese army on the opposite side has completely stopped. In front of Sakuma Hikaru's position, there are many corpses of Japanese soldiers, and there are also the corpses of some Chinese soldiers lying in the middle. The gray-green military uniforms and the khaki military uniforms are here.
It was clearly visible at the time. Although the military uniforms of both sides were soaked in blood. Some soldiers were lying outside the trenches, their broken limbs obviously blown away by artillery shells. Some were still holding the rifles in their hands until they died. They were fighting in the trenches.
He was killed by artillery and machine gun bullets from the Chinese army during a counterattack.
"Um!"
Sakuma Hikaru listened to the sound of gunshots beside him and looked towards the wounded soldiers who were discharged beside him, but he only saw his fellow countryman Tanaka Ribe biting the bandage with his teeth and tightening the bandage on his arm.
There was only an empty sleeve dangling under his right arm, and you could vaguely see blood dripping down the sleeve, while the other hand was still holding the dagger he brought from home.
, the original earth-yellow military uniform was now completely stained with blood, and the black blood stains had covered the earth-yellow color.
Heavy footsteps sounded in the trench, and Sakuma Hikaru knew it was the sound of the squadron leader's leather shoes. Sakuma Hikaru licked his dry lips and was about to speak, but Tanaka Ribe on the side first asked in a hoarse voice, "
Your Excellency, Squadron Leader, what time is it now?"
Kenta Kikawa knelt down and first checked Tanaka Ribu's wounds, and then gave him some encouragement: "It's already 13:20 in the afternoon. We only need to hold on until 17:30 to go down.
Let's have dinner together. I heard there will be rice balls, salted fish and flavored soup tonight. Tanaka-kun, please keep at it, we will definitely be able to hold on until the defense change time."
Tanaka Ribu's lips twitched, and a smile uglier than crying appeared on his pale face, "Your Excellency, Squadron Leader, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on until that time. The attacker...has...already given away my arm."
Excuse me, I can't even hold the rifle now, I'm afraid I won't be able to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor."
"Don't talk nonsense, our reinforcements will arrive soon. We will definitely defeat the Japanese soldiers on the opposite side!" Kenta Kita patted Tanaka Ribu on the shoulder and said words that even he did not believe. Today
When their squadron entered the position in the morning, it had a full complement of 250 men. However, less than five hours later, there were only less than 100 men left. Such a rate of loss made the captain who was supervising the battle behind them also panic.
I couldn't help but burst into tears.
Kita Kita, who felt a little uneasy, did not dare to face the helpless and sad eyes of the wounded soldiers around him, so he quickly stood up and walked to the other side.
After seeing Kenta Kita leaving, Tanaka Ribu crawled to Hikaru Sakuma with great difficulty, took out an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to him, pleading: "Saku-kun, if I die in battle today, please
You give this envelope to Mitsuko and tell her that I can't go back to marry him, and please forget about me."
Sakuma Hikaru frowned. He and Kita Kenta came from the same village. Naturally, he knew that this Mitsuko was Tanaka Ribu's fiancée. If it hadn't been for this war, I'm afraid they would have gotten married long ago. He waved his hand and refused.
"Tanaka-kun, you'd better hand this letter to Mitsuko in person, Mitsuko is still waiting for you at home."
"I will hand it over to Mitsuko myself." Tanaka Rico smiled miserably, "Saku-kun, do you think I can return to Japan in this state? In just over four hours, most of our squadron has been killed or injured. People like me
It is difficult for the injured to hold on any longer." With his eyes closed and enduring the severe pain from his empty right arm, the audience Ricoh said again in a pleading tone: "Saku-kun, I am begging you, please help me in the end.
Let me."
Sakuma Hikaru gave a bitter smile and finally took the envelope in his hand, "Okay, I'll keep it for you first, and I'll return it to you when we get down."
Seeing Sakuma Hikaru finally taking the envelope, Tanaka Rico breathed a sigh of relief as if he had let go of a big stone in his heart, and then said: "To be honest, Sakuma-kun, before I came to the hospital, I always thought that I couldn't use three
We can conquer the Japanese in a month, and if we are lucky, we can make a lot of money, and then go back and happily marry Mitsuko, but now it has been three years, and the Japanese still have not been defeated, but the people around us
People change one after another, is it really impossible to conquer the world?"
Sakuma Hikaru covered his mouth: "Shh... shut up, you don't want to live. If the captain hears it, he will definitely chop you alive!"
"What are you afraid of? I'm going to die anyway, why can't I even tell the truth?" Tanaka Rico was willing to go on speaking.
"Woo..."
At this moment, accompanied by the sound of distant artillery, a dull whistling sound of the air being torn flew over. This was a 155-caliber howitzer from the Chinese Army more than 2,000 meters away, weighing dozens of kilograms.
The sound of a heavy grenade can only be so fast and make such a sharp whistling sound.
"boom!……"
As the whistling ceased, continuous violent explosions immediately sounded on the position of the second squadron where Hikaru Sakuma was, raising a large amount of dust and smoke and plundering cast iron fragments. The shock caused by the falling of the heavy artillery shells made Hikaru Sakuma feel
He seemed to be on a boat, and the dust raised by the explosions around him fell into the foxhole from time to time. Sakuma Hikaru shook the dust off his shoulders and then tightened his grip on the three-dimensional body beside him that had been stained black by dried blood.
The sticky feeling of the eight-type rifle, which was covered in blood, made Sakuma Hikaru feel very uncomfortable when he held it, so he rubbed his hands with soil and dried the gun body with soil particles to prevent him from holding the gun in the next battle.
Your hands will slip.
Many Japanese soldiers, like Hikari Sakuma, clenched their rifles with the thought that the Chinese soldiers would die with them when they came up. However, the sound of artillery did not stop at all. Instead, it became more and more fierce.
Artillery shells weighing tens of kilograms were wrapped in destructive flames and violent shock waves, raising layers of dust and smoke on the position. One after another, the surviving Japanese soldiers were either wailing in the flames or exploding.
was torn into pieces.
About one thousand meters away from Sakuma Hikaru, Lieutenant General Kumagai Keiichi, commander of the Japanese 15th Division, was watching the battle ahead from a hidden observation post with the support of several staff officers and guards. He saw that his position was being destroyed.
The Chinese artillery fire covered it over and over again. Kumagai Keiichi's face was as ugly as the pickles fished out of the sauce vat. He turned to the chief of staff behind him, Colonel Toshiyuki Sataka, and asked: "Sataka-kun, has our artillery regiment moved its position?
?”
Colonel Toshiyuki Sataka bowed and said: "Your Excellency, the commander of the division, news has just arrived that our artillery positions were transferred ten minutes ago and can launch artillery attacks on the ** positions at any time, but..."
"Just what?" Kumagai Keiichi shouted impatiently.
"It's just what the captain of the field artillery regiment, Colonel Fujioka Isamu, said. Now the field artillery regiment only has ten 75-caliber field guns and six type 92 infantry guns. If the artillery fires again, I'm afraid they will be destroyed soon."
People find that there is no guarantee whether they will survive."
"Asshole!" Kumagai Keiichi cursed angrily. He didn't know whether he was scolding the Chinese army on the opposite side or scolding his own artillery regiment for being too disappointing. A week since the war started, his division seemed to be...
It was like falling into a nightmare. It was clear that one's side had the advantage in terms of military strength, but it was always suppressed by the opponent's superior artillery as if it was unable to use its strength.
At the beginning, he always called for support from his own army aviation aircraft, and the Central China Front Army was indeed very powerful. At one time, he sent hundreds of fighter planes to bomb the Chinese army in front. But what Kumagai Keiichi didn't expect was the Chinese army on the opposite side.
Not to be outdone, the army also sent a large number of fighter planes to compete with them for air supremacy. After several days of air battles, after losing seventy or eighty fighter planes, the shadows of Japanese fighter planes were rarely seen in the Nanping sky.
The 15th Division, which had lost its air cover, was like a child without a mother. It had to protect itself from the bombings of Chinese aircraft every day, and the losses were once very serious. Later, the Japanese learned their lesson, and they were surprised to find that the Chinese fighter planes had never been
They did not bomb Nanping City, so they quickly decided to withdraw most of the remaining troops into Nanping City except for a part of the troops to stay in the position. In this way, part of the troops were saved. Although the fifteen and sixty-three
The tens of thousands of people in the division almost overwhelmed the small Nanping City, but both of them endured it. After all, life was more important than face.
However, in the face of the Japanese army's retreat, the Chinese army did not stop attacking. Instead, they continued to attack the Japanese army's peripheral positions outside Nanping City. In order to defend the positions outside the city, Kumagai Keiichi and the commander of the 63rd Division, Nofuke Masatori
They continued to add troops to the outside of the city, just like one brigade after another, sending troops into this bottomless pit. Up to now, their two divisions had filled up nearly four regiments of troops. But they finally felt at ease.
There is also a consolation, because Okamura Neji once personally sent a telegram, asking them to support until the Kwantung Army arrives, and then launch an attack to annihilate the Chinese army on the opposite side. (To be continued.)