The blood of the Anti-Japanese War stained the mountains and rivers The first thousand three hundred and forty-nine chapters fierce battle on the periphery
The first thousand three hundred and forty-nine chapters fierce battle on the periphery
The Chinese officers and soldiers of the 18th Army fought desperately with the Japanese on the periphery. The Japanese suffered heavy losses for a day and left countless corpses, but they were unable to shake the Chinese defenders' position.
As night fell, the Japs who had been fighting all day also stopped, and the Japs' vanguard troops who had suffered heavy losses had to withdraw to replenish themselves in preparation for the next day's attack.
Luo Wenguang, the commander of the 18th Division, personally rushed to the scorched earth regiment positions to inspect and boost the morale of the officers and soldiers.
Although the 18th Division held its positions everywhere, there were indiscriminate bombings from Japanese planes in the sky, bombardment by Japanese heavy artillery and tank attacks on the ground, causing more than half of the casualties in each unit.
On the Tumenya position, stepping on the scorched earth mixed with broken limbs and broken bodies, the commander of the 18th Division, Luo Wenguang, felt particularly heavy. If the fight continued like this, their division would probably be wiped out in less than two days.
"Master's seat!"
Pi Xuanyou, commander of the 54th Regiment, heard that division commander Luo Wenguang was visiting the front line in person, and hurriedly brought several battalion commanders to greet him.
Division Commander Luo Wenguang looked at these subordinates who were covered in blood and their uniforms were in tatters. He couldn't help but frowned. How long had it been before they were beaten like this?
"As officers, the safety of the entire regiment depends on you. If you don't stay in the command post to direct the battle, how could you end up like this?"
Division Commander Luo Wenguang practices that everyone performs his or her duties. In his view, as a commander, he should stay at his command position during battle and not fight like an ordinary soldier.
"The master didn't know anything. The Japanese offensive was too fierce. A group of Japanese soldiers actually hit my command post. I led the regiment guard platoon to kill them." Regiment leader Pi Xuanyou hurriedly explained.
Division Commander Luo Wenguang nodded and his expression calmed down: "Well, I won't hold you accountable this time, but you have to remember that you are officers now, and you have to keep an eye on the overall situation. You are responsible for commanding the battle. Don't rush in and fight rashly.
bayonet."
"Yes!" Seeing that the division commander Luo Wenguang did not pursue the case, the regiment leader Pi Xuanyou and several battalion commanders breathed a sigh of relief.
Their 18th Division belongs to the 18th Army, and their military discipline is extremely strict, because they give priority to replenishing equipment and soldiers every time, and other troops are jealous of them.
Although the main force looks majestic, they dare not relax at all times, because the friendly forces will be jealous and the enemy will focus on them.
"What are the casualties of the troops?" Division Commander Luo Wenguang quickly changed the subject.
Regiment commander Pi Xuanyou replied in a somewhat serious tone: "More than half of each battalion was lost, and the casualties were heavy."
"The little devils didn't get any advantage from us, and we killed and injured almost a thousand people." A battalion commander added.
Hearing that the casualties of the troops were so high, the division commander Luo Wenguang's expression became particularly solemn. It seems that this battle is not as simple as imagined. This is the vanguard of a Japanese division. If they all come over, I'm afraid it will be another one.
A bloody battle.
"How's the morale of the troops? Can they keep up with the ammunition replenishment?"
"Reporting back to the teacher, although the brothers suffered heavy casualties, their morale is high, and the ammunition can be replenished. However, the Japanese have brought tanks, and the brothers lack weapons to deal with the tanks, so they can only use cluster grenades to explode them."
Luo Wenguang thought for a while and said, "Well, let's go to the oil depot to get some oil and make a batch of Molotov cocktails. That would be a good thing to deal with tanks."
After the regiment leader Pi Xuanyou heard this, he immediately turned around and gave instructions to a staff officer, who went to prepare.
"Reinforcements from several of our group armies are fighting bloody battles with the Japs outside. They are about to attack us. We must resist and don't let others underestimate us!" Division Commander Luo Wenguang warned.
"Don't worry, Master, our troops are here! The little Japs want to take Yichang easily, but even if I agree, I won't agree with my gun!" the regiment leader Pi Xuanyou said fiercely.
"Okay, I feel relieved with your words." After hearing the assurance from the group leader Pi Xuanyou, Luo Wenyuan nodded.
"You seize the time to rest and repair the trenches. I will go to the 53rd Regiment's position to take a look."
After seeing that there was no problem with the 54th Regiment, Luo Wenyuan said hello again, and led his entourage straight to the 53rd Regiment's position under the cover of night.
When Luo Wenguang, the commander of the Chinese 18th Division on the outskirts of Yichang, inspected various positions on the front line overnight and encouraged the positions, the Japanese were not idle either.
Major General Akira Nara, the leading force of the Japanese 13th Division, the commander of the 26th Brigade, also arrived at the front after dark and quickly convened a meeting with officers above the captain level.
The Japanese 26th Brigade was under the jurisdiction of the 58th Infantry Regiment and the 116th Infantry Regiment. However, due to their insufficient firepower, they were unable to undertake critical tasks, so the division and regiment headquarters allocated a group of additional troops to them.
At this moment, in addition to the two infantry regiments that formed the vanguard with them, there were also a squadron of the 1st Cavalry Regiment affiliated to the division, the 1st Division of the 14th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, the 3rd Mortar Battalion, and the Field Vasti Regiment.
The 13th Squadron, the First Regiment of the Independent Engineer Regiment, and a tank squadron can be said to have strong combat capabilities.
However, the failure of the daytime attack made the brigade commander, Major General Akira Nara, very angry. With so many troops, they failed to break through the outer defense line of the Yichang defenders.
Now not only the main force of their division was marching through the night, but the 3rd and 39th divisions were also rushing over from the other two lines of defense.
If they can't break through the defense before the other two divisions arrive, then their 13th Division will have no place to put their face.
After all, they are also a Category A division with 30,000 soldiers. If they can't take down a city guarded by a Chinese army, then they can commit suicide by disemboweling themselves.
"The Tumenya and Yaqueling positions held by the Chongqing Army have steep terrain. Their soldiers resisted tenaciously, and we suffered heavy losses."
Facing the grim-faced brigade commander, the commander of the Japanese 58th Infantry Regiment, who was in charge of the attack during the day, had to take the initiative to explain.
"As a soldier of the Japanese Empire, don't you even dare to take responsibility for the defeat?"
Watching the commander of the 58th Regiment attribute all the responsibility for the defeat to the terrain and the bravery of the Chinese officers and soldiers, this made the brigade commander Major General Nara very dissatisfied.
"What I need now are warriors who can tear through the Chongqing Army's defense line, not people who just know how to shirk responsibility." Major General Nara, the brigade commander, said after taking a look at the commander of the 58th Regiment.
"Commander of the brigade, please give us another good chance!" The captain of the 58th Regiment suddenly stood up and bowed heavily to the commander of the brigade, Major General Nara.
"I can give you a chance, but the 3rd and 39th Divisions are here in an instant, and I cannot tolerate the honor of the 13th Division being taken away by others!"
"Let your troops retreat and rest." After the brigade commander, Major General Nara, finished speaking, he looked at the captain of the 116th Infantry Regiment next to him.
"I give you half a day, can you capture the Chongqing Army's position facing you?"
The captain of the 116th Infantry Regiment hurriedly stepped forward and said: "As long as we have the cooperation of the aviation unit and the heavy artillery unit, two hours will be enough."