As soon as the captain of the 145th Regiment of the 106th Division arrived outside the east gate of Ruichang County, he saw the soldiers serving as forward assault being driven out by the Chinese army like dogs being driven out.
Lieutenant Colonel Yozo Ichikawa, commander of the 145th Regiment, stopped the defeated troops with a sullen face. Seeing their disgraced and embarrassed appearance, he became very angry.
Their troops suffered heavy losses from the 70th Army of the Chinese Army on the Nanxun Line. This time they were replenished with new soldiers, weapons and ammunition, and they could be said to have become stronger again.
According to the intelligence, the 74th Army they were facing now was already a tired army. Logically speaking, it would be easy to eat the enemy in one bite.
But seeing that his subordinates were so unsatisfactory and beaten so miserably as soon as they met the opponent, if other friendly troops saw this, where would he put his old face?
"What's going on?!" Captain Yozo Ichikawa suppressed his anger and loudly asked the captain whose face was covered with blood.
The disgraced captain put his feet back and stood up to the commander Yozo Ichikawa with a heavy bow and explained: "Your Excellency, commander, we were ambushed by the Chinese. They were hiding in the ruins like rats..."
"Where are the tanks assigned to you? Why don't you destroy them!" the commander of the regiment asked loudly.
"They were all blown up by the Chinese army," the captain replied angrily.
"Nani?" Hearing that several tanks had been blown up by the Chinese army, the commander of the regiment, Yozo Ichikawa, could no longer suppress his anger.
"Baga! You stupid pig!"
The angry commander Yozo Ichikawa slapped the captain's ear so hard that he was stunned.
"Hey!" The unlucky captain was beaten, but he didn't dare to dodge, so he carried on with his scalp.
Looking at the smoke billowing Ruichang County and the embarrassed forward soldiers standing there, the commander of the regiment, Yozo Ichikawa, gave the embarrassed captain a hard look.
"Go back and gather the troops!"
"Hey Yi!" The captain began to gather his scarred soldiers as if he had been granted amnesty.
The commander of the regiment, Yozo Ichikawa, wanted to rush into Ruichang County ahead of the rest of the troops, but he did not expect that the unsatisfactory captain not only failed to win, but also lost troops and generals, which made him very angry.
"Absan, quickly clear out the Chinese troops in the city. Our 145th Regiment must be the first to enter the city!"
Wing Commander Ichikawa Yozo gave the order to Battalion Commander Abuda who was standing beside him.
"Hi!" Brigade Captain Abda agreed confidently, but he still requested, having learned from past mistakes: "Captain, I'm requesting artillery support."
Wing Commander Ichikawa Yozo nodded and said: "I will ask the artillery brigade to support you."
"Thank you, Captain." After Captain Abda finished speaking, he turned and walked towards his troops, preparing to launch an attack on Ruichang County.
Just as the 145th Regiment was actively preparing to attack Ruichang County to win its first victory, the commander of the 111th Brigade also arrived at the north gate of Ruichang County. They also encountered an obstruction from the 302nd Regiment, and the attack was repelled.
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"Requesting artillery support!"
Major General Shanchi Heng, commander of the 111th Brigade, did not hesitate at all. Facing the Chinese army that relied on building complexes for defense, he issued a vicious order to prepare to cover the enemy with artillery fire and destroy them.
The 106th Division not only has an artillery unit directly under its command, but in order to strengthen their offensive capabilities, the commander of the 11th Army specially assigned the 52nd Mountain Artillery Regiment to join them in combat. The artillery firepower can be said to be very powerful.
After Yang Ling and the others repelled the attack of the Japanese soldiers, they already expected that the Japanese would definitely launch a crazy revenge. After all, they had fought countless battles with the Japanese, so they retreated one after another to prevent shelling.
"The Japanese are firing artillery!" Just as Yang Ling and the others were evacuating back to prevent the shelling, a brother suddenly shouted.
Countless sharp whistling sounds came from the sky, and artillery shells of various calibers rained down on Ruichang County.
"Boom-boom-boom-"
Continuous explosions sounded like muffled thunder, and the whole city suddenly jumped as if it was experiencing an earthquake, and then black-red flames rose into the sky.
A powerful blast of air surged through the county. In the violent tremors, tiles and masonry flew across, smoke and dust rose, and the entire county was covered in billowing smoke.
The Japanese bombardment was ferocious and intense. The smoke and dust from the explosion enveloped the city and turned it into a gray sky. Plenty of streets were blown into ruins. Rotten wood flew across the air. Windows and wooden doors were blown to pieces.
The small town of Ruichang County was shaken by the ferocious bombardment. Houses collapsed and turned into rubble. Fires burned fiercely and many places were razed to the ground.
Although Yang Ling and the others had expected the Japanese bombardment, they did not expect it to be so violent. They were like small boats swaying in the stormy waves, and could capsize at any time.
The brothers' ears were half deafened by the deafening roar, and the choking smoke drifted over, making them feel tight and uncomfortable.
Facing the covering bombardment of the Japanese 106th Division, the entire Ruichang County was plunged into a sea of smoke and flames, the bustling neighborhoods turned into rubble, and raging fires broke out in many places.
Black smoke pillars rose from all over the city. Looking at the city shaking under the bombardment, the Japanese soldiers outside the city showed no expression at all. They wished they could be blown to pieces.
"Kill Gaigai!"
As soon as the sound of artillery stopped, the captain of the 145th Regiment, Hiroyuki Ichikawa, who was eager to get the first victory, drew his saber. A large group of Japanese soldiers rolled forward like locusts and pounced on the smoke-shrouded Ruichang County.
"Attack!" The commander of the Major General Brigade of the 111th Brigade in the north of the city was not far behind. More than a thousand Japanese soldiers also rushed towards Ruichang County with bayonets drawn, all trying to compete for the top spot.
The Japanese artillery fire stopped, but there was still a loud buzzing in the brothers' ears. In the hazy gunpowder smoke, the city's east and north blocks in front of them had been reduced to rubble by the bombardment.
"You stupid little devil, you really think highly of us." Qin Shou and the others felt lingering fear in their hearts as they looked at the large scorched ruins burning with fire.
If they had run a step slower just now, they might have been like those bombed-down houses that were blown to ashes under the impact of artillery fire.
"Get ready to fight, it's time for the Japs to come up!" The fierce bombardment by the Japs made Yang Ling and the others realize that this battle might not be that easy to fight.
When they first got the task of holding on for two hours, they were relatively optimistic. Now it seems that the 106th Division is all pressing forward, and the pressure on their shoulders has increased sharply.
However, the military orders are overwhelming. They must hold back the Japanese here to cover the transfer of the main force. If the main force is stuck by the 106th Division, the losses will be great. Sometimes, someone must stay and sacrifice to take the overall situation into consideration.
Gunshots soon rang out in the ruins. Those little Japs who thought the Chinese officers and soldiers had been wiped out by artillery fire encountered a head-on attack. The bullets fired from the ruins killed the Japs soldiers in pieces.
Many careless Japanese soldiers paid a high price. When the troops who rushed to support after hearing the gunshots arrived, they had become corpses in a pool of blood.
"Baga! Pursue!" Faced with the Chinese officers and soldiers who fled in one strike, the angry Japanese soldiers began to pursue them in the ruins.
However, Yang Ling and the others did not confront the Japanese head-on. Instead, they relied on the ruins of buildings to fight with the Japanese, constantly eating away at the Japanese soldiers entering the city. They only needed to delay time.