The small group of soldiers at the front of the Japanese soldiers could already see with their naked eyes the field fortifications built by the officers and soldiers of the Northern Jiangsu Guerrilla Corps hidden in the fields.
On this preset battlefield, the officers and soldiers of the Northern Jiangsu Corps and tens of thousands of civilians have been busy for so long, relying on the river network, hills and fields to build countless communication trenches, anti-tank trenches, foxholes, hiding holes, etc. Field fortifications.
In the series of fierce and bloody battles, the Chinese *** team has already fought. It is no longer like the warlords in the past who only built some simple single-line trenches during the melee. The Japanese can tear through the defense line with a single charge.
Now Yang Ling and the Jiangsu Northern Corps have built a sufficiently deep defense system in a vast area of dozens of kilometers with Jieshou as the center, reaching Gaoyou in the south, Xinghua in the east, and Baoying in the north.
Although the third guerrilla battalion led by Shen Biao had already exchanged fire with the Japanese at the front, in many areas at the rear, groups of civilians were still braving the severe cold and building bunkers and fortifications overnight.
The Chinese people are fighting bloody battles on the front line and are ready to dedicate their lives to this land and this nation.
Although the tens of thousands of civilians in the rear cannot go to the front lines and fight to the death with the Japs, they are still working hard to save the survival of the country and the nation in their own way. Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country, which is vividly reflected here.
Japanese soldier Suzuki Takeshi was holding his rifle, following his companions in front of him, stepping on the slippery ground, crossing puddles, and leaping forward alternately with his body bent.
The squad he was in had lost twenty-five people in the guerrilla shelling just now, and now there are only twenty members in the entire squad that still maintain combat effectiveness. The other companions were stranded on the other side of the river due to minor or serious injuries.
Suzuki Takeshi has always felt that the Chinese people represented weakness and incompetence. Wherever the Imperial Japanese Army went, they always fled.
But since last night, he has inadvertently changed his view of the Chinese troops and soldiers. He realized that this is not a one-sided battle like before, and may be more cruel than imagined.
Because he had not rested well, and his nerves were always tense like a steel wire, Suzuki Yi's steps seemed a bit heavy, and he rushed forward at a trot, which made him even out of breath. He wanted to stop and take off the kettle to take a sip of water. Moisten a dry throat.
However, the new sergeant commander did not issue a stop order. They could only dodge and advance forward, after all, the Chinese army's defense line was blocked.
The battlefield was very quiet. Although the sandbag bunkers where the Chinese troops had built fortifications and the trenches camouflaged with grass could be seen with the naked eye, not a single Chinese officer or soldier was seen.
Apart from the occasional orders and gestures from the commanders at all levels of the Japanese troops who had previously rushed in, there was only the whistling cold wind and heavy breathing around them.
This feeling of deathly silence gave Suzuki Takeshi a strong sense of crisis. The closer he got to the camouflaged field fortifications, the stronger the sense of crisis became.
Suzuki Yi knew that behind those hidden field fortifications, there must be countless guns pointed at them.
Because the Chinese officers and soldiers lacked bullets, they always fired at a very close distance between the two sides, and then rushed up to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Recalling that when he was collecting corpses earlier, Suzuki Yi couldn't help but feel frightened when he saw dozens of transparent skeletons stabbed all over his companions.
He didn't understand why the Chinese troops, which had always been weak and vulnerable, suddenly became so brave, but he knew that if he didn't go all out, he might die on this unfamiliar battlefield and never come back.
"The Jinjin detachment deployed on the left wing, and the Xiaoda detachment built a position on the slope over there..."
In the midst of Suzuki Yi's random thoughts, the forward team in attack formation slowed down and the team leader's brief command was faintly heard in the cold wind.
The entire squad that opened the skirmisher line quickly deployed on the spot according to the order, seizing various favorable positions. However, it was only 300 meters away from the Chinese position and was already within shooting range.
Suzuki Yi followed his team and leaned sideways against a stubble. Panting heavily, he quickly lay down, raised his rifle, and pointed it at the squadron position in front.
The guerrillas did not fire because the Japanese soldiers entered a range of 300 meters. Behind that position, there was silence and deathly silence.
Suzuki Yi held the rifle and took aim for a long time, but did not lock the target. There were dense footsteps behind him, and he slightly turned his head and glanced behind him.
Two more teams spread out about a hundred meters behind them, and figures in khaki cotton uniforms spread out behind shallow pits and mounds of soil.
Seeing the troops following behind, Suzuki Yi's tense face relaxed a little. No matter what was waiting for them behind the field fortifications, with so many of them, they could tear apart the defense line as long as they rushed in.
The semaphore soldier of the forward team hid behind a slope, turned around and shouted a set of semaphore requests for artillery fire.
The Type 92 infantry guns and mortars transported by packhorses have also been transported across the river. The soldiers of the artillery squadron are busy temporarily assembling shields, barrels, etc. on a temporary artillery position with hard soil.
Infantry guns are fixed with auxiliary hoes.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Only a few minutes later, there was a sharp sound of breaking through the air overhead, and high-explosive bombs roared towards various field fortifications that were suspected to be Chinese positions ahead.
Seeing the artillery launch, the Japanese infantry who had moved to the front seemed a little excited. Under such artillery fire, the Chinese troops would definitely be blown away and fled. They suddenly felt that victory was not that difficult.
"Boom! Boom!"
Groups of mushroom clouds rose from those suspected positions, and the black smoke was like that fired by anti-aircraft guns, lingering and thick.
Suzuki Yi poked half of his head out from behind the soil beams and looked forward, seeing countless sandbags and logs used to build fortifications being thrown away under the bombardment.
The silt and sand fragments were mixed with the hot fragments and splashed radially in all directions. In an instant, the front was enveloped in flames and thick smoke, and the billowing wall of smoke obscured their sight.
"The Chinese must have been blown to pieces." A Japanese soldier put his rifle on his shoulder and muttered excitedly.
"No one could survive such an intensive bombardment..."
The Japanese soldiers who rushed into charging distance looked particularly happy, and the tremors from the earth wiped away all their fatigue.
The Japanese artillery squadron carried a lot of artillery shells. As if they were deliberately retaliating, they carpet bombed the front line of the squadron to show their power.
In such intensive bombing, even the stones, not to mention living people, were blown to pieces. Suzuki Yi could already feel the scorching waves of air sweeping from the front.
"Kill Gai Gai!"
As soon as the ear-splitting roar ended, the Japanese squad leader raised his sharp saber high and swung it fiercely forward.
The Japanese soldiers who had reached the predetermined charging distance saw the saber swung forward, and then suddenly screamed like wild beasts, and rushed towards the thick smoke that had not dispersed like a tide.