The Japanese major who was holding a telescope and bulging his cheeks was gnashing his teeth like the Chinese soldier on the mountain who was looking at them with a telescope.
It was this Chinese garrison position that was completely cut off and surrounded by an isolated force, but it blocked more than ten attacks by his three infantry squadrons. Whether it was mountain artillery, field artillery or aircraft bombing, the group of Chinese on the top of the mountain seemed to be iron men.
, no matter how high the intensity of the bombing, as soon as the infantry attacks within 200 meters, their gunfire will start again.
The most disgusting thing is that their grenades were thrown down like this from a high position. At least 60% of the more than 100 imperial warriors who died in the battle died on them.
"Nishikawa-kun, are your warriors ready?" the Japanese major put down his binoculars and asked a lieutenant beside him.
"Captain Xinchao, everything is ready." the Japanese lieutenant replied loudly.
"Yo Xi! Tell them that they can start the artillery bombardment. In fifteen minutes, under your command, the infantry squadron will begin the attack." The Japanese major nodded, with a cruel smile on his face: "China people, enjoy what the Imperial Army has prepared for you.
gift!"
.......
The lieutenant's face changed when he heard the sound of the cannon again, "The stupid little devil really wants to play tricks again. Lao Zhang, you two, please pay attention to the position. This time it may be even more powerful."
Before he finished speaking, the screaming shell exploded more than 20 meters away from the trench, but there was no violent explosion as usual, nor was it the usual black smoke, but a burst of yellow smoke.
Green smoke burst out suddenly.
"Gas bombs, everyone, put on gas masks for me." The lieutenant's face suddenly changed and he shouted at the top of his lungs.
As an army that had fought against the Japanese invaders several times on the battlefield in Hebei, the 17th Division was no stranger to the green-smoking bombs of the Japanese army.
Poison gas bombs are a type of bomb often used by the Japanese when they encounter difficult-to-conquer positions. In this type of poisoning, the nose, throat, and eye mucosa will be irritated, accompanied by swelling and pain in the forehead. Under high concentration conditions, it can cause severe headaches.
, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and under the attack of the horrific poisonous gas that eventually led to the death of the poisoned person, the defenders without gas masks had no power to fight back.
The Japanese troops wearing gas masks and rushing to the defenders' positions often only needed to throw a burst of grenades inside and use bayonets to kill them, and there would not be a single living person on the Chinese positions.
This was the last resort used by the Japanese army to attack the enemy, but when faced with the Chinese defenders without gas masks, they were invincible.
In fact, the young lieutenant did not know that in the early stages of the war, the Japanese army, which had basically been able to achieve victory with artillery and aircraft, had not yet used poison gas in large quantities. Even during the defense battle of Taiyuan, whether it was Xinkou in northern Shanxi or
At Niangziguan in eastern Shanxi, the Japanese army that invaded North China encountered unprecedented stubborn resistance, so they began to use poison gas bombs in large quantities.
The number of gas bombs delivered to Jingxing County was as high as five trucks.
The most common gas bomb used by the Japanese army during this period was a gas bomb called "red agent". It was not a dye in the literal sense, but a vomiting poison that was soluble in water, flammable, and explosive.
It is just a commonly used name for the poison gas bombs developed by the Japanese army in an effort to conceal their crimes. It refers to the color. Red is the color of this vomiting poison, hence the name "Red Agent".
It was during the Battle of Shanxi that the Japanese army tasted the sweetness of using poison gas bombs. Red agent gas bombs were widely used by the Japanese army, especially the Japanese army in North China. At present, only artillery-launched gas bombs have been developed. In the near future,
, with the needs of war and the update of technology, the Japanese army also developed four categories of "red agent" weapons: container type, hand-thrown type, launch type, and aerial bomb type.
During the long years of the Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese military and civilians will fight against the ruthless Japanese invaders who are equipped with large quantities of poison gas bombs.
According to incomplete statistics from the "Showa 7-Showa 16 Army Gas Bomb Production Table" from the data seized by the US military from the Japanese Army Arsenal after the war, from 1932 to 1941 (lack of data for 1940), the Japanese Army only
The total output of red agent gas bombs reached 1,784,067 pieces/kit. The huge output and sufficient reserves have become the main guarantee for their indiscriminate abuse on China's battlefields.
It is worth mentioning that although "Red Agent" is far more toxic than similar gases used by the Germans in World War I, compared with mustard gas, Lewis agent and other erosive gases, its killing efficacy is still not in the same order of magnitude as the latter. However, it is more potent.
After the application of erosive poison, complex decontamination operations or continuous heavy rains were required to form an attack channel, which the Japanese army itself could not tolerate.
The reason why the Japanese army loves "Red Agent" is not out of humanitarian concerns, but because this kind of poison is relatively easy to prepare, fill, and deploy. It can be easily used by division poisoning teams and even any individual soldier, and it does not require
There is no skin contamination, and the safety is good. The infantry unit can wear a gas mask and immediately go into the impact under its cover.
Looking back at the National Revolutionary Army, the Red Army and other anti-Japanese armed forces at that time, most of them were not even equipped with the most basic gas masks, so the "red agent" was able to repeatedly commit crimes on the Chinese battlefield. The famous "Beituan Village Massacre"
This is a typical example.
In 1942, in time and space, in order to further strengthen the "security" in the controlled area, the Japanese North China Front Army launched "Operation No. 3" and once again conducted a three-point sweep of our anti-Japanese base areas in central Hebei.
In late May, Lieutenant General Mamoru Iinuma, commander of the 110th Division of the North China Front, issued a divisional combat order, the summary of which is as follows: "1. The division will conduct mopping up operations against the Eighth Route Army in the area between the Hutuo River and the Zhulong River in the north of Anping. The 163rd Infantry Regiment
One group attacked and advanced along the area from Baoding to Xushui.
2. During this operation, each unit must work hard to find fighter planes, verify the attack effect of red tubes (vomiting agent) and green tubes (tear gas) on tunnels, and provide feedback after the operation, provided by Captain Bando, the military doctor of the wing headquarters
Technical support. 3. In accordance with the above order, the 163rd Wing Commander personally led a total of about 1,500 people from the Wing Headquarters, Communications Squadron, First Battalion, Second Battalion, Third Battalion, and Infantry Artillery Squadron to participate in this battle.
."
In the early morning of May 27, the Japanese 163rd Regiment and the First Division of the 110th Regiment took advantage of the darkness to reach outside Beituan Village, Dingzhou, Hebei Province, and completed the encirclement at 5 o'clock in the morning. The 1st Brigade of the 163rd Regiment took the lead and the 11th Squadron of the 110th Regiment.
In response, they launched an attack on this famous anti-Japanese fortress village. The alert Chinese soldiers and civilians immediately put up a tenacious resistance relying on the buildings and tunnel systems in the village, while the Japanese army used wheat fields as cover and dug traffic trenches to press forward step by step.
At about 9:30 a.m., under the cover of infantry artillery, grenade launchers and machine guns, the Japanese army used grenades to clear out peripheral fire points one by one and then broke into the village. There was fierce resistance a moment ago, but now the village was deserted.
The new recruits were surprised, but the experienced veterans and officers knew well that the Chinese must be hiding in the tunnels.
After carefully listening to the underground sounds and doing a lot of trouble, the Japanese soldiers wearing gas masks found several suspected entrances and exits. They swarmly put the 98-type small red tubes they had prepared long ago into them and covered the holes with quilts.
As long as a new hole with smoke appears, several red/green tubes will be thrown down.
The tunnel quickly exploded. Chinese people were squeezing around in the poisonous fog. The weak were smoked to death and trampled to death on the spot. Some people buried their heads and faces in the soil in pain. There were violent gasps and moans everywhere, and from time to time,
There will be gunshots and grenade explosions as wounded Eighth Route Army soldiers commit suicide. When these movements gradually fall silent, what emerges is a hellish scene. Amidst the swirling poisonous smoke and vomit on the ground, there are people lying on the ground with their eyes protruding and crying.
The bodies of Chinese soldiers and civilians were lying around, and many people's chests were dripping with blood from scratches they had made with their own hands. The state of death was extremely horrific.
In a closed space and at a certain dose, the power of the red tube gas bomb can be seen.
This tragedy was only one of the more than 2,000 gas bomb combat records recorded in detail by the Japanese army and made public. Information from the Beituan Village Martyrs Memorial Hall: In the "5·27" tragedy, 224 people from 120 households in Beituan Village were killed.
, 24 households were exterminated, 36 houses were burned down, and thousands of warriors and villagers were killed by poison gas. There are more than 800 people named on the Martyrs Monument.
After World War II, in order to evade responsibility, Japan shamelessly argued that the "red agent" poison gas was "sneeze gas that only makes people unable to aim accurately."
There are only two or three such despicable nations in the world. However, one is located on the side of the East China Sea of the Republic, and the other is located in the jungle of the southwest of the Republic. They are despicable and can reflect each other in this way. The reason why the Chinese nation is great is probably the same as that of the endless years.
It has something to do with dealing with these two despicable neighbors.
However, the fifth company of the 102nd Regiment of the 17th Division, which was hanging alone on the position at this time, was not bad, because Liu Lang had already predicted before the war that the Japanese invaders would definitely use poison gas bombs, not only in the Battle of the Great Wall
As a precedent, in the Battle of Shanxi in the past time and space in my memory, the Japanese invaders used poison gas on a large scale. So when I learned that I came to Niangziguan to participate in the war, in addition to the fact that each member of the independent group had a simple gas mask as standard equipment,
He also carried a large number of gas masks with the army to give to friendly troops.
Not to mention the more than 2,000 men of the 772nd Regiment of the 386 Brigade, the Third Army and the Independent Regiment on the Niangziguan front also sent 1,500 auxiliary units, and the important ally 17th Division, Liu Lang, even sent a whopping 2,500 auxiliary units. However, relatively
Considering that the 17th Division had more than 12,000 men, 2,500 units were not enough.
Zhao Shoushan could only equip the 102nd Regiment on the front line of Snowflake Mountain with 1,000 pairs. The remaining people had prepared towels and water. If they encountered a Japanese gas attack, they would use wet towels to cover their mouths and noses as a precaution.
.If the mountain wind is strong enough, it can usually support the poisonous gas until it dissipates.
As a key position, the fifth company basically only has one manpower, not to mention that it has already suffered a large reduction in personnel. The entire position plus the seriously injured personnel only has less than fifty people, which should be enough. But unfortunately, because
Without enough experience, gas masks had not been distributed and some ammunition were stored together when the battle began. As a result, they were hit by a Japanese mountain artillery shell, causing the ammunition to explode. Eighty percent of the gas masks were destroyed, leaving only 28
It was intact and was picked up by the soldiers and placed in the newly dug anti-gun cave.
But now, there are thirty-four of them, and there are eight seriously injured people.
What should we do? For the first time, hesitation appeared on the young lieutenant's decisive face.