The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 476 Kuangkou Position
At noon that day, at Kuangkou, the main position of the Fifth Town.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM" Amid the violent explosions of artillery shells, Wu Peifu shook off the dirt on his body and stood up from the trench.

Starting from last night, the Japanese and Russian troops, under the cover of heavy artillery fire, launched a fierce attack on the Fifth Regiment's position in Kuangkou. According to Wu Peifu's estimation, the enemy hit at least 200 cannons, including some heavy artillery with a range of more than 100 mm.

Fortunately, since Wu Peifu arrived here, he immediately ordered his troops to dig a large number of anti-artillery holes on the reverse slopes of various positions, so the loss of ammunition and personnel was not very large.

However, the casualties on the hilltop positions where there was no escape were increasing sharply, and the casualties on almost every position were shocking.

"Commander Zhen, how many cannons do the foreign devils have? I feel like they have more and more cannons. If they keep fighting like this, the First Brigade may not be able to hold on. Should we replace them with the Second Brigade?"

His chief of staff, Li Baihui, ran up from behind the trench, stuck his head out of the trench, observed the enemy situation below the mountain through a telescope, and shouted loudly with lingering fear.

Wu Peifu deployed the first and second brigades at Jiziwan in Kuangkou, and the third brigades were responsible for guarding the two important locations of Dongda and Xida.

The first group guarded the several hills where the narrowest road in the middle of the bend was located, and the second group served as the reserve.

Although the First Brigade had withstood the day and night attacks of the Japanese and Russian forces on the mountain and suffered heavy casualties, Wu Peifu still refused to let the Second Brigade, as a reserve force, take over the position.

"Listen to the cannon fire from the north. It's getting louder and closer. The Marshal is leading the second and fourth regiments to attack us soon. How can the foreign devils not be anxious? They are probably using all their cannons to deal with us. If we don't open up this gap, the foreign devils can't take their cannons away, and there's no point in keeping them."

Wu Peifu spat out the dirt in his mouth, then continued to lean over to Li Baihui's ear and said, "What are the casualties of the First Brigade? How long can they hold on?"

The chief of staff put away the telescope and said with a bitter face, "The First Brigade has suffered more than 3,000 casualties. Wu Zijia said he can still hold on, but I know that he has already sent all the reserve troops."

Wu Peifu looked at the piles of corpses of the Japanese and Russian soldiers at the foot of the mountain and said, "Chief of Staff, the reserve troops must not be used unless it is absolutely necessary. I am worried that the foreign devils will abandon their baggage and escape to Henan."

Li Baihui asked in confusion, "Town Commander, the Third Town has already deployed defenses in the south. The foreign devils have lost their cannons. Even if they don't go through us, it will be difficult for them to break through the Third Town's position!"

Wu Peifu shook his head and said, "Although the terrain in Dongda and Xida is much more rugged than here, and it is blocked by the Third Brigade, there are still many small roads around. If the foreign devils get anxious and go into the mountains, it will take a lot of effort for us to find and destroy them in the mountains, and some of them will always escape."

"So, the Second Association should not act rashly. If necessary, they must intercept the foreign devils."

Wu Peifu added, "As long as the foreign devils abandon their cannons, we will not be afraid of them with our mortars. Now we have to grit our teeth and hold on. Once the Marshal leads his men to attack, the foreign devils will not be able to hold on and will definitely abandon their cannons and escape across the river. Then the Second Brigade can charge out and chase the foreign devils all the way, and finally cooperate with the Third Brigade in Hezhang to completely eliminate them."

Seeing that Wu Peifu disagreed to transfer the Second Brigade as the reserve force, Li Baihui said again.

"Town Commander, how about we contact the Third Town and ask them to transfer some troops to support us?" Wu Peifu shook his head. "In order to capture Hezhang as soon as possible, the Third Town and the Guards suffered heavy casualties. Beyond us, the river valley to the south is very wide. It will not be easy for the remaining 30,000 people to stop the foreign devils."

Wu Peifu suddenly asked Li Baihui, "How is their reverse slope position arranged?"

Li Baihui sighed and said, "It has been arranged long ago, but Wu Zijia is a little worried that if the top of the mountain is occupied by the foreign devils, he will not be able to take it back, so he dare not use it."

Wu Peifu exhaled and said, "Tell him to retreat to the reverse slope immediately. Only the main position here can hold the top of the mountain."

The main position where Wu Peifu was located was not only the highest, but also had a steeper mountain. Although the Japanese-Russian coalition forces continued to attack the main position, their main purpose was to contain the firepower on the main position. Their main attack direction was the lower auxiliary position to the north of the main position.

If the coalition forces occupied that place, they could not only launch an attack on the main position along the mountain ridge, but also go around to the rear of the main position. Once that place was lost, the main position would certainly not be able to be defended, so the auxiliary position must not be lost. This was also the reason why Wu Zijia placed his headquarters there.

Amid the deafening roar of artillery fire, the auxiliary position on the top of the mountain was blown into pieces and was completely covered in smoke and dust.

At the back of the auxiliary position, only thirty meters away from the top of the mountain, Wu Zijia, the commander of the First Brigade, with gauze wrapped around his head that was still oozing blood, squatted in the trench with a rifle with a bayonet in his hand, and shouted viciously to his commander.

"Big Li, even though we all graduated from the Beiyang Military Academy and were rescued from the foreign devils by the Marshal, if we can't retake the top of the mountain this time, I won't forgive you!"

The commander known as Big Li, who also had a bandage on his left arm, raised his hand and threw his hat to the ground and shouted.

"Assistant Commander, if we cannot retake the mountaintop position, you don't need to deal with it. I will punish it myself."

Wu Zijia nodded, "Okay, I believe you. Remember what the Marshal said. When the Russians rush to the position, fire without conscience. Then you lead your men to rush up. Be quick. When you get close to the top of the mountain, throw a bunch of grenades at them, and then fight your way up the mountain."

"The mortars at the foot of the mountain will help you intercept the Russians' subsequent assault troops."

Big Li nodded and said, "Assistant Commander, don't worry, the foreign devils' artillery has stopped, and they will be coming up soon."

Whether they were the Japanese or Russian troops, they all knew that they had reached a critical moment of life and death. When the artillery bombarded the positions on the mountain, the infantry would climb up the mountain, which was only a hundred meters away from the top of the mountain filled with smoke. As soon as they stopped running and attacking, they would shout and rush up.

Big Li stood up and waved his hand, saying, "Brothers, the foreign devils are coming, prepare grenades for me."

"Conscienceless cannon, target the top of the mountain, prepare to fire!"

(End of this chapter)