Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 111 Yoshika Ryosuke's Desperate Gamble

"boom!"

A 70mm infantry artillery shell flew over from the opposite bank and accurately hit the heavy machine gun fire point of the defenders, instantly blowing a Maxim heavy machine gun into parts. Zhao Tianci twitched in pain. The Japanese "dwarf" was too threatening.

The Third Battalion had only two Type 20 mortars that could threaten them. He had already instructed the machine gun company to keep a close eye on the enemy's infantry artillery and find a way to knock them down.

The mortar platoon did not disappoint him. Before the Japanese could get proud of themselves, two 82mm shells flew over Yunzaobang from 1 km away and slammed heavily next to the infantry gun, also blowing the infantry gun into the sky. More than a dozen artillerymen were either killed or injured.

Compared with the Japanese Type 159 90mm mortar weighing 20 kg, the Min-67 weighs only kg, which is much lighter and more maneuverable. After firing, you can just pick it up and run.

Therefore, this artillery is very practical and is the only heavy firepower that the National Army can use. It poses a great threat to the Japanese heavy machine guns, infantry guns, and mortars.

After destroying two infantry guns of the 101st Regiment in succession, the Japanese finally became much more obedient and no longer dared to openly bombard the defenders' positions. Both sides engaged in "guerrilla warfare", launching surprise attacks and then retreating after the battle.

After the heavy firepower of the Japanese was tied down, the defenders' light and heavy machine guns showed their power again, suppressing the Japanese near the river bank. Casualties increased sharply, and the river bank was littered with yellow corpses.

The strength of the defenders exceeded Colonel Ghana's expectations. He thought it was just a formality, but he didn't expect that they would be held tightly by the Chinese, whom he despised. He was instantly embarrassed and immediately gave a death order to the attacking troops. The Japanese went crazy and even they were afraid of themselves.

In another time and space, Colonel Kano died in a bloody battle, becoming the first commander of the 101st Division to die in battle after its formation.
The reason why he was beaten to death was related to his arrogance. He could not accept that the 101st Regiment was blocked by the Chinese.

After receiving the order from the regiment headquarters, the captain who led the charge drove the Japanese to charge madly towards the defending positions, without caring about casualties at all;
Their idea was to scare off the defenders with their momentum, but the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment didn't buy it at all. They fought the devils to the death, killing them until the devils' blood flowed like a river. The two sides entered into a brutal war of attrition...

The 101st Division's first attack lasted more than two hours, and hand-to-hand combat even broke out at the most critical moment. Thousands of soldiers from the th and th Regiments relied on desperate fighting to hold their positions, with thousands of casualties.
The two attacking regiments of the Japanese were severely damaged. Not counting the wounded, there were nearly a thousand corpses left behind. Neither side gained an advantage. The Tax Police Corps, as the defending side, suffered fewer casualties, with an exchange ratio of about 1 to 1.5, which is already very rare.

"Bakayaluo, you are a bunch of rubbish. There is no such thing as a war without casualties. Keep attacking!"

After receiving the casualty figures, Lieutenant General Ito just cursed angrily and ordered the troops to continue the attack. In his eyes, the soldiers were just a group of numbers in the Yasukuni ghost toilet. What he wanted was to break through the defenders' positions.

The Japanese army attacked again, but Sun Liren did not intend to give in. He fought back with all his might. The Second Detachment also refused to give up an inch of territory and killed people until the blood flowed like a river and the ground was littered with corpses. The number of casualties in the army increased sharply. In just one day, he sent reinforcements to the 4th and 5th Regiments twice, and he only had a battalion of reserves left in his hands.

At the Ninth Division Headquarters, when the 101st Division's devils retreated like a tide again, Yoshika Ryosuke put down his telescope with a solemn look, and then said to Nakagawa Hiro:

"Mr. Nakagawa, the 101st Division's warriors are not weak in attack, and their fighting spirit is not much inferior to that of the 5th Division, but the Chinese have held on. I now take back my evaluation of the Anti-Smuggling Team of the Tax Police Corps. They can be regarded as China's first-class elite. None of the German-equipped divisions are fools." "Your Excellency, the Chinese German-equipped division is as powerful as a brigade of the Empire. Fortunately, there are only 10 elite divisions like them, less than people. If one is killed, there will be one less;
The Empire has 17 common-sense divisions, and special divisions like the 101st are comparable in combat power to the two German-equipped divisions. The Empire is not afraid of them at all if they fight with attrition."

"Mr. Nakagawa, you are right to have such a pragmatic idea. The Chinese have put all their efforts into training and equipping five German-equipped divisions. The purpose of the Battle of Songhu is to force the Chinese to fight a decisive battle with the Imperial Army.

As long as hundreds of thousands of Chinese elite troops are annihilated or consumed, China will no longer have German-equipped divisions, let alone available troops. A brilliant civilization will always struggle before destruction, and the German-equipped divisions are their last glory. "

"Mr. Division Commander, your words are always so philosophical. China's German-equipped divisions are like shooting stars. This is their last beauty.

Only the eternal sun of the empire is the master of the universe. The glory of the Chinese people in the East is about to become history. It is the honor of our generation of soldiers to be able to end an old empire with our own hands!"

Lieutenant General Yoshika had enough of his pretense, and then he said to Nakagawa Hiro:
"Mr. Nakagawa, the 101st Division has used up all its strength. It's time for the Military Division to take the stage. Let the warriors of the 101st Division see what a permanent division of the Empire is like!"

Nakagawa Hiro took the order excitedly. He was confident in capturing the 88th Division's position. They had previously dispatched one regiment, but this time they would send out all their forces. The three regiments would launch attacks from the left, center, and right directions simultaneously. He did not believe that the thousands of Chinese people on the other side of the river could stop them.

Their intelligence department had obtained information about the troop deployment of the defenders. The defenders were not the entire 88th Division, but the 264th Brigade, 5 men;

After several days of fierce fighting, even if the defenders were reinforced, they would have at most 4 people, while their three infantry regiments had as many as 3 people. Among them, the 19th Infantry Regiment was a fresh force participating in the war for the first time. They were responsible for the attack in the center, and the 7th and 35th Regiments assisted from both wings. The 264th Brigade could be wiped out in one battle!
When he thought about annihilating the 264th Brigade and cutting off an arm of the 88th Division, Nakagawa Hiro was so excited that he wanted to go on the field himself. For them, this was the best era, and conquering China was the lifelong dream of each of them...

"Boom boom boom..."

The artillery preparation of the 264th Field Artillery Regiment began. Dozens of light and heavy artillery pieces madly poured shells at the th Brigade, row after row, as if the shells were free!
"Damn you Yoshika Ryosuke, if you have the guts just come over and fight me in a one-on-one duel. What's the point of using cannonballs to hit people?"

Faced with the Japanese's unscrupulous bombardment, Yue Qianli could only vent his anger and give them a middle finger. The deputy regiment commander who was watching on the side was speechless and thought that Yue was a double standard. He didn't show any martial ethics when he used a group of rocket launchers to attack the Japanese, but now he was shouting that he wanted to fight them in a duel. The Japanese were not stupid.

Of course, he was not stupid, and he could not say that. Captain Yue was not very tolerant, so he could only say what he liked:
"Old Yue, Yoshika Ryosuke is a kendo master, and he's only a crappy ninth dan. I heard that you've been practicing martial arts since you were a kid, and you've never lost a fight since you came from the mysterious mountain gate. If the two of you fight, I'll definitely bet on you to win.

If you kill the old devil Jijia with one blow, we will win this battle!"

(End of this chapter)