Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 139: Center Blossom Tactics

In the outer positions, the crossfire formed by two Type 92 heavy machine guns blocked the advance of the third platoon of the first company of the second battalion.

The third platoon charged twice but was beaten back each time, resulting in more than a dozen casualties. This made the platoon leader very angry, and he immediately asked the company commander for fire support.

In order to deal with the heavy firepower of the Japanese, the Second Battalion transferred the mortars to the companies, with two mortars in each company. Soon, the two mortars were reinforced and established a firing position at a distance of about 1 kilometer.

The Japanese heavy machine guns were firing vigorously when two mortar shells fell from the sky. One of the shells landed on the heavy machine gun position on the left wing, immediately blowing away the Type 92 heavy machine gun on the left wing. The artillerymen were either killed or injured.

The effective range of the Type 20 mortar is close to 3 kilometers, and the hit rate is very high at a distance of about 1 kilometer, making it the nemesis of the Japanese heavy machine guns;
The third platoon leader saw that one of the enemy's heavy machine guns had been destroyed, and shouted excitedly:

"Great job, artillery brother, fuck him hard!"

The artillery brothers seemed to have heard his words. Two more shells fell from the sky, destroying the machine guns on the right wing. The third platoon leader roared:
"Brothers, charge!"

Dozens of officers and soldiers from the third platoon climbed up from the ruins and rushed to the enemy's position like a tidal wave;

The Japanese infantry opened fire to block the attack, and soldiers in the charging troops were shot and fell from time to time. After losing the suppression of two heavy machine guns, the Japanese firepower was obviously weakened, and they could not stop the fierce attack of the third row.

After the adjustment, the third platoon had 6 squads, plus the platoon leader and the signalman, a total of 80 people. After the previous battle, more than 20 people had been killed or injured, including 13 deaths and serious injuries. The lightly wounded were still fighting;

The defending force consisted of a small team, reinforced by two Type 92 heavy machine guns. It was a key defensive stronghold of the Japanese.

After the heavy machine gun was destroyed, there were only 30 infantrymen left, and they were soon broken through by the third platoon, and the two sides fought each other;
There was no need for any tricks in close combat. Although the 527th Regiment gathered a large number of defeated soldiers, those who survived were all veterans. After becoming familiar with the tactical style of the 527th Regiment, their combat effectiveness increased rapidly, and they were able to fight back and forth with the Japanese from the th Regiment.

The third company had superior manpower, firepower, and morale, and quickly gained the upper hand in the close combat, with the casualty ratio on both sides being almost one to one.

As the number of Japanese soldiers on the battlefield decreased, the third platoon became more and more courageous and was about to wipe out all the Japanese soldiers when the sound of artillery shells breaking through the air was heard;
The third platoon leader had just knocked down a Japanese soldier when several mortar shells fell from the sky and landed right next to him. The third platoon leader and several soldiers fell in a pool of blood and died heroically.

Major Takase launched an indiscriminate bombardment on the positions occupied by the third platoon in a frenzy, causing nearly half of the third platoon to suffer casualties. The platoon leader and more than 20 soldiers died. This second lieutenant platoon leader, who graduated from the first regiment of the eleventh class of the Whampoa Military Academy, only fought in Songhu for more than three months.

The devil's frenzy could not stop the attack of the 527th Regiment. The surviving soldiers of the third platoon, led by the second squad leader, broke into the enemy's deep position.
The second and first platoons then broke through the Japanese defense line and charged into the headquarters of the Takase Battalion.

Lieutenant Colonel Takase rushed towards the third platoon with his command knife raised high, but was shot down by the second squad leader and fell unwillingly in the ruins;
After a melee, the First Company of the Second Battalion wiped out all the Japanese troops in Takase's Battalion, killing more than a hundred people including the battalion commander Captain Takase.

The first company also paid a heavy price, especially the third platoon, which was the main attacking force. Only 27 people survived, and all of them were injured. Of the seven squad leaders, only the second and fifth squad leaders were left.

After destroying the Takase Battalion's headquarters, the Takase Battalion, which had been holding on to the periphery, collapsed completely. The companies of the Second Battalion took the opportunity to separate and surround the remaining Japanese troops, and then defeated them one by one.

In front of the headquarters building, the frenzied Japanese detonated explosives in the tunnel, but their plan was disrupted by the attack of the main force of the 527th Regiment; Takahashi Squadron detonated hastily, but the effect was not very good, and it only collapsed the gate. Most of the two squads guarding there were killed or wounded, and a heavy machine gun was also destroyed.

The Araki Battalion and the Second Battalion, which were preparing to launch a general attack, were devastated by the rocket artillery group, with hundreds of casualties;
The general offensive originally scheduled for 7 o'clock had to be brought forward. The periphery was filled with gunfire and it was impossible to break out. They now had only one way left, which was to attack the headquarters building with all their might, and then hold on and wait for reinforcements. This might help preserve the lifeblood of the Seventh Regiment.

Li Jie also saw the intention of the devils. The current battlefield situation was that they were besieged by hundreds of devils, while the main force of the regiment attacked the defense line of Gaoze Battalion from the outside.

The large encirclement was within the small encirclement. The first and third companies of the first battalion, under the command of Duan Yulin, cooperated with the main force of the regiment in combat, but they were also blocked outside by the Takase Battalion.

The Takase Battalion was the most well-organized battalion of the 800th Regiment. Before the general attack, it had about people, and they were fighting stubbornly relying on the ruins of fortifications.

There were still more than 400 people left in the headquarters building, including Lieutenant Zheng Pingru, a liaison officer of the Blue Shirts Society's Operations Department. She had never seen such a brutal battle before.

Li Jie was on guard against this "female spy". Even though he was an elite member of the National Government's Central Army, he was still very disgusted with the Blue Shirts Society's entry. Naturally, a powerful weapon like a rocket launcher had to be hidden.

Zheng Pingru did not seem to sense Li Jie's disgust for her. Seeing the Japanese soldiers rushing towards her in large numbers, she picked up a rifle and said to Li Jie:

"Captain Li, from now on I am just an ordinary fighter. You give the orders."

Li Jie snorted coldly:
"You volunteered to join the battle, so you can't tell on me afterwards."

After he finished speaking, he immediately gave the order to open fire. The building immediately opened fire. Dozens of light and heavy machine guns and two or three hundred long and short guns fired dense rain of bullets at the Japs.

With no way to retreat, the Japanese soldiers fearlessly rushed towards the collapsed gate. This was their only way to enter the building and their only hope.

Zheng Pingru also joined in. Although Li Jie wanted to kill her with the help of the devils, he couldn't do it too obviously without Yue Qianli's hint.
I thought Zheng Pingru was just pretending, but I didn't expect that this woman was actually a ruthless person and her shooting skills were very accurate. Not long after she went up, she knocked down two Japanese soldiers, one of whom was an officer.

Now Li Jie couldn't do anything to her. Even though the "spies" of the Blue Shirts Society were annoying, they were also sincere in wanting to kill the devils, and those who could kill the devils were all comrades.

Li Jie took off his helmet and handed it to her. Zheng Pingru took it and put it on her head without hesitation, then continued to fight.

When the Japanese soldiers swarmed towards the gate, a big man lit the explosive pack used in the flying thunder cannon and threw it into the group of Japanese soldiers. The violent explosion knocked down more than a dozen Japanese soldiers.

Even Zheng Pingru, who was fighting on the second floor, was shocked to the point of almost vomiting blood. She had not expected that this unprepossessing explosive pack could be so effective in killing the Japanese, so she also went to find a big firecracker to play with. Li Jie felt numb watching this and thought to himself, is this still a coquettish and shy woman?

He decided to stay away from these Blue Shirts Society agents in the future, and be ruthless to his own people as well as to the Japanese!
(End of this chapter)