Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 153: The Gone Cavalry Era

When machine guns appeared, the nomadic peoples were left with nothing but singing and dancing. World War I was the last glory of the cavalry. There was only one reason why the cavalry group still had a stage in the Eastern battlefield: the firepower of the Chinese troops was too weak.
Colonel Morishita was unlucky. They encountered the "firepower monster" of the 527th Regiment. Light machine guns were equipped to the squads, heavy machine guns to the companies, with 6 light machine guns in a platoon, and mortars equipped to the battalion level. When hundreds of machine guns were used together, the Morishita Corps, which had lost its speed, became the target of slaughter.

That’s right, slaughter!
When the cavalry of the Morishita Regiment raised their sabers and rushed towards the machine gun array of the 527th Regiment at the top of their lungs, they were swept off their horses in large numbers by the fierce rain of bullets.
Although the horse is fast, it is not faster than a bullet!
"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Colonel Morishita rode his horse forward with bloodshot eyes. His heart was bleeding, but he had no way to retreat. It was only a few hundred meters away. If he rushed forward, he would be in trouble with sabers.

300 meters!
200 meters!
100 meters! !

Colonel Morishita's face turned red. Although half of the cavalry fell off their horses during the charge, they finally made it to 100 meters. One sprint was enough.

He swung his saber and charged forward with all his strength again. Victory was just around the corner. He now had only one thought in his mind, to rush forward and chop off the Chinese man's head with his sharp saber.

50 meters!
He controlled his warhorse skillfully, lifted the reins and leaped, holding his saber horizontally, relying on the speed of his warhorse to cut off the heads of the Chinese. This was the most effective way to kill infantry.

A barrage of heavy machine gun bullets came towards his horse, and in a split second it was a matter of seconds to see who was faster...

10 meters!
Several bullets hit the horse's head and also hit Colonel Morishita. He fell off the horse unwillingly - just 10 meters away!
The closer they got, the more powerful the machine guns became. The firing rate of hundreds of rounds per minute made it impossible for the cavalry to win.

As more and more war horses fell dead on the road, horses in the cavalry group were constantly tripped and fell to the ground, the speed of the charge was greatly restricted, and then they were knocked to the ground by the rain of bullets.

Colonel Morishita is lucky because he doesn't have to face such a one-sided massacre!

The machine gunner Jin Musheng of the third battalion had his machine gun boiling over, but they had no time to add cooling water, so they could only bite the bullet and continue firing;

If he killed one, he would break even; if he killed two, he would make a profit. He didn't even know how many he had made. Facing the corpses of soldiers and horses on the ground, Jin Musheng still felt a little uncomfortable. He felt a sweetness in his throat and almost vomited.

His face flushed with shame, and he felt that the Japanese corpses on the ground were laughing at him, which made him very angry. He could only continue to shoot at the Japanese;

After killing two more Japanese soldiers, his Maxim heavy machine gun finally jammed. Just as he was anxiously preparing to take out his weapon to pour water on the cold and red barrel, it suddenly stopped moving like frying beans, and the battlefield returned to silence.

He was surprised to find that the battle was over. Most of the cavalrymen who entered the ambush were knocked to the ground. Only a very few broke through and fled. They had lost the will to fight against the Chinese and were like dogs that had lost their homes.

The battlefield was littered with corpses of men and horses, some still struggling in pain. The horses that had lost their masters had long lost their former ferocity and were as docile as sheep...

"Victory!"

I don't know who cheered, but the battlefield exploded in an instant. The soldiers of the 527th Regiment jumped out of the bunkers to celebrate the victory. No one cared about the feelings of the dead Japanese soldiers. This was the fate of the invaders.

They had the right to cheer, they defeated the powerful cavalry group with almost no casualties. This also meant the end of an era, and cavalry would only be able to play supporting roles in the future.

"Why are you all so happy? You are useless. Clean up the battlefield quickly!
These war horses, lances, and sabers all belong to me!"

When Liao Jianping was happy, he would curse. No one took his curse words seriously. They ran into the "hunting ground" with joy and began to harvest spoils. They were all good things! The 527th Regiment cleaned up the battlefield very efficiently. Some led the horses, some finished the work, and some picked up equipment. They didn't mind anything and didn't let go of a single bullet.

The results of the battle were soon counted. Liao Jianping and Deng Zhuxiu discussed and decided to leave the Third Battalion to block the Japanese reinforcements in echelons, while the Second Battalion continued to move deeper into the interior with the spoils of war. The First Battalion was ready there, so they would digest the results of the battle first.

The 35th Infantry Regiment, upon learning that the Cavalry Regiment had been ambushed and almost wiped out, was so frightened that it stopped pursuing and withdrew to the division headquarters under cover of each other.

The Chinese have a conspiracy, protecting the division commander is important!

"Bakayalu, the division headquarters does not need your protection yet, you are cowardly and afraid of the enemy!

You have disgraced the Imperial Army. Are you still an invincible martial arts group?"

Yoshika Ryosuke was already in a bad mood, and now he was defeated by the cavalry regiment. He could only vent his anger on the commander of the 35th regiment.

Colonel Fujii Suekichi was so ashamed that he was about to commit seppuku on the spot, but Yoshika Ryosuke quickly signaled Nakagawa Hiroshi with his eyes to stop him. Two regiment commanders of the 9th Division had already died, and they would not be able to explain to the commander if another one died.

Fujii was just pretending, and after being persuaded by Nakagawa Hirokazu, he immediately gave up the idea of ​​committing seppuku because the 35th Regiment still needed him.

Nakagawa Hiroya took the opportunity to say:
"Your Excellency, the division commander, all signs indicate that the 88th Division is very powerful. It will take more than one day to break through the headquarters. It would be better to let us withdraw the troops first, rest for a while, and then make long-term plans."

Colonel Fujii also agreed. After thinking for a moment, Yoshika Ryosuke decided that the minority should obey the majority. If the fighting continued, Hitomi Hidezo would have to commit seppuku to thank the Emperor.

"Mr. Nakagawa, the Tenth Army is about to land in Hangzhou Bay. At that time, the hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops will collapse, and the morale of the 527th Regiment will also be unstable. At that time, launching a general offensive will achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Although the Ninth Division missed the feast of encircling and annihilating the main force of China, as long as the attack is effective, it will have no problem catching up with the carnival of conquering Nanjing City.

He ordered Hidezo Ren to change his attack into a siege, and ordered the engineering corps to continue digging tunnels, and to get under the building as quickly as possible, and then to carry out blasting.
The day of the explosion is the time for the general attack, and during this period not even a fly can be allowed to fly away!

The 35th Regiment will guard the division headquarters and guard against the remaining enemies in the city, and the 36th Regiment will cover the 18th Regiment from the east and south..."

As Yoshika Ryosuke issued one order after another, the 9th Division made major adjustments, and the Japanese troops attacking the headquarters building retreated like a tide, leaving behind corpses and seriously injured soldiers on the ground. They could no longer take care of the seriously injured.

Yue Qianli did not send troops to pursue them. He knew his own business. With these temporarily gathered troops, they could only fight a defensive battle relying on the solid fortress, but they were definitely no match for the 9th Division in a field battle.

Besides, they couldn't fight anymore and were only holding on with one breath. When the Japanese retreated, they collapsed on the ground one by one.

Yue Qianli did not blame them. After the intense battle, they needed a short rest. Even he himself chose to sit on the ground without any image. After sitting for a long time, this posture was indeed more comfortable.

He Qizheng, the "little brother", was very considerate and handed him a cigarette. As soon as Yue Qianli put it on, Tian Yuanxi lit a match and helped him light it.
Yue Qianli took a deep breath, then stared at He Qizheng and said:
"What are you standing there for? Light up the lights for the brothers - don't you see that the brothers are tired and have taken off their clothes?"

(End of this chapter)