Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 270: Counterattack on the Southern Front (3)

After reading the call from the division headquarters, Kawanami confirmed his worries and said directly to Dobashi Ichiryu:
"Mr. Tuqiao, you are right to worry. The Chinese have already launched a counterattack on the western front of Nancheng, heading straight for the division headquarters.
The next direction will definitely be the north. Fortunately, the division commander has asked us to abandon the flanking tactics and return to reinforce the division headquarters.

Hurry up, prepare to retreat!"

After hearing this, Dobashi Ichiryu was delighted at first. With the order from the division headquarters, they could retreat legitimately.
Then he said worriedly:

"Sir, if we retreat now, the Chinese will definitely chase us with all their might, and we will be in trouble.
It would be better to leave a large group behind and order them to launch a feint attack, so as to retreat——"

"Boom boom boom boom..."

Colonel Kawanami and Kazutatsu Dobashi's faces changed drastically. The thing they were most worried about had finally happened!
Colonel Kawanami exclaimed:
"Guerrilla column artillery group!"

Colonel Kawanami guessed correctly that it was the artillery battalion directly under the column that fired at them, but it lacked the rocket artillery battalion. Their small number of troops was not worth Yue Qianli wasting precious rockets.
They only used 75mm mountain artillery, mortar battalion and the artillery battalion of the second detachment. After dozens of artillery pieces were moved into place, they fired at the Japanese.

Rows of artillery shells roared towards the Sixth Regiment's position. Colonel Kawanami had no intention of continuing the battle and immediately ordered the troops to move toward the river bank.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The 1st Battalion, which had been harmless until then, suddenly attacked from the right wing of the Japanese and tried to outflank the 6th Regiment from behind.

This frightened Colonel Kawanami so much that he could not take care of his troops. He once again abandoned three infantry battalions and artillery and fled to the river with only the regiment headquarters.

Colonel Kawanami was indeed an expert in escape, and he moved very quickly. Even though the 1st Battalion's artillery battalion was already in a crisis situation of shelling the Japanese ferry, he still managed to seize several ferries and withdrew the regiment headquarters and the flag guard team to the other side of the river.

As the Japanese regiment retreated, the other troops were leaderless and collapsed at the first blow.
The Second Detachment and the Independent Detachment launched a fierce attack on the Japanese, and pursued them with all their might after the Japanese were defeated.

Duan Yulin's efforts were basically wasted, and the Sixth Regiment, known for its bravery, was completely defeated. Only then did they remember that the Sixth Regiment at this time was completely different from the previous Sixth Regiment;
After losing most of the veterans, the new recruits had no fighting spirit at all. They were fine in a favorable battle, but when faced with an unfavorable battle where they were beaten by a crowd, they ran faster than rabbits.

After the 1st Battalion of the nd Detachment reached its position, the first thing it did was to blow up the remaining ferry boats, leaving no chance for the Japanese to survive.
When the defeated soldiers rushed to the river bank like a tide, the 1st Battalion not only did not forcibly stop them, but instead retreated several hundred meters along the original route, still only blocking the eastern line.

The 3rd Battalion of the nd Detachment also quickly blocked the enemy's route into Bengbu City, leaving only one road to the south.

The fleeing soldiers are like tides, it is better to guide them than to block them!
The 2nd Battalion of the nd Detachment and the Independent Detachment launched a counterattack and pushed forward from the north, chasing the Japanese to the south;
Those short-legged Japanese soldiers were all killed by the pursuers, and then they were killed by the student soldiers from the training camp following behind them.

Although many student soldiers shouted fiercely, most of them had never seen the dead or wounded Japanese soldiers, let alone attack them.
Many people vomited the moment they stabbed the bayonets into the devil's body, and the instructor shook his head and said:
"Su Qide, aren't you always shouting slogans about going to the battlefield to fight the Japanese?

"I'm so scared of giving the Japanese a finishing blow. Don't say you're the soldier I led from now on!"

Su Qide, who had just vomited, also felt quite ashamed. As a college student enrolled in Wu in Shanghai, his performance today was indeed rather coquettish.

He really wanted to say, "I didn't pee, I just couldn't help vomiting," but he took the words back when they came to his lips. After all, it was very embarrassing to vomit when seeing blood on the battlefield.

He looked at the hideous corpse of the Japanese soldier in anger, and stabbed the corpse of the Japanese soldier more than ten times, and only stopped when the Japanese soldier's mother could no longer recognize him.
There was a lot of dog blood on his body and face, and it was so smelly that he wanted to vomit, but he held it back.

Then he smiled provocatively at his instructor, and in front of him, he stuck out his tongue and wiped off a few drops of dog blood from his lips, with an expression that seemed to be enjoying it.
His instructor quickly gave him a thumbs up. When Su Qide turned around, he vomited again. The instructor pretended not to see it. He also pretended that the instructor didn't see it, but his face turned as red as a monkey's butt.

On the north bank of the Huai River, when the defeated Japanese soldiers arrived breathlessly, they were dumbfounded. There was no one crossing the river, only the freezing cold water of the Huai River.

The pursuers behind them were getting closer and closer. Some smart Japanese soldiers fled to the east and west, but they didn't run far before they were shot back by the Chinese machine guns.

There is no way out either east or west, now there is only one way out, the south.

Facing the nearly dead end of the river, the Japanese battalion commander, Major Yoneyama, roared:
"Bagayalu, you are going too far, let's fight the Chinese!
Kill the chickens! "Led by Major Yoneyama, hundreds of nearly desperate Japanese soldiers rushed towards the pursuers with bayonets in hand, launching a suicidal attack.
The other Japanese soldiers, led by Major Hirose, were still watching, pinning their hopes on Major Yoneyama's counterattack, expecting a miracle to happen.

"His Majesty the Emperor—Italy!"

"The Sixth Regiment—Itaya!"

"DaDaDa..."

"Tattoo..."

What the Chinese greeted them with was an impenetrable rain of machine gun fire, and the Japs fell in rows, unable to withstand the wind and rain, let alone the Japs;
Major Yoneyama died on the way to the charge, riddled with bullets. The other Japanese soldiers were not much better off, and without exception they were all given one or several peanuts to go with their wine.

Seeing Major Yoneyama and his men being killed before their eyes, the Japanese's last hope was shattered;
A replacement soldier burst into tears on the spot, yelling "Mom", and then rushed into the icy river water, struggling for a few times before sinking into the water...

Every devil's face turned pale. If they advanced, they would die. If they retreated, they would also die. Major Hirose, who was deeply influenced by Bushido, roared:

"Warriors, if you can swim across the river, you will win. You must not be captured by the Chinese people - Emperor Banzai!"

Groups of Japanese soldiers, led by Major Hirose, jumped into the icy river. Many of them sank to the bottom of the river while swimming. China's Huai River was not so easy to conquer, so it was just right to leave the Japanese soldiers behind to feed the fish and turtles.

Many Japanese soldiers were afraid of freezing to death, so they chose to commit suicide. In the end, only a few hundred people were left standing quietly by the river.

They neither wanted to jump into the river nor commit suicide, but they were too embarrassed to surrender, so they just waited for the Chinese to capture them.

Duan Yulin sneered when he saw them, then turned to whisper something to Zhao Tianci, who nodded repeatedly. He then asked him if he had a younger sister.
Duan Yulin raised his leg and kicked over, scaring Zhao Tianci so much that he ran away crawling, but the traces of performance were too obvious.

Duan Yulin laughed and cursed:
"Damn it, do you really think my sister was picked up?"

More than ten minutes later, when the two sides were in a stalemate, the soldiers of the independent detachment made way for them, and teams of soldiers with live ammunition came running over. They were the "rookies" of the training camp, and Su Qide happened to be in the first row.

Zhao Tianci personally gave the order:

"Everyone - raise your guns!"

The Japanese soldiers finally understood what was going on. Some of them with poor psychological quality raised their hands in surrender, while others shouted and cursed.
Zhao Tianci pretended not to see it and shouted:
"shot!"

Su Qide fired a shot mechanically, killing a Japanese soldier, and vomited again on the spot, but this time he seemed to feel much better.

Then they crouched down, and the row behind them came up and fired another volley of shots at the Japs;
Dozens more of the devils fell, and then another row came...

"Bagayalo, the Chinese are using us as a training ground for new recruits. We're not going to survive!"

One of the Japanese soldiers turned around and jumped into the Huai River. The others jumped into the river, or were killed. Not a single one was left.

"What are you all standing there for? Clean up the battlefield and finish off everyone!"

(End of this chapter)