Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 285: Heavy Artillery Washes the Ground and Infantry Crosses the River
It was another sunny morning. Suddenly, a sharp anti-aircraft whistle sounded in the city. The soldiers who were widening the tunnel fortifications stopped their work and went into the tunnel.

These tunnels were dug underneath solid buildings, leaving several exits, lined up one after another, several hundred meters apart, to allow for coordinated operations.

Just as the soldiers of the Third Brigade were hiding, dozens of planes flew over the sky above the North City, and rows of aerial bombs poured down like bird shit;

The entire city was instantly engulfed in the smoke from the explosion. Houses after houses were destroyed by the blast. Everywhere you looked, there were rubble, as if it was the end of the world.

The Japanese bombing was very targeted, aiming to turn the North City into ruins. Fujita Susumu was scared by the street fighting, so he wanted to flatten the entire city before launching a mobile attack. He didn't believe that anyone could survive.
The number of Japanese planes is still limited, and air bombing alone cannot achieve this effect. The rest has to rely on heavy artillery.

As soon as the bombing by planes ended, rows of heavy artillery shells came whistling in, and the violent explosions made the earth tremble;
Although the power of heavy artillery shells cannot match that of aerial bombs, their power lies in their large number and long duration.

Each round of salvos from the two heavy artillery regiments consisted of dozens of shells, and each shell was enough to destroy a sturdy building.

After hours of continuous bombing by the Japanese, the North City suffered heavy losses, with many houses destroyed and ruins everywhere. It was still far from the leveling that Fujita had envisioned, as the Japanese firepower was not yet at that level.
Hundreds of years of accumulated wealth in the city was destroyed in an instant. Fujita Susumu nodded repeatedly and said to the Chief of Staff Colonel Tajiri:
“Tajiri-kun, the northern city of Bengbu no longer exists. It was completely razed to the ground by the powerful firepower of the empire.
Yue Qianli wants to fight another street battle in the city. I really want to know, how many of their soldiers can survive under such fierce artillery fire?
Without streets and houses, what can they use to fight street battles with the imperial army? "

Perhaps he had been suppressed for too long, Fujita Susumu said proudly as he looked at the North City destroyed by artillery fire.

Seeing that the division commander was finally in the mood to talk, Colonel Tajiri took over the conversation and said:
"Your Excellency, the division commander, Yue Qianli has been using the same few moves over and over again. In the face of the powerful firepower of the Imperial Army, the Chinese can only be cannon fodder. Not to mention humans, not even rats can survive."

Fujita Shin put down the telescope and said:
"The northern city has been razed to the ground, there is nothing to see. Next we must force a crossing of the Huai River. This must be done simultaneously with the 13th Division.

A telegram was sent to Tanaka-kun, and the time for the general attack was set at 1 p.m., and the warriors began to cross the river after lunch.

After eating and drinking, cross the river to collect the bodies of the Chinese people!"

Colonel Tajiri took the order and left. Fujita Susumu felt a little hungry, so he asked someone to deliver a sumptuous lunch in advance.

The aerial bombardment and artillery attack lasted for a whole morning, and seeing the North City being razed to the ground, his appetite was greatly aroused;
The streets and alleys of the North City once swallowed up the warriors of two regiments of his army, leaving him humiliated.

Fujita's lunch was very simple, a salted fish rice ball, a can of beef, a can of fruit, a high-calorie imported chocolate, and a bottle of sake. Only a division commander could afford such a simple field meal.
Because he was in a good mood, he also opened a bottle of sake from his hometown and had a drink, which was harmless.

At the right wing attack group, the 6th Regiment set out for position, and Private First Class Imagawa Minetarou was also enjoying his delicious lunch;

They were all field rations, a rice ball, a can of beef, and a few candies, very rich.

If he had not come to China as a replacement soldier, he would never have been able to have such a delicious lunch in his hometown;
He habitually saved the candies, and when he had enough, he would send them home for his younger sister.

Imagawa Minetarou comes from an ordinary working-class family in Nagoya. He retired three years ago. He has two younger brothers and a younger sister. Life at home was very difficult. They could not even have enough food, let alone candy.
Two months ago, Xiang Sheng Yuren enlisted again as a replacement soldier. He came to China to fight in order to change his family's poverty. When he was in China, he heard that the Third Division had conquered half of China, and there was endless money to rob, and he could kill people if he wanted, and there were plenty of beautiful girls, so he signed up.

After arriving in China by ship, he joined the Nagoya Regiment. He retired from the Nagoya Regiment three years ago.

This was his first actual combat, but he was not nervous at all. The team leader said that he would just go up to collect the bodies of the Chinese.

He also felt that under such fierce firepower, the Chinese could not survive. He had just finished a meal when his good friend Uchida Takayuki leaned over and carefully warned him:
"I heard that the Chinese people on the other side are known as the nemesis of the empire, so be careful after crossing the river. Don't try to be brave. Staying alive is more important than anything else."

"Bakayarō, Uchida-kun, you have such a wrong idea. Only a coward would say such a thing!"

Imagawa Minetarou despised cowards the most, and he felt ashamed that Uchida said such things, so he cursed in national language.

Uchida seemed to be a bit stupid. He was not angry at all about Imagawa's insults. He looked around with his triangular eyes and said:
"Imagawa-kun, have you noticed that the squadron is almost entirely made up of replacement soldiers? I heard that all the old veterans died on the other side."

Imagawa didn't believe it at all and said disdainfully:
"This is Chinese false propaganda, and you take it seriously. Look at the other side, they have been bombed back to the Stone Age by the air warriors. Do you think there are still people alive in those ruins?"

Private Uchida thought about it and realized that this couldn't be fake, so he changed the subject and said:
"Imagawa-kun, the city across the street has been bombed to the ground. I don't know if I can get anything valuable. I hope I can meet a beautiful girl."

After Private First Class Uchida finished speaking, he gave an obscene smile, revealing his two big buck teeth. He was full of expectations for the trip to China after hearing other people bragging about it in letters back home.

Imagawa seemed to be more interested in money and property. His sister liked beautiful floral dresses very much, and he wanted to use the money he stole to buy one for her. Even if he just stole one, it would be fine because his sister was already thirteen years old, which was the age when she understood the value of beauty.

Just as the two men were mumbling about the joy of robbery, the bugle for boarding the ship was blown, and Imagawa devoured the last piece of meat in the can of beef, preparing to board the ship with great anticipation;
This was his first time to participate in actual combat against China. Previously he had only been in training and had never been on the battlefield.

After retiring, he thought he would never have another chance, but unexpectedly, Aunt Amaterasu favored him.

The artillery directly under the division began to carry out the final artillery preparations. Ferry boats loaded with Japanese soldiers sailed high and neatly on the river surface on both sides of the railway bridge and headed straight for the other side.

The Chinese did not fire to stop them. Just when they were about to land, more than a dozen Type 92 heavy machine guns deployed far outside the river bank opened fire. Rows of large-caliber machine gun bullets rained down on the Japanese, sweeping them to the ground one by one...

The Type 92 heavy machine gun array that was concentrated in the first battalion was the first to open fire on the Japanese. Their presence also consumed a large number of landing Japanese troops. The heavy machine guns did not play a big role in street fighting, but when set up in the area hundreds of meters behind the river bank, they were the nightmare of the Japanese.

(End of this chapter)