Songhu: Never Give Up

The Japs rushed up the river bank one after another, and the defending machine gun array kept raining bullets. This was the loss that had to be endured in crossing the river;
From ancient times to the present, attacking the enemy while they are crossing a river has always been a fatal threat, and this is where the danger of rivers lies.

Of course, the Japs would not just take the beating, and the infantry guns, mortars, and howitzers deployed on the south bank to cover the crossing also opened fire at full capacity;

Artillery shells rained down, one firing point after another was destroyed, the casualties of the defenders were rising in a straight line, and the machine gun firepower was getting weaker and weaker.

In the face of modern artillery, rivers, lakes and seas are no longer impassable natural barriers, so the 1st Battalion of the rd Detachment did not focus its defense on river defense, as forcibly blocking the enemy from crossing the river would have resulted in heavy casualties.

As the firepower of the defenders gradually weakened, the crossing troops finally gained a foothold on the river bank after suffering heavy casualties;

Imagawa Minetaro was lucky enough to survive, but his good friend Uchida Takayuki was not so lucky. One of his thighs was cut off by a machine gun bullet, and he rolled on the ground in pain.

Private Imagawa crawled over to help, but Uchida's thigh was bloody and covered in dirt and dust, and was severely infected;

If the bleeding is not stopped in time, this kid will not last long. Uchida only had a personal first aid kit on him, and Imagawa helped him take it out and bandaged it hastily.

He was about to drag him down and send him to the field hospital for treatment, but was stopped by the sergeant, who ordered him to continue the attack, otherwise he would shoot him to death.

Looking at the trembling Nambu pistol in the sergeant's hand, Imagawa Minetaro had no choice but to let his good friend go and let him fend for himself while he continued to charge with the sergeant.

"Imagawa-kun, please don't abandon me, save me... I don't want to die..."

“Bagayaru…it hurts…help me!”

The battlefield was full of wounded soldiers like Uchida, and no one cared about their lives or deaths. This was the battlefield, much more cruel than he had imagined.

China not only has endless wealth to rob, but also has hunting rifles that can take their lives. It depends on whether they have the energy to rob.

Uchida was struggling painfully on the edge of death, and Imagawa Minetarou was not much better, he was also crawling on the ground with difficulty, surrounded by the bodies of his companions and the wounded, most of whom were replacement soldiers like him;
When they boarded the ship in the country, everyone thought that they could rob things anywhere in China, but in the end they all became cannon fodder.

A few hundred meters away, Wang Fugui, a heavy machine gunner who was also a "cannon fodder", had already thrown life and death out of his mind;
He was a Sichuan soldier. When leaving Sichuan, many of them left behind suicide notes, saying that they would not return home until the Japanese pirates were defeated.

He was a heavy machine gunner before he was recruited to the guerrilla column by Li. When his troops were wiped out in Shanghai, he retreated to Nanjing with the others.

The Jinling troops were dispersed, but he was lucky enough to cross the river. When he arrived at the battlefield in Xuzhou, he was gathered by his superiors and temporarily formed into a Sichuan Army Corps, which was then added to the guerrilla column.

After leaving Sichuan, he changed several troops, and the replenishment regiment was all cannon fodder, but he didn't care, as long as he could outwit the Japanese.

The 1st Battalion needed to leave behind a heavy machine gun company to block the Japanese, but he not only did not feel like being cannon fodder, but was actually very excited;
They had built sturdy bunkers in advance, which could effectively defend against mortars and machine gun bullets. If they were unlucky and hit by heavy artillery shells, they would be blown to ashes and become true "cannon fodder."

He used a Type 92 heavy machine gun. The independent detachment was equipped with Japanese weapons. It took him some time to get used to it, but now he likes it.
Seeing the rows of Japanese soldiers being knocked to the ground by him, Wang Fugui was very excited. It was so satisfying. He had never enjoyed killing Japanese soldiers so much before. He estimated that there were at least a dozen of them.

"Come here, you bastards! I'll send you to see the King of Hell!"

"Damn it, I've killed enough people, just come here and die!"

Wang Fugui's machine gun was very skillful, and every burst of fire yielded results. The Type 92 heavy machine gun had high accuracy, and if he used it well, he could suppress a small squad of Japanese soldiers, and their bodies would be scattered all over the ground.

"Bagayalu, the Suicide Squad, go up and blow him up!"

Since the infantry artillery had not yet landed, the Japanese squadron leader could only send the death squad to blow up the bunker where Wang Fugui was. Their presence made the Japanese suffer. Although the Japanese in the 6th Regiment were all replacement soldiers, they were the first reserve and were all veterans who had retired within 3 years, so their tactical qualities were not bad;

At the squadron leader's command, more than a dozen Japanese soldiers rushed out. They were very agile and had skilled tactical moves. They jumped up and down and rushed towards Fort No. 1.

Sergeant Wang Fugui soon spotted them, grinning as he turned his gun towards the devils who wanted to kill him. It depended on whether the gun in his hand agreed or not.
He calculated the Japanese demolition team's assault route and made an advance move. The Japanese demolition team seemed to have actively run into his bullet, and he blew up another Japanese soldier without any suspense.

Then he aimed at another devil, and it took two bursts of fire to kill him, and then another...

"Bagayalu, another batch!"

Imagawa Minetarou felt bitter in his heart. It was finally their turn. This was no different from committing suicide. The first group of people who went up all lay on the ground, and no one came back alive.

"Bakayaloo! Hurry up!"

The sergeant was chasing them like a ghost, so Imagawa Minetarou had no choice but to rush out;

He first rushed to a dead Japanese soldier, picked up the explosive pack he dropped, and then rushed forward under the rain of machine gun fire.

His companions were knocked down one by one, and they couldn't rush forward at all. The Chinese's firepower was too strong, almost impenetrable;

Just when he thought he was going to die, he was tripped by a corpse and the bullet grazed his scalp.

After having a close call with death, he became scared and pretended to faint. The other stupid guys were beaten to pieces, and one of them fell on him, with blood all over him.

"Bagaya road!"

The Japanese squadron leader cursed angrily, but fortunately the infantry artillery crossed the river in time. Just as the Japanese launched the third round of blasting, an infantry artillery shell hit Fort No. 1;

Because the target was too far off, Wang Fugui luckily escaped the disaster, but he also knew that he would not always be lucky, so he opened fire and madly shot at the Japanese, taking more of them with him.

"boom!"

Another 70mm shell hit Bunker No. 1. This time Wang Fugui's good luck ended. The front of the bunker was pierced and the shell exploded inside the bunker. He and his comrades inside almost all fell in a pool of blood.

With the destruction of the No. 1 main bunker, dense Japanese infantry finally rushed up. The remaining several secondary bunkers were also destroyed by the Japanese after a fierce battle, and the heavy machine gun company was overwhelmed by the Japanese group.

Imagawa Minetarou was rescued by the Japanese who were gathering the wounded, but his good friend had already died from excessive blood loss.

In order to break through the machine gun company's blockade, the 6th Regiment suffered nearly a thousand casualties, and the sacrifice of Wang Fugui and others was worth it.

At the Sixth Regiment Field Command, Colonel Kawanami saw that his warriors had finally broken through the defenders' blocking position and shouted excitedly:
"Yoshi, great job, warriors - cross the river!"

He was already very happy that he could cross the river smoothly, and he didn't care how many cannon fodders died.

This time is completely different from the last time. They have a full division cooperating in the battle on their right wing. They no longer have to worry about falling into the trap of the Chinese. In the face of absolute strength, all traps are nothing.

At the same time, the 13th Division also launched a river crossing operation on the right wing of the northern city, and was also stubbornly blocked by the defenders, with the intensity being much greater than that of the front. (End of this chapter)