Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 387 Another League Flag Conquered
The Japanese artillery preparation lasted for half an hour, and then the infantry launched an attack on the artillery points. Dense groups of Japanese rushed to the front line of the defenders;

The defending army's artillery also began to roar, and rows of shells fell from the sky, blowing the Japanese to pieces and leaving corpses all over the hillside.

Major Kenichi Kume's combat style was to fight the decisive battle in the first battle. He did not even launch a tentative attack, but directly pressed forward with the entire brigade.

The Third Detachment planned to break through the defenders' line of defense in one battle. The defense of Longhu Mountain Ridge was undertaken by Duan Yulin. The 1st Battalion was deployed on Qinglong Mountain on the left wing, the 2nd Battalion was deployed on Baihu Mountain on the right wing, and the 3rd Battalion was used as a reserve force. The artillery battalion was deployed on the reverse slope of Qinglong, the commanding height.

The main attack of the Japanese was on Qinglong Ridge, and there was only one squadron on Baihu Ridge, mainly to contain the defenders;
The Japanese were not frightened by the defenders' artillery fire. They pretended not to see anything as their comrades kept falling around them.

The price they had to pay to break through the artillery blockade was something they had to bear, and they didn't take the Chinese's few cannons seriously;

By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, artillery fire was no longer effective as they had entered a blind spot.

Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the light and heavy weapons on the defenders' positions suddenly opened fire, and dense bullets swept down rows of Japanese soldiers. Other Japanese soldiers fell to the ground and began to fight back.
The Japanese heavy machine guns also began to fire. Infantry guns, Type 92 heavy machine guns, and Type 99 light machine guns rained bullets down on the defenders. People were shot and fell from time to time, and casualties on both sides increased significantly.

Seeing that their heavy firepower had suppressed the defenders' firepower, the Japanese infantry climbed up the hillside and continued their charge. As one group fell down, another group rushed forward, fearless of death.

The attack formation of the Japanese in the Class A division was very rigorous, with close cooperation between teams and squads, and the coordination between infantry and artillery was also very effective. They could even use a barrage of bullets to advance slowly and attack from a standing position.

The defending troops were also the elite division of the National Army, the 88th Regiment of the 527th Division, Yue Qianli's direct troops, and experts in defensive warfare;

Their troop strength, firepower deployment, position construction, and the combination of light and heavy firepower are also textbook-like. Such offensive and defensive battles are absolutely top-notch, and no one can expect to knock down the opponent with just three boards.

In the distance, Major Kume put down his telescope with a stern look on his face. The defenders were much more tenacious than he had imagined. After fighting for so long, he had not seen anyone turn around and run away.
Although the Japanese attacked one wave after another, the defending position was like a small boat in the strong wind and waves. No matter how hard the Japanese attacked, we were still able to move forward.

"Sakata-kun, your reputation is truly worthy of the name. I thought the defenders of Taierzhuang were the most resilient before, but now it seems that the guerrilla column is even better, and their firepower is even stronger."

Captain Sakata, the leader of the machine gun squadron, also said solemnly:
“I have heard of the reputation of the guerrilla column before. They are definitely the most difficult troops in China. Don’t think of a quick victory against them.

Now that the purpose of the exploratory attack has been achieved, it is better to withdraw the troops and wait for the main force of the regiment to arrive before attacking together."

Major Kume just didn't believe it and continued to say to Sakata:
"Sakata-kun, once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Now that the battle has begun, retreating will only damage morale. I just want to take another look."

Sakata had nothing to say. Major Kume had the final say. Two of his machine guns were blown up by the defenders, so he had no choice but to continue fighting.

After the two sides had been deadlocked for half an hour, the main force of the regiment arrived, and the offensive was intensified, and the pressure on the defenders increased dramatically;

The regiment commander, Yaezao Akashiba, took over the command and first sent a battalion to the flank position of Baihu Ridge, and at the same time reinforced another battalion in the direction of Qinglong Ridge.

The regiment artillery bombarded Qinglongling with all its might, almost completely destroying the positions of the Qinglongling defenders. The infantry took the opportunity to launch a fierce attack, and the Japanese soldiers were greatly encouraged and rushed forward with a roar.

The 1st Battalion opened fire at full strength and fought to the death, and the two sides were evenly matched.

Duan Yulin saw that the main force of the Japanese had arrived. In order to reduce the pressure on the first and second detachments that were blocking the enemy, he decided to launch a counterattack immediately and said to the artillery battalion commander He Qizheng:
"Old He, this time it's up to you artillery battalion. The 8 soldiers of the Third Brigade are setting the stage for you to perform.

I only ask that you crush them with your most powerful firepower, and let the infantry handle the rest."

He Qizheng couldn't hold back any longer, especially the rocket artillery brigade, which hadn't shown up for a long time and had been watching the infantry brothers enjoying themselves. Finally, Old Yue remembered them and said excitedly:
"Old Duan, don't worry. The artillery battalion never lets the infantry brothers down. Just wait and turn all the defeated Japanese into corpses!"

Although He Qizhen's words sounded a bit arrogant, Duan Yu was still very confident in the artillery battalion. As long as the rocket artillery battalion took action, the Japanese would be wiped out.

At the main position of Qinglongling, the enemy's offensive was still extremely swift and fierce, and it seemed that one battle would decide the outcome;
In order to strengthen the Japanese's confidence, the defenders took the initiative to abandon the frontline positions and retreated to the main camp. This made the old Japanese soldier Akashiba Yaezao's blood boil, as if he saw hope of defeating the guerrilla column.

Defeating the guerrilla column was the dream of all the devils. They had become a public enemy, just like the Chinese troops fought desperately when they attacked the Sixth Division.

In order to add fuel to the fire, he sent another squadron to the left wing, leaving only one infantry squadron, one machine gun squadron, and two artillery squadrons around his regiment headquarters. Just as the old Japanese soldier was watching the excitement with interest through his telescope, he saw a nightmare that he would never get rid of in his lifetime...

"Fireworks rain?"

"Boom boom boom boom..."

"Boom boom boom boom..."

The sound of a series of explosions engulfed Yaezo Akashiba. His eyes were filled with fear, and the "fireworks" flying all over the sky scared him so much that his soul almost jumped out of his body. He had never seen such a dense group of artillery fire, which was enough to destroy the world.

The artillery battalion's attack strategy was to first use a cluster of rocket artillery to launch a devastating attack on the enemy's headquarters;
Two consecutive rounds of fire, a total of 288 107mm rockets, were enough to destroy the Japanese regiment headquarters. Almost no one survived after the explosion.

Then 24 75mm guns and 24 90mm mortars opened fire on the attacking Japanese infantry, causing them to flee in all directions like a hornet's nest on fire;
Duan Yulin saw that the time was ripe and immediately issued a general attack order. The loud military bugle calls echoed among the mountains. The Japanese were terrified, while the soldiers of the guerrilla column were excited...

This is the battle horn and also the sound of death that buries the devils.

Guided by the charge, 8 soldiers of the Third Detachment rushed out from the ravines and gullies between the mountains and charged towards the Japanese in an overwhelming force.

The Japanese soldiers, who had lost their command, fled in all directions like sheep being chased by wolves. If they were a little slower, they would be devoured by the hungry wolves.
Captain Mu Tiezhu liked this feeling very much. He led the brothers of the 2st Battalion of the 10nd Battalion and rushed down from Baihu Mountain, driving the defeated Japanese soldiers straight to the headquarters of the th Regiment.

He calculated that the Japanese headquarters was the first to be covered by the rocket launcher group, and the Japanese should not have time to destroy the regiment flag. Having tasted the sweetness, he rushed to the regiment flag again, and his goal was very clear;
When they arrived at the location of the Japanese regiment headquarters, the area around the regiment was filled with Japanese corpses, stacked densely together, and many of them were blown to pieces.

While letting the others continue to pursue the Japs, he led a platoon to search for anything valuable at the headquarters;

They first found the radio station, but unfortunately it was broken. Fortunately, they found a latest code book from a Japanese officer, and Mu Tiezhu was overjoyed.

Having served as a guard company commander for Yue Qianli for a period of time, he knew the value of the code book, which was more important than the regiment flag;

After finding the code book, his mission was half completed. Just when they had searched several times and failed to find the regimental flag, a new soldier found a wooden box under the body of a dead Japanese soldier. Mu Tiezhu couldn't help laughing when he saw it.

He also captured the military flag of the 7th Regiment. God was really kind to him. A few months later, his troops captured another military flag.

He excitedly praised the new recruit Wang Xiaoer:
"Damn it, you're lucky, your ancestors' graves are definitely smoking. Remember to write a letter to tell your parents, this achievement is enough to get you into the family tree!
Now, a separate page has been opened for me in the genealogy of the old Mu family, so you can be happy about it."

Wang Xiaoer chuckled after hearing this. He just went to look for a dead body of a Japanese soldier and didn't expect to find such a thing.
When he thought about having a separate page in the family tree, he was so excited that he wanted to go back to the village to show it off, so that his mother would not be too ostentatious when she told everyone about it in the village.

Before he could recover, even greater happiness came. He could hardly believe his ears and stammered:

"I am now the acting platoon leader? Someone come and pinch me."

When Mu Tiezhu saw Wang Xiaoer's silly look, it was as if he saw himself a few months ago. In the Battle of Shanghai, he seized the flag of the 7th Regiment and was promoted from squad leader to platoon leader. Now he is a major battalion commander.

As soon as he saw Wang Xiaoer's smug look, he wanted to leave. He was so angry. He was like this when he seized the regiment flag, so he yelled:
"What are you all standing there for? Clean up the battlefield quickly. Don't leave even a piece of paper behind. They are all treasures!"

The others envied Wang Xiaoer's good luck and started to search the Japanese corpses as well. What's more, they actually found some valuable things, such as military maps.

Half an hour later, the battle was completely over. Except for a few hundred Japanese soldiers who escaped during the chaos, all the others from the 10th Regiment were wiped out, including the regiment commander, Colonel Yaezao Akashiba.

The highest rank of the officer who escaped was a captain. Three battalions were wiped out in one fell swoop. In addition, the regiment flag was seized. The 3th Regiment would never be able to recover. The hundreds of Japanese remnants who escaped were no longer of any significance.

(End of this chapter)