Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 624 Covered by artillery fire
Chen Chengxing assigned the attack mission on Xiyue Ridge to the 21st Detachment.

915 Highland is the most important node in Xiyue Ridge.

Once this place is captured, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army will be able to launch attacks from a high vantage point on the road at the foot of the mountain and several other small hills.

Upon receiving the order to attack, Ren Wuliu, the commander of the 211th Regiment, immediately ordered the reconnaissance troops to conduct close-range reconnaissance of the American positions.

The prolonged standoff and sniping resulted in a state of both tension and relaxation for the US military.

The US military will never leave its fortifications unless absolutely necessary, and if they must go out, they will be on edge.

Inside the fortifications, the US forces were more relaxed, since the Chinese People's Volunteer Army had never launched a major offensive against the US positions during the standoff.

After a thorough reconnaissance of Hill 915, a sand table was set up in the headquarters of the 211th Regiment.

Pointing to the sand table, Ren Wuliu said, "Look, this is the situation of the US military at the front."

"These two areas are minefields for the US military and must be cleared before the attack."

"The artillery battalion and the 82mm mortars of each battalion began to bombard the U.S. forward positions three days later."

"When the general offensive begins, the 5th and 6th companies will launch a pincer attack on Hill 915 from the left and right. At that time, the brigade artillery and the brigade artillery will provide us with support."

“1连、2连、3连、4连，负责对西月岭其余高地进行攻击；3营为预备队。”

Ren Wuliu quickly arranged the tasks of each department on the sand table.

"chief of staff."

"To!"

"You should assign personnel to form a communications team to ensure smooth communication between the front lines and artillery positions."

"The detachment commander has already transferred radios from other regiments to our location. Each company and platoon responsible for attacking Xiyueling must be able to communicate directly with the artillery positions."

"If the attack is stalled, call for artillery support at any time!"

"Yes!"

三日后的晚上，李赤水加强过来的12门122毫米榴弹炮、12门76.2毫米加农炮，以及211团下属的迫击炮和步兵炮开始对着915高地狂轰滥炸。

The sudden and intense artillery bombardment startled the American troops on the position.

"The enemy has launched an attack!"

"Everyone, to your positions!"

The U.S. company commander shouted orders as he quickly connected the artillery positions behind him.

"The enemy is launching a fierce attack on me!"

"Fire cover! Immediately begin fire cover ahead of the position!"

Upon hearing the defenders' heart-wrenching cries, the US artillery positions reacted swiftly, with 12 105mm howitzers beginning to fire.

In an instant, Hill 915 was completely enveloped in the sound of artillery fire.

The battle between the two sides appeared to be exceptionally fierce.

The 21st Detachment's shelling continued throughout the night, as did the American shelling.

As dawn broke and the artillery fire subsided, the American troops discovered that there was nothing in front of their positions except for the artillery craters.

This left the US military somewhat puzzled.

For the next two days, the 21st Detachment fired their cannons as soon as it got dark and rested as soon as it got light.

This abnormal work-rest schedule directly caused the US military to collapse.

The US military is now unable to sleep during the day and dares not sleep at night, for fear that the Chinese People's Volunteer Army will suddenly launch an attack.

After all, the shelling couldn't be faked; their forward positions were also hit by artillery fire, and many fortifications were destroyed. The US military was repairing them every day.

After three days of continuous bombardment, the 211th Regiment began its operation on the night of the fourth day.

After sunset, the 5th and 6th companies began to quietly approach the American positions.

An hour and a half later, the 5th and 6th companies took their attack positions, and the infantry squads began to deploy as planned.

At eight o'clock, the scouts of each infantry squad began to crawl forward, clearing obstacles for the upcoming attack.

At this moment, on the American positions, the American soldiers were relieved that the 21st Detachment was not shelling them; they hadn't had a proper rest for several days.

However, the US company commander sensed something was amiss.

Why is it so quiet tonight?

The American company commander kept observing the situation in front of the position through his binoculars, but he couldn't see anything in the darkness.

"Sir, the enemy's firepower is insufficient. The shelling over the past few days has probably exhausted their ammunition."

"No, that's not right." The American company commander shook his head repeatedly.

"It's true that the Chinese army has fewer artillery shells, but they are definitely not consuming precious shells to engage in artillery battles with us. The Chinese army must have their own purpose."

"Sir, what do you mean?"

The US company commander said, "I cannot confirm this at the moment."

After glancing at his watch, the American company commander thought for a moment and then said, "Order the mortars to fire one illumination round forward, and then fire it again every half hour."

"Regardless of preventing a surprise attack by the enemy."

The U.S. military officer standing nearby immediately called the heavy weapons platoon.

A flare soared into the sky.

The moment the flare went off, the frontline American troops spotted a man lying in front of them cutting barbed wire.

"boom!"

Without a word, the American soldiers fired warning shots and shouted, "Chinese troops! Chinese troops are coming up!"

The soldiers of the 5th and 6th companies sensed something was wrong the moment they saw the flare, and their expressions changed drastically when they heard the gunshot.

"We've been exposed. We can't wait any longer. We need to use explosive charges to blast open the passage immediately!"

The elite soldiers from each squad unanimously chose to use explosives to clear the way.

As a series of explosions rang out, the bugle call sounded in quick succession.

The 5th Company Commander shouted, "Machine gun fire suppression!"

"Comrades! Follow me and kill!"

"Kill!"
The soldiers leaped up and immediately went into charge.

Although the US military had realized that things were not going well, the two sides were too close, and with the firepower of twenty or thirty light and heavy machine guns, the US military was unable to organize an effective counterattack for a while.

While the American company commander was still loudly calling for artillery support, the soldiers at the forefront had already stormed into the enemy's trenches.

At the same time, a squad from each of the 5th and 6th companies was rapidly infiltrating behind enemy lines.

Their objective was to capture the flank and rear positions of the US forces.

At this time, the US military's main attention was on the front line, and the logistics troops in the rear were completely powerless to fight back when they were attacked from both sides by two squads.

Upon learning that the retreat route had been cut off, the American company commander panicked: "Counterattack immediately! We must suppress the enemy no matter what!"

If they cannot stop the attack, they have no way to survive.

However, the individual combat capabilities of US soldiers were already inferior to those of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, and when they were outnumbered, they were no match for them.

The 5th Platoon of the 5th Company quickly fought their way to the US military command post.

The dozen or so American soldiers who had retreated to the underground command post fought desperately to hold off the enemy, and two machine guns blocked the only entrance.

When the 5th Company Commander arrived, the two sides were still locked in a standoff at the entrance. "What's going on?"

"Company commander, the enemy's position commander is inside, but they've put two machine guns inside, so we can't get in."

"Why waste words with them?" the 5th Company Commander roared. "Blow the door off with a demolition charge, then kill those bastards with grenades!"

"Yes!"

With clear instructions, the soldiers immediately stopped caring about whether they were prisoners or not.

They started with an explosion, and then five or six grenades flew into the US military's underground command post.

When the soldiers of the 5th Company started blowing up the entrance, the American soldiers realized that something was wrong and the American company commander desperately shouted to surrender.

But the soldiers clearly couldn't understand English.

When they saw a string of grenades coming in, despair filled everyone's faces.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
After a series of explosions, a cloud of dust rose from the entrance of the command post, and all sounds inside vanished.
Upon receiving the report of the successful capture of Hill 915, Ren Wuliu raised his arm.

"Excellent! We captured the enemy's key position, which they had carefully deployed, in just 20 minutes."

"Order the 9th Company to immediately take over the defense of Hill 915 and reinforce the bunkers as soon as possible."

"The real battle has just begun."

When Vincent, the commander of the 69th Regiment of the U.S. Army, learned that Hill 915 had fallen, his expression immediately changed.

"Fuck! How could it be so fast?!"

The 69th Regiment had received news of the attack on Hill 915 beforehand and was still discussing countermeasures when the battle ended.

The chief of staff analyzed, "Sir, the enemy must have made thorough preparations. The three days of shelling were to open a path for the attack."

Vincent waved his hand: "No matter the reason, we must launch a counterattack immediately. We absolutely cannot allow the enemy to build tunnel fortifications on the position!"

The US military is truly terrified of tunnels.

Once the tunnels were built, the position was practically gone.

At this time, Vincent was unaware that it was precisely because the US military often launched a counterattack immediately after losing ground that the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party set the important objective of this counterattack as luring the enemy away from their fortifications and then inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy's manpower.

Upon receiving Vincent's orders, the 69th Regiment's frontline troops immediately began organizing a counterattack.

By dawn, the U.S. 69th Regiment had completed its preparations.

Seeing the thick fog beginning to spread, Vincent thought for a moment and decided not to use the artillery for the time being, but instead to use the fog as cover for a sneak attack.

In the thick fog, two platoons of American soldiers stealthily advanced to the front line of the position.

The soldiers, who were carefully observing the movements in the thick fog, suddenly spotted scattered dark figures in the fog less than ten meters away.

"The enemy is coming!"

The previously silent position was suddenly punctuated by the sound of an alarm whistle.

The intense gunfire rang out almost simultaneously.

Both sides began to unleash a barrage of firepower on the enemy who was within arm's reach.

The 9th Company held a numerical advantage across the entire position, but due to the dense fog, the concentrated American forces gained a local numerical advantage.

Taking advantage of local superiority and the concealment of fog, the US military continued to advance.

The 9th Company Commander was not alarmed by the aggressive actions of the US military.

He raised his wrist to check the time: "We've arrived."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a large number of shells rained down in front of the 9th Company's position.

"Boom!" "Boom!"
120mm heavy mortars and regimental mortars have arrived to provide support.

The entire hillside in front of the 9th Company was covered by intense artillery fire, and even the fog was blown away.

The American troops had nowhere to hide and retreated in disarray, leaving behind a trail of corpses.

Vincent's expression was not good as he watched the retreating troops.

However, he didn't dwell on it too much and instead ordered, "Tanks, get ready. Call in air support. Order the First Battalion to advance and prepare for a strong attack."

After a fierce barrage of artillery fire and bombardment, the US infantry, under the cover of tanks, began to advance.

Standard formation, standard operation—this offensive means that both sides will engage in direct hand-to-hand combat, which is actually what Vincent least wants to see.

However, the situation is pressing, and the US military has no other choice now.

However, this time, Vincent never expected that the Chinese People's Volunteer Army wouldn't even give him a chance for hand-to-hand combat.

Instead of bayonets, the American troops were met with a barrage of artillery shells.

Although there was only one 9th Company defending the position, there were a total of nine artillery companies behind the 9th Company.

其中3个152毫米榴弹炮团，3个122毫米榴弹炮团，3个120毫米重迫击炮连。

This doesn't even include the 211th Regiment's own infantry guns and mortars.

The intense artillery fire turned the area in front of the 9th Company's position into a sea of ​​fire.

The soldiers, their hands pressed against their hats, braved the strong wind and chattered incessantly.

"That's too strong! The artillery fire is too strong! This is completely none of our business."

"The commander said long ago that this time we're going to exchange artillery shells for American heads. We can't keep being the ones getting shelled, can we?"

"It's a pity that not all the artillery pieces were brought over, otherwise, the four artillery regiments could have scattered the ashes of the American soldiers."

"You really dare to think that way. With the artillery detachment plus the artillery regiment, there are more cannons than we have. The 9th Company is really just a spectator."

For the first time, the soldiers of the 9th Company experienced the thrill of repelling the enemy with artillery alone, without firing a shot, and they laughed happily on the position.

However, the American troops who were being shelled were not so happy.

Although tanks have high defense, they cannot withstand the impact of 122mm howitzers. Once hit, a tank will be damaged immediately.

As for the 152mm shells, they are even more terrifying; one shot can turn a tank into parts.

Vincent was completely stunned by the terrifying firepower that the Chinese People's Volunteer Army suddenly unleashed.

Vincent was still in shock even after the American troops withdrew from the position.

The chief of staff walked up to Vincent, who was still staring blankly at the shell craters on the position, and reported:

"Sir, the first battalion has suffered more than 30% casualties and has lost its combat capability. Half of the tanks in the tank company have also been destroyed."

Awakened, Vincent immediately ordered, "Cease the attack!"

The intense shelling directly caused Vincent to lose the will to retaliate.

He wanted to abandon the high ground and retreat, but by this point, the situation was completely out of Vincent's control.

One by one, high-ranking U.S. military officials arrived at the 69th Regiment headquarters.

First came the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, then the commander of the 1st Corps, and finally, Van Fleet arrived.

Although Hill 915 was only a company-level position, VanVleet was now really anxious.

The Chinese People's Volunteer Army suddenly launched a full-scale counterattack, and the UN forces were completely unable to withstand the attack. One high point on the front line after another was lost.

The series of failures put Clark and Washington under tremendous pressure.

In negotiations, whichever side has the advantage on the battlefield has the advantage at the negotiating table.

At this point, being stubborn is useless. The US military must regain the initiative on the battlefield, or at least stabilize the situation.

(End of this chapter)