The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 227: Seeing the Japanese Artillery Position Again

Time: March 3, a little after 25 p.m.

Location: 5 miles north of Taierzhuang, outside a village called Liujiahu Village.

Battalion Commander Gao Hongli of the 91rd Battalion, 183rd Regiment, 3st Brigade of the National Army, was cautiously approaching the village with more than selected elite brothers under his command.

Under the bright moonlight tonight, you can see the team led by Captain Gao, with a variety of weapons in their hands.

There are two or three calibers of Mauser pistols alone, so it’s really not that good of an equipment.

But in other aspects, their equipment is surprisingly uniform. For example, each person carries a big knife on his back and 8 grenades on his body.
As they approached the village, Captain Gao and everyone else held their breath, fearing that they would make any loud noise.

The reason for this was that in the village, which seemed quite lively with many fires lit, there was an independent artillery battalion of the Japanese stationed there.

They were equipped with 10 Type 94 75mm mountain guns and established artillery positions.

Since the Japanese officially launched the attack on Taierzhuang yesterday, these mountain artillery have been continuously firing at the defenders in the city, causing considerable losses and threats.

So this afternoon, Captain Gao received an order from his own commander, the Fifth Brigade of the Wangguan Brigade: set off after nightfall and find a way to destroy the Japanese artillery position.

After dark, they sneaked here under the moonlight, preparing to launch an attack after sneaking all the way there.

As for why everyone in the team carried a big knife and as many as 8 grenades.

Because the 91st Brigade belonged to the 31st Division of the Second Army, which was under the command of Sun Lianzhong; although this unit nominally belonged to the Central Army, it was actually separated from the Northwest Army.

The Northwest Army used a charging tactic of using a broadsword in one hand and a grenade in the other.

It can be said that this is a special skill that was forced out due to outdated equipment or poverty...

Just like that, when Captain Gao and his brothers from the Northwest Army carefully moved their way to a location 250 to 260 meters away from the village, their whereabouts were finally discovered by the Japanese.

Then their real test also began from this moment.

This Japanese artillery unit was mainly equipped with an infantry squadron for protection.

So, 210 to 20 meters ahead of Captain Gao and his men, there was a squad of 50 to 60 Japanese soldiers guarding the area, and they had built an arc-shaped defensive position.

After they reached their current position, they were finally discovered by a Japanese sentry on the defense line.

He fired a shot towards this side, and then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Enemy attack, enemy attack~"

The next second, it was like a hornet's nest was stirred up. The Japanese soldiers who were resting on the defense line got up one after another, raised their Type 38 rifles, or rushed towards some firing points on the position.

When the gunshots rang out, indicating that they had been discovered, Captain Gao shouted:
"Brothers, charge forward and kill the devils~"

As he spoke, he drew out his broadsword with one hand and took a wooden-handled grenade with the back cover removed and the fuse ready to be pulled at any time in the other hand, then he spread his legs and rushed towards the Japanese defense line.

Seeing this, the Northwest Army brothers behind him followed suit.

On this moonlit night, more than 200 unsheathed swords reflected the moonlight and quickly approached the Japanese positions.

For a moment, even though the Japanese on the position had opened fire and knocked their brothers to the ground from time to time, they rushed forward faster and faster.

There is no way! Not only Captain Gao knew this, but the other brothers who participated in the night raid tonight also knew this:
If they relied on the various firearms in their hands, they would never be a match for the Japanese.

Instead, they risked being killed or injured, and rushed to the Japanese defense line in one breath and threw grenades.

First, they blew the Japanese soldiers to pieces, and then took the opportunity to rush up and kill them with a desperate tactic, in order to complete the task assigned by the superiors.

What was unexpected for Captain Gao and his brothers in the Northwest Army was that

The Japanese secretly placed a Type 92 heavy machine gun on this defensive position. After four light machine guns fired one after another, they immediately formed a fierce firepower network.

The Type 3 rifles in the hands of the Japanese soldiers were not very fast, but their accuracy was quite good. After the brothers of their rd Battalion rushed to the position of a hundred meters in front of the defense line, thirty or forty of them had already been killed or wounded.

The key point is that at this moment, all the defenders on the position have reacted, and the firepower has become more and more fierce, causing the brothers to suffer casualties at an increasingly faster rate.

If that really happened, even if they managed to rush to the front and throw grenades, there wouldn't be many people left to rush up and kill the Japanese; not to mention rushing into the village and destroying the Japanese artillery.

In desperation, Captain Gao could only lie on the ground in a mess, shouting at his brothers to stop the charge.

Then he changed to a Mauser pistol and fired at the Japs while preparing to lead them to retreat; he planned to wait until midnight to change direction and try another sneak attack on the Japs.

But he also knew that after the failed sneak attack, the Japanese had already taken precautions.
If we try to change direction in the middle of the night, there probably won't be much hope of success.

Thinking about the fact that thirty or forty brothers were killed or injured, but we couldn’t even get close to the Japanese defense line, I’m afraid that today’s mission cannot be completed.

Captain Gao and his fellow Northwest Army soldiers from the 3rd Battalion felt indescribably frustrated.

However, at this moment, the scene suddenly changed dramatically...

******
The so-called amazing changes were caused by the Type 92 heavy machine gun, which posed the greatest threat to the Japanese position, and two light machine guns which were also the core firepower points. The main shooters were knocked down almost at the same time.

The dense bullets directed at Captain Gao and others were immediately reduced a lot.

The Japanese soldiers reacted extremely quickly. The deputy gunners did not need the officers to call them. They pulled away the main gunners who were killed or injured, and continued to fire with their machine guns.

But before they could pull the trigger, blood spurted out of his chest and he was knocked to the ground again.

This means that the three key firepower points of the Japanese were destroyed.

None of the above was the most surprising thing for Captain Gao and the others; it was this situation that made him feel as if he had suddenly ascended from the eighteenth level of hell to heaven.

On their left, a friendly force miraculously appeared and also launched an attack on the Japanese.

The entire process of these friendly forces' attacks can only be described as brutal, professional, and devastating.

Brutal: It means that the friendly force is not large in number, only about one reinforced company, but its firepower is outrageously luxurious.

Including two light machine guns whose models he couldn't recognize, but the sound when they were triggered was like tearing cloth, and the firepower was extremely fierce.

They were equipped with as many as seven or eight light machine guns of various models.

In addition, they had seven or eight submachine guns and more than a dozen Mauser pistols.

When the above weapons were fired at the same time, the firepower density generated was astonishing, and the Japanese on the position were almost unable to raise their heads.

Even the rifles in the hands of some other soldiers were not the old Hanyang and homemade Type 79 rifles that they had, which had been used for who knows how many years, but the best Type 38 rifles with a large cover.

Professionalism: This is not only reflected in this friendly force. When they charged, they concentrated automatic and semi-automatic weapons such as light machine guns, submachine guns, and Mauser pistols at the front of the team.

Relying on fierce firepower, the Japanese were suppressed directly.

It was also reflected in the fact that several grenade launchers were constantly fired at the rear of the Japanese positions, blocking some Japanese soldiers in the village who saw that the situation was not good and were planning to come to support.

Crushing with overwhelming force: refers to the attack of the friendly forces, which has been advancing rapidly since it was launched, with astonishing efficiency; after only a short while, they were only fifty or sixty meters away from breaking into the Japanese position.

At this time, Captain Gao also realized that now was not the time to watch the show.

After jumping up from the ground, he rushed forward with a big knife in hand. The moment he stood up, he did not forget to shout: "Brothers, kill the devils~"

Upon seeing this, the other brothers of the Northwest Army hurried to follow.

In the following time, they joined forces with the friendly army, easily broke through the defense line and entered the village, starting an unprecedented and exciting battle...

(End of this chapter)