The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 410 Becomes History (Two-in-One Chapter)

At 7:55 p.m., five minutes before the planned artillery barrage was to begin covering the Japanese troops.

At that time, Hu Biao was still using binoculars to observe the scene in the village, which appeared to be about three companies, or about 600 Japanese soldiers, preparing dinner.

It was discovered that during this period, the Japanese soldiers were actually living quite well.

The Japanese soldiers prepared dinner in squads. They cooked a lot of rice, and in addition to some canned meat, they also cooked a large pot of soup with dried vegetables and a lot of seasonings.

He couldn't see exactly what was in it, but the aroma wafted far in the night breeze, reaching Hu Biao's nostrils and making him feel quite hungry after eating several meals of dry rations.

Just then, a faint 'bang' of a gunshot reached Hu Biao's ears.

With his extensive combat experience, Hu Biao easily discerned from the gunshots that the weapon that had just fired was the Japanese Type 38 rifle.

Soon after, even more intense gunfire erupted, including the familiar sound of a Czech light machine gun firing in three-round bursts.

"Damn it! I wonder which unit was sneaking up and exposed us beforehand."

Having guessed what was going to happen, Hu Biao instinctively uttered that curse; however, throughout the entire process, his expression showed no sign of tension.

Yes! Hu Biao really didn't feel there was anything to be nervous about.

When the 6,000 Japanese soldiers of the 19th Independent Mixed Regiment plunged headlong into the huge encirclement of Dadong Township.

And because they were exhausted from a day of forced march, when they set off to camp in Dadong Township and several surrounding villages, their fate of being annihilated was already sealed.

Humans aren't machines. It's quite normal that with so many Nationalist troops sneaking in under the cover of night, some issues might arise and be discovered beforehand.

They had already prepared contingency plans for this situation, so it wouldn't affect their subsequent operations at all.

As Hu Biao uttered the curse, he pulled a signal pistol from his waistband and fired it into the air.

With a 'whoosh' sound, a signal flare was launched into the air, reaching a height of eighty or ninety meters.

It may not have been very high, but the blinding light it emitted was still visible to people far away in the darkness, including a group of artillerymen from the National Revolutionary Army.

The raising of this signal flare was the signal for the artillerymen to fire in advance.

So without any further instructions, all the artillerymen immediately sprang into action.

In the preceding time, they had already adjusted the muzzle direction and installed fuses on the shells based on the coordinates transmitted back from the front.

Upon receiving the signal, various mountain guns, field guns, howitzers, and even large-caliber mortars immediately opened fire at full capacity.

In a very short time, the artillerymen, drenched in sweat from exhaustion, had only one simple thought in their minds:

Within five minutes, they fired as many shells as possible at the target, trying to kill those damned Japanese devils.

Under such circumstances, the Japanese troops of the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade immediately suffered huge losses.

After entering the village, they set up several sentry posts around the village in accordance with the requirements of the Infantry Manual, and also set up a light and heavy machine gun at the entrance of the village.

Even when faced with a night attack by the enemy, they were able to hold out until the entire army could react.

However, this arrangement had no effect whatsoever on artillery fire coverage.

For example, the village of Banqiao, which Hu Biao and his men were about to attack, was only provided with four 75mm mountain guns and six mortars as fire support.

You can still see the Japanese soldiers, caught off guard, completely stunned by the intense artillery fire.

They ignored their soon-to-be-eaten dinner and ran around the village like headless flies. Often, a single shell landing in the village could kill several people.

Some of the more astute Japanese soldiers, after realizing what was happening, knew to hide in nearby houses.

However, the houses in Banqiao Village are basically built with materials such as wood, bamboo, and mud bricks; even if they are hit by a mortar shell, they can be easily blown up.

They overwhelmed the Japanese soldiers hiding inside.

If there was anything that Hu Biao and his men were somewhat dissatisfied with, it was that after several days of continuous fighting, the Nationalist army now had a limited number of artillery shells on hand.

As a result, they can only receive five minutes of artillery support under their current circumstances.

There's a somewhat frustrating feeling that it all just got started, and then it ended abruptly.

Fortunately, even so, this kind of start to the battle was still unprecedentedly wonderful for them and for all the Nationalist troops present.

In the past, they were lucky if they weren't bombed by the Japanese before the war even started; they wouldn't dare hope for artillery support. They just wanted to teach the Japanese a lesson first...

*****
When the time came to 8:01, it felt that the artillery fire was gradually thinning out.

Hu Biao leaped up from the sweet potato patch he had been lying on, shouting at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking:

"Charge! Charge in and kill all the Japanese devils. After we're done, I, Hu Biao, will treat everyone to drinks, good drinks."

Even as he yelled, it didn't stop him from carrying an MP18 submachine gun and leading the charge towards Banqiao Village, about a mile away.

Then countless figures leaped up in the wilderness outside Banqiao Village and charged towards this village, which was of a decent size.

More accurately, it should be said that two companies of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment served as the spearhead, with one regiment each from the Nationalist Army and the Guangxi Army following behind as support.

More than 3,700 people rushed into Banqiao Village from all directions.

There was no main direction of attack; the main objective was to use overwhelming troop superiority to crush the Japanese in a very short time.

After enduring a round of shelling, the Japanese soldiers in the village still had more than 500 survivors, but unfortunately, more than 100 of them were wounded, some lightly and some seriously.

What's worse, they were in a terrible state of panic.

They organized the defensive line under the desperate calls of officers or veterans; but even these officers and veterans had faces full of despair.

It seems they can foresee their utter annihilation tonight.

However, a question arises: do all these advantages mean that the National Revolutionary Army can achieve a great victory? Can the Japanese, who were not yet severely depleted at the beginning of 1930, be so easily defeated?
No doubt about it! It really does represent...

Running at breakneck speed, Hu Biao reached a point less than 100 meters from the village entrance in less than a minute.

At the village entrance, the Japanese had originally deployed a squad of sentries and set up a Type 92 heavy machine gun as the core of their defensive firepower.

These Japanese soldiers were even lucky; they escaped unscathed from the previous artillery fire.

So when Hu Biao and his men charged, the Japanese soldiers immediately opened fire, especially the Type 92 heavy machine gun, which killed several men in the blink of an eye.

Several bullets even flew past Hu Biao's ears, nearly knocking one of his ears off.

The first thing Hu Biao shouted was:
"Old cucumber, warehouse manager, are you guys blind?! Shoot down that Type 92 heavy machine gun!"

After he finished cursing, he realized that Uncle Bo had disguised himself as a captain and infiltrated Nanning City under the guise of an observation group.

The warehouse manager also led his troops to the battlefield in Dadong Township, where even more Japanese soldiers were entrenched, and even the headquarters of the 19th Independent Mixed Brigade was camped there.

Naturally, more time travelers are needed to command more troops to besiege that place.

Therefore, there's really no way to eliminate these strongpoints immediately as we usually do.

But so what? There are nearly a thousand people who have followed Hu Biao to the village entrance.

Not long ago, many of them were farmers or small-time craftsmen, and they probably couldn't articulate any profound truths.

However, some simple and straightforward truths are clear: if even the mighty Hu Biao and Commander Hu are not afraid of death and dare to rush to the front, what are they afraid of with their worthless lives?
Even though the Japanese soldiers at the village entrance were firing at their highest rate, knocking down one charging figure after another, they still couldn't stop the advance of even more soldiers.

Once Hu Biao and his men reached a point less than 100 meters from the village entrance, and their submachine guns were starting to find their mark, everything else became much easier.

He was followed by sixty or seventy brothers, all of whom were from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment; their weapons were either submachine guns and light machine guns, or pistols.

They followed Hu Biao and opened fire, unleashing a barrage of bullets.

In just a few breaths, an entire squad of Japanese soldiers at the village entrance was killed on the spot; the Japanese soldiers who tried to come to reinforce were defeated halfway there.

Especially the gunner and assistant gunner of the Type 92 heavy machine gun, they emptied both ammunition trays and killed or wounded twenty or thirty people on this side as they charged up. Everyone had long hated them.

When they opened fire, at least twenty men pointed their guns at them and unleashed a burst of bullets.

In an instant, the two were riddled with bullets, and their weight increased by at least half a pound on the spot.

Hu Biao didn't even bother to glance at the dead Japanese soldiers; he continued charging into the village while changing magazines.

In the following period, a battle similar to street fighting began with the Japanese soldiers entrenched there.

To be honest, Hu Biao had fought countless street battles before, but this was definitely the easiest one he had ever experienced in Banqiao Village.

If the Japanese soldiers entrenched in the village chose to hide in the houses and engage in firefights, the sheer number of submachine guns would keep them pinned down.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, one of the brothers quickly stepped forward and threw a grenade through the door or window.

A loud explosion solved all the problems immediately.

If they chose to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Nationalist army, it would be fair to say that, given their overwhelming numerical advantage, the Japanese soldiers' supposedly impressive bayonet fighting skills were utterly insignificant.

Hu Biao and his men swept through the village with the efficiency of an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. In no time, only about a hundred Japanese soldiers remained, hiding in the ancestral hall on one side of the village and putting up a stubborn resistance.

This ancestral hall is built entirely of the finest blue bricks, so that even heavy machine gun bullets cannot penetrate it.

The Japanese soldiers hiding inside fired desperately outwards from the doors, windows, and numerous firing ports they had smashed open, but they were like a fire-propelled hedgehog, completely unable to break through.

However, this last-ditch effort by the Japanese soldiers ultimately proved futile.

Hu Biao was no delicate queen; he had plenty of strength and cunning.

At Hu Biao's signal, more than a dozen smoke grenades were launched from the grenade launcher, creating a large cloud of smoke that obscured the view in front of the ancestral hall.

As the smoke filled the air, six rocket launcher operators, carrying four Type 1 rocket launchers and two Type 2 rocket launchers, stepped forward.

Without even aiming, he knelt down on one knee, leveled the muzzle of the gun, and fired straight at the target. All six shots hit the target, easily blasting six large holes in the sturdy blue brick wall of the ancestral hall.

The Japanese soldiers who were firing wildly nearby were also taken down by the shockwave and flying bricks and stones.

Even before the six rocket launcher operators knelt down, Hu Biao led a group of brothers fully equipped with automatic weapons in an attack on the ancestral hall.

Finally, after a brief but rapid burst of submachine gun fire and faint screams in the ancestral hall, everything calmed down.

This means that the 612 Japanese soldiers entrenched in Banqiao Village have been wiped out like autumn leaves swept away by the wind.

As for how long it took to kill these 612 Japanese soldiers?
Standing in the ancestral hall filled with the corpses of Japanese soldiers, Hu Biao was somewhat surprised to find, after looking around, a pot of soup on a table on the inner side that had not been knocked over during the battle.

When I went over to take a look, I found that it was something the Japanese called 'miso soup,' and it was still steaming.

The pork kidney lunchboxes on the side were quite clean, and it seemed that the pot of soup hadn't been touched.

To be honest, Hu Biao, this country bumpkin, has never tasted this stuff before, whether in the modern world or after he transmigrated. He doesn't even know what it tastes like.

Suddenly, I couldn't resist the urge to eat, so I scooped up some with a spoon and took a sip.

During this process, the brothers present naturally saw it all, and those of them who had never tasted this stuff before were also full of curiosity.

As a result, under their curious gazes, Commander Hu put the dark soup into his mouth, only to spit it out with a "pfft".

After wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he let out a curse:

"What rubbish! It's like diluted soy sauce, so salty it's cloying."

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, their expressions filled with indescribable joy, even though they had suffered three or four hundred casualties in order to annihilate these six hundred Japanese soldiers.

They weren't actually afraid of dying; what they feared was dying meaninglessly, like wild dogs.

Then the Japanese soldiers pointed at their corpses, their faces full of disdain...

After the brothers finished laughing, Hu Biao's expression turned serious again, and he asked loudly, "Brothers! Are you tired? Can you still fight? Do you dare to fight?"

The words had barely faded when a voice from the crowd responded:
"Commander Hu, I've only taken a few pissing sips and I'm done, I'm not tired at all; just tell me where you want to fight the Japanese."

Then a continuous chorus of agreement arose, all indicating that wherever Commander Hu pointed, they would go without hesitation, even if it meant facing mountains of knives and seas of fire.
After a great victory, the morale of the Guangxi Army and the Nationalist Army brothers who fought alongside them was soaring.

Amidst such agreement, Hu Biao picked up a spoon and poured half a spoonful of extremely salty miso soup into his mouth; he drank it down with a frown, as if drinking strong liquor.

Only after swallowing it completely did he begin speaking again:
"I just promised the brothers that I would treat everyone to a good drink after we killed these Japanese devils; but since you all want to continue fighting the Japanese, let me, Hu Biao, use this thing as a substitute for wine to toast you all with a spoonful."

After everyone finished drinking, they continued their march towards Dengchuang Village, and then attacked Dadong Township one by one.

Anyway, the Japanese soldiers who independently formed the 19th Brigade will stop fighting and start drinking heavily when they're all dead.

After saying that, Hu Biao picked up the pot of miso soup with both hands and walked towards his brothers.

His brothers also picked up spoons and scooped up some of the Japanese's extremely salty soup, drinking it down in one gulp as if it were a farewell drink.

It wasn't that they were afraid the stuff would taste bad, but rather that the whole pot of miso soup only weighed about seven or eight pounds, and they wanted to save some for the other brothers.

Even so, after drinking some miso soup, every brother's spirits were further boosted.

Aside from the light in his eyes, there was not a trace of fear.

After the last bit of miso soup was finished, Hu Biao gave an order: "The Nationalist army will leave a battalion of brothers to clean up the battlefield, the rest of you follow me."

Afterwards, he led his troops, which numbered less than three thousand, southwestward to Dengchuang Village, which was two miles away.

I don't know if there were more Japanese soldiers in Dengchuang Village, but the troops led by Xiao Henan have not yet completely ended the battle.

As a result, they had only run about a mile when they saw more than a hundred Japanese soldiers break out of the encirclement and charge towards them.

Upon seeing this scene, before Hu Biao could even issue an order, his men surged forward like a tidal wave.

With a single charge, they completely overwhelmed the group of Japanese soldiers.

A minute or two later, Xiao Henan and his men wiped out the Japanese rearguard and chased after them, cursing and swearing.

The two forces didn't exchange many words after meeting. Hu Biao simply shouted "Go!" and the combined force of more than 5,000 men marched towards the next village.

By this time, personnel from various units, including the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, the Nationalist Army, the Guangxi Army, and the Security Regiment, were mixed together, and there was no longer any distinction between who was the main attacker, who was a follower, and who was an assistant.

Of course! That's no longer important.

Because everyone's heart is filled with an indomitable spirit.

In this atmosphere, even sheep transformed into tigers, signifying that the Japanese Independent Mixed Brigade 19 would become a thing of the past after tonight...

(End of this chapter)