The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 588 A Tough Thing (Part 1) [Two Chapters Combined]

If we can annihilate the Japanese 6th Division in tonight's battle, we will naturally have a good feast to celebrate afterwards.

Therefore, attributing Mina's successful destruction of the pontoon bridge and blocking the agreed-upon signal of a large number of Japanese reinforcements to "having a feast" is perfectly reasonable.

Unfortunately, if they want to actually attend the banquet, there is still a huge hurdle in front of Hu Biao and his group: Xiangyin County.

This is an ancient county town whose geographical location is right on the retreat route of the Japanese invaders.

Before the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, Xiangyin City had 25 streets, 17 alleys, and six wharves, and a large number of ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

It is a necessary stop on the way from Yueyang to C Shacheng, and it is a rather prosperous place.

However, during the first Battle of Chamdo in 1939, 90% of the ancient buildings in the city from the Ming and Qing dynasties were destroyed by the Japanese.

Some time ago, facing a large-scale attack by the Japanese, Cao Keren, the battalion commander of the 99th Division, led his battalion to hold the city.

After several days of continuous fighting, the Japanese invaded the city. The entire battalion was killed in battle, Battalion Commander Cao was captured and killed, and the buildings in the city were almost completely destroyed.

However, what's absurd is that Xiangyin City has now been completely destroyed.

Ironically, the ancient city wall surrounding the perimeter, which is 4.8 meters high and 3.2 meters wide, suffered minimal damage.

What a coincidence! During their retreat, the Japanese 6th Division reached Xiangyin City today, still some distance away.

Amidst the tense atmosphere that permeated the air, the Japanese side sensed that the Nationalist army of the 9th War Zone might launch a full-scale attack on them that very night.

Xiangyin City, with its complete city walls, was a near-perfect campsite.

How could he possibly let Kanda Masakane, the commander of the 6th Division, get away with this?

Under Kanda Masatane's orders, a large number of troops entered the city to prepare for the night; and they also rushed to repair some gaps in the city walls, setting up a tight defensive line based on the city walls.

According to intelligence, Hu Biao and his men estimated that the 6th Division's directly subordinate troops, including the 13th Infantry Regiment, the Cavalry Regiment, and a part of the Supply Regiment, were stationed in Xiangyin City tonight.

Even though these regiments had suffered considerable casualties in previous battles,
However, the total strength was 4500 men; with so many Japanese soldiers defending the city, Hu Biao and his men had to break through the city and annihilate the enemy before dawn and before the Japanese planes appeared.

In this situation, if Xiangyin City isn't a tough nut to crack for them, then what is it?
In any case, in order to take down this tough nut, Hu Biao and his men were going all out, focusing their greatest strength and energy on Xiangyin City.

Among the time travelers, besides Lao Ma, Xiao Henan, Zhi Xiang, Mina, and Lao Che...

The rest of the troops were thrown into the battlefield of Xiangyin County. They also brought most of the troops from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, a total of 3000 men.

In addition, more than 700 laborers have also come; they are also equipped with a rifle and two grenades, and can also help if necessary.

Of course! With only the troops mentioned above, it would be absolutely not enough to take Xiangyin County.

Therefore, all personnel of the 581st Division of the 74th Army, a regiment of the 10th Army, and Commander Xue's guard regiment also rushed to this crucial battlefield.

All of these factors combined brought the total number of Nationalist troops on the Xiangyin battlefield to 1.2.

According to the battle plan, once the battle begins, except for a small number of troops to launch a feint attack on the eastern city wall near the Xiang River, the other three city walls—north, south, and west—will be attacked with all their might.

However, facing the Japanese troops who relied on the city's strong defenses, Hu Biao and his men soon found the battle to be extremely difficult...

******
Time: 1:22 AM, behind a sandbag bunker.

After AT poked his head out a little, he saw the wall that was pouring fire on the city wall more than 200 meters away, as well as the twenty or thirty corpses of his subordinates that had already fallen along the way to the city wall.

In a frustrated tone, he grumbled:
"Damn it! In just half a night, the Japanese have managed to turn Xiangyin City into a tortoise shell. It's a tough nut to crack."

According to the pre-war assigned tasks, AT, Chen Tang, Bao Gongtou, Ji Shouxing, and three other time travelers, along with about a thousand members of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, were responsible for attacking the northern city wall of Xiangyin City.

In addition, there were more than 3,000 men from the 51st Division who fought alongside them.

After the battle began, what was the specific situation? I can only say that the start went relatively smoothly.

Even though the Japanese had made meticulous preparations for the city wall defenses of Xiangyin County and made many arrangements that gave the attacking troops a headache.

For example, the Japanese only deployed a small, understrength force of about 700 men to guard the northern section of the Xiangyin city wall, which was at most one kilometer long.

Furthermore, they could call upon other Japanese troops in the city at any time to provide support from the city walls, making their troop strength quite sufficient.

This meant that even though the Japanese soldiers on the city walls had abandoned all their heavy equipment, the firepower density of their light weapons was still quite terrifying.

Furthermore! They also cut down all the trees and demolished all the houses in a large area outside the city.

This left the area outside the city barren, with a large, unobstructed open space, making it impossible for attacking troops to approach covertly.

When the attack began, AT and his men had barely emerged from a mile or two when they were spotted by the Japanese soldiers on the city wall.

Then, the eight Type 8 heavy machine guns that the Japanese had positioned on the north city wall took the lead in raising their muzzles and firing using a rigging method.

At the same time, the Japanese light machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers, and other weapons were also ready to fire.

Once the ATs enter their effective firing range, they will open fire immediately.

But as the old Chinese saying goes, "For every clever plan you have, there's a countermeasure." AT had already devised a solution to the above situation.

As soon as the Japanese heavy machine guns opened fire, the six mortars under the command of the 58th Division opened fire on the north city wall.

After the shells landed on the city wall, they did not explode immediately; instead, a large amount of smoke quickly billowed out.

The Japanese soldiers nearby who accidentally inhaled the smoke all immediately began to cough violently, feeling a burning pain in their throats and respiratory tracts.

At the same time, the Nationalist soldiers below the city also shouted loud battle cries and charged towards the city wall.

In the dense crowd, apart from a few people wearing gas masks, everyone else had a wet towel covering their face.

Seeing these bizarre situations, the Japanese soldiers, who were definitely encountering this kind of situation for the first time, were stunned for several seconds before they realized what these situations meant.

Some officers and veterans shouted frantically, "Poison gas!"

After shouting, they hurriedly began to put on gas masks, or similarly, wet towels and covered their mouths and noses in an attempt to filter out the toxic gas.

After realizing the horrors of poison gas, the Japanese soldiers on the city wall, who had always used poison gas recklessly to bomb the Nationalist army, felt an overwhelming sense of fear, no matter how much they used it before.

In a moment of chaos, they had no time to spare for firing at the ATs below the city.

What they didn't know was that the ATs didn't have a single poison gas bomb in their possession.

The so-called poison gas bombs were nothing more than mortar smoke bombs that the wizard had recently modified with his men; the sore throats and respiratory symptoms were simply due to the wizard adding some of the spiciest chili powder from Hunan Province.

The current situation where the Japanese are mistaking smoke bombs for poison gas is exactly what the ATs wanted to see.

They hoped to use this tactic to disrupt the Japanese troops' formation and buy them some time to advance through the large open area below the city.

Otherwise, just crossing such an open area would have meant the deaths of countless brothers.

It should be noted that the crowd that rushed up with the four AT members were wearing gas masks or had towels covering their faces.

Many people also had sandbags weighing dozens of kilograms on their shoulders.

Carrying such a burden during an attack, these sandbags naturally play a huge role.

When they reached a position three or four hundred meters below the city wall, the Japanese soldiers on the wall realized that it was not a poison gas bomb at all.

Putting aside their worries, they began firing with immense anger in their hearts; the firepower coming from the city walls became exceptionally fierce.

If this situation continues, AT and his men, who are attacking on open ground, will immediately suffer heavy casualties.

At this crucial moment, the immense value of carrying sandbags became apparent; when thrown to the ground, a dozen or so sandbags piled together would immediately form a fairly good sandbag fortification.

Using these sandbag fortifications, the two sides, separated by a distance of three or four hundred meters, engaged in a firefight.

It's quite a pity that despite having several times the number of troops, the AT side couldn't defeat the Japanese soldiers on the city wall in this exchange of fire.

The key reason is that the Japanese soldiers' marksmanship was honed by sheer volume of bullets, far surpassing that of the Nationalist soldiers who had limited training ammunition.

Secondly, the Japanese soldiers entrenched on the city walls had a significant geographical advantage. They not only had the advantage of being on higher ground, but more importantly, many of them were firing their weapons by extending them out of narrow arrow slits.

To hit and kill them, you have to get the bullet into the narrow eye of the arrow, which requires a lot more marksmanship.

Fortunately, AT and his team were already mentally prepared for this situation.

While most of the personnel were engaged in a firefight with the Japanese, drawing and suppressing their firepower, three rocket launcher teams rushed out from behind sandbag bunkers and headed towards the north wall of Xiangyin City.

Their target was a section of the city wall with spiderweb-like patterns, located 100 meters to the left of the north gate of Xiangyin City.

This section must have been hit by at least 75mm shells during the previous battle, and the wall structure has been severely damaged.

So as long as you use the DIY rocket launcher to hit the previous shot, this section of the city wall should collapse.

Then, AT and his men could follow this gap, fighting their way into the city while advancing left and right along the city wall, wiping out all the Japanese soldiers on the wall.

Otherwise? Xiangyin City is surrounded by a 4.8-meter-high city wall, and right next to the city wall is a moat that is more than three meters wide and two meters deep.

Even without such tactics, AT could still wage siege warfare like in ancient times.

Braving the hail of bullets from the Japanese soldiers, they first filled the moat with earth, then tried to climb up the ladder, but to no avail.

The tactics devised by AT and the other three were, of course, flawless; the key issue was that the Japanese firepower on the city walls was simply too intense.

The three rocket launcher teams, totaling thirty men, were all killed before they even reached within a hundred meters of the city.

During this process, as many as seventy or eighty of the brothers who were firing back at the Japanese soldiers from behind the sandbag bunkers were also killed; that is, the longer this situation continued, the greater their casualties would be.

The Japanese soldiers on the city wall also suffered casualties, but the number was much smaller, and more Japanese soldiers kept coming up to reinforce them; they were making a show of relying on the city wall defense line to completely drive them back.

Seeing this, AT couldn't help but feel anxious and blurted out the opening line...

Despite the complaints, as a seasoned veteran in the transmigrator team, AT knew that the battle had progressed to a point where there was no possibility of giving up.

Don't even mention encountering a tough nut to crack; even if it's made of alloy steel, we'll smash it to pieces.

With this understanding in mind, he turned his head and exchanged a glance with the foreman about twenty meters to his right, and they had already reached a consensus:
This cannot continue, no matter how great the casualties and costs.

We must also break through the Japanese's turtle shell in the shortest possible time and storm into the city.

The two men took a deep breath, and then simultaneously shouted at the top of their lungs: "Smoke grenade!"

At this shout, a series of muffled thuds, like the firing of a grenade launcher, rang out from behind the sandbag bunkers a short distance behind them.

In a very short time, thirty or forty DIY smoke grenades landed in front of the AT, all the way to the city wall.

The smoke they emitted spread out, and it is believed that soon enough, it will form a good smokescreen to cover their movements.

Using the smoke as cover, approach the city wall, getting close enough to be accurately fired from the DIY rocket launcher, within fifty meters.

This tactic was already used by AT and others during the Battle of Kunlun Pass.

And they achieved good results, so there's absolutely no problem with AT and the foreman deciding to use this tactic.

Unfortunately, a strong night wind suddenly blew up at that moment.

The smoke that had just filled the air, even with the smoke from the smoke grenades constantly replenishing it, would not last long before it completely dissipated.

The batch of these smoke grenades that were originally made in Xinning County has long been used up.

The thirty or forty rounds fired with the grenade launcher were made by the wizard and his team last night; AT and the others received a limited number, and the thirty or forty rounds were all they had.

Even if they wanted to wait until this gust of evil wind stopped, they were out of smoke grenades to continue using.

Seeing this sudden and dire situation, AT and the foreman dared not delay for even a moment, and almost simultaneously shouted out a single word:

"Up~"

As they shouted, the two men crouched low and rushed out of the sandbag cover, plunging into the smoke and running toward the rocket launcher operator they remembered dying in battle.

Following closely behind the two men were about twenty brothers on each side.

Despite the fact that AT and the foreman didn't even bother to greet Chen Tang and Ji Shouxing before launching their current operation, AT and the foreman did not do so.

Based on the tacit understanding between the time travelers, they were able to cooperate exceptionally well from the very first moment.

With a roll, Chen Tang arrived next to a Type 92 heavy machine gun. After pushing aside the gunner, he took control of the machine gun and began firing at the city wall.

While firing in bursts, he shouted, "Fire! Fire at full power! Keep shooting until they're dead!"

To be honest, the Type 92 heavy machine gun, nicknamed "Wild Chicken Neck," had a lot of problems, but its shooting accuracy was actually quite good.

In addition, Chen Tang's role in the team was defined, although he wasn't a heavy machine gunner.

However, for a seasoned veteran like him in a transmigrator team, his skills with the various light weapons of the Japanese were no less than those of the elite veteran soldiers of the Japanese.

So, with a Type 92 heavy machine gun in hand, he managed to make it as effective as a sniper rifle.

In a very short time, the two Japanese light and heavy machine guns on the city wall, which were firing wildly at the shadowy figures in the smoke below, were silenced.

The other brothers from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment and the 58th Division, although their marksmanship was not as accurate as Chen Tang's, were still skilled.

But at Chen Tang's call, they straightened up from behind their sandbag bunkers, risking being shot by the Japanese, and opened fire on the city wall.

The sudden burst of intense firepower immediately suppressed the firepower on the city wall by several points.

Although Ji Shouxing had only just transmigrated this time, he was a complete novice.

However, he has been through too many battles recently, and several times if he had been a little unlucky, he would have been killed long ago.

Therefore, under the tempering of a hellish environment, the speed of growth is also astonishing.

As he rolled toward the Type 92 heavy machine gun in Chentang, he picked up a Type 89 grenade launcher that had been left behind by an operator who had been killed not long ago.

I placed it on the ground with one hand, and then slightly adjusted its direction.

He pulled a specialized high-explosive grenade from the operator's chest and fired it.

He didn't forget to shout out during the process: "Grenadiers, open fire at full speed! Use all your high-explosive grenades!"

Just after he finished shouting, with a muffled thud, the exploding grenade that Ji Shouxing had just inserted was launched forward.

Unfortunately, the grenade flew directly over the city wall and landed inside the city; its aim was severely off.

As a beginner, it's perfectly normal to struggle with Japanese weapons like grenade launchers, which rely entirely on experience and feel.

However, it didn't matter much, because at Ji Shouxing's command, several grenade launcher teams that had been hiding behind sandbag bunkers opened fire on the city wall.

They also used dedicated high-explosive grenades with sufficient range, instead of the small melon grenades with insufficient range.

Before long, the grenade launcher team had completely emptied its limited supply of specialized fragmentation grenades.

Of the seventy-odd specialized fragmentation grenades that were hastily fired, only a maximum of thirty-odd successfully landed on the city wall.

Even so, the bombing still killed or wounded a considerable number of Japanese soldiers.

In short, Chen Tang and Ji Shouxing cooperated in a timely manner, greatly diverting and suppressing the Japanese soldiers on the city wall, and providing strong support for the AT and the foreman's operations.

Even at this point, many Japanese soldiers, realizing the danger, continued to fire at the figures in the smoke, trying to kill them.

However, it must be admitted that this level of firepower density is only 20-30% of what it used to be.

If they still get killed by stray bullets after that, AT will accept such an unlucky outcome...

(End of this chapter)