Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 304 The Second Line of Defense

The rain intensified, the cold raindrops pounding against the tanks' thick armor with a crackling sound. The 2nd Company of the 1st Tank Battalion, under Zhuang Xiaoman's command, surged forward like an iron torrent, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing Japanese cavalry.

Those Japanese cavalrymen only wished that their warhorses had two more legs. They frantically fired their Type 44 muskets at each other, hoping to slow down the pursuers, while also spurring their horses on like madmen, hoping that their warhorses could run faster and faster.

This is the tragedy that cavalry faced in this era.

The cavalry that once dominated the battlefield and were invincible have now been transformed into auxiliary troops only used for reconnaissance and intelligence transmission.

Especially when they encountered armored forces, it was like a rabbit encountering its natural enemy, a cheetah. All they could do was turn around and flee in panic, completely powerless to fight back.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

The coaxial machine gun and anti-aircraft machine gun on Zhuang Xiaoman's tank turret drew lines of fire in the rain, and bullets poured out like water.

Every tank that was hot on his heels was firing continuously, unleashing a hail of bullets at the fleeing Japanese cavalry.

Japanese cavalrymen and their horses continued to fall in the rain, screaming as they were hit by bullets. Their bodies rolled over due to inertia, or they fell directly into the mud, stirring up large amounts of mud.

Some of the fallen cavalrymen had no time to struggle before they were mercilessly crushed by the heavy, spiked tracks of the Sherman tanks that were hot on their heels.

"Click...creak..."

The sounds of bones breaking, horse meat being torn apart, and the teeth-grinding scraping of tracks against mud and flesh mingled with the sounds of rain and machine gun fire.

Bright red blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs, was quickly blended together with the damp loess under the repeated crushing of the tank tracks.

The mud was stained dark brown with blood and had a faint, fishy smell. Then, it was pressed deep into the soil by the tank tracks.

However, this pursuit was not without its challenges.

As time went on, the rain intensified, as if a gray veil had been draped over the sky and earth. Visibility became increasingly blurred, and everything ahead became indistinct and difficult to discern.

Visibility dropped sharply, and it became increasingly difficult for machine gunners to lock onto targets in the rain.

In the end, the remaining Japanese cavalry, taking advantage of the bad weather, slipped into the depths of the rain like eels and disappeared from the sight of Zhuang Xiaoman and his tank unit.

Zhuang Xiaoman had no choice but to order a halt to the pursuit to prevent his troops from getting into unnecessary trouble in the rain.

…………

Today marks the start of the offensive, the third day of the battle to breach the outskirts of Taiyuan.

The sky remained overcast, showing no sign of clearing up. Instead, the drizzling rain intensified, soaking the earth into a muddy mess.

The first line of defense deployed by the Japanese 36th Division on the perimeter had collapsed completely after two days of fierce attacks. The remaining Japanese troops retreated in disarray to the second line of defense, like stray dogs. The combined forces of the Shanxi militia and the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army were now pressing their advantage and launching a fierce attack on the Japanese second line of defense.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

The rain of shells, carrying mud, water, and dust, swept across the entire mountain range in an instant.

This nameless hill, barely over 300 meters high, seemed like a lone boat in a turbulent sea under the incessant roar of artillery fire, always on the verge of being swallowed by the giant waves. Shrapnel and gravel flew everywhere, mixed with rainwater and mud, striking the bunkers with a clanging sound that sent shivers down the spines of those hiding inside.

"Heavens are blind, of all times it has to rain!"

Inside the shelter, Li Gaoyuan, the commander of the First Regiment of the Shanxi Militia, cursed under his breath.

His face was smeared with a few drops of mud, and his eyes were filled with anxiety and helplessness.

This kind of weather is like adding insult to injury for the attacking side.

Through the narrow observation hole of the bunker, he could see his men charging towards the hilltop in the rain, bayoneted weapons and braving a hail of bullets.

The muddy and slippery hillside made every infantry charge extremely difficult.

Their feet sank deep into the mud, and with each step forward, their shoes would get stuck in the mud, requiring all their strength to pull them out.

Every now and then, someone would slip, trip over a hidden pothole, lose their balance, and fall heavily into the mud with a "plop," splashing up a large amount of filthy mud and water. However, they had no time to hesitate or rest.

Those who fall will quickly roll in the mud, struggle to get up, ignoring the mud and cold rain covering their bodies, and with only an indomitable will, they will once again face the hail of bullets pouring down from the mountaintop and continue to charge toward their target.

Their faces were wet with rain, making it hard to tell whether it was sweat or rain, but not one of them backed down.

As for those highly anticipated assault weapons... tanks, in such harsh terrain, they are even more useless.

The Sherman tank, weighing over thirty tons, was invincible on flat, hard ground, but on steep, muddy hillsides, let alone climbing, its enormous weight became a burden.

The tracks slipped in the mud, the engine roared laboriously but could only spin in place. In some cases, the tank would lose traction due to its own weight and slowly slide down the slippery slope, making it impossible to provide effective fire support for the infantry.

Just then, Regimental Chief of Staff Ye Shaolin walked in from outside, completely soaked. His uniform clung tightly to his body, clearly indicating he had marched hastily through the rain. He walked to Li Gaoyuan's side, his voice slightly breathless but tinged with excitement:
"Sir... the 386th Brigade has taken Wotou Ridge on the right flank. The joint command has ordered us to take this hill by 1 p.m.!" Ye Shaolin said, pointing to the simple map on the table.

After capturing the first line of Japanese defense, the joint command halted the previous rotation strategy where the Shanxi militia attacked in the morning and the 386th Brigade took over in the afternoon.

Instead, a clearer and more specific task allocation was adopted: the task of the 1st and 6th Regiments of the Shanxi Militia was to concentrate their forces to break through the Japanese army's left flank positions, while the 386th Brigade was responsible for the right flank attack. The two flanks advanced in parallel, striving to tear apart the Japanese army's second line of defense in the shortest possible time.

"The Japanese army has an infantry regiment plus an artillery regiment and a cavalry regiment, but we only have two infantry regiments. It will be difficult to take the position on time!"

Li Gaoyuan sighed. In this kind of weather, the accuracy of aircraft bombing dropped was greatly reduced, and the power of artillery shells was also greatly weakened. As for artillery, it goes without saying that the observation balloons that risked being launched could not see anything at all.

Firing at this point is like a blind man riding a horse; one wrong move and you could hit your own people.

As for mortars, needless to say, they wouldn't dare fire them at all; if one exploded, it would be a disaster.

Meanwhile, Colonel Masami Takagi, commander of the 223rd Regiment of the Japanese Army, was lying in a sorry state in the trenches of the main position of the second line of defense.

He was soaked to the bone by the rain, his military cap askew, his uniform clinging to his body, and the cold rainwater running down his neck and into his uniform, making him shiver uncontrollably.

He gripped the sword tightly in his hand; the hilt was cold and slippery, but it couldn't suppress the anxiety surging deep within him.

As a regimental commander, Masami Takagi has many things to consider, especially in the current battle situation.

He was racking his brains, trying to figure out how to deal with the allied forces' even fiercer offensive. He clearly recognized that the Chinese army before him was extremely powerful, both in terms of combat effectiveness and individual soldier quality. Their bravery in battle was in no way inferior to that of the Imperial soldiers, and in some aspects, even surpassed them.

Secondly, the sheer power of the enemy's infantry firepower was even more alarming to him.

The roar of machine guns, the flames of flamethrowers, and the explosive charges that could easily overturn fortifications far exceeded the firepower available to our side.

His soldiers, under the enemy's overwhelming firepower, often couldn't even lift their heads.

Third, and most despairing of him, was the fact that the enemy could receive endless artillery support.

The barrage of shells seemed endless, and each round of bombardment brought enormous casualties and psychological stress to his troops.

His 36th Division was only a second-class division. The large division had more than 10,000 men, but only less than 30 75-caliber mountain guns and field guns.

These limited artillery firepower were woefully inadequate in the face of the enemy's fierce artillery fire, leaving them constantly stretched thin and forced to passively endure attacks.

Just as he was deep in thought, a rumbling sound suddenly came from down the mountain. He looked in the direction of the sound and, through the misty rain, several steel monsters appeared in his field of vision.

Takagi Masami's heart skipped a beat, a chill ran down his spine, and his hand holding the sword trembled uncontrollably.

However, after he looked closely again and could barely make out what was being seen through the rain, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

What appeared before him was only a light tank, not the heavy tank he had feared most. Otherwise, he truly didn't know what to do next; he probably would have had no way to stop the heavy tank's charge except to choose certain death.

Several M24 Chaffee tanks roared and rolled their tracks as they fearlessly charged up the muddy hillside.

The tank's heavy tracks carved deep furrows into the muddy hillside, stirring up waves of mud and splashing murky water everywhere.

Behind these tanks, shadowy figures could be seen, crouching low and charging forward under the cover of the tanks, surging forward like a tide, their target the Japanese second line of defense.

(End of this chapter)