Chapter 46
The Japanese infantry guns and tanks discovered these bunkers and tried to blast them with cannons, but after several rounds of firing, they found that the design of these bunkers was very strange. The side facing the Japanese was a thick layer of stone and concrete stacked on top of each other, which the infantry guns and tank guns could not penetrate at all. Naturally, the shooting hole of the bunker is the weakest side, but the weak side of this bunker is facing the trench, not directly opposite the direction of the Japanese attack. The shells of the Japanese army cannot turn around from the side, so it's impossible to hit them.
The tank was blocked outside the first trench and could not pass through. Otherwise, if the tank passed by and fired from the front, it would still be able to destroy the bunker.
Several shells of mortar were fired over, but those shells fell on the thick top of the dark fort, just like scratching them, and it was useless.
The devils can only hope for the planes in the sky, but those planes have already dropped all their bombs to deal with the righteous and brave artillery and defensive lines. By the time the next batch of planes arrives, I'm afraid the devils who rushed over the second trench will be shot down by machine guns, and even the planes may not arrive on time.
Of course, the 24cm and 15cm heavy artillery can destroy this stronghold. However, those 24cm and 15cm heavy artillery have extremely high ammunition consumption, and their shells are already depleted. The railway line behind was also damaged by the Righteous Army's night raid yesterday, and the shells have not been transported yet.
Looking through binoculars at his own soldiers being turned into corpses in the hail of bullets, Nakamura Shin'ichi was enraged and shouted wildly.
It was impossible to rely on artillery, and some soldiers could only bypass the dead angle of the fort from the side and blast it. However, since Li Bin designed this dark fort, he naturally also considered the weakness of the shooting dead angle, and those positions were already covered by snipers and light machine gunners.
Actually, Li Bin has many more tricks up his sleeve to deal with the devils. On the Daling River defense line, it's even more treacherous than this trench defense line. In some trenches, there are even artificial slopes and reverse slope fortifications! He used all the methods that could be used to block the PLA's counterattack, and it would be strange if the devils didn't suffer a loss here!
Li Bin does not deny that the Kuomintang fought bravely in the War of Resistance. Unfortunately, the Kuomintang's tactics were too rigid, with a one-line defense system, stubbornly defending a point, without sufficient depth. Once breached, it was a complete collapse. The devils are not to be underestimated, their tactics perfectly countered those of the Kuomintang army, and countered them to death!
The first group of four devils carrying explosive packs went around, and several shots of sniper rifle sounded. Those four "dare-to-die" members immediately turned into corpses.
The devil commander was determined to go all out and took more than a dozen "dare-to-die" team members at once, but those devils hadn't approached the fort yet. Two Czech machine guns appeared in the hiding place and instantly "shot" all of them.
More than 20 members of the third batch of "dare-to-die corps" attempted to cross over but all turned into corpses halfway.
Six waves of "suicide squad" members went up, and six batches of so-called suicide squads were almost all killed halfway. Only one "suicide squad member" had just approached the distance of less than ten meters from the earthwork, when he was shot in the head by Huang Hua hiding in a hidden place.
The news of the enemy's attack being repelled reached Lieutenant General Tomitaro Horii, who immediately rushed to the forward command post of Nakamura Shin. He picked up his binoculars and looked out at the dense defensive fortifications, a complex network of dispersed yet tightly interconnected defenses. He couldn't help but exclaim: "China has such men! They are indeed a great threat to our Imperial Army!"
He then turned to Tōyama Kakichi, the head of the Kwantung Army's special affairs bureau at that time, and said: "Tōyama-kun, you immediately go investigate who is the Shina commander in charge of the Jinzhou defense war!"
"Ah-hai! I'll go investigate right away!" said Tofu Hara Kenji with a bow.
In less than the time it takes to eat a meal, more than 400 devils who had charged between the second and third trenches were all "annihilated" under the heavy machine gun fire. In addition, more than 70 "dare-to-die" members who had rushed over from the first trench were also killed.
Sakagaki Seishirō was enraged to the point of vomiting blood when he saw that his own 33rd Infantry Regiment's 1st Battalion had been cut down by more than half. The so-called "Great Sword of Kwantung Army" had never thought that a small ditch would be so difficult to take! Three months ago, during the September 18th Incident, the Japanese army in Manchuria was not numerous and could easily occupy nearly half of Manchuria with almost no cost! But today, they suffered a great defeat here!
After annihilating half of the battalion, Li Bin gave a decisive order to the machine gun company commander: "Withdraw your machine gun company from those pillboxes!"
Sure, here is the translation:
As expected, no sooner had the machine gun company withdrawn from the dark fort than a batch of Japanese bombers loaded with bombs came over and blew up those four most deadly forts to smithereens.
Although the stronghold is gone, as long as people are still here, they can preserve their own strength and give a head-on blow to Japanese invaders in the future!
After wiping out the four strongholds, the Japanese launched a fierce attack again. The devils wearing khaki uniforms surged towards the defenders' positions like a dirty yellow tide, and in the face of the defenders' stubborn resistance, this large intestine-like yellow tide was beaten back once more.
The devils launched the second wave of attack, bombers in the sky, tanks, howitzers and infantry guns on the ground poured bombs and shells into the defensive positions of the defenders like a storm, regardless of the possibility of hurting their own side. The devils wearing khaki uniforms charged forward in the hail of bullets, except for being injured by their own firepower, they once again encountered the most stubborn resistance from the defenders.
More and more warriors fell, the living warriors immediately filled up, blocking the gap. When the Japanese were about to rush over, the wounded soldier who was tied with hand grenades rushed towards the devils without hesitation.
The Japanese, with their eyes red from crying, also organized a suicidal squad tied up with explosives to charge the defender's position, but were shot dead one by one by the defender's snipers. A few who were about to approach the trenches were hugged by soldiers jumping out of the trenches, and the two rolled together, with the soldier pulling the fuse on the Japanese man's explosive pack.
The Japanese launched six successive attacks, all of which were repelled. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of soldiers from both sides. These six attacks had consumed one-third of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, and Sakakibara Seizaburō had a tooth knocked out in this battle!
The devils have one trick after another; they sent the sappers to the front, attempting to blow up and flatten the first trench so that their tanks could pass through.
Carrying explosives and tools, the sappers were clearly visible to Li Bin through his binoculars. He immediately ordered the sniper squad: "Order all snipers to give those little devils' sappers a good welcome!"
Wu Congyu, Huang Hua and Jin Hu led a small team of snipers, hiding about 500 meters away from the first trench. They raised their sniper rifles, with the dark muzzles aimed at the Japanese laborers who were about to approach the trenches.
Huang Hua was the first to pull the trigger. "Bang" went the gun, and a Japanese engineer soldier fell headfirst into the trench.
The second Japanese engineer had not yet figured out what was going on, when Wu Congyu's bullet pierced his eyes, and a face that was originally sinister became even more hideous. This devil also fell headfirst into the ditch.
One by one, the bullets of revenge shot out of the barrel, and with each gunshot, a Japanese engineer soldier fell to his death.
When the enemy's infantry guns and tanks fired retaliatory shells at Huang Hua, these snipers had already agilely changed their positions in the trenches.
So it can be said that Li Bin has made great efforts to protect these snipers and some god guns. The snipers have their own narrow trenches for activity, and there are many small holes in the trenches that can protect them from being bombed by the devils' planes.
Snipers who changed positions after each shot caused great losses to the enemy's engineering troops, killing a whole squad of them without even being able to blow up a short section of trench.
Nakamura Shintarō ordered a change in tactics again, ordering the infantry to charge and protect those engineers from being shot.
This time the Japanese paid a heavy price, charging over the third trench but running into four carefully concealed bunkers in front of the fourth.
This time, Li Bin ordered the four hidden forts to open fire and shoot in order to block the devils' attack. With just one round of shooting, they repelled the devils' infantry's crazy charge.
Under the protection of infantry soldiers, snipers shot those devil engineers one by one accurately until no devil engineer dared to approach the first trench for blasting.
The fierce battle lasted from morning to afternoon, not only wiping out half of the 33rd Infantry Regiment led by Sakagaki Seishirō, but also crippling a battalion of the 30th Infantry Regiment and destroying nearly half of the 2nd Independent Guard Battalion.
The assault lasted all day and the Japanese got nothing out of it except leaving nearly two thousand bodies in front of the positions.
As a "thank you" for Nakamura Shinda's behavior of disgracing his own unit, the furious Sakaki Seishirō gave him more than ten slaps in a row, beating that thin monkey face until it became pig-headed.
The sky gradually darkened, and the Japanese planes in the sky had to honestly return to Shenyang Airport. The devils who advanced only 50 meters at the cost of 2,000 people could only rest on the spot.
Having learned a lesson from last night's sneak attack, the devils have strengthened their guard this time, lest the troops take advantage of the darkness to recapture the lost position.
After the sky turned completely dark, Li Bin suddenly gave the order: "All troops defending Goubangzi retreat! Retreat along the railway line to defend the Daling River defense line!"
Upon hearing this order, everyone looked at each other in dismay, unable to comprehend why they were retreating. Wang Zihao asked, "General, aren't we winning? Why are we retreating?"
Li Bin replied, "The devils have already suffered heavy losses for two consecutive days! Tomorrow they will definitely come up with new methods to deal with us! Moreover, we successfully used the 'Tiger Leaving the Mountain' tactic today to lure away the 20th Division, but tomorrow the 20th Division will definitely return! Furthermore, the devil's railway line will definitely be operational tomorrow! At that time, they will transport large quantities of heavy artillery shells and armored trains will also arrive! When that happens, Gou Bangzi will definitely not be able to hold out! Rather than passively taking a beating, it's better to retreat proactively!"
After hearing Li Bin's words, everyone suddenly realized. Under Li Bin's arrangement, the warriors took advantage of the dark night to prepare for their withdrawal.
While Fang Juntian and his special troops were preparing to retreat, they first set up booby traps on the bodies of the devils that had fallen into our trenches.
