Chapter Fifty: The Source of the River

  At dusk, the 2nd Tank Regiment led by Sakae ōba and part of the 1st Infantry Regiment transported by trucks finally arrived at Daur, which was still smoking everywhere. They managed to rescue most of the remaining troops, but most of the supplies accumulated by the Kwantung Army during their southward advance had been reduced to ashes; The exhausted 1st Mixed Brigade, which had practiced "return run" for a day, re-entered Daur to rest and gather scattered troops.

  In the south, Shōyama Hajime, who had mysteriously lost several hundred cavalrymen, also withdrew all units of the 15th Mixed Brigade and stopped advancing to camp on the spot.

  Only in the middle of the road, Tōjō Hideki's several urgent orders made Motoda Masaharu disregard the night and lead the 2nd Mixed Brigade to rush towards Gaoyuan. Although the officers and soldiers had been walking for a day and were already very hungry, Tanaka Masao was still excitedly boasting: "This time, Sakai and Shigeyuki are unlucky! The next division commander has hope!"

  "Don't be too happy! I'm sure the enemy has a cavalry division lurking in the west!"

  "Only one cavalry division? With over 2,000 cavalrymen, we are well-prepared. The renowned First Division's four infantry battalions and one field artillery battalion, with over 5,000 men, will march into battle. This enemy force is no match for us."

  "Although we can't hold on, if the loss is too great, we won't be able to explain ourselves! Especially now that the source of our supplies is empty, what if the enemy doesn't attack us but instead attacks the source of our supplies?!"

  "Hmm," Tōin said with a lingering sense of fear: "If the Chief of Staff Tōjō had three inches more height, we would be in trouble!"

  "So we must hasten our advance and strive to reach Guoyuan by midnight! Moreover, the further south we go, the closer we get to the mountainous region, the less suitable it is for the enemy cavalry to maneuver." Honda Masamori said with a smile: "Let's continue advancing! We'll rest again when we reach Guoyuan."

  As expected, the 2nd Mixed Brigade was waiting for the arrival of Honda's brigade in the southwest. Ma Buqing, Ma Burong and Ma Biao were together, "Commander, are we really going to launch a surprise attack on the whole army? The scouts have reported that the Japanese army is already prepared, and now it's pitch black!"

  "Of course, further south is the mountainous region. Although our army has made preparations, it's just a mobile warfare, if we let them pass, we won't be able to fight again, we can only fight now! Even if we exhaust these two divisions, we must defeat this enemy army!"

  Ma Biao said: "Can't we go and attack Gouyuan to hold them back? Maybe we can capture that old devil Dong Ti."

  "You think the army commander is like you, only thinking of it now? The army commander had already sent Ma Bingzhong with two regiments over there; wait for both sides to attack together later. But wanting to catch Dongtiao is just a dream! It's dark and chaotic, as long as they run towards the big mountain in the back, who can be caught? Haha!" Ma Bu Rong said with a smile.

  "Alright, let's get started! Tell the brothers to keep quiet when approaching the enemy, and don't make a sound during the battle. Call out 'Gā jiǎ zi' or 'Gā rì guǐ', either one is fine."

  "Yes!" Ma Biao burst out laughing with a wide open mouth.

  Guoyuan, the command post of the Kwantung Army's Chahar Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant General Tojo Hideki gazed silently at the two disorganized infantry companies, one engineer company and his own guard company deploying defenses. In fact, there was nothing much to deploy, just rearranging the few machine guns and small cannons, adding a bit more mud to the hastily constructed earthworks. Many logistics soldiers and staff officers were also running around trying to find shelter among the vehicles and scattered houses and tents. Seeing that no one responded, Kojima Jikichiro, who had been slapped twice at noon, came out to plead: "Chief of Staff, this place is really not suitable for defense, we don't have many combat troops, I think it's better to retreat up the mountain!"

  "Nonsense! How can the mighty Kwantung Army retreat without a fight? You dare to spout nonsense again, and I'll split you in two! Hurry up and go to the front line to command the defensive battle!"

  At 8:00 pm on the 17th, with the rapid start of mortar fire, more than 200 rounds of 82mm mortar shells rained down on the Japanese army's campsite within 3 minutes. Hundreds of Japanese military personnel and logistics personnel gathered in the middle of the position were blown into the air, dozens of vehicles were hit at the same time, and several ammunition explosions turned the entire camp into a sea of fire. The only two infantry guns of the Japanese army were also destroyed by exploding shells; afterwards, the mortar shifted its target to the Japanese front line, hitting the simple fortifications and the soldiers and weapons behind them, causing chaos everywhere.

  Before the cannon fire had stopped, "Advance!" The 13th Cavalry Regiment charged from the west and the 14th Cavalry Regiment from the north. Ma Bingzhong led the cavalry to attack the Japanese army's position. The Japanese army fought back with all their might using their remaining light and heavy machine guns and grenade launchers. Both sides clashed fiercely.

  The intense artillery fire and fighting had broken through the untested nerves of Tōjō Hideki, pushing aside his wounded bodyguard, "Retreat!" The Imperial Guard unit and a group of people surrounded him as he boarded an armored car, some riding in cars or on horseback, fleeing chaotically to the southeast.

  Most of the Japanese army did not know that their commander had fled, and with the infantry battalion as the core, they continued to fight fiercely with the 5th Cavalry Regiment charging into the position. Bayonets clashed with sabers, mixed with the sound of gunfire and explosions of hand grenades, as well as the shouts of soldiers, in an attempt to distinguish between friend and foe in the faintly flickering flames. The Japanese army's logistics personnel quickly collapsed, fleeing south and west, taking many engineers and infantrymen with them; the infantrymen who were cut off by the cavalry charge also fled or blew themselves up, including the unfortunate Lieutenant General Kojima Iwao.

  At the same time, the 12th Cavalry Regiment with thick fur on its hooves from the west, the 15th Cavalry Regiment from the south, and the 5th Cavalry Division's dúlì regiment from the north, more than 4,000 cavalrymen under the rapid support of howitzers rushed towards the 2nd Mixed Brigade column that had marched for thirteen hours and was already exhausted.

  Benmoto Masamori indeed had "talent", and the Japanese army, which had been prepared in advance, disregarded the continuous explosions of shells falling on the marching troops and completed the setting up of most machine guns just before the sound of horseshoes rose. In an instant, hundreds of fire snakes aimed at the 12th Cavalry Regiment rushing forward and swept fiercely, and all the cavalrymen hid in their stirrups to avoid the sweeping fire snakes.

  The horses from Hetao and Mongolia were both able to endure hardships and were not affected by one or two bullets hitting them, but being hit continuously by bullets also made a large number of war horses and cavalrymen fall to the ground, trampled by the war horses behind; hundreds of cavalrymen fell, and even more cavalrymen rushed forward.

  The inferior bullet-loading method of the Japanese-style light machine gun finally made the Japanese army pay a heavy price in the dark. When the first batch of bullets flew out of the cartridge, most of the ammunition personnel were still fumbling to reload, and the small number of newly set-up heavy machine guns could not withstand the swarming cavalrymen.

  The 12th Cavalry Regiment rushed into the Japanese army's marching column, and people and horses fiercely charged into the Japanese army's troops, but the front and rear Japanese infantry responded with dense bayonet arrays, and both sides immediately paid a heavy price. Only in the middle was the artillery of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment's 2nd Battalion broken through by the 35th Cavalry Regiment, killing the artillerymen who fled in all directions.

  The southern face of the Benmota government had arranged for only a few armored cars and cavalry squads to open the way, with the 5th Cavalry Division's 15th Regiment charging along the road and on both sides. At the beginning, they collided with the cavalry squad, and after a brief clash, the Japanese cavalry was completely annihilated. The Japanese soldiers on the armored car immediately used machine guns to sweep, but how could two inferior light machine guns stop the charge of the cavalry regiment? The armored cars and Japanese soldiers behind were blocked by the front line, resulting in one vehicle after another being blown up by hand grenades thrown out by the cavalry. The 15th Regiment broke into the Japanese infantry ranks!

  The 5th Cavalry Division of the Northern Route Army easily defeated the 15th Brigade's baggage train, which was walking at the end, and killed it without a fight. With only minor losses, they rushed along the main road to the rear of the Japanese army's main force.

  Facing the cavalry troops that far exceeded their expectations, Motoda Masakazu and Yuasa Masao finally panicked. Although there were many small and large fires due to various explosions and burning, the Japanese army still had some electric rods shining, but overall, both sides had lost effective command in the darkness, relying solely on individual soldiers fighting for themselves. The officers and men showed a fearless spirit, facing the slightly larger Japanese First Division's elite troops without fear, fiercely chopping and striking with their bayonets, gradually gaining an advantage due to their automatic weapons. Large groups of Japanese infantry gathered together to defend against the cavalry charge were knocked down by the cavalry using machine guns and twenty-round bursts, followed by the trampling of war horses; the elite 3rd Regiment and 57th Regiment's 3rd Battalion suffered heavy casualties and were severely damaged in morale. The cavalry shouted and slaughtered the Japanese soldiers who did not surrender, while the Japanese army shrank back in fear of hurting their own people in the darkness, refusing to fire their light and heavy machine guns, and even more so, their grenade launchers and infantry cannons; what about the field artillery? Who would they shoot at?

  "Fire! Fire!" Benmou Masamune roared, "Full fire!"

  Also woke up and shouted: "Fire! Drop bombs! Everyone has!"

  In the officers' shouts, many Japanese soldiers began to fire indiscriminately at imaginary enemies around them, with light and heavy machine guns firing continuously, interspersed with grenade explosions, knocking down soldiers from both sides; Meanwhile, high-ranking military officers among the shouting Japanese troops also received 'special attention', with a large number of grenades accompanied by automatic gunfire flying towards them. Tanaka Masao dived to the ground, while Honda Masami, who was too aristocratic, was shot and killed by several submachine guns in his hesitation.

  The chaotic battle continued until the flames died down, and the remaining soldiers on both sides were exhausted, either lying or sitting panting, waiting for dawn.