Chapter Sixty-Six: Counterattack Again

  August 4th, sunny.

  Another batch of enemy bombers flew away after dropping their bombs. I sighed, cleared my throat and continued: "The current situation is that the enemy army on the southern front continues to occupy Chongming Island, relying on the airport on the island to harass our surrounding areas with air raids, showing signs of a second landing attack on our Shanghai area; Qingdao and Haizhou were also attacked by the enemy. The Kwantung Army in the north has repelled our cavalry units that infiltrated Rehe, and launched a second attack on our troops in Chahar with a force of over three divisions; the situation along the Great Wall remains stalemate for now. On our side, the enemy army has concentrated one army each on the northern and eastern fronts, with 4 and 3 divisions respectively, plus large numbers of heavy artillery tanks to strengthen their forces. Judging from the trend of our main force forming a strong defensive system in the north, our relatively weak forces in the east, and the enemy's movements, it is highly likely that under the cover of the first army's frontal attack, the enemy's second army near Dezhou will launch its main attack on Shimen from the east.

  As I spoke, my gaze turned to Zhang Zizhong, who should still be hiding in the Tianjin concession, preparing to escape south, and is now being escorted by Mr. Dai to the 59th Army. "The overall plan for the war zone is to use the 1st, 21st Group Armies and the 12th Army to fight while retreating, continuing to consume the enemy's strength. Once the enemy has been consumed to a certain extent, and after our follow-up reinforcement troops arrive, we will launch a general offensive, aiming to defeat the Second Army in one fell swoop!"

  Song Zheyuan, who had just recovered from a long illness, was the first to object, "The First Army Group has been fighting continuously for nearly a month and needs rest!"

  Han Fuqu said: "The main responsibility of this group army is the Shandong war, and the 12th Army cannot stay in Hebei for a long time."

  Is the 29th Army also considered to have fought in Pingjin? Can Shandong rely on Han Fuqu's defense? I burst out laughing, "What reason does Yan Nong brother have?"

  "Jian Gong said before leaving that the Guangxi Army would completely obey the leadership of Commander-in-Chief Zhang and Chief-of-Staff Song."

  When did the new Kweichow clique become so obedient?! I turned my head to tell Han Fu-chu, "Since General Han only defends Shandong, this is Commander-in-Chief Chang's letter of request to Chiang Kai-shek suggesting that the Kwangsi Army Group be transferred out of this war zone. Please sign your name in agreement, Commander-in-Chief Han!"

  Han Ying was shocked and stared blankly, "What does this mean?"

  Zhang Xueliang also said somewhat depressingly: "It doesn't make any sense, I think since Brother Fang is not willing to come and help, forcing him to stay together is meaningless, it's better for each of us to go our separate ways."

  "Alright, alright!" Han Fu rushed out with his shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

  Watching him storm off, I chuckled and said, "General Ming Xuan is a 'hero' of the War of Resistance, surely he won't be afraid of battle? Since you need to rest and regroup, why not go to Le Ling to do so?"

  "Whatever!" Song Zheyuan roared and stood up.

  Watching Song stand up, Zhang Zizhong remained motionless, Zheng Dazhang and Shi You San hesitated for a moment but didn't move either. Only Feng Zhian stood up halfway before hesitating again and sat back down. Since they didn't move, the other division commanders wouldn't dare to follow suit. As Song Zheyuan walked out the door, he didn't even dare slam it shut, only letting out a long sigh, "I'm ill, I resign." With that, he pushed open the door and left.

  Zhang Xueliang also sighed, "Since Mingxuan is in poor health, the First Army Group will temporarily rely on Brother Rongjun and Brother Yingzi!"

  I think everyone present here has the same feeling as me: 'The skill of digging corners, Old Chiang is the best in the world!'

  Huangyang River

  Unlike the north-south rivers that crisscross, from Dezhou to Shimen there is only one major river, and it's only counted as such during the current rainy season.

  Ignoring the daily three-time bombardment by the Japanese army at noon, before the second attack of the Japanese army, the 42nd Army, 30th Army, 67th Army, 59th Army, 77th Army and 51st Army dug along the Tuyang River to form three "river embankments" with intervals of 200-300 meters and heights of 5-7 meters. Due to the lack of subsequent favorable terrain to rely on, longitudinal low embankments were also intensively built between each large embankment.

  The northern 1st and 2nd lines were also increased to the 38th, 96th, 49th, 53rd, 3rd and 98th armies, and the 32nd army, which covered the flanks, also reinforced each fortification, and like the east side, built longitudinal low embankments between the major dams.

  The 108th Division was formed from the reserve personnel of the 8th Division, and consisted of the 25th Brigade, the 104th Brigade, and the 108th Field Artillery Regiment. The division commander was Lieutenant General Shigenobu Kuma.

  On August 7, the Japanese army north of the Dasan River resumed its offensive first. Originally, in history, Nishio Toshiharu, who led the Second Army, chose to launch a main attack on the west side where the river water was shallower and infantry could wade through; Nishio also didn't want to play any new tricks or tactics, directly launching a strong attack.

  At 7:20, considering the complete destruction of the 8th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, more than 40 150mm howitzers from the 2nd and 6th Field Heavy Artillery Regiments, which were transferred from the central and eastern routes, began to continuously fire. The bombardment stopped after only 40 minutes; when the smoke had largely dissipated, Japanese reconnaissance planes observed the effects of the bombardment from the air. At 8:45, the bombardment resumed, with not only two heavy artillery regiments but also the 26th Field Artillery Regiment of the 20th Division and the 108th Field Artillery Regiment of the 108th Division, as well as the 1st and 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiments, all opening fire. At 9:20, the bombardment stopped again, with several thousand meters of river embankments that had just been repaired once more reduced to ruins, with many places even disappearing without a trace.

  At 9:45, the heavy artillery regiment began to extend its bombardment. More than 10,000 officers and soldiers from the 20th Division's 79th Regiment and the 108th Division's 105th and 117th Regiments started their attack by wading across the river, choosing the same area as before for convenience. Despite dozens of aircraft circling above and hundreds of large and small artillery guns waiting on the ground, these more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers advanced slowly and cautiously, causing great embarrassment to Shimomura Mitsuru and Kawagishi Bunzaburō; what's even more embarrassing is that after half an hour, they finally set foot on the south bank without encountering any resistance. Except for those who were unlucky enough to step on landmines that had been repeatedly "plowed" by shells and blown up, the Japanese army occupied several thousand meters of the first large dike without firing a single shot or cannon. This made not only Shimomura and Kawagishi feel ashamed but also Nishio Toshizō, who was directing the battle at the 108th Division's frontline command post, suspicious: "Could it be that the Chinese army has retreated voluntarily?"

  Fortunately, the Japanese troops extending to both wings were suddenly swept away by machine gun firepower, dispelling their doubts. Nishio Toshiharu directly ordered: "Order the 79th and 117th Regiments to consolidate the front line they have occupied, and extend the main force to both wings; order the 52nd Regiment to cross the river immediately, and launch a unified attack on the second major dike under the command of Tomabechi!"

  Very soon, whether it was the 20th Division of the regular army or the 108th Division composed of first-class reserve troops, they accurately executed the orders. The two wings of the Great Embankment were heavily bombarded by the enemy's artillery, but the 79th and 105th Regiments also encountered only some sporadic fire resistance in their extensions on both flanks; although the Japanese army suffered some casualties, they still relied on hand grenades and explosive packs to continuously blast through the obstacles and advance steadily. Meanwhile, General Tominaga led the 52nd Regiment, accompanied by mortar companies and infantry artillery squads, waded across the river; the 26th and 108th Field Artillery Regiments again fired several covering shots near the second Great Embankment.

  "Sir, the orders from headquarters are getting stranger and stranger. We put so much effort into building that first major dike, and now they just want us to abandon it?"

  "Can't even call themselves Young Marshal and Young General if they don't come up with new tricks?" Zhao Shoushan said with a smile, "And it's not just talk, these tricks of the Young General really worked on the devils! If we hadn't abandoned that section of the dike and nearby positions ahead of time, thousands of our brothers would have died in vain."

  As expected, after the commander of the Tumen Army personally boosted morale, more than 7,000 officers and soldiers from the 52nd and 105th Regiments shouted loudly as they crossed the first large embankment and charged forward. In just a few steps, they stepped into the minefield on the reverse slope of the embankment. Although most of the mines had been detonated by previous artillery fire, the remaining ones were enough to blow down a large area of densely charging Japanese soldiers. Only in the middle section where there were no reverse-slope mines did the 3rd Battalion of the 52nd Regiment charge forward with the few sections that had not been blown up by the embankment; but the distance between the second and first embankments was only 200-300 meters, and although it had also been heavily damaged by artillery fire, half of it still remained. It was under this remaining half that hundreds of hidden machine gun firing points were activated, with bullets sweeping across the charging Japanese soldiers like rain. As the front-line Japanese soldiers were continuously hit by machine gun bullets, blood splattered onto the bodies and faces of the following Japanese soldiers; the rear Japanese forces fired frantically with small artillery and large numbers of machine guns to overwhelm them with quantity rather than quality. Even with perfect cover, machine gunners in hidden firing points were often hit by incoming bullets or shell fragments, but as long as the machine guns were not damaged and the firing ports were not destroyed, someone would immediately replace them, with bullets sweeping across batches of charging Japanese soldiers like a heavy downpour, only to be engulfed again by the dense smoke of exploding shells; when the smoke cleared, another batch of Japanese soldiers stubbornly continued their charge. As the firepower within the second embankment grew weaker and weaker, the Japanese army finally approached the embankment; but behind the embankment, a group of grenade throwers rushed out and threw down a row of hand grenades, blowing away the approaching Japanese soldiers in the chaos; the light and heavy machine guns that had been waiting for a long time on the ruins of the first embankment also opened fire immediately, with bullets sweeping across the top of the second embankment like raindrops; a batch of Japanese soldiers rushed to the bottom of the second embankment, but suddenly fell into the ditch in front of them and were impaled on the wooden stakes and bamboo skewers buried in the ditch, piercing their bodies, while the following Japanese soldiers continued to charge forward in confusion. Fortunately, some sections had already been damaged by heavy artillery fire, and part of the Japanese forces jumped over the damaged ditches, but soon encountered a rain of hand grenades thrown down from the top of the embankment and were blown back to their original positions.

  Seeing his own troops falling down in rows, Zha Su almost went mad, shouting: "Artillerymen open fire at the top of the dike! Don't care about the infantry!"