Chapter 62 Texas

  "Pang Han-zhen, Xia Guozhang, Liao Xiong, Xie Dingxin..." A long list of fallen and missing officers of the Guangxi Army made Bai Chongxi collapse. In one night, 20,000 soldiers were killed or missing, this was still the result of not immediately launching a counterattack after the unclear situation at Jixi Valley, but it did not prevent him from starting to shell Dezhou on the morning of the 30th. Liao Xiong, who was in a desperate situation, could only order: "Zu Hui lead Junchang and Shufen two divisions and directly affiliated troops to retreat, Qiming to cover the rear; On the other side, please Shou Nian to cover the rear, Yun Xun lead the main force to move southeast."

  At 7:40, the rì army's heavy artillery and field artillery repeatedly carried out a half-hour of intense bombardment, allowing the 170th Division's Xu Qiming and his 8,000 troops to taste the bitter consequences of not taking defensive fortifications seriously. Before the Gui Army could catch its breath, the rì army's land-air joint attack followed closely. Although the scattered skirmish lines brought many battle achievements to the veteran soldiers of the Gui Army, the exposed machine gun firepower points were easily destroyed by the rì army infantry artillery and mortar; the artillery positions, command posts, warehouses, etc. suffered intense bombing from enemy planes, with fragments flying everywhere and smoke filling the air. As the rì army approached steadily, the firepower gradually increased, and the Gui Army's accurate rifle fire was gradually suppressed by light and heavy machine guns. "Mortar!" The rapid firing of the mortar temporarily relieved the crisis, but the rì army's next round of precise artillery fire covered most of the mortar batteries and their personnel. "Hand grenades!" Rows of hand grenades flew out of the already damaged trenches, but against the dispersed advancing rì army, it was just a drop in the bucket; the rì army mortar teams, which could no longer find machine gun targets, simply fired another round of precise artillery at the densely packed hand grenade positions. The 1019th Regiment and the right-wing 1015th Regiment's positions were successively breached. Seeing that the 1019th Regiment's counterattack was ineffective, Xu Qiming ordered: "Shen Zhitou to lead a battalion to counterattack in the middle road, tell Luo Huo to take care of himself."

  In the trenches below Dezhou City, the continuous influx of Japanese troops has caused both armies to engage in close combat. The fierce bayonet clashes between the two sides have become intertwined, and the powerful heavy artillery of the Japanese army can only be fired backwards, while the grenade launchers have also stopped firing. The courage of the Guangxi Army has finally been revived here, with soldiers continuously stabbing and knocking down the intruding 39th Brigade troops. As the 1016th Regiment's reinforcements arrive, the intruding Japanese troops are being stabbed and killed one after another, and the follow-up Japanese troops hastily retreat. "Kill!" The Guangxi Army closely follows, pursuing and killing the enemy out of the trenches; the Japanese artillery fire immediately reverses direction, engulfing the position and the follow-up Guangxi Army in a sea of flames once again; only hundreds of Guangxi soldiers at the forefront, led by the 2nd Battalion Commander Wang Youqing of the 1016th Regiment, pursue and kill the Japanese troops who have broken into the enemy's position. "Kill!" The Japanese army in front is blocked by our retreating troops, but the machine guns on both flanks open fire simultaneously, and dozens of Guangxi soldiers fall to the ground; looking back at the road that cannot be retreated, Wang Youqing, a former bodyguard of Bai Chongxi, shouts loudly, "Charge!" Holding his rifle and charging into the enemy's position with the soldiers, they are met with thousands of Japanese troops who have surrounded and killed them from three sides.

  "A group of heroes from the Russo-Japanese War era, or even earlier." Matsumoto Reiji looked at the last fallen Katsuragi and said, "We'll continue to attack, no more close combat!"

  At 9:10, after another round of intense bombing, the Japanese army advanced towards the Guangxi Army in a more dispersed formation. The Guangxi Army put up weak resistance and by 10:00, except for the left wing's 1020th Regiment which was still in the hands of the Guangxi Army as the enemy had not attacked it, the Guangxi Army on the northern and eastern fronts had been pushed into Dezhou City. The 10th Division Cavalry Brigade even advanced to the south of Dezhou, encircling the 170th Division from three sides.

  "Sir, shall we break through to the west? If we don't leave now, we'll be surrounded!"

  "What now? The main force has been gone for less than three hours and we must continue to fight until nightfall; who dares to talk about retreating again? Military law is ruthless!"

  Shen Zhi said: "Commander, although we can't retreat now, we also can't keep fighting like this! If we continue to fight like this, it won't take two hours before we're done for!"

  "I know, but how do you play?"

  "I suggest abandoning the north and east city walls, letting the enemy enter the city and engaging in close combat! I think only with close combat and hand-to-hand fighting do we have a chance!"

  "Not bad! We've made it!" Xu Qiming immediately ordered: "Order the 1015th Regiment to dispatch one battalion to defend the south city, the 1020th Regiment to dispatch one battalion to defend the west city, the main force of the regiment to defend the main western position, and the remaining troops to leave only a small amount of force on the eastern and northern sides, with the main force withdrawing into the city to prepare for street fighting!"

  At 10:25, with the end of weaker resistance, the Japanese army climbed up the north and east city walls of Dezhou. The North City Gate was soon controlled by a part of the 63rd Brigade. The gate hastily blocked by the Guangxi Army was blasted open, covering the 10th Brigade to enter the city beyond the 63rd Brigade.

  Just as the soldiers of the 63rd Brigade were booing at the 10th Brigade for entering the city without a fight, a loud explosion occurred on North Main Street in Texas. The ammunition depot left by the 7th Army and hidden by the 170th Division exploded! In an instant, the neat marching column of the 10th Brigade was blown into two pieces. The 1016th and 1019th Regiments of the Guangxi Army quickly cleared up the search and cover on both sides and approached the main street; a small number of hidden Guangxi troops in the vicinity of the main street fiercely attacked the exposed Japanese army with machine guns and hand grenades, and the Japanese army immediately came to its senses and rushed into the ruins and broken walls on both sides of the street.

  The alley battle, a close-quarters battle between the two sides, fully demonstrated the accurate marksmanship, fierce fighting skills, and rich combat experience of the old soldiers of the Guangxi Army. Bullets, hand grenades, and even hand mines and landmines were constantly taking the lives of the well-trained but inexperienced Japanese army; in the second half, the Japanese army quickly received support from the 63rd regiment and safely retreated, while the rubble and debris caused by the bombing led to the first half of the Japanese army being trapped. Soon, half of the Japanese army was killed or wounded under the crazy attack of the Guangxi Army, and the rest were pressed into a smaller and smaller circle. The supporting artillery fire from the Japanese army outside the city arrived quickly, but the two sides inside the city were too close, when half of the shells fell behind the enemy lines, and the other half hit the crowd of people fighting each other, the resistance of the 10th regiment also collapsed. Many soldiers either escaped into small alleys or tried to climb over the ruins of the big explosion to escape, but in the end, only a few managed to run back to the Japanese army's position. The Japanese army's covering fire followed closely behind the Guangxi Army's retreating footsteps, but afterwards, the Japanese army dared not relax again; by noon, more than half of Dezhou City was still in the hands of the Guangxi Army, while the casualties of the Japanese army continued to rise.

  "Kazuya Nagare finally reflected, 'Nagase-san, it seems I underestimated you. The surface-level military has already learned how to fight!'"

  "The division commander is overthinking, the Chinese army has just started learning, our army will soon be able to end the battle, I believe they won't have a chance to continue learning."

  "I don't doubt that, it's just that we didn't have time to catch up with the fleeing Chinese army!" Isogai sighed, "Does Akashi still have the courage? If he does, let him take the west gate to prove it!"

  At 1:10 pm, while the 63rd and 39th Divisions were slowly advancing in Dezhou City, the 10th Field Artillery Regiment launched a rapid-fire artillery preparation. Akai led the reorganized 10th Division along the city wall, simultaneously attacking the west gate from both inside and outside the city. They immediately encountered crossfire suppression from the 1016th Regiment below the city and the 1020th Regiment above the city. The Japanese infantry guns and rapid-fire cannons accurately hit and destroyed each enemy strongpoint; however, as soon as they approached, they were met with a counterattack by the Guangxi Army using rifles and hand grenades. Advancing with an advantage in heavy weapons was relatively swift on top of the city wall, but below the city wall, they were held back by the remnants of the 1016th Regiment. At 2:00 pm, the Japanese 10th Division attacked to the vicinity of the west gate, where the 1020th Regiment used the advantageous terrain of the gate to block them outside; meanwhile, below the city wall, the 10th Division suffered heavy casualties and could only advance slowly by suppressing buildings with firepower. Unable to withstand this kind of fighting, Shizuo Matsumoto could only commit the main force of the 40th Division to capture the south city; afterwards, they used a group of heavy artillery to blast the west gate, allowing the 10th Division to occupy it. However, the fierce battle within the city continued until sunset.

  At this time, Akashi no Sakaki was sitting on the ruins of the Western Gate, which had been blown up by 150 howitzers, staring blankly and thinking about the tragic events from morning till now, waiting for the final "verdict" of General Isogai, but in the midst of waiting, he became a prominent figure in the setting sun. Suddenly, a gunshot exploded! The Chinese army inside and outside the city launched a final attack on the remnants of the Japanese 10th Regiment on the ruins of the city gate. In just one round of gunfire and grenade explosions, both sides clashed, and the Japanese remnants quickly abandoned their dead and wounded comrades and fled in all directions. Hundreds of ** took advantage of the chaos to rush out of the city, where they were received by the 1020th Regiment and escaped westward under the cover of night. Enraged, General Isogai ordered the 39th and 63rd Regiments to pursue and kill, but they encountered resistance in the city and another bloody battle ensued. The intermittent gunfire and explosions continued unabated, forcing the Japanese army to abandon their pursuit. This was because hundreds of wounded soldiers who were unable to move had used their lives to cover the retreat of the remaining 2,000 men of the 170th Division.

  Shijiazhuang First War Zone Command Headquarters

  "Gui army suffered a crushing defeat! Zi An, you said, didn't you see this coming?"

  "Brother Han, do you really think I'm a living god? How could I have anticipated that the White Army led by Bai would lose so miserably and so quickly?" I shook my head with a bitter smile. Indeed, I had not expected that the main force of the Guangxi Army in the Shanghai campaign would suffer such a disastrous defeat, only to be rewritten by Bai Chongxi as taking place in Hebei?

  "What about the Jinpu Railway now?"

  "Isn't there still the 1st Army Corps? Besides, the Guangxi army only lost about 30% of their troops, they have reinforcements to supplement them, don't worry!"

  "Feel at ease? How can I feel at ease? Bai Chongxi is bedridden with illness, and Song Zheyuan hasn't even shown his face until now! Meanwhile, the enemy's main force has been bombarding and bombing Dasaha River for a whole day, they will definitely launch an attack tomorrow, three full divisions! Now there are only three armies on the front line, you don't even let the heavy artillery go up, nor do you allow the reserve troops to move, I'm really worried..."

  "You're still afraid of coming to be this commander? And dragging me down with you?"

  "Hahaha!"

  "Cheers!" Zhang Xueliang raised his glass of brandy, "Let's drink to our victory over the Japanese bandits!"

  "Cheers!" I downed my soda in one gulp.