Chapter 49: Punishment in the Water

  They arrived at the entrance of Xu Baozhen's command post, and as soon as the jeep stopped, Ma Zhanshan jumped out. Xu Baozhen and Wu Delin emerged from the earthen house upon hearing the sound.

  General, please be at ease. The enemy's attack tonight is like a blind man lighting a lamp in vain. What they can't take by day, they won't get by night either! I have already deployed a machine gun dare-to-die squad of over 160 men on the riverbank, with one against ten and ten against a hundred!

  Ma Zhan Shan immediately nodded and pinched Xu Baozhen's shoulder again, saying: "The troops must combine work and rest now. Tomorrow's battle will be more brutal, and the little devils will throw in more troops than today."

  Xu Baozhen saluted and replied: "I understand, General."

  Suddenly, the big guns boomed, and shells whizzed down near Daxing Station, with cannon fire filling the sky.

  Xu Baozhen rushed to the observation post window and judged the landing point of the shell. He shouted loudly at Ma Zanshan: "General, you must leave here immediately, the enemy's artillery is too fierce."

  The scout came in panting to report that the enemy had indeed mistakenly believed that our army's troops had retreated into Daxing Station, and had released more than 100 wooden boats, fully loaded with troops, to cross the river and launch a surprise attack on the north bank.

  Xu Baozhen loudly ordered: "Tell Xing Jieying Lianchang to carry out Commander Zhao's daytime order, and wait until the enemy approaches before firing."

  "Yes!"

  In the dense reeds on the north bank, the ambush troops remained motionless, giving the enemy a false impression of no one being there. Commander Xing Jixing observed in the dark night, with the reflection of the river water, black shadows moving towards the north bank. The foolish enemy, to coordinate with the troop's sneak attack, used artillery fire and searchlights for support. The powerful searchlight beams exposed all the small boats to the defending ambush troops. A machine gun was aimed at one small boat.

  Under Xing Jixing's command, dozens of machine guns fired at the same time. Under the fierce firepower, more than a hundred devils' ferry boats in the river were messed up together. In the area where the ferry boats were located, wooden chips and blood splashed everywhere. The bullets from several heavy machine guns were not something that these ordinary wooden shell boats could withstand.

  The dying struggles of the Japanese devils brought a sense of pleasure to Xing Jixing, and seeing that there were more than ten unscathed landing ships still desperately rowing towards the shore, Xing Jixing immediately ordered: "Don't bother with those out-of-control landing ships, concentrate on attacking the closest one, don't let a single little devil set foot on land."

  As the machine gun target shifted, the devil boat that rushed to the front immediately suffered a disaster. What's worse is that this boat was cut in half by a 150mm Krupp cannon shell, and the little devils who were not hit also fell into the icy river water. Unless a miracle occurs, these devils can only wait to report to the god of heaven, the only difference being whether they are shot dead or frozen to death, drowned to death.

  At this time, the remaining Japanese troops began to fight with their backs to the water, desperately resisting. The hidden officers and soldiers had rushed to the shore, and the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties because they did not have time to form a team. Wu Delin's supporting troops also arrived, concentrating the forces on the north bank, while the Japanese were fighting in the water.

  The Japanese army could not hold on for long, and several ships tried to escape. The defenders threw hand grenades onto the small boats one after another. Instantly, water columns shot up into the sky, and the boats were blown over. The battle lasted only a few dozen minutes, and there were hardly any remaining Japanese soldiers who had attempted to cross the river in secret. Some surviving Japanese soldiers jumped into the river, either drowning or being shot dead by the defenders as targets.

  At this time, the Japanese army's searchlights were sweeping back and forth on the river surface, only to see a crimson color in the river water, and more than a thousand soldiers disappeared in the foreign waters.

  That night, the Japanese artillery continuously bombarded the Daxing Station position without stopping, but they never dared to send troops to launch a surprise attack again.

  The 6th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Division, three battalions of the South Manchurian Railway Independent Guard Brigade, aircraft and light and heavy artillery, totaling over 10,000 men, with nearly 5,000 casualties. The defenders had only three infantry regiments of the Guards Division, one cavalry company, two infantry regiments of the Provincial Border Defense Army, totaling over 3,000 men, with just over 1,000 casualties. This battle where the underdog emerged victorious even shocked the Japanese: "What happened to the Chinese army today? They seemed to have smoked a lot of opium and were incredibly brave, fighting to the death against the invading Kwantung Army, almost annihilating the entire 16th Regiment."

  At dawn on the 5th, the Japanese army changed its formation and put more troops into the battle at Jiangqiao than on the 4th. The Zhang Haipeng unit was driven to the front by the Japanese military police, who launched a fierce attack on the defending forces. In the dark before dawn, the sky above Jiangqiao was ablaze with flames, and the cold air was burning.

  The Japanese army's total strength in the attack on Northeast China has reached 1.8 million, and nearly 600,000 troops have been deployed to Heilongjiang Province, but they have never been able to open up the transportation routes leading to the provincial capital.

  "Bah!" The many doors glared at Binboda and said: "You! Should be dead!"

  "Hey!" Hamon's forehead was already starting to sweat, "Is Dorom again going to go on a killing spree?"

  "This is your last chance!" Tadokoro pointed at Binbōtan's nose and said.

  "Hey!" Upon hearing this, Hinomoto knew he wouldn't die for the time being. He immediately stood up straight and enthusiastically vowed: "Don't worry, Captain!"

  "Hum!" Commander Du interrupted Binben's words and said: "On the 5th, you must ensure that you capture the central position of the Daxing Railway Station on the Mazhan Mountain line. If you can't capture it, don't come back to see me!"

  "Within 5 days I will capture the central stronghold of Ma Zhan Shan, or die trying!"

  After Hamamoto returned, he ordered the commander of the front line, Tanihata Shin'ichi: "Tomorrow, if we can't take down the central position of Mazhan Mountain, everyone will commit seppuku!"

  The arrogant Japanese army no longer dared to underestimate the defenders, and on their heads they still wore a deadly halo. This time, they had made thorough preparations.

  After dawn, the 4th Brigade, the headquarters of the 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, the 1st Engineer Battalion, the newly formed 29th Mixed Brigade and the 26th Field Artillery Brigade were added. The total strength had exceeded 30,000 men, which means that most of the troops in Jiangxi Province were concentrated on the Jiangqiao front line. Five aircraft and more than a hundred field guns continued to launch fierce attacks.

  Starting at 6 am, they first used fierce artillery fire to prepare, directly attacking Zhao Xiaofeng's hidden artillery positions, as if they wanted to dig eight feet underground and destroy all the big guns in Heilongjiang.

  Then, the Japanese drove Zhang Haipeng's 2,000-strong unit from both wings, and the main force of the Japanese army launched a frontal assault on the defenders on the north bank of the Songhua River with over 10,000 troops, divided into five echelons, continuously attacking and consuming the defenders' large amount of ammunition. More than 200 guns of various calibers approached the riverbank and fired directly at the defensive fortifications, bombers loaded with giant bombs attacked deep into the position, destroying artillery positions and rear supply lines, and recklessly circled in the air to find machine gun positions to attack, suppressing the defenders' firepower on the north bank. They also naively believed that the Chinese artillery positions had been crippled.

  Actually, the artillery position set up by Zhao Xiaofeng did not suffer any losses at all. It was just that the surface was covered with mud blown up by the bombs. When they quietly walked out of the bunker and dug open the muzzle, the Japanese bombers were whirring within their range!

  "Boom……" At some point, several planes suddenly dived down, most of them falling into the river. One plane trying to escape dragged a long black tail and crashed head-on into the dense formation of Japanese troops advancing in a concentrated manner. "Boom!" Nearly two hundred Japanese soldiers fleeing around were killed instantly. Several planes that saw the situation was not good quickly took off and fled towards the Tongnan direction.

  At this time, the Japanese army was at a critical juncture in its offensive, so no one paid attention to these things. When the Japanese landing craft arrived at the river's midpoint, the Chinese defenders suddenly opened fire, and large numbers of enemy troops fell into the water, while the rest continued to fight desperately to cross the river.

  At the same time, the Japanese army also organized a shock team to charge from the left wing. But Zhao Xiaofeng's snipers hiding in the bunker were now able to show their prowess, one shot at a time, first shooting at the officers, then at the soldiers, first at the Japanese and then at the Chinese traitors! Such sharp marksmanship made it difficult for the Japanese to resist for a while.

  But at this time, the enemy who had already gone mad under the cover of the armored car began to rush towards the central position.

  Xu Baozhen immediately dialed Zhao Xiaofeng's phone and reported the emergency to the highest military commander: "Commander Zhao, I can barely hold on, the enemy's tanks, artillery, infantry, and cavalry are all coming at once, the main force of the Japanese army has pressed over, and the losses are quite large!"

  "Bullshit! How many people have you sacrificed? What? You want to retreat? Die on your own position!" Zhao Xiao Feng cursed immediately. He knew that his machine gun position, sniper position were still on Xu Bao Zhen's side, if Xu Bao Zhen's troops were finished, then the positions he had set up would be completely exposed to the enemy's gunfire, so he didn't give Xu Bao Zhen any face at all.

  "Commander Zhao! I, Xu Xiang, would rather die in battle than retreat. We can't let the enemy consume our strength like this." Xu Baozhen argued.

  Zhao Xiaofeng thought for a moment and said, "Xu Baozhen, in order to avoid the enemy's artillery fire, disguise your position well and don't let the enemy discover that there are no main forces on the front line. Leave some clothes and hats to attract the enemy's firepower, and have everyone retreat to the machine gun positions on both wings. I'll then command the artillery to support you!"

  After Zhao Xiaofeng put down the phone, the rumbling sound of the artillery position had already reached his ears. Suddenly, the enemy's long-range shells intensified again, and the deputy officer rushed in to report: "Commander, the Japanese army has occupied Jiangqiao position. Now they are organizing a shock team to attack Daxing Station and machine gun positions, although they encountered desperate resistance from our troops, but the guard regiment can no longer hold on."

  Zhao Xiaofeng hastily asked the deputy officer: "Have Salibu and Wu Delin's two regiments gone up?"

  "Deputy officer said: 'Waiting for orders on the outskirts.'"

  Zhao Xiaofeng immediately picked up the phone: "Order the 1st Cavalry Brigade's Wu Songlin's Sari Bulu Regiment and the 2nd Infantry Brigade's Su Bingwen's Wu Delin Regiment to rush to reinforce the front line of Daxing Railway Station."

  Zhao Xiaofeng hung up the phone and immediately reported the situation here to Ma Zhanshan.

  Ma Zhan Shan immediately said to Jin Kui Bi, the chief of staff of the Heilongjiang border defense army: "Let's go, we'll rush to the front line. I want to personally fight these devils."

  Jin Kui stepped forward and blocked him: "General, you are the commander-in-chief, you can't leave the command center. I'll go to the front line immediately."

  The deputy officer also stopped his actions: "General, the enemy still has several fighter planes bombing and strafing along the way, with more than 200 residents injured on both sides of the road. It's too dangerous for you to go."

  Ma Zhan Shan glared with his bloodshot eyes and said, "The whole nation is watching me Ma Zhan Shan, I'm afraid of death, what about the soldiers on the front line?" He immediately roared at his deputy who was stunned beside him, "What are you still stunned for? Quickly prepare the vehicles!"

  Ma Zhan Shan led the border defense army staff officer Jin Kui Bi and a group of deputy officers, staff members, guards, and anti-aircraft machine gun teams to rush to the Jiangqiao front line in jeeps and trucks.

  The car was about to pass through a vast open space when Lieutenant Darimu, the leader of the machine gun squad, suddenly shouted: "Deputy officer, enemy planes are coming, quickly enter that forest to the west."

  Book friends have put forward many valuable opinions for the absurd killer. Here, I would like to thank everyone's kindness first! The author has made reasonable changes to the previous chapters. If you have any suggestions, please leave a message! All suggestions will be replied in time by the absurd killer! Thank you for your support!