Chapter Sixty: Smoke and Dust Fill the Air

  Under the intense bombardment of the Japanese, the tanks of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army were immediately blocked one mile away and could not move forward. However, it was also difficult for the Japanese artillery to accurately hit their targets, and their densely guarded positions were instead hit by tank shells.

  The Japanese army didn't want to be crushed by these huge monsters! Now they have put in a lot of blood, and organized three batches of dare-to-die troops to carry out explosive demolition on the tanks with explosives. Under the explosion after another, two tanks were scrapped, and more than 50 soldiers from the machine gun battalion were lost, even the rear support Heilongjiang army sacrificed nearly a thousand people.

  The battle raged on until the sky was dark, and the entire three-room area was filled with smoke. It wasn't until 8 o'clock in the evening that the Japanese army retreated in defeat.

  In this battle, the Chinese army lost more than 2,700 people, while the Japanese army also lost nearly 5,000 people. The entire battlefield was littered with Japanese weapons, and the Chinese soldiers who cleaned up the battlefield were busy all night.

  Zhao Xiaofeng listened to the frontline battle report and immediately ordered by telegram that the two cavalry regiments stationed in Manzhouli and Zalainuoer, led by Cheng Zhiyuan, set out overnight to await orders at Angangxi.

  The next day, more than 5,000 Japanese troops launched a more intense attack on the Xinlitun position under the cover of five aircraft and armored vehicles, but still failed to break through the defensive line.

  Nagatani Osamu, commander of the Nagata Detachment, executed the lieutenant who led the troops to defeat and ordered the shock troops to break through the defensive line of the Ueno Head Black Army from the route that failed yesterday. When dispatching troops, he also ordered Zhang Haipeng's regiment to open the way in front.

  "The commander reported: 'These bastards, as soon as they get on the battlefield, scatter in all directions at the first shot and don't listen to orders.'"

  "Damn you, what's the machine gun for? Fall back and sweep, suppressive fire is the best way to command. This bunch of pigs has no combat capability at all, let Zhao Xiaofeng's landmine blow up Zhang Haipeng, got it?"

  Zhang Dianjiu's and Yuan Chonggu's troops both engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese army at Wunoutou, this was the most intense battle since withdrawing from Daxing Station. Both sides had deployed heavy forces.

  At this time, the Japanese army, apart from Zhang Haipeng's puppet troops, gathered more than 15,000 soldiers in front of the frontline positions. Nagatani led an infantry brigade, a cavalry brigade and two artillery brigades to repair the river bridge under the cover of artillery fire.

  The left wing of the forest rate step, cavalry two brigades rushed towards Jingxing direction. While the front troops pressed forward in a dense and overwhelming manner.

  The two armies clashed again, and the defending artillery discovered that the enemy cavalry had crossed the impact line. The cannons roared in unison, firing shells with blazing fireballs into the enemy ranks, causing Zhang Haipeng's fake army to be blown apart, with over 1,000 cavalrymen being knocked off their horses. As the defending artillery fire subsided slightly, the Japanese troops charged into the defensive positions.

  The Chinese garrison's position was under severe threat when someone suddenly shouted: "Commander Zhao is bringing his troops up!"

  The Chinese garrison soldiers immediately came to their senses. Under the command of the regimental commander, they jumped out of the trenches and engaged in a bloody battle with the enemy. Among the Chinese garrison soldiers, Zhao Xiaofeng and his guard company, Brigade Commander Zhang Dianjiu, Wu Songlin, and Yuan Chonggu all took up arms and went into battle.

  This bloody battle has darkened the sky! A new round of fierce fighting broke out in the three rooms. The defending soldiers hugged the explosive packs and crawled into the Japanese tank.

  The biting north wind stirred up the smoky snow, and the entire Nenjiang Plain was a vast expanse of whiteness. In one night, the earth seemed eerily cold and quiet, the Japanese field artillery and heavy artillery had stopped firing, and the bombers had also disappeared into the night sky.

  The Japanese army did not gain any advantage during the day and might launch a surprise attack at night, so the main positions of the defending troops were still on high alert.

  Zhao Xiaofeng rushed to the position in the dark and saw that a company of Zhang Dianjiu's troops had not been destroyed by enemy artillery fire. Here, there were heavy machine guns with hidden firepower, four light machine guns forming a crossfire network, which could stop the enemy from attacking head-on and prevent them from retreating. As long as the machine gun firepower was not damaged, they could inflict heavy casualties on the enemy. Zhao Xiaofeng was very satisfied with this deployment.

  The infantry battalion commander who followed Zhao Xiaofeng into the artificial works told the commander that this place had the greatest impact on the enemy during the day, and the enemy had never been able to break through this defensive position.

  Zhao Xiaofeng immediately reminded: "There is a batch of first-class shooters in the Japanese army, specifically aiming at our machine gunners. Tell your brothers to pay attention to these people." And left two snipers and ten mortars from his own guard company in the fortifications.

  After Zhao Xiaofeng left, the Japanese army's sneak attack team indeed approached this position and was discovered by our army's scouts.

  Our troops did not fire but let the enemy enter the effective range of the crossfire of light and heavy machine guns.

  In the telescope, the glare of snow exposed a whole row of Japanese troops on the forward positions, it was clear that the enemy's goal was to blow up the bunker and destroy the machine gun firepower.

  But as they approached the open area to the left of the bunker's firepower, the machine guns in the bunker fired, and grenades fell into the enemy crowd, with plumes of black smoke engulfing the enemy.

  On the right wing of the Japanese army in the underground fort, three blasters were covered by night, they saw the Japanese army who was charging forward and died under the heavy machine gun fire net, staring tightly at this fort, sorting out the explosives package brought with them, and moving towards the fort.

  But unexpectedly they triggered a landmine in the darkness, and three Japanese soldiers who were eager to make achievements fell down and never got up again, with their blood flowing on foreign soil.

  The defenders focused their attention on the left side of the bunker, while on the right side, because four layers of landmines were laid out, and in a single-person bunker, there were two more snipers, relaxing the defense on the right flank. After three Japanese soldiers sacrificed themselves to the Emperor, another raiding party rushed up.

  The people in the dark fort only knew that the enemy had crept up from the right wing and entered the position, engaging in a fierce hand-to-hand combat with the defending troops. The Japanese army rushed forward recklessly, trampling over landmines, and in the deafening roar of explosions, those in front were blown to death, while those behind charged forward again under the command of their officers. The snipers of the defending troops now played out their advantages of shooting angle, concealment, and distance, and the two sniper rifles fired non-stop, killing nearly a hundred Japanese soldiers who rushed up, including several Japanese sharpshooters. However, three artillerymen from the Anti-Japanese Military Corps fell down for the dignity of defending their motherland, staining the white snow with their blood.

  The battle that night, due to the defenders' all-out efforts, resulted in extremely heavy losses for the Japanese army. Many division commanders saw that with the darkness and frozen ground, the Japanese army would suffer even greater losses in unfamiliar terrain, and immediately ordered their troops to withdraw from the fierce fighting.

  The highest commander of the Japanese army in the outskirts of Fengtian, Honjō Shigeru, was most concerned about the outcome of this battle. Now he completely disregarded the opinions of domestic bureaucrats and wanted to create brilliant achievements in Northeast China, so although several brigades under his command had been defeated, he still handed over the frontline command to him.

  Many doors were not criticized, but instead given greater emphasis, and that kind of arrogant mood filled his heart again. For several days, the battle was lost, and the Japanese army failed to enter the second line of defense of the 113th house, he felt unable to explain to Hongo Fuminori. After redeploying troops...

  At 5 o'clock on the 14th, more than 1,000 Japanese cavalrymen finally broke through the cavalry defense line between Tangchi and Mogu Creek. As they advanced towards Sanfangtou, they were intercepted by the Second Army of the Anti-Japanese Military led by Feng Zhanhai, who had been lying in ambush beforehand. In less than ten minutes, the enemy was completely annihilated, showcasing Feng Zhanhai's exceptional military talent!

  The 6th Air Group of the Japanese Army circled over the defensive positions of Tongchi and Mogu Creek, searching for the enemy's artillery emplacements and infantry fortifications. Under intense ground fire, the bombers dropped their bombs without a target and hastily pulled up to reconnoiter.

  It is strange that the enemy did not find a large number of heavy weapons in the Tangchi area, but only found several mortars aimed at the Japanese army's impact troops more than 200 meters behind the left side of the Tangchi position.

  Nagatani, commander of the Nagata Detachment, was overjoyed to receive aerial reconnaissance intelligence and immediately issued an attack order. The artillery quickly aimed their guns at the left flank of the Tongchi garrison's front-line position.

  "Boom boom", an hour of artillery fire from the Japanese army, the defensive position of the Tangchi garrison was bombed to the point of being dizzy and dark.

  The Northeast Anti-Japanese Army's undiscovered 150mm caliber "cannon" stretched out, aiming at the infantry and cavalry of the Otani Alliance, this is the black army's family heirloom!

  Just as the Japanese commander was feeling triumphant, a dense barrage of artillery shells suddenly rained down on the infantry and cavalry troops.

  Suddenly, the cannons roared, and the Japanese infantry and cavalry were thrown into great disorder. After leaving behind nearly 1,000 dead bodies, they helplessly withdrew from the defensive positions of the garrison troops.

  Nagai was furious and shouted at the Air Force Major "Hachigatsu Yarou!"

  Today's Longtan United team leader, with a single thought, wants to fight an annihilating battle in Tangchi and Mugu Creek to show the Forest Travel Brigade commander.

  Changkong launched a reconnaissance in force with a small unit at 5:00 AM, and then organized more than 2,000 infantrymen and cavalrymen to charge towards Tangchi and Mogu Creek under the cover of aircraft and artillery fire at 6:00 AM. At the same time, on the left flank of the Daxing position, launched a forced attack with tanks.

  When the Black Army troops were in a desperate situation, the brave defenders tied explosives to their bodies and rushed under the tank.

  The defenders fought with exceptional bravery, causing the Longtan Regiment to be frustrated and unable to advance.

  The Black Army's Xu Jingde and Wu Songlin led two cavalry regiments of Sareb to immediately take advantage of the situation, reorganize their deployment along the Mushroom Creek defense line, and prepare for even more brutal battles ahead.

  Nagatani reported the setback on the battlefield to Lieutenant General Tominaga. Tominaga believed that Zhao Xiaofeng's troops had high mobility, especially the artillery caused huge casualties to the Japanese army, and he ordered the bombers to solve the defender's artillery again.

  A new round of retaliatory bombing in the air has begun, and to prevent being destroyed by Zhao Xiaofeng's artillery fire, all aircraft have now risen above 2,000 meters.

  In the roar of the airplane engines, eight bombers dropped a string of deafening heavy bombs near their target. The defenders' positions instantly erupted with clouds of black smoke, and the entire Heilongjiang earth was shaking.

  Nagatani saw that the smoke and fire on the defenders' positions had already covered all of their positions. Believing that the defenders' ground forces, pursuit artillery positions, machine gun positions, and infantry positions had been completely destroyed, he immediately allowed his infantry and cavalry to boldly occupy the positions.

  Osaka commander Nagatake dispatched four regiments to attack the Tōchi position from both left and right flanks in revenge for the early morning defeat.

  However, the solid defensive position of the Chinese garrison was not flattened by Japanese bombers. When the Japanese advanced towards the Tangchi garrison's positions, they were met with fierce counterattacks.