Chapter 63: Iron-clad Fēng Tiān

  With the strong assistance of German military advisers, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army's work on building and reorganizing its troops achieved remarkable results. The equipment of the anti-Japanese army was superior, the training was rigorous, and the strength was greatly increased. Three German-style divisions were established with the German army as a model, each division having around 20,000 people. The main units under the division include: 3 infantry regiments, 1 field artillery regiment, 1 reconnaissance regiment, 1 engineer regiment, 1 transportation regiment, 1 cavalry regiment, and also a communication team and a medical team.

  The Field Artillery Regiment had a strength of 2,322 men, with three battalions of 688 men each, equipped with twelve 75mm field or mountain guns and 105mm howitzers.

  The reconnaissance battalion has a strength of 730 personnel, including a 130-man headquarters, a 130-man cavalry company (four platoons of 30 men each), two motorized companies of 160 men each and one truck transport company of 100 men.

  Engineer brigades have a strength of 900-1,000 personnel and almost no mechanical equipment, capable of undertaking only very minor tasks, with more specialized tasks being the responsibility of attached independent engineer brigades.

  The size of the transport team is largely determined by the number of available trucks, theoretically consisting of a truck brigade and a mule cart brigade. The truck brigade consists of 2 to 3 squadrons, with each division having at most 50 trucks with a load capacity of 1.5 tons. Fortunately, Zhao Xiaofeng had taken over the arsenal in Fengtian, and the Germans also supported some, but even so, many divisions still lacked trucks. Under Xie Ke's insistence, each brigade was equipped with ten tanks.

  The two cavalry regiments under the division each have 120 horse rifles, 10 sniper rifles, 10 light machine guns and 2 heavy machine guns. The four cavalry companies under the cavalry regiment each have 110 horse rifles and 10 light machine guns. There is one heavy machine gun company with three platoons, having a total of 4 heavy machine guns. The division headquarters has 15 staff members, 80 guardsmen, 30 communication personnel and 20 confidential personnel, totaling 145 people.

  On the night of December 28, a rescue team of over 300 people set out. They took the route predetermined by Xie Ke and passed through Sanjianfang to Jingyue Lake towards Fengtian.

  After arriving at a place with no road, Zhao Xiao Feng immediately ordered the vehicles to return and the troops were divided into three teams to assemble towards their destination.

  But Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi and Xiao Le immediately began to set up fortifications after Zhao Xiaofeng's departure, and added several landmine arrays on the basis of the existing fortifications. They knew that after Zhao Xiaofeng left, they became isolated forces without any external support, and their lives might also be lost in Fengtian. But this was the order of the Party Central Committee, and they had no complaints or regrets! Who made them all proletarian revolutionary cadres?

  What Yang Jingyu found strange was that after Zhao Xiaofeng's troops withdrew, the Japanese stopped all military activities, not even bothering to fire cannons into the city, but the number of Japanese outside the city seemed to be increasing.

  It has been several months since they learned of Zhao Xiaofeng's victory in Jiangqiao from radio broadcasts!

  "Second Brother! Fourth Sister! Big Brother has repelled the devils! The Battle of Jiang Bridge is a victory for Big Brother!"

  "Really!" Xiao Lei excitedly rushed up and grabbed his hand, shouting.

  "We won!" Yang Jingyu let out a long sigh and said very calmly.

  "What's wrong?" Xiao Le asked in confusion: "Why isn't Second Brother happy?"

  "No! I'm glad." Yang Jingyu smiled wryly: "I just thought that the Japanese, having suffered a defeat in Heilongjiang, would definitely take revenge on us in Fengtian!"

  "What's there to fear!" Xiao Lei said boldly: "With several thousand men, Big Brother can hold out in Fengtian for a month. After such a long time of preparation, we should be able to last at least two months!"

  "Exactly!" Zhao Shangzhi laughed and said: "We can take advantage of the Battle of Fengtian to show our spirit!"

  "It's hopeless!" Yang Jingyu asked: "How much longer can our food last?"

  "No problem!" Xiao Le said: "Big brother left us a warehouse of instant noodles, and we can hold on for another month without any problems. By then, our reinforcements may have arrived already!"

  "What reinforcements do we have?!" Yang Jingyu said with a bitter smile.

  "Nothing?" Xiao Le was surprised and said: "Won't the Party Central Committee send someone to pick us up?"

  Yang Jingyu shook his head and didn't say anything.

  Xiao Lei looked at Zhao Shangzhi and said firmly: "If we are in a tight spot here, Brother will definitely come to rescue us!"

  "Alright!" Yang Jingyu said indifferently: "Order the soldiers to enter a state of combat readiness immediately, the enemy will launch an attack soon!"

  "Yes!"

  On December 20, upon learning that Zhao Xiaofeng was now in Heilongjiang, the Japanese immediately began a fierce bombing of Fengtian!

  The Japanese were almost stunned, and there was no Zhao Xiaofeng in the besieged Shenyang City! With the help of artillery fire, the Japanese army launched an attack on the city! The Japanese soldiers who attacked from all sides shouted "Ah" as they charged forward, as if to sweep away the decline of the past two months. Unfortunately, they did not seize the opportunity, and as soon as they entered the gate, they were hit by machine gun fire from the hidden fortifications, accompanied by explosions of landmines, and large numbers of Japanese soldiers fell around the city walls.

  Lin Xun's tenth Lang angrily ordered: "The city is not Zhao Xiaofeng at all! Whoever dares to retreat, will be shot immediately! Charge! All of you push forward!"

  The Chief of Staff immediately conveyed Lin Heung-tang's order to each brigade, and more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers rushed into the city without regard for their lives. The Japanese had gone mad! Their eyes were left with only anger, they were like a group of wild beasts wearing human skin, they hated that they could not swallow all the Chinese soldiers in the city alive!

  "We can't hold on!" Zhao Shangzhi shouted at Yang Jingyu.

  "Fight! We'll die on the battlefield if we must! No one is allowed to retreat!" Yang Jingyu shouted.

  "Second Brother! The Japanese tanks and artillery are gathering towards the city, let's retreat!" Xiao Le shouted.

  "No way!" Yang Jingyu shouted firmly: "Order the dare-to-die troops to advance! Order all the big guns, howitzers to fire at the enemy tanks, artillery!"

  "Yes!"

  Chinese soldiers began to counterattack the Japanese armored troops gathering, and the 15 tanks and armored vehicles that entered the city were now reduced to eight. The dare-to-die members of the Chinese army were holding explosive packs and rushing under the wheels of the tanks...

  Due to the proximity and the dense defense of the garrison, bullets were coming from nearby buildings. The remaining eight Japanese tanks opened their hatches and manned machine guns, indiscriminately firing at surrounding buildings. A dare-to-die team member holding a zha medicine bag was hit by one bullet, which also struck the medicine package in his hand! In an instant, that dare-to-die team member along with several comrades nearby were blown away, and the deafening explosion along with massive flames immediately engulfed the tank, which had already started spewing out thick black smoke.

  But the die-hard defenders who appeared from all sides were not afraid, they charged towards the Japanese armored vehicles with explosives, shouting and hugging explosive packs under the hail of Japanese bullets.

  The raid launched by the dare-to-die corps resulted in the destruction of six Japanese tanks, but nearly a hundred members fell in the blood! After a brief battle, the Japanese army retreated back to its starting position under the farewell of the defending machine guns and mortars.

  Yang Jingyu slammed his fist heavily on the table, excited by the brave performance of the dare-to-die corps members and regretful that they failed to seize the opportunity to reduce casualties and expand their gains.

  The easy withdrawal of the Japanese army made Yang Jingyu feel a little confused. "Not good!" Yang Jingyu shouted.

  Suddenly, a burst of urgent cannon fire interrupted Yang Jingyu's words, and those heavy artillery shells all landed on the defender's position! More than a dozen exposed machine gun firing points were almost all covered by dense firepower.

  According to normal configuration and deployment, heavy machine guns are all configured on the first line, so they not only exert firepower advantages but also play a psychological motivating role. However, this also determines that the heavy machine gun is the focus of destruction for both the enemy and our side. This time, the Japanese army used a large number of mountain cannons and howitzers to replace tank defense guns! They cleared out one by one the exposed firepower points near the gate of the city occupied by Chinese defenders. Although the fortifications of the defenders were solid, they still lost seven or eight out of ten.

  Before the artillery fire continued to extend, Lin Heilong ordered the Japanese attacking troops to launch another charge! Unlike previous charges, this time most of the Japanese troops were used for infiltration, engaging in a house-to-house and room-to-room battle with Chinese soldiers, attempting to use their numerical superiority to make up for the disadvantage in terrain.

  The tactical deployment of the Japanese army made the mortar positions set up by Yang Jingyu lose their effectiveness, but the fifty 65 light machine guns equipped by Zhao Xiaofeng played an unimaginably huge role.

  In the narrow alleys, courtyards, low walls and ruins, Japanese soldiers suddenly found that the length of their trusty Type 38 rifles with bayonets seemed too long? In many places, turning around required standing their weapons upright to do so.

  In comparison, the Chinese soldiers' three-man combat teams were more flexible, with one light machine gun, one pistol and one rifle, as well as plenty of hand grenades. The small groups of Chinese soldiers gave the Japanese a hard time.

  However, the Japanese army relied on its superior military strength to nibble away at the controlled area of the defenders, and from time to time, the sound of hand grenade explosions came from the civilian houses on both sides, as if telling Yang Jingyu that the Japanese army had attacked where! Yang Jingyu, who was anxious like a fire, knew that once all the positions around were breached, the main defensive position of the Daqing Building would lose its defensive significance.

  When the last heavy machine gun on the left wing position stopped firing, yellow figures and that dazzling bandage flag had appeared on the defender's position. Yang Jingyu gritted his teeth, concentrated the guard squad beside him, and led Zhao Shangzhi and Xiao Lei to launch a counterattack together! The Japanese army who stepped onto the defender's position for the first time in days did not expect the Chinese army's counterattack would come so quickly! So fiercely! After sporadic firing, the gray troops charged into the yellow crowd.

  Yang Jingyu charged forward with two guns in hand at the forefront of the counterattacking troops, and dozens of soldiers who had retreated from the left-wing position also joined the counterattacking troops along the way.