Chapter 59: Bloody Battle at Swan Lake

  "In the past, when calculating the strength of both sides, the military used to base it on one Imperial Army regiment defeating an enemy division or even a brigade. However, since the Battle of Anhui Lake, we must reevaluate the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army. A single Chinese division can also defeat an Imperial Army regiment." ---- Okamura Yasuji

  "A Perfect Annihilation Campaign - Review of the Battle of Anhui, 1937. In Shanxi Province's Pingxingguan, a regiment of China's 18th Army defeated the Japanese 'Steel Army' Itagaki Brigade, annihilating over 1,000 enemy troops. Less than a year later, another mysterious Chinese army wiped out the elite Japanese 6th Division with just one regiment, killing over 1,100 soldiers. Once the Eastern Lion awakens, its power is terrifying. Perhaps Japan should not have gone to war in China; they would never have had a chance of winning." - The New York Times

  "The true style of the Iron Army! I really want to see this troop if I have a chance." ---- Ye Ting

  "The turning point of the Anhui battlefield was in May 1928, when the Battle of Chaohu thoroughly disrupted the Japanese army's attack plan, giving the Fifth War Zone's defense time to regroup and also giving Wuhan a chance to catch its breath." ---- Li Zongren

  "Such troops should come to the Ninth War Zone, I want to ask in person. Its commander can be a division commander, an army commander, no, should be a group army commander." ---- Xue Yue

  "This is a first-rate unit, daring to confront the enemy face-to-face and emerge victorious. Their bravery is commendable!" ---- Peng Dehuai

  No matter how others evaluate it afterwards, Chen Jifang cannot let go of the pain of losing his comrades in arms. The "Divine Eagle" has finally dyed its brilliant military flag red with the blood of both sides.

  On May 13, 1938, at more than three o'clock in the afternoon, when a full battalion of the Thirteenth Regiment of Sakai Brigade entered the ambush area to reinforce Anhui Province, the battle broke out.

  "Begin!" Chen Jifan quietly gave an order that even he himself wasn't very confident in.

  The sapper company immediately detonated hundreds of landmines buried on the road, and a one-kilometer section of the road was instantly filled with explosions. The devils who unfortunately stepped on the landmine and their companions next to them were blown up on the spot without any suspense, and the fragments of the landmine explosion also injured many devils around them. The explosion of the landmine caused chaos among the devils' troops, and the soldiers fell down on both sides of the road, while the commanders riding horses and the transportation team became even more chaotic due to the frightened mules.

  Chen Jifang did not hesitate, and his experience of clashing with the Japanese army multiple times showed that this chaos was only temporary. If they could not inflict heavy casualties on the Japanese army in the midst of the chaos, then ultimately it would be themselves who would suffer heavily.

  Some devils were preparing to counterattack under the command of officers at all levels, but who knew that real disaster had arrived. Just a few seconds after the landmine explosion, six 70mm infantry guns began firing into the chaotic crowd of devils. A one-kilometer long and narrow road section was crowded with over a thousand devils, as well as horses running wildly in all directions and carts overturned on the road, every shell accurately falling into the crowd, every shell causing new casualties among the devils.

  Shell after shell, the sharp whistling sound seemed to be the only sound at this time. The mortar was not weak either, twenty mortars from various roads and angles poured shells towards the devils' inclined positions, like sparrows flying towards the devils' shells, leaving the devils who were still fleeing on the highway with nowhere to hide. The commander could not concentrate his troops, orders could only be passed around, and some company commanders, platoon leaders and squad leaders had already been killed.

  If the infantry guns and mortars only caused heavy casualties to the devils, then the twelve quick-firing guns two kilometers away dealt a devastating blow to the already low morale of the devils. The firing rate of ordinary infantry guns is 2-3 rounds per minute, but the firing rate of quick-firing guns can reach 7 rounds per minute. However, this is not the most terrifying thing, the most terrifying thing is that the shells used by the quick-firing guns are special shrapnel shells. These shells have a thin metal shell on the outside and are filled with 8-10 grams of metal balls and a fuse inside. When the shrapnel shell flies over the devils' heads, the ignition fuse will detonate the shrapnel shell several meters above the enemy infantry, like a super-large shotgun scattering metal balls on the enemy's body. Moreover, since the gunner can control the explosion time of the shrapnel shell by cutting the fuse according to the measurement results, not only the devils in front but also those behind cannot escape the fate of being hit by a large area of scattered shells.

  The earth trembled with the explosion of landmines and shells, as if to overthrow the invaders trampling on its own body into hell.

  Almost at the same time as the shells, dense bullets poured out from the high ground on the right side towards the devils' heads.

  The artillery's power stirred up the infantry's bloodthirsty killing intent, watching the devils being blown up one by one under the cannonballs, the various battalions, companies and platoons that had been waiting impatiently for a long time went crazy in shooting at the devils under the commanders' loud shouts. Bullets of all calibers shot out from each scorching gun muzzle, weaving into a hail of bullets in the devils' crowd like raindrops.

  The "popping" sound of bullets entering the flesh, the "clanging" sound of hitting steel helmets. The dust stirred up by the bullets is flying wildly in the air, and the flesh hit by the bullets splashes out with bright red blood flowers. One by one, the devils turn into cold corpses in an instant, and a living life is blown to pieces.

  Machine guns have always been the mainstay of infantry warfare, and the "rattling" sound is like the whip of the Grim Reaper, harvesting the lives of devils in the crowd. Bullets and shells wove a death screen together among the Japanese army, while splashing blood, lingering gunpowder smoke, and raging flames turned the devil's formation into hell.

  This is "Divine Eagle" punishment for the aggressors, a flame of revenge for the tens of millions of innocent Chinese compatriots who were killed.

  For six whole minutes, the devils were suppressed by the sudden and fierce firepower for six whole minutes. During this time, except for occasional scattered devils returning fire, the devils were unable to organize effective resistance. Six minutes, a large team of over 1,100 people had more than 240 deaths, with over 300 people injured to varying degrees.

  Captain Shōji ōnishi, the company commander, was tightly protected by his subordinates, gazing at his troops that had been blown to smithereens. Captain ōnishi's eyes were almost blazing with fury. He wasn't afraid of the Chinese sneak attack, but this time the attack had rendered his company unable to counterattack for a long period of time, which was unacceptable to him. ōnishi couldn't blame his soldiers because they didn't have any terrain to take cover in, and the Chinese on the slope were continuously firing their detestable bullets at them.

  The six-minute bombardment ended, and if the shells were sufficient, it was estimated that this battle could be ended with just artillery fire. Asano was a seasoned officer, as soon as the enemy's artillery fire stopped, he immediately waved his sword to command his subordinates to start targeted shooting, Japanese soldiers were very disciplined, quickly ending the chaotic state and starting to counterattack.

  Hundreds of Japanese soldiers charged up the hill under the cover of light machine guns, and the intact grenade launchers also started firing at the "Divine Eagle" strongpoint on the hill. The wounded soldiers leaned against each other and fired back with difficulty. Chen Jifan watched as the Japanese troops recklessly rushed forward, and thought to himself that fortunately the engineer company commander had thought of burying 100 landmines in front of their position, or it would have been a real headache.

  As expected, the Japanese soldiers who were desperately charging forward would not have anticipated that there were also landmines buried on the slope. Before the bullets from the high ground arrived, the charging devils had already stepped on the landmines. Landmines are forever a nightmare for soldiers, and the Japanese soldiers were no exception. Some were blown to death on the spot, some had one leg blown off with blood and flesh scattered everywhere, while others were shot down by bullets which triggered the landmines, blowing them up again.

  The miserable situation of the stormtroopers gave a great stimulus to Major Asano, who wanted to order the artillery squad to bring up two infantry guns, but unfortunately, during the "Shin Eagle" raid earlier, his two 92-style infantry guns and 5 heavy machine guns were directly lost in combat effectiveness. Now only by charging up the high ground can the situation be reversed.

  Retreat? This is absolutely out of the question. Our Imperial Army was ambushed by the Chinese troops for no reason, and over 300 brave warriors sacrificed their lives. Can we just retreat in such a sorry state? Besides, the number of Chinese soldiers opposite us is not that many. After they finish firing the few cannonballs they have, the sound of gunfire coming from all directions suggests that they only have about one regiment.

  A single squad dared to ambush a field battalion of the Imperial Army, and Shigenori Shino was impressed by the bravery of these Chinese soldiers. Based on past experience, as long as the Imperial Army launched a charge, the Chinese army could not withstand it, and the final victory still belonged to the brave Great Japanese Empire Imperial Army.

  The battle was still fiercely continuing, and after Li An finished the last shell in his hand, he ordered the whole company to retreat. This is the commander's order, once the artillery completes its task, it should quickly leave the battlefield and hide all the guns.

  Without artillery support, the pressure on the "Shenying" independent regiment, which was ambushing on the high ground, suddenly increased. The devils found that there were no more shells falling from above, and they rushed towards the exits on both sides of the high ground and in the middle like they had taken stimulants. On the battlefield, "Shenying" warriors continued to be hit by bullets, and the devils' accurate shooting techniques caused casualties among the defenders to start increasing.

  "Sniper, sniper!" Chen Jifan spat out a mouthful of mud and shouted.

  Wen Chuanhao's sniper team had not been idle, and as the devils charged forward, they had already taken out nearly a squad of devils. However, Wen Chuanhao was quite dissatisfied, knowing that snipers should be focusing on high-value targets at this time.

  Wenjiang Hao decided to take the lead, he flipped over and crawled to a new location. He raised his 88-style sniper rifle in the scope and began searching for targets. Ten seconds later, a lieutenant was locked onto by him, this lieutenant was commanding a heavy machine gun to fire upwards at the high ground, when he raised his military saber but never swung it down again, instead he fell straight down with a hole on his forehead, the machine gunner and ammunition handler realized something was wrong, just as they turned their heads around, in less than a few seconds, one got shot in the temple and the other in the back of the head, both died instantly.

  The captain led the way, and the snipers launched a fierce attack. Jin Suo specialized in throwing grenades at the enemy, while newcomer Yu Yue was assigned to take out the enemy soldiers and officers who charged forward.

  The arrival of the sniper was another nightmare for the Japanese army, with officers constantly falling and machine guns constantly going silent. It was like this that the "Eagle Gods" on the battlefield were fighting harder and harder, with casualties mounting steadily.

  Asano's commander is no longer depressed after six minutes, despite his troops continuing to fall. Because he discovered the fact that the opponent's military strength was clearly insufficient, since the opponent dared to launch a large-scale attack on him in a situation where they did not have an absolute advantage in military strength, then he would give the opponent a good lesson.

  Major Shallow, hiding behind several large vehicles, decided to concentrate most of his troops and light and heavy machine guns at one point for repeated attacks. The Chinese army's defense line has always been so, as long as they break through one point, the enemy will definitely collapse along the entire line. At that time, we must use these Chinese heads to sacrifice the brave warriors who died for the empire.

  The devils launched a fierce attack on the position defended by the First Battalion. In twenty minutes, Song Guantou had used up his two reserve platoons, but the devils still swarmed up like locusts.

  The warriors who threw hand grenades were constantly hit, the machine gun position was repeatedly named by the devils' grenade launchers, and thirty or fifty devils had slowly approached the front line of the position. The lightly wounded men couldn't help but bandage themselves, following their companions in stubbornly shooting from behind the bunker.

  Chen Jifan saw that the first camp was in a precarious situation and hastily ordered, "Su Jingwei! Quick, reinforce the first camp and drive those devils away!"

  Watching the brother unit fighting fiercely, the assault team warriors had been anxious for a long time. The captain only shouted: "Follow me! Reinforce the first battalion!" The warriors then rushed to the first battalion's position with lightning speed and desperation.

  Song Guanhu's first line of defense was finally breached. Due to the insufficient firepower of the defending soldiers, they could not stop the enemy's crazy charge at close range. The devils who occupied the first line of defense quickly set up machine guns and fired fiercely at the second line of defense tens of meters away. Song Guanhu, the battalion commander, knew the importance of the first line of defense and organized several counterattacks, but they were unsuccessful. The enemy had finally occupied a foothold and would not give it up easily? Subsequent troops rushed up one after another, and in less than half an hour, there were eighty or ninety people on the first line of defense. Moreover, there were still devils climbing up from behind.

  Chen Jifan now has no more men to spare, the second battalion is large but divided into several parts defending various places, not a single place can be neglected, and the second battalion has also suffered nearly half casualties. As for the guard company itself, its combat effectiveness is not strong, with only one light machine gun per company, it's not reliable either. "Su Jingwei, now it's all up to you, if you can't do it, the headquarters will be finished." Chen Jifan thought to himself.

  Su Jingwei was even more anxious, and he also saw the danger of the first camp. When he arrived, the captain of the first camp almost cried.

  "Brother, you've finally arrived. This place can't be lost! Even if an entire battalion is wiped out, it's not a big deal, but if the position is breached, the regimental commander and others will be in danger. The blood of our brothers will have been shed in vain."

  "Brother Song, don't worry, even if we have to sacrifice the shock troops, we must retake our position. I've never fought a battle that felt so good, damn it, it's worth dying for!"

  The two men conferred, and Song Guantou brought over the six remaining light machine guns from the entire camp, replenished hand grenades and shotgun shells, took a large knife and shotgun, and led the charge into Su Jingwei's assault team.

  "Brother, you come and direct, Old Song will listen to you."

  Su Jingwei didn't say a word, stretched out his hand and grasped it. Then he pulled the bolt of the Thompson submachine gun in his hand, "Let's go!"

  The warriors in the rear camp first threw out hand grenades to cover the assault team. The smoke of the grenade had not yet dispersed, and the assault team suddenly jumped up from behind the cover and rushed towards the enemy's position.

  To maximize the firepower of our troops, the assault team was divided into three groups to attack from different directions at the same time. The power of automatic weapons is in any case stronger than that of the enemy's Type 38 rifle, although the enemy also has machine guns, but there are still too few.

  Seeing over a hundred people holding submachine guns rushing towards him, the devils were also in a hurry! Picking up their guns and starting to shoot, but anyone who exposed their heads was knocked down by dense bullets, and the devils were caught off guard. Soon the assault team approached the lost camp of the first regiment. In just a few dozen meters, the assault team paid the price of more than 20 deaths, but Su Jingwei couldn't bear to feel heartache, because in front of him was the shining devil's bayonet!

  The devils want to fight with bayonets!

  Asano Koji in the telescope saw the counterattack of the assault team and was shocked! He never thought that the other side still left such a strong reserve team. What kind of troops are these? They are actually equipped with so many submachine guns?! When the assault team charged into the position, Asano covered his eyes with both hands holding the command knife in despair.

  The assault team would not engage in bayonet fighting, as the submachine guns in their hands were more formidable than bayonets. The devils who had retreated after running out of bullets completely collapsed, and instead of engaging in bayonet fighting, they continued to fire at us, and many comrades who charged forward were shot into beehives.

  The vanguard went up, and the soldiers of the battalion behind them followed closely. As soon as Song Guantao saw that the devils were going to fight with bayonets, he put his rifle in his waist and wielded a knife with one hand, slashing left and right, even Su Jingwei watching from the side was frightened.

  The assault team finally recaptured the position at the cost of 33 casualties after a bloody battle, and the devils who rushed up were basically eliminated on the spot. The assault team handed over the construction of the position to the first battalion and continued to fight forward for more than 20 meters. The devils climbing on the hillside were hit by a hail of bullets from the top of the mountain. Leaving behind more than 30 corpses, they had no choice but to retreat.

  To break through, the battalion led by Asano had been reduced to almost nothing, and he now had fewer than 400 men left, with even the transport troops taking up rifles and charging forward.

  Chen Jifan let out a sigh of relief, and at the same time, he also discovered that the enemy's strength had decreased. The devils in front of the second battalion were unable to withstand due to continuous casualties. He told the communication officer: "Pass on the order to all troops, they must hold their ground, even if only one person is left, they are not allowed to retreat, otherwise, they will be killed without mercy!"

  At this point, the cumulative casualties of "Shenying" had exceeded 900 people, with more than 500 sacrifices. However, the situation of Asano's unit was even more miserable. It was suddenly attacked by Shenying and lost nearly 400 people at once. Then, in the battle, more than 100 people died, and on the first camp site, more than 200 bodies were lost. The remaining 400 or so people had half injured.

  Asano's unit had never suffered such heavy losses, and a faint sense of fear began to well up deep within him, but this fear did not last long, for Fumikawa Hiroshi finally found him.

  The lieutenant's insignia was still eye-catching, despite the smoke-filled battlefield. Fumikawa Hiro didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

  The death of Asano's captain dealt a heavy blow to the already desperate devils, while also triggering their crazy survival instincts, and they rushed towards the exit with all their might.

  Chen Jifang arranged two heavy machine guns and two squads to guard each of the two exits. The devils who rushed to the exit were knocked down by the heavy machine guns that had been waiting there, but the devils still stepped on their companions' bodies and desperately rushed out.

  With the fight having reached this point, Chen Jifan was determined not to let the devils off. The pressure at the exit grew stronger. Vice-regimental commander Zhong Dingcheng, who was in charge of defending this section, ordered the 2nd Battalion's 6th Company to launch a charge against the devils. As soon as the 6th Company charged forward, Luo Yugang could no longer sit still, and the entire 2nd Battalion fixed bayonets and charged towards the devils' flank. In an instant, they cut off the devils' escape route. More than 50 devils were instantly surrounded at the exit. Before long, under the alternating attacks of various light and heavy weapons, they were completely annihilated.

  The Asano detachment, having lost its commander, was not only surrounded but also unable to organize an effective counterattack due to the sharp decrease in personnel and machine guns. However, the "Divine Eagle" side wasn't much better off either, with the Guard Company's casualties leaving it with just over 70 men remaining, less than half of the First Battalion, and the Second Battalion's wounded accounting for nearly two-thirds of the entire battalion.

  Both sides have exhausted their strength, and now is the time for a real test of willpower.

  "Brothers! The little Japs in front of us are the culprits of the Nanjing Massacre, we can't let these beasts go even if we die!" Hu Yunfeng shouted.

  The warriors of "Shenying" often receive patriotic education in peacetime, and the tragic scene of the Nanjing Massacre has been deeply imprinted on their minds. The chief of staff's words were like a stimulating injection into the already exhausted bodies of the warriors, with bloodshot eyes and one by one glaring at the enemy with hatred, making a final attack on the devils.

  Deputy Regiment Commander Luo Yugang's hands had been itching for a long time. Since becoming the company commander and regiment commander, Luo Yugang rarely had the opportunity to take the field himself. This time his second regiment was the first to charge into the enemy camp, and he naturally couldn't stand by and do nothing. What Luo Yugang liked best were cold weapons. He had been eyeing the big knife of the First Regiment Commander for a long time, but now he held a dagger in his hand, a dagger brought from the 21st century.

  A few devils had just approached his side when Luo Yujiang swiftly and neatly cut off their necks. He then turned around and kicked a sergeant's face to pieces. Luo Yujiang's killing aura immediately caught the attention of the devils, and seven or eight of them charged over with gleaming bayonets. Luo Yujiang sneered as he advanced to meet them. The devils' close combat skills were not to be underestimated; seeing Luo Yujiang approach, they did not simply attack, but rather some defended against him while others looked for opportunities to stab at him.

  Unfortunately, they encountered "Luohan". He dodged the three incoming daggers with a swift movement of his body, then swiftly slashed his dagger across the fingertips of the three men. Several blood-curdling screams were heard as the guns and fingers of the three devils fell to the ground simultaneously. Luoyu didn't bother with them and charged towards the several devils on the side.

  The valiant charge of the first battalion boosted the morale of the second battalion. With Luo Yuguang's usual emphasis on hand-to-hand combat training, they were not at a disadvantage when fighting the devils with bayonets.

  The first camp and the assault team took advantage of the situation to kill from the other side, but it was not a bayonet fight. The assault team led the way with dense bullets, instantly slaughtering the devils who were ready to come over for a bayonet fight.

  The battle lasted for more than two hours, and the Japanese were left with less than a squad of men. The commander was almost completely annihilated. This squad of Japanese had no desire to fight, looking at the surrounding "Divine Eagles", those who could still stand up held bayonets for suicidal charges, while those who were too injured to move shot themselves.

  The last gunshot finally came to an end, and the noisy battlefield suddenly fell silent.