Chapter 20: The Dirge of the Tenth Cavalry Brigade (Part 1)

  The reason why Lieutenant Colonel Kuwata hesitated to give the order for a decisive blow against that small hill was simple: his brain had already gone into a state of paralysis.

  What caused Lieutenant Colonel Sonta's brain to freeze was the circle of swift-moving black shadows that emerged from behind the 10th Cavalry Regiment.

  It was now the time when the sun was about to rise, and those black shadows that were approaching the 10th Cavalry Regiment's neat cavalry battle array in a semicircle from behind also had some of the first light of sunrise on their bodies, making the rear half present a pale red glow.

  Judging from the volume and movement speed of these dark shadows, Major Sonta didn't think they were infantry, nor did most of them seem like cavalry, but rather an armored group.

  The armored group is the nemesis of cavalry! But does the Chinese army have an armored group?

  As a mid-ranking officer in the Japanese army, Sang Tian was fortunate enough to have seen a report on the equipment situation of the Chinese army, which included intelligence analysis on the armored weapons owned by the Chinese army.

  Lieutenant Colonel Kuwata knew that there were also a small number of German-made armored vehicles in the Chinese army, but only thirty or forty. However, among the many black shadows rushing from behind, there were at least dozens of big ones. Could it be said that his luck was so good that he could encounter all the armored vehicles of the Chinese army on the battlefield? Lieutenant Colonel Kuwata did not believe that he was really so unlucky!

  Sanda Major General immediately issued a new combat order to his brigade after regaining normal combat effectiveness.

  "The main force of the regiment turned back and formed a charging array, and the second battalion quickly resolved the remaining Chinese cavalry troops on the mountain in front of the artillery bombardment at all costs and recaptured the 40th Regiment's military flag."

  In general, Sōda Chūsa was still a competent commander of the cavalry brigade. After a strong enemy appeared behind the brigade, he finally got rid of his bad habit of being hesitant in using troops and became more decisive.

  The commander's intention was clear, to use the main force of the regiment to hold back the enemy army that was suspected to be an armored group attacking from the rear. And with a battalion-sized force, under the cover of the full firepower of the mortar group, annihilate the small but proud Imperial Army unit on the small hill that had insulted the Chinese military's prestige. As for using cavalry to charge at the prepared infantry with strong firepower in hilly terrain, Commander Nakahashi didn't bother to consider how much it would cost.

  If the 40th Regiment's military flag really falls into the hands of the Chinese army and is taken to the international stage, the consequences will not only be unbearable for a small lieutenant colonel like him, but even the division commander may not be able to bear this responsibility.

  To know that after the "Meiji Restoration", in wars with other countries, the Japanese army had never had a regimental flag captured by the enemy, if this precedent was opened on the 10th Division, the Great Headquarters would be furious and burn the 10th Division to ashes.

  Sanda, who came to his senses from the unbelievable shock, was in a hurry. Less than a minute after he gave the order, the first shell of the Japanese artillery fell on the heads of Wen Songyuan and others.

  The Japanese army's movements were not slow, and the Chinese army that ambushed from behind the Japanese army was even faster.

  Almost at the same moment that the Japanese mortar shells burst, four Chinese artillery shells also flew towards the Japanese cavalry formation which had not yet dispersed.

  Two of them exploded less than a hundred meters away from the Japanese cavalry circle formation, without causing direct casualties to the Japanese cavalry.

  For the Japanese army, the other two rounds were not so easy to talk about. One of them directly hit the left wing of the Japanese army's standard cavalry circle, causing the Japanese army's circle to lose a corner immediately. Thirty or forty Japanese soldiers were knocked off their horses, causing chaos in the Japanese formation. The last round happened to hit the edge of the Japanese mortar position. Although only two 82 mortars were destroyed, it also forced the Japanese army to relocate its position immediately, fearing that it would be wiped out by the Chinese army's artillery.

  The most unfortunate was the lieutenant colonel who had just left the artillery position to reorganize the troops, and happened to be on the edge of the killing range of that damned shell. A flying shrapnel hit the poor lieutenant colonel's buttocks, cutting off a palm-sized piece of flesh.

  Commander Zhong ignored the severe pain in his buttocks and stood up with his hands covering the wound, saying "Disperse."

  The seasoned Sang Tian understood that the power of this shell indicated that the enemy had more than four 75mm field guns, which were mainly used to destroy fortifications and were being used to destroy his own unobstructed cavalry, which was a waste of resources. The Imperial Army did not have the precious experience of being bullied by the Chinese army's superior firepower, and if they did not disperse their troops in time, the loss would be great.

  Chang's troops on the train saw through binoculars that the Japanese cavalry formation was in a state of chaos, and naturally would not let go of this opportunity. Under his strict orders, the Chinese army's dense artillery fire landed near the densely packed Japanese cavalry cluster in an extremely short period of time, and for a while, blood and flesh flew everywhere in the Japanese troops, with wails and howls filling the air.

  "Charge!" The Japanese encirclement was in disarray, and Wen Songyuan's unit would not give up this last chance of survival. A dozen or so Chinese cavalrymen who had been trapped for a long time charged towards the Japanese encirclement like arrows.

  "Cavalry regiment, charge!" Cheng Jiaji also discovered Wen Songyuan and others rushing down from the hill at this time, and hastily ordered the cavalry to bypass the right side of the Japanese cavalry circle to respond.

  Without losing a moment, the cavalry regiment charged into the Japanese army's formation, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Japanese troops were dispersed to avoid artillery fire. Jiang Feng commanded the cavalry regiment to quickly break through the Japanese defense of the hill and joined forces with Wen Songyuan and others.

  It's easy to rush in, but it's hard to rush out.

  The Japanese army's cavalry regiment saw the Chinese on the hillside being supported by a large number of Chinese cavalry coming from behind, and they were about to break through. In desperation, the Japanese also didn't care about casualties or whether they could retreat safely. Under the personal command of Lieutenant Colonel Kuwabara, like hungry wolves, the Chinese cavalry surrounded and killed them from all sides, having already merged into a single force.

  At this time, in order not to mistakenly injure their own cavalry, the Chinese army's artillery fire only dared to shoot at the Japanese rear, and could not help much with the cavalry battle unfolding under the hill.

  Jiang Feng and Wen Songyuan led the cavalry in a desperate charge, but they could not break through anywhere, and instead allowed the Japanese army's encirclement to tighten.

  "Killed" Jiang Feng, exhausted from the effort of beheading a Japanese soldier with his horse, was suddenly attacked by another one. Before he could recover from the previous fight, Jiang Feng almost got knocked off his horse by this new attacker. Luckily, just as the Japanese sword was about to strike, Jiang Feng dodged on his horse and narrowly escaped disaster. However, his right hand was slashed by the enemy, causing blood to flow profusely and his sword to fall from his grasp.

  When the Japanese cavalryman wanted to give Jiang Feng a finishing blow, a Chinese cavalryman suddenly rushed over from one side and slashed his saber at the little devil's neck. With the force of the war horse, this slash was not small, and the head of the devilish cavalryman immediately flew up.

  "Thanks, Wen Tuan," Jiang Feng said to the knight who had rushed over and saved his life.

  That knight was covered in blood from head to toe, even his face was full of blood. It was Wen Songyuan. Fortunately, Jiang Feng could still recognize him in this state.

  "Kill." Wen Songyuan didn't say anything to Jiang Feng, but instead charged at the Japanese with his battle knife raised again.

  Twenty minutes later, Lieutenant Colonel Senda found that his unit had been surrounded by the Chinese army. However, the Chinese cavalry was also under his siege.