Chapter 18: Withered and Rotten (Part 2)

  Also from the descendants of the noble families who had surnames before the "Meiji Restoration", the actual combat command ability of Haruue Tsunetane, a middle general, was far superior to that of Nagano, a major general who was about to embark on his journey back home.

  In the face of this overall collapse, Shunroku Hata did not lose his will to fight. He thought that as long as he could command the company at the North Gate to hold back the Chinese army's advance and take advantage of it to regroup his troops at the North Gate, the 40th Brigade might be able to stabilize its position and keep the Beixingang area north of Taierzhuang. If the reinforcements sent by the brigade could arrive in time, perhaps there would be a new turning point in the battle.

  It should be acknowledged that Haruie Matsumoto was a relatively competent brigade commander.

  Harada Chūsa and others arrived at the north gate of Tai'erzhuang under the protection of the staff of the 7th or 8th Brigade.

  When Haruo Nakajima discovered that the North Gate was not only still under the control of the Japanese army's middle team, but also had more than 100 Japanese soldiers who had retreated to the North Gate earlier, what surprised him most was that a large amount of ammunition transported into the village at dusk to supplement the 40th Regiment was stored in a stone house below the North Gate.

  Harada Chūsa immediately reorganized the over 100 disorganized Japanese troops into a provisional company and appointed a staff officer from the regimental headquarters as its commander. In the twenty minutes before the Chinese army arrived, Harada Chūsa used the drastic measure of summarily executing two officers who attempted to lead an escape from Taierzhuang to intimidate these soldiers who were stunned by the powerful Chinese offensive and did not know what to do. At the same time, he sent a messenger to request emergency reinforcements from the detachment headquarters.

  When the Chinese army chased after the defeated Japanese troops who were fleeing in disarray to the north gate of Taierzhuang, Shunroku Hata had already successfully set up a passable defense line on the city wall at the north gate.

  "Fire at will!" (Japanese:. With the order of Shōsa Haruki, all light and heavy weapons of the Japanese army at the north gate opened fire fiercely.

  The ruthless Lieutenant Colonel Haruki Murayama ordered the Japanese troops to fire at the target, which was a combination of the defeated Japanese army and the vanguard of the Chinese army. This indiscriminate attack, without distinguishing between friend and foe, instantly caused the morale of the Chinese army to plummet.

  The Japanese army also paid a price, among the hundreds of people who fell outside the north gate, more than half were defeated Japanese soldiers. The other Japanese troops temporarily lost contact with the pursuing Chinese army and followed an officer sent by Shunroku Hata to run to a corner on the left side of the North Gate City Tower. There, Shunroku Hata had arranged for several staff members from the brigade department to conduct emergency reorganization of these defeated soldiers.

  The terrain inside the North Gate was very advantageous for defense, relying on that piece of open land over 100 meters long, more than 200 Japanese soldiers with sufficient ammunition used various weapons to weave a web of firepower that blocked the Chinese army's attack.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat!" A string of machine gun bullets hit the ground next to Wen Congyuan, who was knocked to the ground, making it impossible for this acknowledged number one brave general of the 100th Regiment to lift his head. This made Wen Congyuan, who had a fiery temper, extremely angry and he almost charged forward to fight with the little devils on the city gate. Fortunately, there was still a thread of rationality in Wen Congyuan's mind that told him to retreat a few steps when the enemy's firepower weakened slightly, or else Cheng Jiaji would have lost one of his fierce generals.

  "Hu Dingbang, you little devil, come here!" Wen Songyuan had just retreated to a relatively safe place when he loudly called out the name of the company commander of the 200th Regiment's mortar company, telling him to hurry over.

  "Look, can your mortar hit that pile of devils gathering below the north gate on the left?" asked Wen Songyuan.

  "Comrade Commander, that angle is exactly the blind spot of the mortar's firing range." Hu Dingbang replied.

  Indeed, the place where the defeated Japanese soldiers were gathering was exactly the blind spot of the Chinese army's mortar fire. In the eyes of Shunjo Nakahashi, the Chinese artillery could not hit them, and various light weapons did not cause large-scale casualties to the Japanese army. As long as the Japanese soldiers on the city gate could withstand the Chinese attack for half an hour, he could let these hundreds of scattered soldiers regain some combat effectiveness.

  "You little scoundrel, you're a graduate of the military academy's artillery department! I'll send someone to deliver it to you, and when you're within 100 meters of the enemy, start firing. Go, gather all the mortars from the troops here within 10 minutes. Today, I'm going to use mortars as hand grenades!"

  "Commander, at this distance, the shell can easily land on our own heads after it's fired." Hu Dingbang was clearly not in favor of Wen Songyuan's approach and tried to persuade his superior to abandon this idea.

  "When the 199th Artillery Regiment was surrounded this morning, that's exactly what they did. What makes you think you can't do it? Don't say anything else! Just execute!" Wen Songyuan cut off the artillery expert's grumbling with an unquestionable tone.

  Wen Songyuan's method is a desperate measure. Apart from the heavy casualties, it's not a bad move. Fortunately, at this time, the Chinese army has more people than the Japanese army.

  Under Wen Songyuan's strict order, the 2,500-strong Chinese army had already chased to the North Gate. (At this time, Yu Juncai was commanding troops in Zhuangli to annihilate a small group of Japanese soldiers. The Chinese army under the North Gate was the main force of the Left Route Army and part of the Right Route Army.) They were divided into two groups. One group used strong firepower and superior numbers to push forward step by step against the Japanese army on the city wall of the North Gate, while the other group protected Hu Dingbang's command under the cover of the first group. The temporary collection of all Chinese troops at the gate formed a mortar group that rushed towards the hundreds of Japanese soldiers who were reorganizing and distributing ammunition.

  This time, no matter how good Zhong Zhaosan was at fighting, he had no place to use his strength. The Japanese army's firepower was several times stronger than that of the Chinese army, but they couldn't gain an advantage and suffered significant casualties. The Chinese troops attacking the Japanese army lost twice as many men as the Japanese did, but for Wen Songyuan, two could be exchanged for one.

  When the shells of the nine-caliber mortars of the Chinese army fell on the heads of the Japanese troops under the city, Shunji knew that he was powerless to turn back!

  A barrage of mortar shells rained down on the Japanese army's heads, causing heavy casualties. The desperate Japanese troops charged towards the Chinese army with a loud cry, but were quickly repelled by the intense firepower from over a thousand Chinese soldiers protecting the mortar group. Occasionally, some stray Japanese soldiers managed to get close, only to be instantly overwhelmed by the sheer number of Chinese troops.

  The large number of devils under the north gate were solved, and the devils on the city wall were tough, but they couldn't withstand the fierce attack of the Chinese army's troops who didn't care about casualties. The Japanese army on the city wall soon couldn't hold out, and Shunji Chūsa was killed on the spot by a mortar shell, and the Japanese resistance also came to an end. Except for 30 or 40 Japanese soldiers who escaped from the north gate, the main force of the 40th Regiment's remnants who had fled to Taiertai North Gate were all annihilated!

  Half an hour after the Chinese army started this attack, the war flag of the Chinese army was raised again on the north gate tower of Taierzhuang, fluttering in the wind and flying high.