Chapter 27: The Defense of Xinghe County - Raid on the Japanese Artillery Position

  At 1:00 AM, the security team entered Xinpingbao and began to build defensive positions. At 3:00 AM, the second battalion arrived at Xuanjiatata. At 4:00 AM, Chen Feng led the security team headquarters to finally arrive at Shifosi Temple, 15 kilometers outside of Tianzhen County Town.

  As they moved forward, the terrain began to flatten out, and it would be easy for a large troop to expose its target, so Chen Feng decided to intercept the Japanese army at the Stone Buddha Temple. After arriving at the designated location, the troops did not rest and immediately started building defensive fortifications according to Chen Feng's orders.

  Tianzhen County Town, the 61st Army's 399th Regiment headquarters, was shrouded in gloomy clouds. Everyone's face wore a solemn expression.

  "Chief of Staff, what are the casualties for each battalion and company?" The commander of the 399th Regiment, Zhang Jingjun, was a big man from Shandong Province, speaking in a dull tone.

  "Comrade Commander, the situation is very bad. In just half a day's time, our troops have suffered casualties of one-fifth. The command post of the 2nd Battalion was hit by enemy aircraft and seven or eight officers including the battalion commander were killed on the spot. As of now, there are 231 deaths in the entire regiment. At this rate, within five days at most, the 399th Regiment will be removed from the combat roster of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army." said Li Haisheng, Chief of Staff of the 399th Regiment loudly.

  Thinking of the military order to defend the county seat for 7 days, Zhang Jingjun gritted his teeth and said: "In order to give General Yan time for the Datong Conference War, even if we have to fight the devils to the last man, we must ensure that we hold out for 7 days!"

  The poor 61st Army officers and men did not know that Yan's so-called Datonghui War was just a cover, nor did they know that after this battle, their commander Li would be made a scapegoat and tried by a military tribunal, and finally wrongly executed, becoming the first land army lieutenant general to be shot for 'desertion in the face of the enemy' since the start of the war of resistance.

  On the morning of September 7, the Japanese army launched another attack on Tianzhen County, first sending planes to low-altitude bombing raids, followed by intense artillery bombardment. After such repeated bombings 4 or 5 times, infantry was dispatched to launch a charge.

  The command post of the Pa'an First Regiment is located 15 kilometers north of Tianzhen County.

  "Reporting to the commander, the special warfare team has sent a telegram. The artillery position of the Japanese army has been found. It is a mountain artillery position with 24 75mm caliber mountain guns. In addition, there is an infantry company for protection." Yang Yi came in and reported.

  "Where is the specific location?"

  "A small hill package five kilometers north of the county town, only eight or nine kilometers away from here." Yang Yi replied.

  "Alright, Wang Hansheng, are all the repairs done?" Chen Feng turned his head to ask Wang Hansheng, the commander of the 3rd battalion of the security team.

  "Report to the commander, it's all set up. All four defensive fortifications have met the standards and can be put into use at any time." Wang Hansheng was a Northeasterner, his voice was very rough, but he was indeed a good general in battle.

  "24 mountain guns, that should be two complete artillery battalions or an understrength artillery brigade." Yang Yi said with a frown.

  "Alright, the little devils are quite arrogant, a whole artillery regiment is only protected by a single infantry company. To not eat meat that's been delivered to your mouth is to invite heavenly punishment! Wang Hansheng, bring your troops with you, I'll put the artillery battalion under your command again, and I'll also add a light machine gun company for you. Take down the enemy's artillery position for me, can you do it?!" Chen Feng shouted loudly.

  "I can guarantee the completion of the task!" shouted Hu Tiesheng, the captain of the first battalion of the second company of security guards.

  "I don't want your guarantee, I want to see your actual actions, go!" Chen Feng said.

  "Yes!"

  "Order Xu Bao's special warfare battalion to dispatch snipers to assist in the battle from the dark!" Chen Feng ordered again after Hu Tie Sheng left.

  Japanese artillery position, Chahar Expeditionary Force Independent Mixed First Brigade Artillery Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Aoki Jirō and Independent Mixed Fifteenth Brigade Independent Artillery Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Itō Kōhei observe Tianzhen City in the distance through binoculars.

  "Aoki, although the Chinese troops across from us aren't very strong in combat, their will to fight is quite stubborn!" Lieutenant Commander Ito said with a sigh.

  "Yo, from yesterday afternoon till now, at least over a thousand of the Chinese troops in the city have been casualties, but they still show no signs of retreat. They are much stronger than the 68th Corps of Zhangjiakou." Lieutenant General Aoki also said with the same feeling.

  However, according to intelligence, there is only one infantry regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army in this Zhina County Castle. If we continue to fight like this, the Chinese will be exhausted and wounded within two days at most. In front of the mighty steel lion of the Great Japanese Empire, all resistance is futile and will be ruthlessly torn apart." Ito Kabei said proudly.

  "Yo, I think we should give those infantrymen a boost. Those guys have charged three times and got beaten back by the Chinese, it's really humiliating for the Great Japanese Empire." Aoki Jirō said coldly.

  "Cease fire, order all artillery to adjust firing data immediately! Target: the city wall of Zhinazhen, extend the bombardment for 10 minutes!" Colonel Ito Kozo shouted.

  However, before Ito Heihachiro's order was given, the sound of "boom boom" gunfire could be heard not far away. Based on years of experience, Ito Heihachiro and Aoki Jirō easily identified it as the sound of a 60mm mortar.

  The artillery battalion wasn't even equipped with mortars, where did the mortar sounds come from? It seemed like there were quite a few of them. Ito Heiho and Aoki Jiro exchanged a glance and hastily ran out of the command post.

  But before they could run out, a violent explosion sounded around them, and the entire command post was leveled to the ground in an instant.

  Two kilometers away, Commander Wen Hao of the artillery regiment directly under the Xinghe County Defense Command was excitedly directing the artillery regiment to heavily bombard the Japanese artillery position.

  The two-kilometer distance was just right, and the 12 60mm mortars of the artillery battalion made some slight adjustments to their firing data before launching a comprehensive bombardment.

  The artillery of the security team were all personally trained by Chen Feng, and several officers were selected from students who escaped from various places. It was not difficult for them to accept the theories that Chen Feng had mentioned. After a few battles, the combat effectiveness of the artillery regiment improved rapidly, basically meeting Chen Feng's minimum requirements.

  The power of mortars is limited, but they are flexible enough, and at close range, they can be more powerful than infantry guns or mountain artillery.

  Wen Hao knew that the artillery battalion's combat mission this time was to destroy the Japanese army's artillery positions, so he ordered the soldiers of the artillery battalion not to save ammunition, and within five minutes, they would fire all the ammunition they had brought with them, and then immediately withdraw. The rest of the matter would be left to Wang Dahuizi to handle.

  The sudden bombardment of the artillery battalion completely stunned the Japanese artillery, explosions, screams, gunfire, and the bursting sound of shells, the Japanese artillery position quickly became a sea of fire.

  At the same time that the artillery regiment opened fire, the 3rd Battalion of the Security Regiment, which had moved to within less than a kilometer from the Japanese artillery position, also launched an attack under the leadership of battalion commander Wang Hansheng.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  The machine gunner led the way forward, with others following closely behind in a charge, rapidly approaching the Japanese position.

  It has to be said that the individual quality of the little devils at the beginning of the war was still very strong, despite being suddenly attacked and shells constantly exploding around them, but the Japanese army did not panic. The infantry company protecting the artillery position immediately opened fire in counterattack, and the machine gun positions on the front line of the position quickly sprayed deadly steel bullets.

  The Japanese army's counterattack immediately caused casualties among the troops, and the warriors who were charging forward fell down one after another. However, no one retreated, and under Wang Hansheng's leadership, they continued to charge forward.

  It delighted Wang Hansheng that the Japanese machine gun position had fallen silent in less than a minute, and the replacement gunner was shot dead as soon as he pulled the trigger. The troops quickly rushed to the front of the Japanese position.

  The 3rd Infantry Battalion was affiliated with the Independent Mixed 15th Brigade Artillery Regiment, specifically responsible for protecting the artillery positions. Despite the Chinese army's bombardment causing heavy casualties to the 3rd Battalion, fortunately, the commander of the 3rd Battalion, Major Yamaki, and several platoon leaders had only one seriously injured in the bombardment, while the others were unharmed.

  Colonel Yamaki knew the purpose of the Chinese, and he immediately ordered his troops to counterattack, while sending a telegram to the command post of the troops outside Tianzhen City, requesting combat guidance.

  The firepower of the Chinese was extremely strong, and he had just observed that the number of Chinese light machine guns had reached more than 20. His squadron, on the other hand, had only four Type 11 light machine guns, which were clearly at a disadvantage in terms of firepower. He could only hope that the defensive fortifications they had set up earlier would be effective.

  However, as soon as the battle began, Major Yamaki discovered something was amiss. The officers and machine gunners of the 3rd company were being picked off one by one by the Chinese, and within two minutes, two platoon leaders and eight machine gunners had their heads blown off. The machine gun positions he had set up beforehand proved to be almost useless, and the Chinese had charged to within 200 meters of the position in just a few minutes.

  Seeing the machine gun nest misfiring again, Yamaki Captain shouted out a classic Japanese national curse "Hachoo" and immediately ran to the machine gun nest, operating a light machine gun and opening fire.

  But he had hardly pulled the trigger for a minute when he felt a pain in his chest, and then the strength in his body seemed to be sucked out, and finally he fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

  That's right, these were all done by the special forces snipers. The troops and the Japanese army had their first encounter, and at the beginning of the war, the Japanese soldiers' individual quality was extremely strong. Chen Feng was worried that the casualties would be too great, so he ordered the special forces to assist on the side.

  With the help of more than 50 snipers, the Japanese officers and technical troops were all killed in a very short time, and the third battalion of the Security Regiment and the machine gun company easily charged into the Japanese position.

  The Japanese army without a commander did not perform much better than the Chinese troops, although no one surrendered but retreated.

  Rushing into the formation, the advantage of more than 20 light machine guns' automatic firepower in three battalions was brought out. The third battalion with more than 200 people was eliminated by one-third by the artillery battalion and another one-third by the special warfare team's sniping. The remaining were quickly dealt with by the third battalion.

  The artillery position on the side was even more miserable, due to paralysis and negligence, the Japanese artillery shells were actually piled up in the open near the position, resulting in a very tragic outcome, being detonated by just a few shells from the artillery battalion. In the end, almost without Wang Hansheng's intervention, all 24 mountain guns and over 800 artillerymen were wiped out, including those two unlucky artillery commanders.