1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Sir, I'm sorry, we have tried our best!" Higashino Keigo lowered his head and said to Yokoyama Masafusa with a complicated expression.

Snap! Snap!

"Baga! Trash!" Yokoyama Masafusa glared with gritted teeth and slapped him twice.

"Hey!" Higashino Keigo didn't dare to refute.

"In order to cooperate with your attack, the regiment lost two precious cannons, and what about you? You failed the empire's expectations of you!" Yokoyama Masafusa said.

"Hey! Higashino is sorry to the empire. Please allow the Higashino Battalion to make up for the crime and charge for the empire again!" Higashino Keigo said tremblingly.

Yokoyama Masafusa said this to make him responsible for the defeat and to commit seppuku to apologize!

It's okay for him to die, but he can't die in the way of apology for the defeat, otherwise his family will be miserable, and his family will definitely drive his wife and son out without mercy.

"Go away, it's not time for the Higashino Battalion to die." Yokoyama Masafosa waved his hand angrily and told him to go away.

Higashino Keigo said this, he either replaced the people or let the Higashino Battalion charge again.

After all, samurai have their own way of dying. He can't stop the samurai's request to die on the battlefield. That doesn't conform to the tradition of the samurai class.

Although the Higashino Battalion suffered heavy losses, it was just heavy losses. If they were all forced to die, what would other soldiers think?

"Nobi Battalion, take over the attack from the Higashino Battalion. The Higashino Battalion has already dealt important casualties to the enemy. I hope the Nobi Battalion can rush to the enemy's position in one go!" Yokoyama Masafosa looked at another battalion commander.

"Hi!"

After resting for more than ten minutes, the Japanese attack began again. The artillery showed up from time to time and fired a few shots, but they could not let go of the artillery until the enemy artillery was destroyed.

Keigo Higashino returned to his battalion. After an hour of attack, the Higashino Battalion, which had more than 1,000 men, had only 600 men left, including more than 200 wounded.

Next, the Higashino Battalion would have no combat effectiveness without rest. The whole body was not enough to carry a stretcher, so how could it have combat effectiveness?

…

"Let the second battalion withdraw, and let the third battalion take over and rotate, so that the soldiers can rest. I don't know how long the battle will last." Hou Dehui said to the chief of staff with his left hand hanging.

"The third battalion is the reserve team. If we move now," the chief of staff hesitated.

The second battalion is responsible for the defense of Changle in the south, the first battalion is responsible for the Eastern Guard Third Division, and the third battalion is the reserve team.

"The division headquarters called and said that because of the muddy road, the 4th regiment supporting us is still 20 kilometers away from us, in a straight line."

"Although it is not specified that it will arrive today, it will definitely arrive tomorrow. After 20 kilometers, it should be enough to climb. Let the 3rd Battalion go up and let the 2nd Battalion come down to rest."

"The 2nd Battalion suffered nearly 100 casualties. Let them adjust."

"Damn, the Japanese are really accurate in shooting." Hou Dehui subconsciously pointed to the location on the map with his left hand.

20 kilometers in a straight line, the actual distance is 30 to 40 kilometers. Even if the road is muddy, it will only take two or three hours to drive.

But walking, and carrying a large amount of weapons and supplies, the available means of transportation are horse carriages and ox carts, so the time required is uncertain.

After all, cattle and horses are animals, unlike cars. As long as they are not broken, they can keep running. Even if they advance five kilometers an hour, they can still advance 120 kilometers a day.

Cattle and horses are not good. They will get tired, hungry, and injured.

But for this distance, at most we can walk in two days. We can always arrive tomorrow, right?

It is not a big problem to mobilize the reserve troops at this time.

"Report! The first battalion is calling!" A staff officer shouted while holding the phone.

Hou Dehui's heart skipped a beat, and he walked over calmly and picked up the phone.

"How many? Okay, I will reinforce the artillery for you. You must hold on. The support is not far from us."

"Don't save ammunition. You must suppress the enemy's offensive. Okay, the battle is over. I'll buy you a drink."

Hou Dehui put down the phone and looked at the chief of staff.

"The third division is coming."

"How many people are coming?" The chief of staff's face changed.

"At least one regiment. I plan to send four guns over and strengthen the reconnaissance company to the first battalion. They are fighting in the field, and the reconnaissance company can play a greater role." Hou Dehui said.

"Okay, send a telegram to the division headquarters and request support. The Second Guards Division has a lot of vehicles. It's still in time." The chief of staff nodded.

The result of the artillery battle was that Japan lost two guns and the third regiment lost one.

That is to say, the third regiment only had five guns left. Send four guns over and keep one for deterrence.

"Then send a telegram to the division headquarters!" Hou Dehui nodded.

The two regiments have a total of nearly 7,000 people, with a 5 to 1 ratio in terms of troop strength, at least 28 guns, and a 6 to 1 ratio in terms of artillery firepower.

Nanhua's advantage lies in the fact that it has set up fortifications in advance, and there are many machine guns and mortars, but machine guns and mortars cannot suppress artillery.

Half of the casualties of the second battalion were caused by artillery bombardment, and the other half were hit by bullets during shooting.

The Japanese army's shooting ability is indeed good. Many Nanhua soldiers only stick their heads out when shooting, and they are caught in just a few seconds of opportunity.

…………

At one o'clock, the 16th Brigade arrived. The 16th Brigade had lost most of its regiment in the previous battle and did not improve much in infantry.

However, in addition to the two infantry regiments under its jurisdiction, the 16th Brigade also has an artillery battalion with 12 mountain guns and 6 field guns.

The total number of Japanese artillery increased to 44, and the firepower ratio increased to 3 to 1.

Except for the eight 37mm guns, there are still 36 75mm guns, with a firepower ratio of 6 to 1.

In a positional attack and defense battle, this is a suffocating ratio.

In a positional battle, it mainly depends on which side has more guns and machine guns, and almost on which side has a larger caliber gun.

Because the Second Light Infantry Division was chasing closely, the 16th Brigade had lost contact with the 15th Brigade.

Because the 16th Brigade suffered heavy losses and its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced, in order to escape, the 16th Brigade immediately concentrated its artillery and carried out a large-scale bombardment of Changle Town.

This bombardment even extended to the back of the town. The Japanese no longer cared about those properties, or they had no time to care.

The Second Light Infantry Division has separated them from the 15th Brigade. If nothing unexpected happens, the next step is to further divide and encircle them.

There is always one of them that can't run away, and the 16th Brigade wants to be the one who can run away.

...

The bombardment that lasted for half an hour ended.

"Puh, puh, puh, my mouth is full of dirt." Hou Dehui spit out dirt several times in a row.

"Lighten the casualties."

"The Japanese are coming up."

"Prepare the machine gun!"

Boom, boom, boom...

The machine gunner closest to Hou Dehui held the trigger and fired for half a minute, and then the machine gun crew raised the machine gun and prepared to move.

boo! boo!

Woo~

After the explosion, the sound of breaking through the air was heard.

This is a shell fired by a long-barreled field cannon, with high initial velocity, strong penetration, and a straight trajectory.

"Fuck!" Hou Dehui cursed, and then hurried over to see if he could save anyone.

Obviously, two shells exploded at close range, and none of the five people in the machine gun crew survived.

It can only be said that they were unlucky. They must have been discovered as soon as they fired, and they were just in the aim of the artillery, otherwise the artillery fire would not come so quickly.

Boom boom boom...

"Plane, it's the Air Force! The Air Force is coming!" The Chief of Staff pointed to the sky with a dusty face and shouted excitedly.

I'm used to being bombed, but the feeling of being bombed is not good, especially aggrieved.

"Not good! They are going to attack the 16th Brigade." Hou Dehui picked up the telescope excitedly, but saw the fleet lined up in four rows and flew towards the position of the 16th Brigade.

Attacking the 16th Brigade is nothing, but their threat is not limited to the 16th Brigade.

"Shoot a signal flare in the direction of the first battalion's position, find something brightly colored, and make an arrow!" Hou Dehui shouted.

After several consecutive signal flares were launched, Hou Dehui finally saw a fleet of three planes turn around, fly over the town, and fly towards the direction of the first battalion's position.

Boom boom boom...

When the plane flew over the town, there was a rumbling explosion in the direction of the 16th Brigade.

Eight bombers bombed the Japanese artillery positions, destroyed most of the artillery, and also attacked their baggage train, hospital, command post, etc.

Because they had no experience in air defense, most of the baggage carried by the 16th Brigade stayed on the road or piled up together, and was easily destroyed by bombers.

After losing artillery, ammunition, medicine, carriages and even hospitals, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army will be greatly reduced.

In particular, without artillery and suitable individual firepower, there is no way to pass through the metal storm net composed of machine guns.

In the direction of the first battalion, there were only three bombers, and they only destroyed the artillery positions, which was enough.

After the bombing, the bombers did not leave immediately, but reorganized, lowered the altitude, and used the machine guns on the bombers to form a firepower net and strafed the ground.

The already frightened Japanese suffered heavy casualties and collapsed.

The next day, the Third Regiment did not have to worry about the Japanese attack again. It was enough for them to gather soldiers, reorganize the team, count the losses, distribute supplies, and treat the wounded.

On the 26th, the Second Light Infantry Division blocked the 15th Brigade in a section of land that was three kilometers long and less than 800 meters wide. To the west was the cold river water.

Two regiments of the 3rd Light Infantry Division arrived behind the 16th Brigade and moved to the right wing, preparing to bypass and encircle the 16th Brigade.

The 4th Regiment of the 1st Light Infantry Division also arrived at the left wing of the battlefield in the morning and encountered Japanese scouts.

On the afternoon of the 26th, the 16th Brigade launched a half-year charge and tried to break through Changle Town. After there was no artillery threat, the machine guns of the 3rd Regiment played their power, and Japan added nearly a thousand widows.

On the evening of the 26th, the 16th Brigade was trapped in a piece of land less than two square kilometers.

In the early morning of the 27th, the 16th Brigade made a final attempt, concentrating the remaining 2,000 people who could still run, carrying all the food (enough for two days), and taking a small road to break out to the northeast.

Unfortunately, as soon as they made a move, they were discovered by the reconnaissance company of the 3rd Regiment. The 3rd Regiment concentrated dozens of light and heavy machine guns and fired across the direction of the 16th Brigade.

The two regiments of the 3rd Infantry Division also responded immediately and blocked their escape route.

Only 600 of the 2,000 people surrendered, but more than 1,000 wounded surrendered in the temporary station of the 16th Brigade in the south of Changle.

The 15th Brigade was tougher and more complete overall. Because the two sides were close and the Japanese were on the defensive, the 2nd Light Infantry Division did not gain an advantage in many battles, and the Japanese even tried to break through several times.

The situation did not change until the heavy weapons of the 2nd Light Infantry Division landed.

On the 27th, the 2nd Light Infantry Division changed its tactics, using artillery and machine guns to gradually reduce the Japanese army's ability to move, and drove the Japanese army that was unwilling to surrender down the river.

The 15th Brigade eventually captured more than 1,200 prisoners, including many wounded.

The main reason was that many Japanese troops were planning to swim across the river, hoping to climb onto Chongming Island, but the gunboats did not give them a chance.

As mentioned earlier, the weather was cold, and the gunboats only held meetings to patrol the river and block the places where they could directly land on the island.

The rest, just leave it to the weather in January, which was less than 10 degrees (it was indeed colder before.)

If you cross the river in this weather, you will die on the shore if you don’t die in the water. If you are blown by the wind, you will definitely have a fever. Without medicine, you can only wait to die.

On the 27th, the 8th Division was basically annihilated.

However, the 3rd Light Infantry Division is still searching repeatedly on this piece of land, searching for those fish that have escaped the net.

After all, if you say annihilate them all, you must annihilate them all.

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