Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 21: Bloody Battle at Liuhe Town (3)

The Japanese 75mm field artillery fired wildly at the artillery positions of the 527th Regiment to vent their anger, but unfortunately the artillery company had already evacuated, and the Japanese artillery retaliation was in vain.

The combat weight of the Type 20 82mm mortar is only 69 kg. It can be disassembled into the barrel, base and bracket. One person can carry it and move it quickly after firing.
They don't pick and choose positions, they can set up artillery and fire on any piece of flat ground, so the 75mm field artillery can't catch them at all, and they may be killed in return if they are not careful.

The Japanese soldiers of the 50th Regiment were not scared off by the artillery fire of the defenders. The attack group of to people was not under much pressure after losing a few squadrons. They continued to charge despite the artillery fire.

When the Japanese attack formation advanced to the effective range of the heavy machine guns, the six Maxim heavy machine guns of the battalion's machine gun company fired wildly at the Japanese. Wherever the long tongues of fire swept through, the Japanese bodies were shattered, and few people could survive under the heavy machine guns.

Without artillery, the Maxim heavy machine gun would be the nightmare of the infantry. The Japanese infantry were killed all over the ground and could hardly move under the fire of 12 heavy machine guns from two battalions.

All the Japanese infantry were pinned to the ground, and their heavy machine guns began to fight back. Their infantry guns were also pushed out and began to clear out the defenders' firepower points.
It has to be said that the Type 92 infantry gun is a very practical infantry support artillery. It poses a great threat to the Maxim heavy machine gun. Often only two or three shots are needed to destroy a machine gun position.

Under the attack of the Japanese infantry artillery, one Maxim heavy machine gun after another was destroyed, the firepower of the defenders dropped sharply, and the morale of the Japanese infantry was greatly boosted. They got up from the ground and continued to charge;
"Boom boom boom..."

A round of mortars fell from the sky and landed on the Japanese infantry artillery position, instantly destroying two infantry guns. The other infantry guns were frightened and retreated one after another. They seemed to have forgotten the threat of the defenders' mortars.

The Japanese artillerymen who had been beaten became cunning. They no longer piled up several artillery pieces together, but instead dispersed and attacked like rangers, changing locations after each shot. They were as slippery as loaches, and it was difficult to catch them.

This kind of sneak attack has both advantages and disadvantages. Although it improves their survivability, it also makes it much more difficult for them to destroy the defenders' machine gun fire points.

The Japanese infantry could only rely on themselves to capture the positions. They kept charging forward under the hail of bullets from heavy machine guns. From time to time, someone was shot and fell, but they pretended not to see it.

Soon they broke through the death zone blocked by heavy machine guns and entered an area only one or two meters away from the defenders' position, and the two sides began to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

The commander of the first battalion gave the order to open fire, and each company began to fire freely. Only the position of the third company remained silent. Those who didn't know would think that there were no defenders in their position.

Captain Miyamoto, who was in charge of attacking the third company's position, did not think so. The Chinese could not leave a gap, which only meant that the commander of the opposing defenders was more patient.

Captain Miyamoto kept reminding the other devils to be cautious, and he himself was ready to lie down at any time;
At 100 meters, the defenders had not opened fire yet, and many Japanese soldiers had lost their patience. At this distance, they only needed a sprint to rush up and then engage in a fight with the defenders.

Lieutenant Watanabe pointed his saber forward and shouted:
"Warriors, kill all the Chinese!"

The Japanese soldiers in the first row all stood up straight, screamed and started to sprint;
Yue Qianli was waiting for this moment. He decisively gave the order to open fire. The entire company's machine guns and heavy machine guns instantly opened fire. 9 Czech-style, 5 captured crooked-handled light machine guns, and dozens of rifles crazily fired at the Japs.

"Bagaya road!"

Captain Miyamoto greeted Lieutenant Watanabe's entire family, but unfortunately he could no longer hear them as several machine gun bullets had turned him into a hornet's nest.

Thirty or forty Japanese soldiers fell along with him. No wonder Captain Miyamoto cursed. That was almost the strength of a squad, and he only had three squads in total.

A smug smile appeared on Yue Qianli's lips. He was happy as long as he could make the Japanese angry and curse. The first round of attack had the greatest lethality. Once the Japanese were down, it would be difficult to achieve such an effect again.

After the Japanese soldiers lay down, the two sides began to shoot at each other. The Japanese light and heavy machine guns began to suppress the defenders' positions. As long as you raised your head, you might be shot;
The ubiquitous grenade launchers became a nightmare for the defending machine gunners. In order to keep an eye on them, each platoon of the third company selected several veterans with good marksmanship to fight against the Japanese grenade launchers. After all, Yue Qianli alone could not handle it. With the suppression of the sharpshooters, the Japanese grenade launchers also suffered heavy losses, basically a one-to-two exchange ratio. If they wanted to knock out a machine gun of the defending army, they had to pay the price of two grenade launchers.
These grenade throwers were all veterans who had received several years of training, and their loss was painful for Captain Miyamoto, as he had never encountered such tough opponents.

The progress of the two wings was smoother than theirs, which made him, who was too proud and arrogant, unacceptable. The captain was still watching them from behind, and if they continued to fight like this, they would definitely be slapped in the face when they returned.

He decided to intensify the offensive and sent the second echelon forward, charging fearlessly under the hail of bullets from the defenders. Casualties on both sides were rising sharply.

As the attacking party, the Japanese suffered much greater casualties, basically reaching a ratio of 2 to 1. If the casualties in the fire blockade zone are included, the ratio is more than 3 to 1. Such an exchange is more infuriating than Miyamoto.

"Useless! A bunch of useless! Kill the chickens!"

Captain Miyamoto wanted to go into battle himself. The ancestral sword he waved in his hand successfully attracted Yue Qianli's attention. The corners of his mouth showed his signature sneer;

He grabbed a handful of loose soil from the ground, measured the wind speed, and then set the scale to 400 meters. It would be difficult for him to hit the opponent at this distance with a rifle without a scope.

Miyamoto thought he was safe as long as he hid 300 meters away. He did not take the defending riflemen seriously at all. The accuracy of the machine gun was also very average, so he started to show off.

If he didn't raise his command knife, Yue Qianli would not have noticed him. A person is just a small black dot 300 meters away, not to mention that Miyamoto was half squatting.

"Damn it, go report to the ghost toilet!"

The moment Miyamoto straightened up again, Yue Qianli decisively pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew out of the chamber, accurately hitting Miyamoto's chest;

Miyamoto was in a trance, and could hardly believe that this was real. His eyes began to lose their luster. At the moment he fell, the cherry blossom trees in Kyoto appeared in front of him...

Miyamoto's death did not affect the attack of Miyamoto's squadron. The deputy squadron leader quickly took over the command and continued to charge towards the position of the third company fearlessly.

Since they were not afraid of death, the soldiers of the third company turned them into corpses and killed them one by one as they rushed forward.

"Boom boom boom..."

"Boom boom boom..."

The inhumane Japanese began to fire indiscriminately, not caring about the Miyamoto squadron which was only a few dozen meters away.
The Japanese artillery bombardment caused a lot of casualties to the Third Company and also killed many Japanese soldiers. We killed 800 enemies and lost 1,000 of our own.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Taking advantage of the artillery fire, the Japanese infantry rushed to the third company's position with a cry, and the two sides fought each other, and a brutal hand-to-hand combat began...

(End of this chapter)