Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 72 Night Attack
At the Lion Grove position, Yue Qianli saw that the Japanese had not made any movement for the entire afternoon, so he guessed that they must be planning a night attack;
The National Government's army was not good at night combat and had been attacked by the Japanese at night countless times in another time and space, so he was on guard against this move by the Japanese and also wanted to ambush the Japanese.

He called several company commanders together to discuss countermeasures, and Deputy Battalion Commander Liao Jianping spoke first:
"This is indeed a troublesome matter. The visibility tonight is too low. Once the Japanese get close to us, it will be a melee between the two sides. Even if we can repel the Japanese attack, there will be a lot of casualties. The Second Battalion cannot afford such consumption.
I suggest that you find some flammable materials and throw them on the river beach, and then ignite them when the Japanese approach. This way, they will have nowhere to hide."

Second Company Commander Ai Jian also suggested:
"We still have to be mentally prepared to fight the devils. I suggest that all the submachine guns and machine guns of the entire battalion be concentrated and deployed on the second line.

Only a small number of troops were left at the frontline. Once the Japanese attacked, they would pretend to be weak and retreat to the second line, and then give the Japanese a big blow. More than 300 submachine guns and nearly light and heavy machine guns would be enough to give the Japanese a hard time. "

The third company commander suggested burying mines near the river beach overnight in order to detect the Japanese early. These suggestions were very good and gave Yue Qianli a lot of inspiration.

After everyone finished talking, Yue Qianli already had a plan in mind, so he took over and said:
"Your suggestions are all good. It is necessary to bury some anti-infantry mines (which the German-equipped divisions have) overnight so that we can detect the Japanese in advance.

We Chinese have a saying that goes, "We are not afraid of thieves stealing, but we are afraid of thieves thinking about it." So we have to hurt them once and for all, so that they won't think about it anymore. "

Everyone nodded in agreement. It has always been said that one should never guard against thieves a thousand miles away. Only when the Japanese "lose both the wife and the soldiers" would they dare not launch a sneak attack on the Second Battalion.

As soon as Liao Jianping saw the sinister smile on Yue Qianli's face, he knew that he must have a plan, and said impatiently:
"Captain, stop keeping us in suspense and just tell us how we're going to fight!"

Yue Qianli's interest was instantly gone. He was originally planning to follow Zhuge Liang's example and give each of them a lucky bag.
Liao Jianping was such a boring person, just like a cow chewing a peony, so he said unhappily:
"You guys have no future!"

Yue Qianli looked down on them and then revealed his plan. Ai Jian gave him a thumbs up and said:

“High—high!”

Yue Qianli automatically imagined a classic movie scene, but it was all villains, so it was not a good omen. He cursed:
"roll!"

Ai Jian was confused, and it seemed like he was flattering someone. Liao Jianping laughed happily and said contemptuously in his heart:
"Flattery!"

After some joking around, everyone went about implementing their plans. Everyone was in a good mood, including Ai Jian, who had flattered the wrong person. Being scolded by Old Yue showed that he treated himself as a brother.

(Liao Jianping: Cheap!)
“High—high!”

Inside the 12th Regiment headquarters, when the commander of the th Regiment, Ando Twenty-three, laid out his plan for a night attack, several captains gave him the thumbs up. Flattery is not exclusive to the Chinese.

Colonel Anda 23 was very pleased and said:
“Gentlemen, throughout the history of Chinese warfare, they are very bad at night battles, which is determined by their military service system;

The imperial army was a professional military force that had received systematic training, while many of the Chinese were improvised troops that could be controlled by flags and orders during the day.
Once the battle starts, the illiterate peasants in China will collapse instantly, and even blow up their camps. So success or failure depends on this one move. It is time for His Majesty to test you. I repeat again, the 12th Regiment should not take any prisoners, but kill them all, leaving no one alive!"

The Second Battalion had already caused great harm to Anda Twenty-three's fragile heart, and he wished he could kill everyone in the Lion Grove.

Other old Japanese soldiers also stood up to express their opinions. The regiment commander was furious. There was no reason for them not to be filled with murderous intent - did they still want to survive?
The 12th Regiment's night attack plan was very thorough. In order to numb the defenders, they did not even make any noise in the first half of the night, for fear of disturbing the defenders' sweet dreams.

It was not until midnight, when it was pitch dark, that Anda Twenty-three confidently gave the order to attack.
Teams of Japanese soldiers sneaked onto the river beach like thieves. In order not to make any noise, they even held a piece of rag in their mouths.

The Japanese have established permanent divisions since the Meiji Restoration. These are professional soldiers, with systematized logistics and scientific diet, so night blindness is rare.
On the other hand, most Chinese soldiers suffer from night blindness, and only the elite troops like the German-equipped division are in a better situation, not to mention the Second Battalion. Under Yue Qianli's strategy of raising troops at any cost, night blindness is almost non-existent.

The 12th Regiment was indeed the elite division of the Japanese Army. Their night attack team of several hundred people marched on the dark river beach without making any noise until they stepped on the anti-personnel mine.
At this time, they had already reached the Lion Grove position. The battalion commander, Major Koizumi, saw that their whereabouts had been exposed and shouted:

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Hundreds of Japanese night raiders rushed to the river bank with shouts and screams. Every now and then, a Japanese soldier stepped on a landmine and set the hay nearby on fire.

The whereabouts of the Japs were undoubtedly exposed under the light of the fire, but they didn't care. They had already rushed to the front of the defenders' position and were no longer worried about being discovered.

Major Koizumi was previously a staff officer of the regiment headquarters. After Major Suzuki was killed, he took over Suzuki's position. Now the battalion has been renamed Koizumi Battalion, and he is eager to prove that he is also suitable for commanding field troops.

The Japanese military's staff officers were affiliated with the General Staff Headquarters and had their own promotion channels. In order to reserve a large number of staff officers, they assigned multiple staff officers to one position, so the promotion space was blocked;
On the other hand, it is different in the field regiment. There are military achievements everywhere and promotions are very fast. Many people can be promoted two or three levels after winning a battle. Therefore, an officer like Major Koizumi who is eager to make a name for himself would want to become the chief officer of a field army.

The death of Major Suzuki gave him a chance to serve as acting captain. This night attack was another rare opportunity. As long as he succeeded, the word "acting" above his head would be removed. His blood boiled at the thought of this, as if the tempting military merit was beckoning to him.

They are just a commando team, and there are thousands of people behind them. As long as they disrupt the Chinese defense and the follow-up troops catch up, the Chinese will be powerless to turn the tide.

"Ta da da...ta da..."

The sporadic gunfire in the dark night gave Major Koizumi unlimited confidence, which showed that the Chinese were unprepared and were fighting in a hurry;
Major Koizumi showed a disdainful smile on his face, thinking that he could block their attack with a few mines.

"Yoshi, the Chinese have been defeated, kill the chickens!"

(End of this chapter)