Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 79 Bloody Treasure Mountain (2)

Captain Miki, eager to make a contribution, rushed to the front, and before they knew it, they had plunged headfirst into the ambush of Yao's camp;
Sanmu is indeed a veteran on the battlefield. Having participated in the first Battle of Shanghai, he is particularly sensitive to the battlefield. He has already smelled the breath of death, and his face has changed drastically. His back is instantly wet with cold sweat, and he exclaimed:
"Baga—there's an ambush!"

Perhaps to confirm his judgment, several long flames suddenly spurted out from the high ground on the flank, and the six Maxim heavy machine guns of the machine gun company opened fire on the devils first;
The rain of bullets swept through the Japanese ranks like the scythe of the god of death. Captain Miki only had time to make a tactical throw, and then watched his soldiers being torn into pieces by a string of heavy machine gun bullets.

The Maxim heavy machine gun has become a nightmare for infantry since its introduction. During the European battlefield of World War I, it once created a feat of slaughtering 6 British and French troops in one day.

No matter how strong the Japanese soldiers of the Third Division were, they could not withstand the attack of the Maxim heavy machine gun bullets. One bullet would either kill or cripple them, there was no such thing as light injuries.

The Miki Squadron, which was at the forefront, bore the brunt of the attack, with dozens of men being cut down in an instant, and other squadrons also suffered heavy casualties;

The Japanese in the Third Division had indeed high tactical proficiency. After getting over the initial panic, they fought back under the organization of officers and non-commissioned officers at all levels.

"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"

Major Miyauchi was not afraid at all. He also organized other Japanese soldiers to charge at the machine gun company's position. With rich battlefield experience, he knew that although the firepower in the east was the strongest, it was the best direction for counterattack.

When the machine gun company commander saw the Japanese troops charging towards his position, he ordered the two mortars of the artillery platoon to open fire, and together with the six Maxim heavy machine guns, they killed the Japanese troops. The slope on the left wing was full of Japanese corpses.
Major Miyauchi still underestimated the lethality of the Maxim heavy machine gun. The dense firepower network composed of 6 machine guns and 2 mortars could not be broken through by bravery alone. The more fiercely they charged, the more deaths would be.

The company on the front would not allow the Japanese to attack their flanks. Under the command of the company commander, they opened fire at full power. Nine Czech light machine guns and more than a hundred rifles fired crazily at the Japanese. Rows of Japanese were mowed down, and the number of casualties increased sharply.

Some of the devils started to break out to the right wing, but were also blocked and killed. At this time, they finally realized the seriousness of the situation.
At the same time, the search team that had previously passed the ambush area was also surrounded and annihilated by the third company. There were gunshots everywhere, and the Miyauchi Battalion suffered heavy casualties.

Major Miyauchi had realized that they could not hold out until reinforcements arrived, and that if they continued fighting they would be in danger of being wiped out, so he decisively issued the order to move forward, which was a very humiliating thing for the Japanese in the 3rd Division.

The Gongnei Battalion began to collapse. Seeing that the time was right, Captain Yao shouted:

"Brothers, charge and kill the devils!"

Loud military bugles sounded, shouts of killing shook the sky, and more than 200 soldiers from the first and second companies rushed out like tigers descending from the mountains, chasing and beating the Japs, knocking down those unlucky guys with short legs to the ground one by one.

The Japanese soldiers of the Miyauchi Battalion had long lost their fighting spirit and were only concerned with "moving forward". As long as they could lead the Chinese to the front of the main force of the regiment, they would be able to get back their advantage.

Unfortunately, Captain Yao was not stupid. He was fine with ambushing the Japanese vanguard, but he was not crazy enough to lead a battalion to fight against the entire Third Division.

They only chased for a few hundred meters before stopping, then took turns to cover each other and retreated to the ambush position. After quickly cleaning up the battlefield, the main force withdrew to Baoshan City.

At this time, the third company also completely wiped out the enemy's search team. After counting the results of the battle, the first company commander reported to the battalion commander Yao:
"Battalion Commander, this battle was exciting. We killed 238 Japanese soldiers. If we include the lightly wounded Japanese soldiers, the number of enemy soldiers we killed is close to 500." No wonder the company commander was so happy. Killing more than 200 Japanese soldiers could definitely be called a great victory. The happiest thing was that the casualties of the Third Battalion were not heavy, with only 27 casualties. It was still exciting to fight an ambush.

Captain Yao was in a good mood, but he knew that the Japanese were just careless this time and it could not represent the combat power of both sides. In order to prevent them from getting proud, he poured cold water on them and said:

"The Japanese were just careless in this battle. When they come back again, it won't be so easy to defeat them.
You take the first company to stay and stop the Japanese, and I will take the main force of the battalion back to defend Baoshan City. We must not fight the Japanese to death, but stop them step by step to consume their spirit and time. The decisive battle between us and the Japanese will be in Baoshan City. "

After the Third Battalion left behind a company to guard against the Japanese, the main force returned to Baoshan City. At this time, most of the people in Baoshan City had fled, leaving only the Third Battalion holding on. Battalion Commander Yao had already made mental preparations to live and die with Baoshan. It would be better if the people had evacuated, so he could fight with all his might.

The Baoshan Defense War in another time and space lasted for seven full days, which gave the Third Division a lot of headaches. From this point of view, Battalion Commander Yao and the Third Battalion fought very well.

After gathering the fleeing soldiers, Major Miyauchi was furious. He had never expected to be ambushed by the cowardly Chinese and lose more than 200 men.

This was also the battle with the heaviest losses for the Miyauchi Battalion since the landing of the 3rd Division. This ground must be redeemed, otherwise the regiment commander will not let him off easily. Thinking of this, he said to Captain Miki:

"Mr. Sanmu, the Chinese will not defend Jinjia Lane to the death. You lead the Sanmu Squadron to go back to the right wing from the small road to flank them. I will lead the main force of the brigade to advance along the main road. We will attack them from both sides and must wipe them out!"

Captain Miki took the order and left. His squadron did not need to carry any logistical supplies and could easily launch a roundabout attack. Taking Jinjia Lane would be a piece of cake.

Major Miyauchi then led the main force to continue attacking Jinjia Lane along the main road. The terrain of Jinjia Lane determined that it was impossible to persist for a long time, so he was confident that he could reach Baoshan City before dark, so that other brigades would not be able to steal the credit from him.

Wu Kesong was also very familiar with the terrain of Jinjia Lane. He did not think that he could defend Jinjia Lane. They buried some mines on the main road to block the enemy's attack.

When the main force of the Miyauchi Battalion arrived, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides. The company used the favorable terrain to block the Japanese attacks twice, resulting in casualties on both sides.

When intensive gunfire was heard on the flank, Wu Kesong ordered his troops to withdraw from Jinjia Lane, fighting and retreating, which delayed the Japanese attack by several hours and did not retreat back to Baoshan City until dark.

The Miyauchi Battalion followed closely behind and arrived at Baoshan Castle. Major Miyauchi, who was eager to get back his ground, took the lead in launching an attack on Baoshan Castle before the heavy firepower arrived.

After the previous battle, the Gongnai Battalion had about 700 men left, while the Yao Battalion had only about 600 men. The difference in weapons and equipment between the two sides was not big at the moment.
The biggest advantage of the Miyauchi Battalion is that it is equipped with an infantry artillery squad. Two infantry guns and two 2mm mortars are the Japanese's siege weapons.

After the company commander returned to the city, Battalion Commander Yao immediately sealed the city gate with sandbags filled with stones and rubble. When the Japanese arrived, Battalion Commander Yao was already ready for battle.

Major Miyauchi did not take the low city wall seriously at all, and immediately ordered the artillery to fire at Baoshan Castle. The Battle to Defense of Baoshan Castle officially began.

(End of this chapter)