I fought guerrilla warfare in the Yimeng Mountains during the Anti-Japanese War

Facing the attack of two Japanese divisions, the 122nd Division, from Lieutenant General Wang Mingzhang to the ordinary soldiers, was ready to fight. The defense of Teng County was a great success. Later, because the organization was destroyed, it was not until the end of the Battle of Wuhan that it recovered. It has been more than a year! I miss the days of fighting the devils.

On the 3rd, the Japanese army deployed bombers on the left wing, of which were heading for the Qianjiang front. The nd Division was a shame for the Imperial Japanese Army. This time they vowed to avenge the shame. They dared not talk about annihilating them completely, but the minimum requirement was to cripple their organization.

After the three hundred bombers plowed the land, eighteen large-caliber field howitzers opened fire. After an hour of bombardment, mountain artillery, field artillery and mortars covered the armored and infantry attacks. The entire Qianjiang defense line was in turmoil. With such a lineup and action, even the Central Army’s direct line could not withstand it for two hours. However, the 122nd Division completely ignored the Japanese lineup. The face earned by the predecessors must not be lost in their own hands.

Anti-tank trenches, fire blockades created by light and heavy machine guns, submachine guns accurately striking the Japanese troops charging in groups, fast-moving Type 60 rapid-fire guns, and large-caliber machine guns blasting away Japanese tanks and armored vehicles. The Japanese army launched the attack at 10:30 in the morning, but by 6:00 in the afternoon they had not advanced a single step and had not taken a single inch of the trench.

In Qianjiang County, in an underground air-raid shelter near the east gate, several staff officers were having a headache looking at the battle damage. Although they had blocked the Japanese attack in one day, the 122nd Division also suffered heavy losses, with casualties reaching a terrifying 2,300, which meant that only 90% of its combat effectiveness remained. In addition to the officers and soldiers who died, most of the more than 1,400 wounded were seriously injured.

"Commander, we need to intercept for a few days. If we continue fighting like this, we won't be able to hold out after the fifth day. There are still 100,000 troops in Jingzhou behind us. What should we do..."

Wang Mingzhang was looking at the map on the wall with his hands behind his back. His back no longer had the determination and desolation he had during the defense of Teng County, but seemed to have become more solid and steady.

"Staff Officer Lu, we can't last more than five days if we fight like this, and three days will be a problem. But we can't retreat, and we can't ask for help after just one day. We have many brother troops behind us, but they are all staring at us. For more than a year, we have been given whatever we want. A Sichuan Army division has more troops than the ace division of the Central Army, and its equipment is better than all the divisions. If we retreat after one day, do we still have the face to do so? Tens of millions of Sichuan compatriots take us as an example. I can tell you frankly, death in Teng County is a big deal, but death here is a shame, do you understand?"

Wang Mingzhang's accent grew heavier as he spoke. After he finished the last four words, he turned around and looked at Staff Officer Lu. There was a bloodthirsty light in his eyes. Staff Officer Lu quickly explained:

"Commander, I have never thought of retreating, but it is really not possible to continue fighting like this. We have to think of other ways."

Wang Mingzhang's expression softened a lot. He glanced at the combat staff and deputies in the room. Seeing that everyone stood up straight and looked at him fearlessly, he nodded with satisfaction.

"Secretly pull up the eighteen 75mm field guns to build positions, one for each gun, more than meters apart, and do not arrange them in a straight line."

"Notify the eight special operations regiments to get ready and bring all the 60-mm artillery pieces. Counterattack tonight and target all the Japanese artillery positions. Leave three regiments to defend our positions and the remaining three regiments to launch a feint attack. The Japanese must be heavily guarded and there is no need to engage in silent combat. After the special operations regiments engage the enemy, they must quickly penetrate and break through. They must destroy more than 70% of the Japanese artillery fire."

"Yes"!

Wang Mingzhang intended to defend the city to the death, but he did not intend to defend it with a stubborn mind. If he did not make use of the eight special operations regiments, he would be a fool.

Although the Japanese army also started to engage in special operations, it was only a small-scale harassment infiltration and counter-infiltration. In addition to the special operations team of cold guns, our own special operations regiment should be the originator of the special operations of the national army! Even the special operations brigade of the Fifth Theater was not established earlier than our own.

In today's battle, aerial bombs and artillery fire still caused the highest casualties. Planes can do nothing for the time being, as the Wuhan, Jiujiang and Anqing airports are impenetrable, but a part of the artillery groups of the two divisions must be consumed, otherwise there will be no battle.

Since the top leaders organized a symposium on counterattacking Wuhan in July, although they finally gave up the idea at the suggestion of Xiao Zhuge, they still wanted to follow the pace of Leng Qiang to strengthen the firepower of the army. In early August, the first batch of Type 60 mortars and large-caliber heavy machine guns were purchased. As a special operations elite division, the 122nd Division was fortunate to be allocated 160 Type 60 mortars and 20 large-caliber heavy machine guns. This is also the reason why Wang Mingzhang dared to counterattack.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, all special operations regiments had received the infiltration routes and orders. Once the shelling began, all special operations regiments infiltrated according to the predetermined routes, using the mobility advantage of the 60 mortar to advance quickly. They were not allowed to fight to the end, to be greedy for merit, or to stagnate. They had to reach the predetermined target within an hour, blow up the target artillery, and then withdraw.

At 11:30 in the evening, eight special operations regiments reached the flank of the Japanese camp, waiting for the shelling and feint attack to begin.

At twelve o'clock sharp, the shelling began. Eighteen 75mm field guns were rare in the division-level organization. No matter how difficult the battle was today, the field guns did not fire. Qianjiang had a flat terrain and there was no terrain to build a reverse slope position. There was no plan to attack the Japanese artillery positions tonight. It was enough to open up the situation for the feint attack troops.

boom! Boom boom boom!

In addition to the eighteen field guns, dozens of Type 97 indirect-fire guns equipped by the 122nd Division also opened fire, firing thirty rounds in three minutes at a rapid rate, to cover the troops as they rushed through the first trench.

There were continuous explosions at the front line of the Japanese positions. Although there were defenses, they were not very detailed. The focus was on defending key positions, and they didn't really care about the several-kilometer-long front line. The commander and combat staff of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army conducted a whole night of simulation and did not consider that the 122nd Division would dare to counterattack.

When the mortars were firing at high speed, the infantry of the three regiments began to charge. The vanguard was equipped with all submachine guns. The Japanese army also dug trenches at the front line, but they did not dig anti-artillery holes in a hurry, and the trenches were also half-finished. They probably did not expect that they would also be bombarded.

Twenty large-caliber machine guns opened fire, hitting the Japanese army's heavy firepower points, especially the infantry vehicles and tanks at the front line.

The battle was intense from the beginning. The Japanese army was fighting desperately, and the national army was charging fearlessly. The flames from the explosions illuminated the night sky a few hundred meters away from the Japanese front trenches, and they didn't even need to use flares.

In just five minutes, the National Army rushed to within 200 meters of the front line. Once the submachine guns opened fire, the Japanese army could not bear it. Rifles and submachine guns fired at each other. Beyond 200 meters, rifles are king, and within 200 meters, submachine guns are a dimensionality reduction attack.

The National Army rushed into the trenches with submachine guns and fired a volley of shots, leaving the Japanese army without even a chance to turn around and run.

"Get into the trenches to defend against artillery, quickly!"