boyutpedia Chapter 407: Non-stop Attack Begins
Chapter 407: Non-stop Attack Begins
Chief of Staff Major General Sanzo Nakazawa also knew that it was necessary to let these tired officers and soldiers rest. Otherwise, with their current mental state and physical strength, they might collapse from exhaustion without even the Chinese army needing to attack.
After receiving the order to take turns to rest, the officers and soldiers of the 16th Division of the Japanese Army quickly sat down in the trenches and fell asleep. Except for the officers and soldiers on guard, snoring could be heard everywhere on the battlefield.
At the same time, the officers and soldiers of the 31st Chinese Army, the 2nd Chinese Army and the New 22nd Chinese Army were also resting before the attack. In order to complete the order of Commander Li of the theater, each unit was divided into two groups. The night attack unit was responsible for the attack from midnight to 8 am. When the time was up, they would be replaced by the unit responsible for the daytime attack, ensuring that they could continue to attack the Japanese defensive positions without stopping.
Compared with the food of Japanese officers and soldiers, the food of Chinese officers and soldiers was much better. During the war, the officers and soldiers of the Chinese troops could eat two dry meals. In order to boost morale, the Fifth War Zone also specially provided a large amount of meat for these three troops to ensure that the officers and soldiers could see some meat every day.
This also greatly increased the combat enthusiasm of officers and soldiers. Most of those who could serve as soldiers in those days were still poor people. They risked their lives to join the army just to have a meal to eat. If they survived, they could get military pay and bonuses and send them back home so that their families could also have a few bites of food and not starve to death or flee from famine.
At twelve o'clock in the evening, the few Chinese artillery pieces began firing on time. The Chinese night attack troops, which had quietly moved to the front of the Japanese defensive positions, rushed towards the Japanese defensive positions under the leadership of their respective officers as the artillery fire rang out.
For a moment, the Japanese defensive positions that were snoring a minute ago were immediately covered by the sound of exploding shells. The Japanese officers and soldiers who were awakened from their sleep by the sudden artillery fire also skillfully took their weapons and entered their respective defensive positions.
This was because China's night attack force had already launched its attack under the artillery fire. If they were any slower, China's night attack force would have rushed to the defensive position.
The Chinese artillery stopped bombarding after three minutes, one reason being to save shells, and the other being that according to the previously formulated combat plan, the attacking force responsible for the night attack should have been very close to the Japanese defensive positions at this time.
The defensive positions set up around the 16th Division of the Japanese Army, with the division headquarters as the center, were attacked by the Chinese night attack forces at the same time, which caused many of the Japanese Army's defensive positions to be in a critical situation.
The commander of the 16th Division, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, had not rested at all. When the Chinese night attack force began to attack, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke rushed out of the command center.
The division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, looked at the flashes caused by the explosions of artillery shells not far away and felt terrified. The Chinese army was so eager to destroy his 16th Division that they launched the final attack on his troops just after capturing the outer positions.
"Mr. Nakazawa, the Chinese army actually launched a night attack tonight. It seems that they want to completely eliminate us before the reinforcements arrive. What is the situation of each position now? The Chinese army launched an attack from all directions at the same time this time. How many people do they have? Don't their troops need to rest?" The division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, quickly calmed down and said to the chief of staff, Major General Nakazawa Mitsuo, who followed him to the outside of the command center.
"Your Excellency the division commander, judging from the gunshots, our positions should be exchanging fire with the Chinese army's night attack troops now, but we have not yet received accurate transmissions of the battle situation from our positions." Chief of Staff Major General Mitsuo Nakazawa looked at the fire in the distance and explained helplessly.
The division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, knew that now it all depended on how long his troops could hold out. As for tactics and strategies, they were completely useless now.
The officers and soldiers on the Japanese defensive positions were trying very hard to defend with shooting, but there were too many Chinese night attack troops. In the dark night, the officers and soldiers of the Chinese night attack troops flexibly rushed into some of the defensive positions, and used swords and grenades to forcibly open gaps in the Japanese defensive positions.
The sound of gunfire on the battlefield became less and less frequent, but the degree of tragedy on the battlefield became more and more serious. The sound of gunfire was replaced by the loud shouts of officers and soldiers on both sides and the screams after the bayonets entered their bodies.
The officers and soldiers on the 16th Division's position also knew that they had no way to retreat. Even if they wanted to, there was nowhere to retreat. They could only fight to the death on their positions with the Chinese troops who attacked at night. Later, there was even a scene where the injured officers and soldiers on both sides became so bloodthirsty that they detonated grenades and died together with the other side.
However, the number of people in the Chinese Night Attack Force was too large. Once a gap appeared in the defensive position, the officers and soldiers of the Chinese Night Attack Force would pour into the Japanese defensive position through the gap. The officers and soldiers of the Japanese 16th Division were unable to plug the gap due to limited manpower.
After several attempts, the Japanese defensive forces gave up the idea of blocking the gap in the position and instead fought with the Chinese night attack forces for every trench on the position, desperately delaying the advance of the Chinese night attack forces.
In the headquarters of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, Commander Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura, who had just laid down on the sofa in his office to rest, was awakened by Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto who rushed into the office.
"Commander, the Chinese army has just launched a full-scale night attack on the 16th Division, and the division commander, Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, has already deployed all the troops that can be dispatched." Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi also quickly explained the matter to the commander, Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji.
"What? The Chinese army launched an attack so soon?" Commander Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura jumped up from the sofa, took the telegram from the chief of staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto and read it quickly.
No one expected that the Chinese army would launch an attack overnight without much rest after a day of hard fighting in the afternoon, whether it was Lieutenant General Fujie Keisuke, commander of the 16th Division, or Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji, commander of the 11th Army, and Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi, chief of staff.