boyutpedia Chapter 217 Night Raid
Chapter 217 Night Raid
The Japanese Army Headquarters was also brightly lit at this moment, and Terauchi Masatake, dressed in a kimono, knelt on the tatami mat. In front of him was a teacup with steaming hot tea.
The 9th and 15th Divisions, along with the remnants of the 16th Division, will launch a night raid tonight, with nearly two men.
Judging from the daytime fighting, the Chinese troops who landed numbered only twenty to thirty thousand. However, the enemy's naval firepower was simply too overwhelming during the day!
He hoped to defeat the Chinese army through a night raid and close combat, and recapture the beachhead.
If the Chinese cannot be defeated quickly, Tokyo will be in danger once their follow-up troops land one after another.
With only a hundred meters or so left to reach the Chinese army's position, many Japanese soldiers had already gripped their grenades.
The new army used hand grenades multiple times, which was already known to other countries. Since it wasn't exactly high-tech, the Japanese naturally quickly replicated it.
"Boom, boom!" Several explosions rang out. A large number of Japanese soldiers who were advancing in the dark were blown down.
"Baka! It's a landmine! Kill them!" the Japanese commander cursed, and then issued the order to attack.
Now that we've been discovered, let's rush in!
"Fire! The Japanese are coming up!" The previously silent Chinese positions suddenly came alive. Countless gun barrels swept fiercely towards the Japanese troops in the darkness.
Another series of minor explosions followed, and the prepared pyres of firewood were set ablaze. Countless Japanese soldiers were exposed in the flames.
"Damn it, the Japanese are really going all out! They actually sent so many people." Chen San cursed from behind his bunker.
Under the powerful machine gun fire and barrage of numerous rifles from the 1st Division, the Japanese soldiers fell to the ground like wooden stakes, row upon row.
But even as the Japanese soldiers in front fell, those behind continued their assault. The Japanese infantry surged relentlessly, and finally, some reached the Chinese positions.
Scattered Japanese soldiers raised their rifles and fired continuously, and the 1st Army Division began to suffer casualties.
With a loud "boom," a general-purpose machine gun was blown over, and the two machine gunners, covered in blood, fell to the ground, clearly not going to survive.
"Move to a new position!" Gao Dabao fired a short burst, picked up the machine gun, and ran. The assistant gunner and ammunition handler quickly followed behind.
"Mortars! Smash the Japanese infantry guns right now!" Chen San roared.
Three mortar shells flew over with a "thud," knocking down the Japanese infantry guns.
The fighting was extremely fierce, continuing past daytime. The Japanese troops charged relentlessly, even carrying the bodies of their fallen comrades as they advanced. Once they got close to the Chinese positions, they threw grenades.
Although it suffered heavy casualties, it also inflicted considerable damage on the First Division of the Army.
In other words, our army was well-prepared and had far superior weaponry compared to the Japanese army. This allowed us to hold the Japanese army back by tens of meters, preventing them from advancing.
The battle was fierce, but it ended quickly. In less than an hour, the Japanese troops retreated, leaving behind a field of corpses.
"Quickly replenish ammunition and rescue the wounded!" Chen San, accompanied by his guards, walked through the trenches, inspecting his troops.
"Company commander, it's a call from battalion headquarters!" a communications soldier ran over to report.
"How are things, Lao Chen? Are the casualties high? Can we hold on?" Chen San picked up the phone, and the battalion commander's voice came through.
"Reporting to the battalion commander, my company has suffered sixteen casualties, including seven killed in action and three seriously wounded!"
"Don't worry, Battalion Commander, the position is well defended. I haven't even used my full strength yet!"
"Okay! Be careful and report any incidents immediately!" The battalion commander said before hanging up the phone.
A loud explosion rang out in front of the position. Immediately afterwards, a large number of shells fell one after another, creating a cacophony of explosions.
"The Japanese are shelling! Take cover! Quickly take cover!" the officer on the position shouted, herding the soldiers from the trenches into the shelling holes.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, boom, boom..." Explosions rose and fell. They were all large-caliber 120mm and 150mm heavy artillery. The battlefield was left in ruins.
This was clearly the work of two Japanese division artillery regiments!
Although the Japanese artillery bombardment only lasted for half an hour, it still greatly shocked the 1st Marine Division, as it was the first time they had experienced such a long period of shelling.
Fortunately, all units dug anti-artillery bunkers according to military regulations, otherwise the losses would have been much greater!
"Quickly, get to the position! The Japanese should be coming up soon!" The junior officers hurriedly herded the soldiers, whose faces had turned pale with fright, back into the trenches.
"You're scared of this little bit of shelling? This is nothing. You saw the naval shelling during the day. Those were huge cannons with a caliber of three or four hundred millimeters. Just imagine what will happen to the Japanese!"
"Quickly rebuild the destroyed fortifications!" the officers joked as they directed the soldiers to repair them. The soldiers' expressions gradually returned to normal.
Sure enough, the Japanese launched another attack shortly afterward. The front lines were once again engulfed in fierce fighting.
That night, the Japanese launched three attacks. They also deployed artillery regiments from two divisions to bombard the forward positions of the 1st Army Division three times.
The battle raged until dawn, but the Japanese army failed to capture the 1st Army Division's position. They had no choice but to retreat in disgrace.
The position was littered with charred wood, still smoldering. Chen San, with a serious expression, led his guards through the trenches.
Although the soldiers had been fighting for most of the night, none of them were sleepy. They all gripped their rifles, lay prone in the trenches, and vigilantly watched the front.
"Brothers, dinner's ready! Dinner's ready! Today we have your favorite meat buns!" Old Yang led the cooks over, carrying wooden buckets.
The soldiers had been fighting all night and must have been starving. Before dawn, the cooks were already busy preparing for the day.
Yesterday, the quartermaster managed to get some pork, and Lao Yang and the soldiers quickly chopped it into filling. They made delicious pork buns for everyone.
Normally, if there were meat buns, the soldiers would have already crowded around. Today, however, everyone was clearly still reeling from the bloody battle, and they all seemed indifferent to the buns.
It's not entirely their fault! The First Division had been training for four or five years; they were considered veterans in the army. But this was the first time they'd experienced such a truly tough battle, and everyone was stunned by the horrific scene.
Yesterday's comrades, who were still full of life, are now mostly fallen on the battlefield. Many soldiers have red eyes and are secretly shedding tears.
"Damn it! Why are you all so long-faced? We won! We won a great victory, you know that?" Chen San couldn't help but curse.
"That's right! Brothers, we won! Look, at least several hundred Japanese soldiers died at the hands of our company. You should all be happy!" the political instructor chimed in.
"We've done a great job this time, and everyone will get their medals and rewards! Aren't you happy?"
With the encouragement of the political instructor and company commander, the soldiers finally relaxed. Some of the more carefree guys, thinking about their medals and the rewards to come, started grinning.