Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 129 Please ask if you have any questions

After Nohara Hiroshi received an order from the regiment commander, Colonel Hachiro Tagami, last night that his battalion would be responsible for attacking the Chinese army's positions today, he called several squadron leaders over overnight to arrange the sequence and method of today's attack.

Hiroshi Nohara learned from the failure of the First Battalion's attack yesterday. He asked the regiment commander, Colonel Hachiro Tagami, to send the Third Battalion to attack the right-wing position of the Chinese army. He concentrated all his forces and took turns to advance to the left-wing main position of the Chinese army. He thought that he should advance forward steadily, give full play to the shooting and artillery advantages of the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army, and wear down the morale of the Chinese army bit by bit. At that time, it would become relatively easy for his troops to occupy the positions of the Chinese army.

After the 655th Regiment took over the position last night, they quickly re-dug the trenches on the position and connected the bomb craters with trenches. This time, all the officers and soldiers had no complaints when digging the trenches. They knew how badly the 656th Regiment was bombed by the Japanese artillery fire, so everyone dug the trenches as deep as possible and dug many anti-artillery holes for the troops to disperse and hide in order to reduce casualties under the Japanese artillery fire.

Four more communication trenches were dug between the second-line positions and the first-line positions, so that even in the event of a Japanese artillery blockade, reinforcements could be quickly delivered to the first-line positions with minimal casualties.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the Japanese attack began on time, just like yesterday, with first air bombing, then a round of naval artillery strikes, and finally field artillery coverage. The only change was that one of the planes was circling around, looking for a new position for the Chinese defenders' artillery.

The Japanese army was also very ruthless this time. Several squadrons took turns to cover each other and launched continuous attacks on the positions of the 655th Regiment. As a result, a company of officers and soldiers guarding the front line began to request reinforcements from the rear after more than ten minutes of exchange of fire.

The four infantry companies of the Second Battalion of the Japanese Army were not far apart in front and behind. After each company attacked for thirty minutes, the company behind would rush up to continue the attack. In this way, the Japanese Army basically had two companies resting at all times, ensuring physical strength for the subsequent attacks.

The troops defending the 655th Regiment had to hold on to their positions in the face of repeated attacks by the Japanese army. This was a huge drain on the soldiers' physical strength. As time went on, soldiers from a battalion guarding the front-line positions joined the battle one after another, but the Japanese attacking forces were getting closer and closer to the positions.

On the right wing, Major Kawaguchi Katsumi, the commander of the 657rd Battalion that attacked the th Regiment's position, was a typical Japanese soldier who advocated offense. When he received the order from the regiment commander to let his battalion be responsible for today's diversionary attack, he did not show any dissatisfaction. Instead, he looked eager to try. In his opinion, although he was only playing an assisting role today, it would be a great honor if he could occupy the right wing position of the Chinese defenders. In that case, his name and that of the rd Battalion would appear in the first victory report of the rd Division. Just think about what an glorious thing that would be.

After receiving the order from the regiment commander, Major Kawaguchi Katsumi immediately called together his squadron leaders. He demanded that they must show momentum in today's attack, treat this assist mission as the main attack, and strive to defeat the Chinese defenders in front of them. He also directly arranged two squadrons of his own offensive force, and he was also preparing to attack the Chinese army's positions in turns.

It was the instructions of the regiment commander, Colonel Hachiro Tagami, who asked Major Kawaguchi Katsumi to use one squadron to attack and put pressure on the Chinese army on the right wing. However, he still felt that since it was an attack, he had to act like an attack. So he directly disobeyed the commander's order and arranged two squadrons to attack. As long as he could occupy the Chinese army's position, he believed that the commander would not blame him.

His unauthorized decision immediately made the 657th Regiment on the right wing feel strong pressure in today's Japanese attack. The attacking Japanese troops today were not like those yesterday who just engaged in long-range fire to contain the Chinese defenders. Instead, they attacked the positions of the Chinese defenders one by one like crazy, and the sound of gunfire was obviously several times louder than yesterday.

After more than an hour of fighting, the 657th Regiment had already reinforced the front line with an entire battalion of troops. Together with the troops of the battalion that was previously responsible for the front-line positions, there were now two battalions of troops in the front. However, even so, some positions were still broken through by the Japanese army. The defenders could only engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army on some positions, and the commander of the 657th Regiment also brought the last battalion and the regiment's direct team to reinforce.

On the main position, the situation of the 655th Regiment was also very bad. Under the continuous attacks of the Japanese army, it had suffered heavy casualties. But with continuous reinforcements, it finally suppressed the Japanese army to a distance of fifty to eighty meters from the position. However, the excellent shooting accuracy of the Japanese army in the exchange of fire caused great trouble to the officers and soldiers in the trenches.

The overall emergency at the front line caused Division Commander Huang Jinxian's good mood, which had just been brought back because of Zhang Wenwu's recruitment of a security regiment, to fall back. He had asked Guo Ruixin to mix the newly arrived Hubei Province Security Regiment with the remaining officers and soldiers of the 656th Regiment. Then the veterans would lead these security regiment soldiers to step up when needed. Although the 656th Regiment was not yet fully staffed, it was already the best outcome. With one more person, there was more hope of holding the position.

The Japanese army failed to capture the 102nd Division's position in the morning attack. At 102 o'clock, the Japanese army could no longer attack and withdrew its troops, preparing to launch a new offensive after lunch. When the officers and soldiers of the nd Division in the front-line positions saw the Japanese army retreat, they leaned on the trenches to rest. Everyone was in a state of high mental tension this morning. When they relaxed, everyone felt as if the strength in their bodies had been drained and they didn't want to move at all.

Taking advantage of this time, the cooks at the back hurriedly carried large wooden barrels filled with food on shoulder poles to the front-line positions. They needed to deliver the meals prepared last night to the officers and soldiers. Although the meals were cold, they could at least fill them up. Otherwise, they would not have the energy to deal with the Japanese attack in the afternoon.

Division Commander Huang Jinxian held the battle report that had just been compiled by his staff in his hand, and his heart sank. After a morning of fighting, the 655th Regiment had lost 657 people, and the 657th Regiment had lost 658 people. Adding yesterday's losses, there were only more than 102 people left in the th Regiment, and they had been replaced by the th Regiment as a whole. This morning, his own troops had lost almost two battalions. If the Japanese attack was more fierce in the afternoon, even if he held his position, there would not be many people left in the entire nd Division.

Chief of Staff Zhao Dong also frowned and took a puff of his cigarette. He wanted to say something to comfort Commander Huang, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find any words that could comfort people in the current situation, so he couldn't help but smoke even harder.

"Report, Chief of Staff." A soldier ran up to Zhao Dong and reported breathlessly.

Before Zhao Dong could say anything, Huang Jinxian, the teacher beside him, said unhappily, "Why are you in such a hurry? It's not proper to be so flustered."

The soldier was stunned. Commander Huang was obviously in a bad mood, so he quickly said, "Report to the division commander, the chief of staff, Deputy Director Zhang has recruited another security group from Hunan Province. They are now resting and eating at the recruitment camp. It is estimated that they will arrive at the division headquarters soon. Deputy Director Zhang asked me to come back and report to the chief of staff first."

Huang Jinxian and Zhao Dong were immediately excited when they heard that Zhang Wenwu had abducted another security regiment's officers and soldiers. What they were most worried about now was the source of soldiers. Without heavy firepower support, they could only fill the gap with human lives. Now Zhang Wenwu brought them a huge surprise and solved the most urgent problem of the 102nd Division.

"Well, Wenwu is really great. We should commend him. We should commend him." Commander Huang happily repeated his words to Chief of Staff Zhao Dong. With these additional troops, he was more confident in holding the position.

Zhao Dong also smiled and said to the soldier, "Go back and tell Deputy Director Zhang that he did a great job this time. After the battle, Division Commander Huang and I will recommend him for credit."

The soldier immediately expressed his understanding and turned to leave the combat hall.

"Brother Zhao, now the 656th Regiment can be fully staffed, and the remaining soldiers can help the 657th Regiment recover some combat power. Now we can be sure to hold the position for a longer time. That's great. This Zhang Wenwu is really unexpected. He did a great job." Huang Jinxian happily took a cigarette from Zhao Dong's hand, lit it, and took a deep puff.

Zhao Dong also said happily that although Zhang Wenwu's method this time was not open to the public, it was undoubtedly very useful for the current 102nd Division.

Zhang Wenwu still didn't know the situation on the front line and at the division headquarters. Less than two hours after he sent off the Hunan Province Security Regiment, he found a new target unit, the Fifth Security Regiment of Gan Province.

"Captain Wang, I've said so much, brother, you should just give me something straightforward." Zhang Wenwu handed Captain Wang a cigarette and couldn't help but get anxious. He had just put forward a lot of conditions and good words, but Captain Wang just didn't want to give in, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

After taking a puff of his cigarette, Captain Wang said slowly, "Deputy Director Zhang, I have to report to the military station. My relative in the war zone has repeatedly warned me not to do so. However, I am very moved by Deputy Director Zhang's cordial invitation, which makes it difficult for me, my brother, to do this."

Zhang Wenwu was depressed. What do you mean? I have talked about the registration form for eight hundred times. I can solve it myself. Why does Captain Wang still bring it up? You said that you must report to the military station, and it is fine. We are all fighting the Japanese. He also thinks it is okay, but your reporting has nothing to do with your relatives.

No, Zhang Wenwu took a puff of cigarette and realized what was going on. He then pulled Captain Wang to the back of a tent on the side of the road and whispered, "Captain Wang, tell me the truth. Tell me what conditions you want, and I will satisfy you if I can do it.

(Thanks to Tianle, ~随你浪迹天下涯~, Barley Soy Milk, and Gui Niang who loves milky coconut buns for their gift support! Thank you all for your support!)