The Ming army around Weiyuan was the 2nd Infantry Corps under Yang Zizhen, which was the main infantry force of the Ming Empire with a strength of more than 53,000 at its fullest. In fact www.biquge.info predecessor of this army was a mechanized infantry division of the New Army, which was subordinate to the 2nd Army commanded by Guo Xing.

Within a year, the Ming Empire expanded and reorganized, giving many troops the name of the new army, and many units have also become new army units that use the new army establishment and carry out the training of the new army. However, there are still many people who believe that in the "Imperial Army" of the Ming Empire, the smaller the number of troops, the sooner they are formed, the stronger they are.

Therefore, the 2nd Infantry Army under the 2nd Army of the Ming Empire really belongs to a main force that can fight tough battles. The officers above the platoon commander level of this unit are all veterans of the Liaodong War, and many of the soldiers are professional officers trained by Wang Jue himself, and their combat effectiveness is of course strong.

Although the number of troops was not satisfied due to the expansion of the army, and the entire army was only 47,000 at the beginning of the war, this army was still a strong army capable of fighting well.

The bloody battle with the 17th Division of the Japanese Army on the banks of the Yalu River inflicted heavy losses on the 2nd Army, and about 3,500 soldiers were wounded or killed. At present, only more than 23,000 people can fight in this army, and most of the remaining troops are logistics personnel.

In fact, this was much larger than the Japanese 8th Division, which was attacking, and the entire Japanese 8th Division had only 28,000 men, and only about 17,000 troops could be directly engaged in the battle. However, the Japanese troops were attacking, and the forces could be concentrated and used, while the Ming troops were scattered and deployed, so they were locally disadvantaged.

However, at this time, the two main regiments of the Ming army plus part of the strength of an armored battalion were responsible for fighting the Japanese army in Weiyuan City, adding up to about 3,500 people. Such a number was almost the same as a wing for the attacking Japanese army.

Therefore, although the Ming army has fewer troops, there should be no problem for the Ming army to hold Weiyuan at this time. After all, the strength of the attacking force is only twice that of the defenders, which can only be regarded as comparable, in terms of the combat effectiveness of the troops, the 2nd Army is the main force of the Ming Empire, and the 8th Division is the main force of Japan, and there is no obvious advantage or disadvantage.

Mo Dongshan's unit was enjoying a brief lull at this moment, and the Japanese soldiers stopped their attack, apparently preparing for a larger attack. The Ming army used this time to replenish ammunition and rest, and try to build their positions as strong as possible for the next real battle.

The soldiers of the Ming army distributed all kinds of food to replenish their physical strength. Some are rushing to sleep, others are squatting in the corner and smoking. Although it is forbidden to light cigarettes on the battlefield, for many smokers, not allowing smoking is almost the same as death.

Mo Dongshan didn't smoke, he stuffed his ammunition bag with the loaded magazine, and then stuffed three more pockets on the side, making sure that he felt the heavy weight, and even when his activities were a little affected, he gave up the idea of continuing to carry more.

Then he leaned against the wall of the pit in the trench where he was, sat on an empty grenade box, and stared at the sky in silence. Because the black smoke from the explosion of the cannonball obscured his vision, the sky flickered and darkened, and the twinkling stars also appeared and disappeared.

With a shout, the position of the Ming Empire suddenly became lively again, and the flares were not disturbed by the Japanese shells this time, and they were launched on time. On the illuminated lot, the Japanese soldiers rushed up again, and Mo Dongshan also numbly poked out his weapon and pulled the trigger on the dense crowd.

The battle broke out again, and the Japanese once again opened fire on the city of Weiyuan, and the huge explosion shook a corner of a building that had fortunately not collapsed during the daytime bombardment, and the sound of glass cracking could be heard from a long distance.

When the second flare was raised, the Japanese attacking force came under heavy machine gun fire on both flanks. The Ming troops deployed outstanding firepower composed of armored vehicles and tanks on both flanks, which caught the Japanese by surprise, and the losses immediately rose to an intolerable level.

For the Japanese army, which lacked anti-tank weapons and was not very familiar with the combat effectiveness of the Ming army's armored forces, although the Ming army's tanks could not carry out large-scale assault operations at night, they became pillboxes that could change positions at any time when defending, which was very difficult to deal with.

When artillery support was called, the tanks retreated behind the Ming trenches. If you don't call for artillery support, because there is the cover of the Ming army behind you, the Japanese infantry really has nothing to do with these Ming tanks. The battle lasted from about 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., and the Japanese were still not able to move forward.

On the one hand, this line of defense is the main defensive position of the Ming army, and a lot of defensive energy of the Ming army has been poured into it, so it will definitely not be easily broken; On the other hand, the reason is that when the Japanese attacked, they paid attention to their own casualty control, and they did not fight as careless as they did at the beginning, and they were too unrestrained and rough.

Mo Dongshan waited in the trench, because he was a submachine gunner responsible for clearing the Japanese soldiers approaching the trench, so he did not rush to continue firing and wasting his ammunition. However, because the machine gun fire of the Ming army was too fierce, he had no chance to exchange fire with the Japanese army.

When the battle reached 10 o'clock, the Japanese retreated, and Mo Dongshan had no chance to fire again except for running out of magazines at the beginning of the battle. He even lit a cigarette and smoked it in the hail of bullets, feeling the sound of gunfire and explosions with his ear, which had recovered his sense of hearing.

He was glad that his ears could still hear the sound, and that he was alive to this moment. He saw with his own eyes the corpses of his comrades floating on the surface of the Yalu River, and he also saw his friends who died in the foxholes - all this made him cherish the present and his present life.

By the time he saw the stars above his head again, calm had returned to the battlefield. Obviously, the Japanese army did not take this temptation seriously, and the ensuing fierce battle was the beginning of the climax of today's night battle. At this short pause, on the other side of Weiyuan City, 500 soldiers from a battalion of reinforcements of the Ming army also arrived at this time. (To be continued.) )