December 13, 1939. （1_1）

The fighting has become more and more fierce on the entire Yalu River. To the west of the Chungman River, the chariots of the "Zhang Zikai Detachment" composed of the 1st Division of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division of China ran over the front line of the 56th Wing of the Japanese Army, crushing the resistance of the unit and eliminating all Japanese officers and soldiers who dared to stop their advance. ，

After a fierce battle in the middle of the night. The "Zhang Zikai Detachment" had already pressed the Japanese 18th Division, which was advancing along the Shuozhou-Chuzhou road, back to the Dapingli line, and basically annihilated the 18th Division's reconnaissance brigade and the 56th Infantry Wing. The price they suffered was no more than a dozen No. 2 assault guns broke down or were damaged (of which 2 were completely lost), eight wheeled or half-track armored vehicles were damaged, and the total number of casualties and missing was only more than 100 people. The Japanese 18th Division's commander Na Nacheng hastily mobilized the 55th, 114th, and 116th Wings from the rear to the battlefield in turn to try to counterattack. But all were repelled by the powerful fire of assault guns and armored vehicles. In the middle of the night, on both sides of the road, the Japanese soldiers threw corpses. A large number of technical weapons have been abandoned or destroyed. Even the positions of the 18th Artillery Wing were broken through by the assault artillery units, and all 24 75mm mountain guns were destroyed (so that 12 105mm howitzers and 12 150mm howitzers did not reach the front line), and the mutilated and damaged artillery pieces were scattered on the battlefield that the Chinese assault artillery units had just charged, which seemed to foreshadow the final outcome of the Korean War.

The Japanese 18th Division, which retreated to the vicinity of Dapingli, had not yet had time to take a breath, and the Japanese defense line on the Yalu River north of Dapingli was broken through by the 3rd Central Asian Division of the 16th Army under the 8th Chinese Army! The remnants of the 18th Division and the Japanese troops defending Dapingli had to join forces and hold several hills around Dapingli, resisting the fierce offensive launched by the squadron from the north and south on the one hand, and requesting "tactical guidance" from the 16th Army Headquarters on the other. A Japanese division of more than 20,000 people. It was actually defeated by a reinforced Chinese Panzergrenadier Regiment in half a night! This is also the first record of a Chinese regiment defeating a Japanese division! Of course, such a battle is by no means unique in this war......

In front of Gufeng Village, a key chong on the Jiangnan Mountains, a mixed unit of three regiments and one battalion commanded by Lieutenant General Liu Yuzhang, commander of the 52nd Army, fought hard until 4 a.m. on the 13th. The position they are in now not only blocked the rear roads of the 55th and 106th Divisions of the Japanese Army in Chushan, but also occupies the main road to Yunshan. Even if the North Korean army uses all its strength, it will recapture this place, at least the mountain pass of Guphong Village, to ensure the safety of Unsan!

The remaining troops of the 122nd Division (of which the 124th Wing and the 256th Wing suffered more than half of the casualties, and the 266th and 267th Wings also lost more than one-third), and the 123rd Division, which arrived at midnight on the 12th, joined forces. With an absolute superiority of troops, he launched a crazy counterattack against the ** squadron on the front line of Gufeng Village! After the encounter west of the Chungman River began, the Japanese offensive became even more frenzied, and they had to recapture the Gufeng Village Pass before the Chinese armored forces arrived!

The sound of artillery and gunfire echoed through the valley. On the high ground around Gufeng Village, there are rows of rising pillars of smoke. Hundreds of Japanese guns were released in a row, and shells were fired as if they didn't want money. The squadron on the opposite side did not show weakness, 12 105mm light howitzers, and more than a dozen 120mm heavy mortars were also concentrated to support the high ground on the front line of Gufeng Village. The T39 assault gun also roared up the flatter hillside and went directly to the positional battle! At the foot of the mountain, on the front of the road, there was a battalion of assault guns lined up. The 75mm cannon was not stopped bombarding the charging Japanese skirmish lines. The yellow corpses of the Japanese army were piled up almost the entire battlefield.

Amid the roar of the cannons, Lieutenant General Liu Yuzhang squatted in a crater and held a telescope to observe the battle situation ahead, and his heart was already in his throat. **() The Japanese army's man-sea offensive seemed to be never-ending, and the hastily built field fortifications of the defenders had long been flattened. If it weren't for the dozens of T39 assault guns that showed their might, I'm afraid they would have broken through at this time!

But even so, the Japanese army gradually seized the battlefield advantage by virtue of its absolute numerical superiority and the spirit of bushido, which was not afraid of death. The defenders on several hills south of Gufeng Village were caught in bitter battles, and the troops of the northern, western, and eastern fronts were constantly drawn out to form reserves and put into the battlefield on the front line of Gufeng Village. In order to save little ammunition, the intensity of fire support also began to decrease.

From the telescope in Liu Yuzhang's hand, a huge Japanese attack column was once again assembled. Stormtrooper formations are being formed. The target seems to be 102 heights, which have been repeatedly fought over several times by both sides!

Liu Yuzhang picked up the phone and called the headquarters of the 308th Regiment who stayed in Guiping: "Has the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division come over?" What the! Stuck in traffic...... Let them send some infantry first and run forward! Tell Shi Weikai that Gufeng Village is a regiment here that can withstand the two divisions of the Japanese, and 100,000 are in a hurry!

Also, find a way to get a reserve for Lao Tzu...... Just remove the two companies on the east and west sides and transfer them to Gufeng Village for me, you must be fast! ”

Before hanging up the phone, Colonel Xu Wenliang, the commander of the 9th Assault Artillery Regiment, ran over with a few people. Liu Yuzhang glanced back and asked, "Wen Liang." Is the assault artillery regiment ready? When will you be able to charge? ”

Xu Wenliang wiped the sweat from his forehead, nodded and said, "Military seat." The assault artillery regiment has drawn 48 T39s from the north, east and west, plus 16 on the road below the mountain, a total of 64 vehicles, ready to charge at any time! ”

"Good!" Liu Yuzhang nodded: "Later, two companies of infantry will come from the direction of Gupingli, and they will be handed over to your command...... When this round of Japanese offensive passes, you will take the opportunity to counterattack! Anyway, we have to beat the little devil back a little so that the brothers can breathe. As he spoke, he looked up at the pitch-black sky and gritted his teeth: "There are still more than an hour before dawn at most, and then Shi Jue's armored troops will be able to arrive, and the air force will be able to come to support us, even if this battle is won." ”

At the same time, less than 10 kilometers southwest of Gufeng Village, in Banpingli, on the east bank of the Zhongman River, in the joint headquarters of the 122nd and 123rd Divisions of the Japanese Army. Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura and the commander of the 123rd Division, Kita Issei, were arguing loudly around the map.

“…… The Chinese army in front of Gufeng Village is no more than 4,000, which is only equivalent to a wing of the imperial army! And more than 40,000 people in our two divisions and regiments have to go to defense in the face of one-tenth of the enemy, why are we and the emperor's ** people so cowardly! The predicament facing the empire is entirely due to its cowardice and blind retreat and forbearance on the issue of China...... Now that the imperial army has retreated to Korea, if it retreats again, it will be the empire's homeland! So, we can't go back, but we have to counterattack! Go on the counteroffensive! Be sure to break the myth of the invincibility of the Chinese army here! ”

It was Kita Kassei who spoke, and he slapped it heavily on the map table. The muscles on a fat face twitched slightly. He served as the military attache of the Imperial Japanese Army in China, and was one of the first few high-ranking generals in the Japanese Army to have insight into the "conspiracy of China to destroy Japan". As early as 1936, when China joined forces with Germany and Poland to plan a war against the Soviet Union, he sent it to the Japanese military department, proposing to take advantage of the "God-given opportunity" of the Sino-Soviet war to launch a decisive attack on China! It is a pity that this opinion was not adopted by the Japanese army leaders at that time.

"Attack! Offensive! Shatter the myth of the invincibility of the Chinese army! As soon as Kita's words fell, the staff officers in the war room also raised their arms and shouted.

Ryotaro Nakai was a little helpless, and the telegram from the headquarters of the 16th Army made it very clear that there was a grenadier division of the armored division of the Shina Army that had penetrated through the ice of the Chungmanjiang River and had just defeated the 18th Division...... And Chushan's 55th Division and 106th Division were no longer able to hold out under the onslaught of the squadron. He was preparing to abandon Chushan and retreat to Weiyuan. This indicates that a large number of Chinese reinforcements will soon arrive in Gupingli and Gufeng villages. If the 122nd Division and the 123rd Division cannot be transferred to the defense in time and deployed in Banpingli, the Chinese army that has been reinforced will quickly turn to counterattack! And the 122nd and 123rd divisions fought a night of bloody battles. At present, the total strength is only more than 30,000 people, and it is impossible to take down Gufeng Village, which was defended by several thousand Chinese troops, before the main force of the Chinese army arrives.

Therefore, the commander of the 16th Army, General Umezu Yoshijiro, ordered the 122nd Division and the 123rd Division to move to the defense at the right time to delay the main force of the Chinese Army advancing to Unsan.

But just give up like this, Nakai Ryotaro also feels unwilling. After all, his 122nd Division had already paid more than 6,000 casualties under the hills around Gufeng Village. Presumably, the losses of the Chinese army will not be too small. Maybe with the last blow, you can capture the key point of Gufeng Village!

After thinking for a moment, Ryotaro Nakai lowered his head: "Okay, Kita-kun, let the 122nd Division and the 123rd Division join forces to carry out a decisive blow to Gu Fenghua's army!" Let's two divisions work together to break the myth of the invincibility of the Chinese army! Saying that, he said to the chief of staff of the 122nd Division beside him: "Is the attack of the 266th Wing ready?" Let them strike right away! ”

"Yes!" The chief of staff turned around and was about to give an order, but Kita Issei suddenly stopped him: "Please wait a minute," the chief of staff of Osa, hurriedly stopped, and turned to look at Lieutenant General Kita.

Kita Issei said: "The reinforcements of the Shina army must be arriving soon, so there is not much time left for us. If you want to achieve a breakthrough, you must strengthen your forces! I recommend. Three infantry brigades were transferred from the 268th and 269th Wings of the 123rd Division to reinforce the 266th Wing, so that six brigades could be dispatched at one time. Nearly 5000 infantry! Even if you fill it with human life, you have to fill in Gufeng Village! Also, don't leave any room for artillery preparation, and shoot out all the remaining ammunition!

In addition, all commanders must take the lead and destroy the defenders of China with the momentum of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood! ”

……

At 4 o'clock in the morning of December 13, the Japanese artillery shells once again accurately landed on several hills south of Gufeng Village, and in an instant, the high and low columns of smoke soared into the sky at the same time above the Chinese position. The scale of this artillery bombardment was the most fierce since the Battle of Gufeng began, and it was almost double the increase experienced by the Chinese army before.

As soon as he saw the momentum of this artillery bombardment, Liu Yuzhang sensed that something was wrong, the Japanese army was going to fight hard! He hurriedly called the artillery position: "Counterattack!" Fight back for Lao Tzu and shoot all the shells out! We must suppress the Japanese artillery group to Lao Tzu! ”

At the sound of the order, the 18 105mm light howitzers that had already been adjusted to shoot at Zhu Yuan immediately began to roar, and a shiny shell filled the chamber, and then spat out, streaking across the night sky. Whistling and flying into the distance. Several artillery positions of the Japanese army, which had been determined by the Chinese army's sound measurement company, were suddenly full of flesh and blood. However, the Japanese artillery, which suffered heavy casualties, did not have the slightest intention of shifting positions, nor did they counterattack the Chinese artillery group, but gritted their teeth and continued to shell the forward positions of the Chinese army.

"Onboard! Onboard ......"

This round of Japanese attacks was really crazy, and before the shelling stopped, the infantry began to "Banzai Assault" with rifles loaded with bayonets, and all the middle and lower-ranking officers took the lead, brandishing command knives and rushing to the front! Even the captain of the 266th Wing and several captains of the Nakasa Brigade followed behind the charging infantry!

Liu Yuzhang, who was commanding the operation from the commanding heights, saw this posture and hung up the phone of the artillery position, and ordered to concentrate firepower to bombard the attacking Japanese infantry.

It consists of more than 4,000 infantry. By the standards of World War II, the Japanese offensive line, which was very dense, suddenly rose up in columns of smoke. The Chinese army's 105mm howitzers, 70mm infantry guns, 105mm recoilless guns, as well as mortars of various calibers, and even the 39mm cannon of the T75 assault gun began to rain shells at the highest rate of fire. Artillery fire ploughed from the front to the back of the Japanese attacking team, and shrapnel whistled and flew in all directions, and each explosion swept down a large number of Japanese officers and soldiers. But the command knives of the Japanese officers were still straight forward, and all the infantry ran forward with shouts.

The artillery fire of the Chinese army was undoubtedly fierce, but the determination of the Japanese army to attack was even stronger, and in the blink of an eye they rushed to the position. Fierce battles ensued on various hills south of Gufeng Village.

......The piercing scream of the Min 25 general-purpose machine gun immediately resounded in the sky, and instantly swept down a large area of the Japanese troops who rushed to the front, but as soon as the front one fell, wave after wave of Japanese soldiers behind rushed to the position with the corpses of their companions. He didn't care about the rain of bullets that came in front of him.

White-knuckle combat ensued across the battlefields, shouting, screaming, gunfire, explosions, and the roar of a huge motor!

At the most tragic and critical moment of the battle, dozens of T39 assault guns and two companies of reserves ambushed in Gufeng Village suddenly launched a counter-charge on the Japanese flank.

Seeing that the surging Chinese armored troops were about to cut off the Japanese charging team, a Japanese soldier suddenly brandished his command knife and let out a hoarse final roar: "Long live the emperor!" Stand up. Rush ...... me" after shouting. As if completely insane, he lunged at the roaring assault gun with his katana, but was quickly beaten into a bloody gourd by a hail of machine-gun bullets. Seeing that this crazy Shaozo was shot and killed indiscriminately, hundreds of members of the "standing team" who had long put life and death aside rushed out of the charging team one after another, holding lit Molotov cocktails, large anti-tank grenades, and explosive packets.

Dozens of assault guns stopped, and the muzzles of the guns were aimed at these stand-up soldiers. The machine guns on the roof of the car, as well as the infantry accompanying the attack, also opened fire at the same time. The shells exploded in the middle of the Japanese troops. Many Japanese troops were suddenly blown to pieces, but the remaining people seemed to be unmoved. Still shooting at the rain of bullets fired at the Chinese army...... In the blink of an eye, bursts of explosions sounded in front of the Chinese assault artillery group, and several T39 assault guns began to burst into flames. Seeing that the attack of the standing team was effective, the commander of the 266th Wing, Hiroshi Otsuka, who was in front of the front line, hurriedly ordered the second and third waves of suicide attacks. A ** devil officer and soldier who seemed to be a devil had a hideous and twisted face, and let out a roar like a ghost crying wolf, holding a simple weapon such as Molotov cocktails, grenades and explosives bags and rushed towards the Chinese assault artillery group! In an instant, yellow Japanese corpses were piled up in front of the T39 assault gun group. Although these Japanese soldiers who seemed to be sent to death were not able to destroy a few assault guns, they prevented these steel behemoths from supporting the Chinese positions with firepower.

Unable to get the support of the assault artillery group for the time being, it is said that the Chinese army on the hill outside Gufeng Village finally began to lose its support, and the key 102 heights were first occupied by the Japanese army, and more than 100 officers and soldiers of the 1st Battalion and 3rd Company of the 307th Regiment of the National Defense Forces stationed there died heroically except for the more than 30 wounded who were transported down! Subsequently, the Triangle Ridge Heights, which were next to the 102 Heights, were also captured by the surging Japanese infantry, and then the 101 Heights and the Baishiling Heights also fell one after another.

On the opposite side of the hill of the Japanese advance command post, Ryotaro Nakai raised his binoculars and stared at the scene opposite. Witnessed 4,000 Japanese officers and soldiers "piling up" one Chinese position after another with their corpses. He put down his binoculars and whispered to Kita Issei next to him, who seemed to be stunned by such a scene, "It seems to be a victory." ”

Kita Issei also put down the binoculars and squeezed out a smile: "The combat effectiveness of the Chinese army is indeed stronger than imagined. In particular, their assault tanks are very tough...... They are not invincible, though! The Imperial Army is undoubtedly the victor in this battle tonight!

The myth of the invincibility of the Chinese army has been shattered by the invincible Imperial Japanese Army! (To be continued......)