The rumbling cannon sounded, and the rapid-fire guns of the battleships, cruisers, and armed troop carriers of the escort fleet began to shell the flat Tanesaki coast of Tosa Bay as the order was given, while the Yasuto and Zhiyuan made full use of their long-range artillery fire to fire heavy armor-piercing and high-explosive shells at the mountaintop coastal batteries near Pudo Bay.

Surprisingly, there was no return fire! Even so, the Navy's convoy faithfully fulfilled its duty, dumping a steady stream of artillery fire near the coast and creating a beachhead barrier off Tanesaki's coast with a dense barrage of shells.

This is perhaps the first time in human history that such a dawn has occurred. On April 2, 1906, after six days of sailing, in the hazy and gray morning light, a fleet of 72 warships, troop carriers, and freighters took up a majestic and formidable formation on the periphery of three attacking beaches off the Tanesaki coast of Tosa Bay.

At this time, the sea was only a kilometer from the land and was covered with armed troop carriers, and on the troop carriers, the gunners looked vigilantly at the Tanesaki coast churning in the flames.

The flags of the ships were flying on the whole sea, and there was a crackling sound in the sea breeze, and the transport fleet and the landing fleet, which were approaching the landing position, were now lying down in the water, and after a long voyage, the soldiers with guns on their backs passed through the chaotic cabins that were difficult to penetrate, and came to the deck, where the sailors had already put the climbing nets tied to the sides into the sea. One by one, the wooden or steel landing craft were lifted into the sea and anchored around the troop carriers by ropes.

The deck of the troop carrier was also crowded with noisy soldiers, waiting together for the signal to rush to the beach - they were about to land with the first landing wave.

A large number of ships lined up in the wide sea area were noisy and energetic. Torpedo boats released from battleships shuttled back and forth between the fleets, and on the torpedo boats, machine gunners with one-pound guns, vigilantly watched into the distance to prevent any fish from slipping through the net to attack the troop convoy.

The engines on the surface of the sea vibrated and made a muffled sound, and the booms staggered out one sampan after another, and the chains on the racks creaked. The nervous soldiers began to disembark along the climbing nets as the whistle sounded, and on the landing craft, the sailors held the climbing nets in their hands.

"Hurry up, hurry up ......"

"Be careful, come to the left......"

When the sailors were shouting for the landlubbers of the army to get on the boat, several water columns suddenly exploded on the sea, and a wooden landing craft was directly torn to pieces because of the near miss, and the two sailors on the boat who were in charge of guiding the ship disappeared, and then the sea was suddenly red.

"The enemy returns fire!"

In the next second, the 120mm rapid-fire guns on the troop carrier roared with joy, and the rate of fire of the battleship in the distance, which had been firing at a low speed, also increased, apparently in retaliation for the sudden counterattack.

"There's a fart!"

Wei Ze, who was waiting to get off the boat, cursed on his lips, just looking at the water column, Wei Ze knew that it must be a shell fired by a mountain artillery of about 75 mm, and the location of the mountain artillery may be in the rice field.

Sure enough, just as Wei Ze speculated, three more water columns exploded on the sea surface one after another, and after these three water columns exploded, Wei Ze began to count the numbers in his heart.

“45……”

When he read out this number, Wei Ze saw that three more columns of water exploded on the surface of the sea.

"It's an old-fashioned rack gun!"

At this time, any officer with a little experience will take advantage of the chaos to use the maximum rate of fire to concentrate artillery fire to fish in the water, but the other party only returns fire once a minute, and three guns at a time, this is only one possibility, their artillery is too old!

After the occasional falling shell exploded more than ten meters away from the landing craft, the shock wave only shook the soldiers on the boat, and occasionally one or two fragments hit the thin steel plate of the hull in the water, making a thumping sound that made people's hearts tremble.

The sailors on the motor transport boats commanded the noisy attack boats in formation, and loudly announced with loudspeakers made of iron sheets:

"Get in line! Get in line!"

At the same time, the soldiers on the transport ship crowded the deck, waiting to take turns climbing the slippery ladder or crawling net to get into the landing craft.

During the whole process, all the officers on board the ship were holding iron sheets rolled into loudspeakers and constantly giving announcements and encouraging words.

"Fight hard to rush to land, fight hard to protect ships, as long as there is still breath, fight hard to save lives." ...... "First Division, rush forward and let the enemy go to hell!" ……,

"Don't forget the Lushun Massacre!" ……

"Glorious Royal Guard, all in place." ……

"Remember Lushun! Kill the enemy and serve the country! ”……

"We'd rather die on the sands of Shikoku than never look back." ……

"The time for the decisive battle has come, brothers, take up arms and carry them on your shoulders. You only have a one-way ticket, and this is the end of the line. Nineteenth Division, get on the bayonet!"

Officers with megaphones shouted slogans from various units, and on the crowded deck, seamen and soldiers wished each other good luck. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people exchanged home addresses in detail.

"Shi Pengcheng! Pengcheng, the second ......"

Shi Pengsheng, a technical sergeant of the 19th Division, found the stern from the bow on the crowded deck, hoping to catch a last-minute glimpse of his twin brother, who served in the same infantry regiment.

At this time, Shi Pengcheng smiled at him, stretched out his hands to his brother from a distance, and then the two brothers hugged each other tightly.

"Brother, you must go home alive!"

"Hmm!"

When the two brothers said goodbye, no one said anything, Shi Pengcheng just held the steel helmet and raised the rifle in his hand.

"Nineteenth Division!"

"Get on the bayonet!"

The two brothers said goodbye to the slogan of the 19th Division, while Shi Pengsheng boarded the sampan along the crawling net when the whistle sounded.

At this time, the speed of disembarkation of the troops was accelerating, and the soldiers in the dinghy were drenched and exhausted by the waves while waiting, but they still had to row a kilometer before they could land.

"Target, just ahead!"

Suddenly, when two red signal flares dragged the fire dragon into the air, the squad leaders on each boat issued a mouth to read the book~ order, and at the same time a deafening whistle sounded, and the landing operation began.

"Left and right, left and right ......"

Every time Wei Ze, who commanded the boat, gave a command, the two drains on the port side and the starboard side rowed desperately to paddle, which was a complicated and dangerous operation. Each soldier carried so much equipment that it was almost impossible to move. In addition to carrying weapons, field backpacks, digging tools, gas masks, first aid kits, water bottles, daggers, and food, each soldier carried a large number of grenades, explosives, and often as many as 250 rounds of ammunition.

In addition, many soldiers carry special equipment necessary for their specialized missions. In front of Wei Ze, who was a sergeant major, several soldiers carried mobile telegraphs on their backs, and some carried carrier pigeons, which were all necessary equipment, but in Wei Ze's eyes, his soldiers were as slow as turtles because they carried too much equipment.

"Ho ......"

As he paddled the boat, the assault boat floated up and down unappetically in the waves, the waves crashing against the hull, and Lu Shan, who was staring at the beach, had only the beach left in his mind.

"If you get to that beach, you're half the battle."

At this time, the waves were too high, and many landing craft swayed with the waves like toys in the waves. A large wave came and knocked down a few small boats and many dizzy soldiers into the sea.

The heavy equipment dragged the soldiers all the way to the bottom of the sea, but the hundreds of small boats in the midst of a hundred battles had no intention of stopping.

"As long as the landing is successful, any soldier involved in this battle is enough to be called a hero!"

Standing on the deck of the Jingyuan, looking at the hundreds of boats that were rowing hard with a telescope, Xiao Xinren secretly said in his heart, he understood that for the Chinese Army, this kind of landing operation was the first time, and even for the whole world, it was the first time to land on this scale.

"Medium...... Chinese......"

Seeing the hundreds of dinghy rowing to the beach in the moonlight through the binoculars, Kawada Motosaku muttered to himself in horror.

For...... Why......

"How did the Chinese get here?"

Yamashima Arita muttered as he looked to his side, only to see his sluggish faces with a hint of fear and anger.

"Komura, you immediately inform the captain that Chinese land on Tanesaki Coast, and the troops are about ......"

How many are there? For a while, Kawada didn't want to figure it out.

"At least 50,000 people!"

After the herald quickly left, Kawada Motosaku looked at the faces around him with a mixture of fear and anger.

"Alright, now ......"

After a moment of silence, Motosaku Kawada said.

"It's time for us to be loyal to our country!"

Without superfluous words, Kawada Motosaku pointed in the direction of the beach.

"Now the whole squadron is marching towards the beach, and in any case, we must prove to the Chinese that this is ...... It is the land of Japan! ”,

At this time, a roaring storm of artillery fire broke out in the entire offensive area. Large warships kept firing at the coast, and strong sound waves reverberated back and forth off the coast of Normandy. The gray sky was illuminated by artillery fire from warships, and large clouds of black smoke began to rise into the air along the beach.

Every minute, tons of steel and explosives are thrown at the shore. Mobile cruisers and destroyers fired a series of shells into the area near the beach. The continuous shelling of the Navy was intimidating and impressed those who saw and heard the shelling.

Many of the young soldiers in the landing force were almost frightened by the massive firepower of the fleet, and they could not understand which kind of army could withstand such bombardment, and they did not even doubt that perhaps by the time they came ashore, the enemy they would have to face would have been reduced to corpses in the shelling of this scale.

At this time, in the landing craft at full speed, the soldiers who were drenched in the sea paddled as they plucked water out of the boat with their helmets, and they always cheered at the powerful shelling when they saw the overwhelming shells whizzing over their heads.

There was no need to wait for the heralds sent by Kawada to reach the rear brigade headquarters, and Hashimoto's brigade, more than ten kilometers away from the coast, had already been awakened by the sound of explosions, shells continued to fall near the village where the brigade was located, buildings were torn to pieces in the shelling, and civilians in the houses often died in their sleep.

The last explosion was so close that the vibration of the cannonball threw Hashimoto away, threw him back again, and finally fell to the ground again, and shards of dust and dust rained down around him. The dust kicked up by the explosion was like smoke, so he couldn't see anything, but he could hear the shouts of the soldiers. Again and again, shells fell into the village.

Hashimoto was so overwhelmed by the shock that he could barely speak.

And then the phone was ringing. It was the command of the 51st Brigade that called.

"What's the situation?"

A voice on the phone asked, apparently already aware of the shelling of the place.

"We are being shelled,"

When he finally spoke, Hashimoto noticed that his voice was very nervous.

"Intensive shelling, like ......."

During the call, he heard the explosion of a shell again. Another burst of shells landed near the village, throwing avalanche-like clods of earth and stones through doors and windows that had been shattered by the blast wave.

By the time he dodged the bombardment, Hashimoto found himself covered from head to toe in a fine layer of dust, his uniform torn.

After a few more moments, the shelling stopped, and through the thick dust, Hashimoto saw several soldiers lying on the concrete floor. He shouted at the soldiers over there.

"While you have the opportunity now, it's best for you to get in touch with Kawada's squadron immediately and find out what's going on......

Just then, a soldier rushed in, it was a herald sent by Kawada.

"Report to the captain, Chinese, Chinese landed ......"

"What!"

When he was surprised, Hashimoto's face was full of disbelief, and he looked gloomily at the herald in front of him, and it took him a long time to come to his senses, and then he shouted at the other end of the phone.

"Sir, Chinese, Chinese landed on ......"

On the large warships far from the coast, the fire flickered, followed by a series of muffled cannon sounds. The sound of artillery was drowned out by the sound of tearing explosions that followed. The air shook the air. In the midst of the shelling, Yamashima Arita saw the landing craft swarming towards the shipwreck. The white, gray dinghy paddled to a stop a dozen meters from the beach, and then one by one small figures jumped out of the boat, with guns on their heads, wading towards the shore, and they scrambled to climb onto the beach.

At this time, Yamashima Arita could clearly see those Chinese, their faces seemed to be blackened, unexpectedly, almost when they jumped off the boat, the previous sound from their throats disappeared, at this time these blackened faces of the **** people, in this morning light, like ghosts in the dark night stepped on the sea.

"Prepare ......"

Kawada Moto, who was holding a pistol, shouted in a low voice as he aimed his pistol at the figure of a Chinese soldier, and as soon as his voice fell, there was a clattering sound of pulling the bolt in his ears.

At this time, there were only about thirty soldiers left at his side, and the rest died in the shelling on the way to the beach through the artillery fire, but this left most of them with weapons. ,

Almost as soon as his feet stepped on the beach, Wei Ze instinctively threw himself on the wet sand, as all the soldiers did, and then one after another soldiers jumped up to approach the ridges by the sea.

"Bang ......"

A gunshot rang out, and dozens of gunshots rang out one after another in the next second, interrupting the soldiers' leap forward, and when several fighters fell to the ground, the fighters who had originally jumped into the assault fell back on the beach, and the machine guns and submachine guns covering on the beach immediately strafed in the direction where the gunshots came, and the fighters in the front row immediately turned to crawl forward.

When the dense rain of bullets swept through the ridges of the field, the moment Yamashima Arita lowered his head, he only felt that his forehead was wet and his hand was touched, and it was blood!

Looking to the side, I saw a head shattered by a bullet, who was he?

As soon as the firepower of the defense was weak, Yamashima Arita heard a rapid whistle from the direction of the beach, the terrible whistle was very urgent, the whistle tore through the morning light before dawn, and the next second, Yamashima Arita heard a burst of footsteps in his ears.

"Quick, first shift ......"

With an order on his lips, Wei Ze had already thrown down the backpack on his body, carrying only a submachine gun and a few grenades, jumped up violently, approaching in the direction where the gunfire came from, and behind him, the heavy machine gun that had been sent ashore spat tongues of fire forward.

When Wei Ze charged, he found that the resistance of the Japanese army was completely suppressed by machine gun fire, holding a submachine gun in his right hand, but his left hand felt a grenade from behind his waist, at the same time, his comrades around him also took out grenades, at this time, the suppressive fire suddenly paused, it seemed to be changing the ammunition chain, and before this, several heads suddenly appeared on the ridge dozens of meters ahead, and they were aiming forward with guns.

"Grenade ......"

With a heavy shout, dozens of grenades were thrown towards the ridges of the fields dozens of meters away, and at the same time as the grenades were thrown out, Wei Ze once again fell into the rice field.

As soon as he came up, Yamashima Arita saw dozens of black dots thrown towards him, and when he instinctively pressed his body down, the sound of explosions and the air flow and dust rushed over.

"Hurry ......"

Before the squadron leader could give the order, Yamashima Arita heard the hurried footsteps getting closer and closer, and when he looked up, he saw a group of silent enemies, approaching with bayonets and guns in hand.

"Bayonet ......"

Yes...... When the squadron leader stood up and rushed over, Yamashima Arita also rushed over with a rifle and a bayonet, but when he recoiled a few meters away, he saw a little orange gun flame flashing in front of him, and then he only felt that his chest seemed to be bitten by something more than a dozen times, and the next moment his strength seemed to be violently withdrawn from his body, and he fell down in the rice field with a slam and lay on his back in the field...... Isn't it a bayonet?

Stepping on a corpse, spitting, looking at the two dozen corpses, Wei Ze snorted coldly when he changed the magazine for the submachine gun.

"A bunch of idiots!"

id="BookTexts">