Chapter 230: Nogi Noshinori

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"Boom! Rumble! "Da Da Da!" "Bang! Bang! Bang! "The explosion of shells, the low roar of heavy machine guns, and the crisp sound of rifles like fried beans all mingled to form a fierce rain of bullets. On the thousand-meter-long defensive line, the Japanese 2nd Division invested 5 brigades to attack with all its might. 5 brigades, divided into 5 waves, launched a continuous attack. The first wave is disabled, and immediately retreats to the back, and the next wave goes up, and so on, like a wave, endlessly!

"Attack! Offensive! "The Emperor is onboard!" The shouts of the Japanese officers at all levels, the mad howls of the soldiers, and the screams of the soldiers when they were hit by a hail of bullets made up the sounds that seemed to come from hell. ，

"Boom!" A shell fell on the position of the Western Sichuan Army, and the heavy machine gun that was constantly spewing a blazing rain of bullets was blown apart, making this section of the 50-meter-long defensive line firepower a sudden, although the rifles in the hands of the soldiers were still firing rapidly, but still gave Japan a gap, and a large number of Japanese soldiers launched an attack here.

After investing a large number of troops, the Japanese soldiers finally crossed the Jiujiang River and set foot on the land on the south bank of the river. It's just that as soon as they landed on the shore, they were greeted by a rain of bullets, and many Japanese soldiers had to hold their heads and lie on the ground to avoid the rain of bullets. Some Japanese soldiers used their rifles to shoot at the Western Sichuan Army.

I have to admit that the marksmanship of the Japanese soldiers is very good, at least much higher than most of the soldiers of the Western Sichuan Army. The two sides fired at each other at a distance of more than 50 meters, and although the Japanese army was suppressed by the powerful firepower of the Western Sichuan Army and could not raise its head, the accurate marksmanship of the Japanese army brought a lot of casualties to the Western Sichuan Army.

"Battalion commander, the position of the 2nd company is in an emergency, and the commander of the 2nd company requests support!" A signal soldier hurriedly ran into the headquarters of the first battalion of the 22nd Regiment of the Western Sichuan Army and reported.

"Sue Sù 2 Company Commander, there are no reinforcements, I have already sent out the guard platoon." The commander of the first battalion replied. After the fierce attack of the Japanese army, the 1st battalion came under considerable pressure. Although they inflicted huge casualties on the Japanese army, their own casualties were not small. And the Japanese attack is still not over, and if this continues, the first battalion will not last long at all.

The signal corps had no choice but to go back and resume his life. The defense area of the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion is a tidal flat nearly 300 meters long. Because the river is relatively gentle, it was regarded as a key attack place by the Japanese army. From the morning battle to now, the 2nd Company has repelled several Japanese attacks, and in front of the position, a thick layer of corpses has been laid. The losses of the 2nd company were not small, the whole company had more than 200 people, and now less than half of them were intact, and many of the lightly wounded were simply bandaged and then continued to fight.

However, the Japanese troops on the opposite side, as if endless, continued to attack, and on several occasions almost attacked the position of the 2nd Company, but were blown back by a grenade from the 2nd Company.

The fierce battle lasted until noon, although the Japanese attack was very fierce, and the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army became precarious under the desperate attack of the Japanese army, but finally resisted the Japanese attack. And the 5 brigades of the 2nd Division of the attacking Japanese army have already paid almost a third of the casualties.

"Your Excellency the division commander, the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army is about to be breached!" The brigade commander of the Fourth Brigade said with a smile on his face. Although the casualties are relatively large, as long as they can successfully break through the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army, it will be a great achievement, and as for the casualties of ordinary soldiers, they will not be taken into account at all.

"Yo Si! The warriors of the Great Japanese Empire were invincible. How could the people of China resist the footsteps of the warriors of the Great Japanese Empire! The commander of the Second Division, Lieutenant General Sakuma Zuomathew, said with an arrogant face.

The attack of the Japanese 3rd and 5th Divisions was not as smooth as that of the 2nd Division. This section of the defensive line selected by the Second Division for the attack is the most conducive to attacking, and the other two divisions are much more difficult to attack. Up to now, although they have paid huge casualties, they have not had much impact on the Western Sichuan Army, but it is precisely because of their attack that the strength of the 23rd Division of the Western Sichuan Army has been contained, otherwise the attack of the 2nd Division would not have been so smooth.

"Order the front, intensify the offensive. After breaking through the defense line of the Chinese people, I have a heavy reward! The commander of the 2nd Division, Lieutenant General Sakuma Zomathew, ordered. He promised in front of Youpeng in Shan County that he would break through the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army, and if he didn't succeed, he wouldn't be able to explain. Therefore, no matter how heavy the casualties are, it is necessary to break through the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army.

The battle was very fierce, it was noon, and both the attacking Japanese army and the defending western Sichuan army were very tired. However, both sides are very strong-willed and have been struggling to support it.

The defense line of the Western Sichuan Army was almost broken through several times. The 1st Battalion suffered heavy casualties. As a last resort, Lu Hanyuan, the commander of the 22nd Regiment, had to use reserve troops. When two companies and more than 400 people entered the defense line of the first battalion, the originally precarious defense line was once again stabilized. It is like a reef in the middle of the sea, which cannot be shaken by the impact of the waves composed of Japanese soldiers.

Exhausted, hungry, and demoralized, the Japanese had to temporarily halt the offensive and begin to eat lunch and accumulate bodies. This also gave the Sichuan Western Army time to breathe. The fierce battle also made the Western Sichuan Army realize that they were facing a force that was far more ferocious than the Qing army. In the battle with the Qing army, their battalion of troops could easily resist the attack of tens of thousands of Qing troops, but in the face of the Japanese army, they were a little powerless.

When the battle was over, the first battalion had counted more than 1,000 people in the battalion, and now more than half of them had suffered casualties, and there were less than 600 people on the position, including the lightly wounded who insisted on fighting. Had it not been for the timely arrival of reinforcements, their line would have been breached by the Japanese.

On that day, the losses of the Japanese army were not small. The 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division, which was in charge of the attack, lost almost 40 percent of its strength. The blood of the Japanese soldiers completely dyed the waters of the Jiujiang River red. However, this still did not terrify the Japanese army, but instead stimulated their bestial nature.

After the noon break, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese attacked again. This time, the attack was even more fierce than in the morning. This time the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division served as the attacker. When thousands of fresh troops were put into battle, the western Sichuan army immediately faced even greater pressure. Several times, the Japanese army almost broke into the positions of the Western Sichuan Army, but they were all blocked back, and when the battle was most exciting, even a brutal white-knuckle battle broke out. There were even soldiers who rushed into the Japanese army with explosives bags and died with the Japanese soldiers.

In view of the fierceness of the fighting at the front, both the 22nd Regiment and the 23rd Division had to use reserves early. This was only the first day of fighting, and the reserves were used, so what about the next few days? Although the Western Sichuan Army did not stipulate how long the 23rd Division would hold the Jiujiang River defense line. But if the defensive line is lost on the first day, where will the faces of the entire 23rd Division be placed?

Fortunately, when the sun went down, the Japanese army finally stopped this crazy attack, and the western Sichuan army still held its position after a day of hard fighting. However, in this day's fighting, the 23rd Division paid more than 2,000 casualties. This huge casualty made Du Qizheng, the commander of the 23rd Division, look very difficult. Of course, they achieved greater results, and the three divisions of the Japanese attack paid a total of more than 8,000 casualties. Of course, most of it was contributed by the 2nd Division of the Japanese Army, which was the main force of the attack.

Originally, Du Qizheng thought that it would be no problem to hold the Jiujiang River defense line for more than five days. But now, being able to hold on for three days is an extraordinary performance.

The attack failed on the first day, and the Japanese army was also very dissatisfied, and Yamaguchi Youpeng even severely reprimanded Lieutenant General Sakuma Zuomattai, the commander of the Second Division. And Lieutenant General Sakuma Zuo Matthew could only bow his head and let Yama County Youpeng scold. Although there were great objective reasons for the failure of the Japanese attack, Yama County Youpeng didn't care at all. For example, the firepower of the Western Sichuan Army was several times that of the Japanese army, and in order to break through the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army, the Japanese army even had to take human lives to fill it. But after all, it was still impossible to break through the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army.

"Your Excellency Commander, for tomorrow's battle, please hand it over to our 13th Division! The 13th Division promises to break through to the men's line tomorrow before dark! "The commander of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army, Lieutenant General Nogi Noshinori took the initiative to ask for orders.

Yama County has a friend who was surprised by Nogi Noshinori, you know, Nogi Noshinori is not famous among the many generals of the Japanese army. His 13th Division is just a newly formed division, and its combat strength is obviously not comparable with a permanent division like the Second Division. Today's battle is so tragic that the 2nd Division has returned in vain, can the 13th Division do it? Youpeng in Shan County is very suspicious.

Nogi Noshinori was a lieutenant general in the Japanese Army and a loyal promoter of foreign aggression and expansion. Born as a feudal lord of Choshu. There is no one in the young name, and he used to use the name Yuan Saburo and Wenzang. In 6 years, he participated in the Japanese Boshin War with Aritomo in Yamayama. He graduated from the Army Non-commissioned Officer School in 7 years, and participated in the pacification of the Japanese Southwest War provoked by Saigo Takamori in 77 years. In 5 years, he was promoted to major general and served as the commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade. For 6 years, he went to Germany to study military affairs. After returning to Japan, he served as commander of the 2nd Guards Infantry Brigade and commander of the 5th Brigade stationed in Nagoya. During the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War, he served as the commander of the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Army, and led his troops to invade and occupy Lushun and Liaoyang in China. After the war, he was transferred to the 13th Division and served as the commander of the lieutenant general division due to his military exploits.

PS: The second update is here! (To be continued.)