June 18, 1932. On the ninth day of the full-scale outbreak of the Japan-Korea War, two offensive and defensive battles that decided the life and death of the Korean nation were in full swing. A sudden storm cloud swept across the peninsula from the sea to the southeast.

This is not a good thing for the soldiers on both sides who are fighting fiercely in front. As bursts of thunder flashed, torrential rain poured down, enveloping the entire central part of the peninsula. In just half a day, the battlefield, which was already filled with gunsmoke and death, became a quagmire, the water in the trenches flooded to the thighs of the defenders, and countless corpses were still soaked in the water that were rapidly decomposing! Torrent-like torrents washed away roads everywhere, making the logistics officers of the Japanese and South Korean armies all living a nightmare life.

On the eastern and central fronts of the 38th Parallel Line, which had been shattered, the Japanese infantry attacked to the death in the mud, the artillery fire was splashed with reddish-brown muddy water mixed with human blood, the wounded soldiers rolled in the puddles covered in mud, and the visibility on the battlefield shrouded in rain was extremely poor, but the two sides still frantically fired, threw bombs, and shelled, even if they killed the enemy and friendly troops indiscriminately!

On the Nanjiang battlefield that had just been laid out, the heavy rain in the sky also did not show the slightest sign of easing the fighting between the Japanese and Korean nationalities. The heavy rain was a mixed blessing for both the offensive and defensive sides, and for the attacking Korean army, the flood broke the road from Wonsan to Yangdeok and Onjeong-ri, slowing the march of Japanese reinforcements. However, the heavy rain also brought enough water to the almost dry Nanjiang River, making this creek that could have been waded into a "moat" for the Japanese army. The assault boats were brought up from Pyongyang in the shortest possible time, and the well-trained and well-equipped infantry companies of the North Korean Army's infantry battalions, which had fought the Japanese on the 38th Parallel for several years, rode in these boats. Rushing forward and rushing to the east bank of the Nanjiang River. In a short time, the battlefield of flesh and blood was completely lost, but more infantry battalions and infantry companies were filled in the field. After all, on the battlefield of the Namgang River, the South Korean army had a fourfold superiority in troops, and a large concentration of heavy weapons was also concentrated. It is always more certain to launch a strong attack regardless of casualties and defeat the tens of thousands of Japanese troops here before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements or the collapse of the South Korean army on the southern front.

Therefore, under the strict supervision of Peng Dhuai and Li Fan-sao, the five corps and 15 divisions of the ROK army launched a repeated attack on the two infantry divisions, one tank division, and one cavalry group of the Japanese mecha army on the east bank of the Nanjiang River.

And for the Japanese army who were waiting for reinforcements. The biggest danger to them was not the onslaught of the South Korean army, which was not even a matter of casualties - of course, it was difficult to deal with, but it was a minor problem compared to the shortage of supplies for the Japanese army. The current Great Japanese Red Army was born out of the Great Japanese Imperial Army, and naturally inherited the old problem that the Imperial Army did not attach importance to logistics. In fact, they can't pay too much attention to logistics, and there is an extreme shortage of materials in Japan, and they still expect these Red Army soldiers to go abroad to fight local tyrants! Where is the spare capacity to provide them with perfect logistical support?

However, the weapons and ammunition are sufficient. At least until Japan's pre-war reserves of raw materials were exhausted, the heavy industry that had developed over the years, which had exhausted Japan's national strength, could still ensure supplies to the front. But food has become a big problem! Japan's domestic grain production was already insufficient, and although it had spent money to import a batch of wheat from the United States before the war, it still could not resist the consumption of tens of millions of mouths. Therefore, when formulating the plan to attack North Korea, the Japanese General Staff asked the troops below to "feed the war with war" as much as possible, well, if in the past the Imperial Army era this policy meant to rob the enemy's civilians. And at the moment under the leadership of the Japanese GCD. This policy should be understood as...... Fight local tyrants? Playing white strips? Or something else, in short, it's very righteous.

But no one could have imagined that the evil Chinese imperialism and the Korean reactionaries would adopt extremely reactionary scorched earth tactics regardless of the life or death of the Korean people! Since the Mecha Army invaded North Korean territory, all they saw were completely abandoned fields, completely burned villages and towns, blown bridges, filled wells, and the working people of North Korea were missing. There is simply no place to gather food, and this situation is fought. The Japanese Red Army High Command had no choice but to grit its teeth and mobilize several thousand tons of rice and wheat from the small domestic stocks and transport them to South Korea for emergencies. However, each unit could still only get a minimum supply, and when the mecha army left Wonsan, it only carried food that could guarantee 10 days of combat consumption, but now that the way for reinforcements to advance was washed away by the flood, this battle of Nanjiang could not end in 7 days (3 days of food had been consumed before the battle) anyway! It seems that the Japanese Red Army at the front. I really had to go hungry to fight.

Temporary starvation could have been overcome, if reinforcements could have arrived within 14 days. But what should be fed with the millions of mouths that North Korea was waiting for the Japanese Red Army to "liberate"? Tong Guò interrogated the captured Korean officers, and the Japanese knew that the whole of North Korea would certainly not have much harvest in 1932, and the North Korean refugees who fled north of the 40th parallel were all fed by food aid provided by the Chinese. If these people were "liberated" by the Japanese Red Army, then they really don't know where to find food to feed them?

Moreover, due to the participation of several million able-bodied laborers in the Japanese Red Army, the grain sowing area in Japan in 1932 also declined considerably, and a food crisis was almost foreseeable in the next year or two. In order to solve the imminent food shortage in the country, the construction of waving troops south to liberate the working people of Nanyang has been repeatedly mentioned at the meetings of former enemies in Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.

But for the ordinary Japanese Red Army soldiers on the front line, who were fighting in the belly, they did not think of such a long-term thing. All they could think about was when they would get enough field rations, and it would be perfect if they could get a hot meal, and the more extravagant idea was to get this damn rainstorm over quickly, so that the water in the trenches could be drained, and it was not comfortable to soak in the water all day and fight hungry. These soldiers on the battlefield are indeed very limited in what they can ask for. However, it is such a limited request, which is sometimes difficult to meet, and some good things that they have not thought of have just come to them.

From June 21. The North Korean Army, which had been attacking the Japanese on the Namgang River for four days, suddenly stopped their offensive operations. The entire battlefield fell silent all at once, except for the sporadic sound of gunfire and the sound of rain.

"Your Excellency Commander, the headquarters of the Eastern Route Army has called, and the reinforcements advancing from Wonshan Mountain have encountered stubborn resistance from the South Korean army in the area of Dongshanli. The ROK army of this unit adopted the same tactics as ours, burying dozens of tanks in the mud halfway up the hill as a fixed firing point, causing heavy casualties to our troops......"

Jiro Tamon didn't look at the chief of staff Qin Yan Saburo who reported to him. Instead, he looked at the layers of rain outside the tent. It was this heavy rain that frustrated the North Korean army's offensive, and it was also this heavy rain that hindered its own reinforcements. If it weren't for the flood that washed away the roads, the heavy weapons of the reinforcements would have been brought in long ago, and how could the fixed firing points converted by dozens of tanks be able to stop the Japanese Red Army with ten divisions?

Jiro Tamon patted the map that lay out on top of a pile of empty ammunition boxes. He whispered: "How many days will it rain this heavy rain?" ”

"There may be another week, Your Excellency, June is supposed to be the rainy season in North Korea, but today's weather is a little abnormal, and the rain is heavier......"

"The enemy has switched to siege tactics!" Jiro Tamon's gaze swept across the map several times. Shaking his head, he said: "More than 200,000 people besiege us and tens of thousands of people...... It is impossible to break out, and you can only wait for it to be resolved. What about the southern route? Can Pyongyang be threatened in a week? ”

"I'm afraid it's unlikely, the heavy rain also caused great difficulties for the offensive on the southern front." Qin Yan Saburo said: "At present, the Eastern Route Army has just broken through and surrounded Pingshan, but the Korean army has built Pingshan into a fortress, and it is estimated that it will not be able to defeat it in ten days and half a month." ”

Domen furrowed his eyebrows. Pyongsan is on the main road north from Seoul to Pyongyang, and although the infantry can bypass Pyongsan and go north, heavy weapons and baggage are not so good. And now it has been raining heavily for several days, and many rural dirt roads have turned into muddy ponds......

"Then I sent a telegram to Commander Geumu of the Eastern Route Army, asking him to do his best to break through the North Korean army's blockade...... Sue him, if the siege of the army cannot be lifted within 10 days, the Japanese Red Army mecha army may face the fate of all the jade! After saying these words, Jiro Tamen's face was already full of anxiety, as if he had expected something bad to happen.

"Shelling! Quickly hide ......" Hu Zongnan, who was observing the battlefield situation at the front of the cave mountain, was suddenly pushed down into the muddy water, accidentally drank two mouthfuls of dirty water, and just wanted to open his mouth to scold Niang Xipi. I heard a piercing scream coming through the air!

"Boom, boom, boom......" Japanese artillery shells fell one after another, setting off columns of smoke mixed with muddy water. However, from the analysis of the sound of the shell explosion, these should be bombarded by the Japanese army's Meiji 41-style mountain artillery, and the regimental artillery of the Chinese National Defense Force is a copy of this kind of Japanese mountain artillery, so Hu Zongnan is very familiar with them. Now the Japanese devils are still bombarding with this mountain artillery. It means that the road washed away by the rain has not been completely repaired, otherwise the Japanese would have greeted themselves with 150mm cannons a long time ago!

The Japanese 75mm mountain guns did not seem to have many shells, and the bombardment stopped abruptly after less than 15 minutes. As soon as the shelling stopped, Hu Zongnan jumped up and found that what was holding him just now was a soldier sent to him by the North Korean army, so he reprimanded with a calm face: "Niang Xipi, Lao Tzu can't die!" Next time you dare to press Lao Tzu into the muddy water, Lao Tzu will shoot you! "This Wehrmacht lieutenant general, who was a primary school teacher, does not seem to have much cultivation as a teacher.

He spat a few mouthfuls of spit, wiped a handful of muddy water from his face, and looked across the road. At first, the layers of rain were covered and I couldn't see clearly, but I could only hear the terrible screams of one after another faintly coming through the sound of the rain. The ROK officers and men who had just taken refuge in the trench also got up one after another, set up their rifles and machine guns, and prepared to shoot. After a while, I saw countless earth-colored figures in the heavy rain coming densely towards the hillside, and in front of these earth-yellow figures were Japanese Red Army daredevils with long strips of cloth tied to their heads and bayonet Type 38 rifles in their hands.

Hu Zongnan looked at the qiē in front of him dumbfounded: "Niang Xipi, what kind of tactic is this?" I'm going to drown Lao Tzu with a sea of people......"

A North Korean officer who knew Chinese next to him laughed loudly: "Chief Hu, the Japanese invaders are already crazy!" It seems that Nanjiang is in a tight situation, maybe their offensive on the southern front has also been frustrated, and it seems that it won't be long before we can drive the Japanese devils back to our hometown! ”

Hu Zongnan glanced back at this blindly optimistic guy. It turned out to be Colonel Kim Moo-jeong of his own anti-tank rangers, oh, it's a major general. The ambush battle in the north of Tongcheon was whitewashed by the North Korean government as a super victory, and all North Korean officers who participated in the war were promoted to the next rank, and Kim Moo-jeong also received a "first-class martial arts medal". I think the future is very good, and it is normal to be optimistic now.

At this time, on the artillery position of the South Korean army, six 105mm howitzers pulled out of Tongchuan City, and 36 75mm mountain guns replenished after the Battle of Tongchuan had been placed neatly, and a North Korean artillery officer waved the signal flag in his hand violently. Shouted loudly: "Fire!" ”

In the midst of the sea of people charging by the Japanese troops, columns of smoke suddenly rose up, shrapnel flew in all directions, and each roar swept down a large number of charging Japanese officers and soldiers. However, the Japanese showed no signs of stagnating. In the blink of an eye, it approached the forward position of the North Korean army.

"Shoot! Free Fire! ”

As the squad leaders and platoon commanders on the front line of the North Korean Army loudly gave the order to open fire. Rifles, machine guns, mortars, and dozens of 37mm guns and 6.5mm machine guns of Type A tanks buried in the ground all began to shoot fire, large and small.

North Korean artillery shells and bullets poured out. The Japanese still did not stop, and those who rushed to the front were killed. The latter kept coming up, going forward and backwards, looking at death as if they were at home, but the speed of progress kept up, and all the people roared in unison, covering their heads and rushing up.

Japanese mortars and heavy machine guns also began to fire, and casualties on the South Korean positions began to increase. But the South Korean army, who had already killed the red-eyed army, also forgot about death, and only knew how to use the highest speed to shoot ammunition at the charging enemy troops. The most lethal to the Japanese army was the 37mm guns of the dozens of A-type tanks, although the caliber of this kind of artillery is not large, and the lethality is limited, but firing at such a close distance, it is almost a hundred shots, and the rate of fire is high, and after a while, the dead people in front of these tanks are piled up one by one. It's impossible to estimate anymore. To the despair of the charging Japanese troops, they had no anti-tank weapons available. Because the heavy rain washed away the roads and the pontoon bridges built at midnight, the Japanese troops who reinforced the Nanjiang River were as lightly armed as possible, and the heavier weapons were 75mm mountain guns, 80mm and 120mm mortars, and machine guns. Moreover, the armor-piercing shells of the 75mm mountain guns were not carried, so that now the infantry can only rely on grenades to destroy the tanks, but these tanks are not charging at the Japanese positions, but acting as fixed fire points on the positions of the South Korean army, surrounded by the strict protection of the South Korean infantry, how can they be captured by the Japanese death squads? In the end, the Japanese army charged round after round, and all they gained was the rising casualty figures.

Reports from the front were quickly gathered at the Korean Front Headquarters in Seoul, where Takeda Hiroshi, who had been to supervise the war in Korea, sat in his makeshift office listening to Ken Kato's report, while Soviet adviser Blyukhel sat on a sofa beside him, smoking his pipe and not saying a word.

"Kanaya Beomsan reported that the Eastern Route Army's attack on Dongsanri had suffered a complete setback, the ROK army had a tight defense, and had used tanks as a fixed offensive, and our vanguard troops, which lacked heavy weapons, tried their best to make it difficult to advance an inch.

Duomen Saburo called, the mecha army repeatedly thwarted the offensive of the Korean army, and gave the Korean army heavy casualties, tens of thousands of corpses floating on the Nanjiang River, and the rivers and mountains have been stained red with blood! At present, the ROK army has improved its offensive into an encirclement, and its defense line is impregnable, and the ammunition is very sufficient, but there is not enough food and grass, and even if all the military horses are slaughtered, it will be difficult to maintain it for more than 10 days......

The headquarters of the Western Route Army reported that the vanguard of the army had bypassed Pyongsan and arrived near Sariwon, and after fire reconnaissance, the North Korean army had deployed a multi-layered defense system around Sariwon, and the city had been fortified, and the defenders were about one North Korean infantry corps, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to attack in the short term. ”

Ken Kato's voice was full of anxiety, and seeing that Takeda Heng didn't say anything, he put down the telegram and reminded in a low voice, "Chairman, the current situation is very dangerous...... On all fronts, our army was caught in a bitter battle. In particular, the mecha army is surrounded by the South Korean army on the east bank of the Nanjiang River, and the supply is insufficient, and I am afraid that there is a danger of annihilation! ”

"Comrade Advisor, look at ......" Takeda Heng looked up at Blyukher. The latter was still smoking slowly, and after a while, he slowly said: "Are there any signs of the Chinese sending troops?" ”

"Nope." Ken Kato flipped through the telegram in his hand and replied that the intelligence agencies of Japan and the Soviet Union were now closely watching the Chinese's every move, but the Chinese did not seem to have any intention of sending troops to intervene in the Korean War. This news was very unsatisfactory in Blyukhel's opinion, but Takeda Heng let out a long sigh, his Japanese Red Army Army fought North Korea so hard, how could he beat the Chinese Army?

Blyukhel sighed, shook his head, and said, "Actually, the progress is quite smooth, but this rainstorm is a bit unexpected...... But it doesn't matter, the weather forecast shows that the rain will stop tomorrow. When the time comes, we will be able to attack more forcefully in the front. As long as they can advance to Pyongyang within 10 days, the Mecha Army will have no problems. ”