Chapter 233: Bloody Battle at Shanhaiguan

(Thanks to book friends Rollin2002, N, The Silencer, Stardust Shower, Scout, and PLA-24 for the monthly pass!) ）

On April 0, the Japanese army advanced to the city of Shanhaiguan. Rarely, the Japanese did not attack on this day. Although the wall of Shanhaiguan is only 4 meters high and 7 meters thick, it is still not something that the Japanese army can capture due to the lack of heavy artillery. On the wall of Shanhaiguan, which is 4 kilometers in circumference, the western Sichuan army deployed strong firepower. In addition, on the Jiaoshan Mountain next to Shanhaiguan, the Western Sichuan Army also deployed a division of troops, which was a horn with Shanhaiguan. The two cavalry corps, in the area south of Shanhaiguan, were ready to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army at any time.

On April, reinforcements from four divisions of the Japanese army arrived at Shanhaiguan, which further strengthened the strength of the Japanese army, and after deducting the previous losses, the total strength rose to as many as 180,000 troops, far above the western Sichuan army.

In the evening of the same day, Youpeng in Shanxian County once again held a military meeting, and in addition to him, the commanders of the 12 divisions were the participants. However, the eight divisions in front suffered heavy losses. The strictest ones were the 2nd Division and the 13th Division. The Second Division has only more than 8,000 people left, and the 13th Division has less than 5,000 people left. However, the commander of the 13th Division, Lieutenant General Nogi Noshinori, and the commander of the 2nd Division, Lieutenant General Sakuma Zamata, were undoubtedly extremely lucky. Although his 13th Division suffered heavy losses, he broke through the two lines of defense of the Western Sichuan Army. Although the casualties were larger, as long as they could break through the defense line of the Western Sichuan Army, it did not matter. Nogi Noshinori was very happy, because of these exploits, after the war was over, he would definitely be promoted, and he might even become one of the most important three commanders of the army. The three commanders of the Japanese Army, the Minister of War, the Minister of Military Orders, and the Director of Education, must all be Army Commanders. The three commanders of the Japanese Navy are the Minister of the Navy, the Minister of Military Orders, and the Commander of the Combined Fleet. Even though the battle ended in defeat, his achievements in Nogi Noshinori are indelible. This also made several other division commanders extremely jealous of Nogi Noshinori. Because the reason why the 13th Division succeeded every time was to pick peaches, and the other divisions had already severely weakened the Western Sichuan Army, the 13th Division could naturally win the victory lightly.

The four divisions that newly arrived on the battlefield were the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 8th divisions. Among them, the 1st Division and the 4th Division were the elite of the Japanese army. The 4th Division, in particular, was the only two divisions in the Japanese Army that were equipped with Murata's 22-year repeating rifles.

The commander of the 1st Division was Lieutenant General Motoji Yamachi, the commander of the 4th Division was Lieutenant General Shizugo Yamazawa, the division commander of the 7th Division was Lieutenant General Kawakami Soroku, and the division commander of the 8th Division was Lieutenant General Okuhoko.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after nearly a week of fierce fighting, our army paid a huge price to break through the two lines of defense of the Western Sichuan Army. Now, in front of us, is Shanhaiguan, which is known as the 'first pass in the world'. As long as we take Shanhaiguan, we will be able to win. You will all become heroes of the Great Japanese Empire. According to the information we have obtained, the Chinese only have four divisions of strength at Shanhaiguan. Two of these divisions have already been heavily damaged by us in the battles of the two lines of defense in front. Of the remaining two divisions, one division was deployed in Shanhaiguan, including the remnants of the other two divisions. Another division was deployed on Cape Hill. Horn Mountain and Shanhaiguan guard the horns in an attempt to block the attack of the Imperial Japanese Army. In addition, behind the Shanhai Pass, there are two cavalry corps with a total of more than 80,000 elite cavalry. This makes it necessary for us to send troops to guard against the attack of the Chinese cavalry when attacking Shanhaiguan. Shan County Youpeng said.

The commanders of the 12 divisions did not squint and quietly listened to the speeches of Youpeng in Shanxian County.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this battle is very important to the Great Japanese Empire. Therefore, there is no room for success, not for failure. Starting tomorrow, we will launch a fierce assault on the Shanhaiguan defense line. Now the offensive task is assigned, the 1st and 3rd Divisions attack Horn Mountain, and it is necessary to take this place. The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 14th Divisions focused on attacking Shanhaiguan, taking the 'first pass in the world' of the Chinese people, and letting the flag of the Japanese Empire fly above Shanhaiguan. The 7th and 8th Divisions were prepared against the attack of the cavalry of the Chinese people. A couple of more divisions, as reserves! Do you have the confidence to win Shanhaiguan? Youpeng asked loudly.

"Your Excellency Commander, rest assured, we will definitely conquer Shanhaiguan and kill all the people of China!" The commanders of the twelve divisions all said loudly.

At the same time, the western Sichuan defenders in the direction of Shanhaiguan were also in a tense atmosphere. In the previous week's battle, the Western Sichuan Army had lost a full division of troops, which made Zhao Bowen, the commander of the Shanhaiguan Theater, very nervous. It was very difficult to rely on the remaining 50,000 troops in his hands to resist the attack of more than 100,000 Japanese troops. As for the other two cavalry corps, their role was to counterattack, not to defend the city. The reinforcements sent by the General Staff Headquarters will not arrive until five days later. These few days are very important for Zhao Bowen and the Sichuan West Army.

The General Staff Headquarters also attached great importance to the battle at Shanhaiguan, and had already sent reinforcements before the war began. It's just that the reinforcements all started from Sichuan, and it takes a lot of time to rush to the front line of Shanhaiguan. This time, the reinforcements were also composed of elite troops of the Western Sichuan Army, including the 1st Division, the rebuilt 2nd Division, the 14th Division and the 15th Division. These divisions are also the only reinforcements that the Western Sichuan Army can draw out at present. If you want any more reinforcements, I'm afraid you will have to wait another month. However, both the General Staff Headquarters and Zhao Bowen himself believed that as long as there were reinforcements from these divisions, it would be enough to defeat the Japanese army. Not only that, but these armies will launch a thorough counterattack against the Japanese army, driving the Japanese army out of China and even Korea!

The eyes of the Western powers are also focused here, and whether the Japanese army can conquer Shanhaiguan means that Japan's hope for an honorable end to this war can be realized. If the Japanese army loses again, the Western powers, led by Britain and France, will probably have to consider how to make Japan suffer less losses. However, at that time, Japan, having lost its army and navy, was obviously unable to face China. It will definitely be slaughtered by China. Therefore, the Western powers also hoped that the Japanese offensive would be victorious. This makes the pressure on generals such as Youpeng in Shanxian County to be very great.

Early in the morning of April 2, the Japanese army launched an attack on the Shanhaiguan defensive line. First, the Japanese 1st and 3rd Divisions stormed Kakuyama. The Western Sichuan Army stationed at Jiaoshan was the third division. The Third Division is also an old unit in the Western Sichuan Army, and it is the first unit established after the expansion. Yang Guoxing, commander of the Third Division, is also a veteran general in the Western Sichuan Army.

The battle was fierce from the beginning, and in order to win, the Japanese attack was very fierce. However, the fortifications of Kakuyama were extremely strong, not only civil fortifications, but also some important firepower points, which were also reinforced by the Western Sichuan Army with cement, making it very difficult for the Japanese army to conquer Kakuyama. But even so, the Japanese army's desperate and unforgiving style of fighting soldiers' lives also put a lot of pressure on the Third Division of the Western Sichuan Army.

After the battle to attack Jiaoshan began, the battle of the Japanese army to attack Shanhaiguan also began. The four divisions of the Japanese army, with the Fourth Division of the Japanese Army as the main force, totaling more than 60,000 people, launched a fierce attack on Shanhaiguan. The Japanese army concentrated more than 400 cannons and bombarded the walls of Shanhaiguan. The artillery of the Western Sichuan Army also launched a counterattack, and the artillery battle was very tragic. The Japanese artillery could not collapse the wall of Shanhaiguan, and at the same time had to find a way to cross the moat more than ten meters wide, and the attack was very difficult.

The Japanese army used the earth method, using the cover of artillery, and the soldiers carried sandbags and stones and threw themselves into the moat, trying to fill in the moat and pave a way out. However, when the Japanese army filled the moat, it was inevitable that it would be killed by the frantic fire of the Sichuan Army on the city wall, which caused great casualties to the Japanese army.

In order to alleviate casualties, the soldiers of the 4th Division of the Japanese Army, 100 meters away from the moat, lay on the ground and fired at the Western Sichuan Army. They were armed with Murata 22-year-old repeating guns, which had a fast rate of fire and were able to inflict heavy casualties on the Western Sichuan Army. When the other armies filled the moat, they also tried their best to protect themselves, such as holding wooden planks with sandbags to defend against the bullets of the Western Sichuan Army. Although it was able to withstand the bullets, there was nothing they could do about the shells, which caused the Japanese to pay huge casualties.

In order to fill the moat, the Japanese army spent two days and suffered more than 10,000 casualties. Only then did a wide section of the road be filled, which was more than 40 meters wide. However, in front of them was a city wall 4 meters high and 7 meters thick, which made the Japanese army very difficult, so they had to use the ancient siege method of siege ladder, the difficulty of which can be imagined.

Even so, the Japanese army was holding on and desperately attacking Shanhaiguan. Compared with the battle at Shanhaiguan, the battle at Jiaoshan was undoubtedly more intense. In the past two days of fighting, the 3rd Division stationed at Jiaoshan has repelled dozens of Japanese attacks and killed and wounded tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers. However, its own losses were not small, and the whole division suffered nearly 2,000 casualties.

However, the war was very beneficial to the Western Sichuan Army. The longer the time drags on, the more beneficial it will be to the Western Sichuan Army. Once the reinforcements of the Western Sichuan Army arrived, it would be even more impossible for the Japanese army to conquer Shanhaiguan. At that time, the exhausted Japanese army still had to guard against the counterattack of the Western Sichuan Army, and at the same time, the Japanese army, whose logistics supply line was cut off, had to raise supplies, which were all difficulties faced by the Japanese army.

Youpeng in Shan County is also very anxious, if he can't conquer Shanhaiguan for a long time, then the Japanese army will lose this time!

PS: The first update has arrived! It seems that the monthly pass has begun to double, and Xiaoyu also asks for a few monthly passes! Thank you all for your support! (To be continued.)