On October 12, the 16th and 17th Divisions of the Japanese Northern Dispatch Army attacked the first line of positions of the Dingbei Army outside the mouth of the Eagle Gorge in the Sikhote Mountains of the Far Eastern Province from morning to evening, and only then did the endless frenzied offensive be stopped under the order of Commander Dashan Yan.

The commander of the Japanese dispatch army in northern China, Oyama Iwa, has moved his headquarters forward today, about 7 or 8 kilometers east of the mouth of the Eagle Gorge in the Sikhote Mountains, so that Oyama can observe the battlefield situation more objectively and command the troops that are attacking.

At about 7 o'clock in the evening of October 12th, the division commander of the 16th Division, Yamanaka Nobuyo, and the division commander of the 17th Division, Senba Taro, came to the headquarters of Oyama Rock, and the other 16 division commanders of the Japanese Northern Dispatch Army were also at the headquarters. ”

Senba Taro also said in a deep voice: "Commander, please believe me and Yamanaka-kun, if we don't capture the first line of positions outside the gorge of Eagle Gorge tomorrow, Yamanaka-kun and I will commit suicide!" ”

Yamanaka Nobuyi and Senba Taro were very depressed, today the 2 divisions attacked very fiercely, and even 2 times the charging troops had already entered the position of the Dingbei Army, but they did not gain a firm foothold, and they were immediately wiped out by the Dingbei Army with submachine guns and bayonets, and the Japanese army's support was blocked by the artillery fire of the Dingbei Army, and they did not follow up in time.

Oyama Iwa glanced at Yamanaka Nobuyi and Senba Taro, and sighed secretly in his heart, the task he gave to the two divisions was to seize the first position built by the Dingbei Army outside the gorge of Eagle Gorge today, but he did not expect that the two divisions, under the cover of thousands of guns with a caliber of more than 75 mm, still did not complete the task.

However, Oyama Iwa was not prepared to blame Yamanaka Nobuyi and Senba Taro, he knew through the observation of the telescope that the two divisions had shown 100% fighting spirit, and even sent light tanks for the two divisions, and even attacked the position of the Dingbei Army twice, but the combat effectiveness of the Dingbei Army was abnormally strong, so that the two divisions were defeated.

Da Shanyan did not dwell on whether the two divisions had completed the task he had given him, but asked: "What is the casualty of the troops?" ”

Yamanaka Nobuyi and Senba Taro looked at each other and smiled bitterly, today's attack ended in the evening, and the reason why the two of them came to the headquarters now was to count today's losses.

As soon as Da Shanyan saw the appearance of these two division commanders, he knew that today's losses must not be small, and he couldn't help but sigh again in his heart.

In the last two division commanders, Nobuyi Yamanaka spoke: "Commander, 7,108 people were killed in today's attack on my 16th Division, and 6,511 people were killed in the 17th Division of Xianbo Jun, and the artillery belonging to our two divisions and regiments was lost, and 10 howitzers with a caliber of 150 mm, 11 howitzers with a caliber of 127 mm, 74 field guns and mountain artillery with a caliber of 75 mm were lost, and the artillery lost 790 people. ”

Although Dashanyan was mentally prepared and knew that the losses in today's attack were not small, he did not expect that even the first fortification of the Dingbei Army outside the mouth of the Eagle Gorge had not been breached. In just one day, the loss of more than 14,000 people and the loss of nearly 100 artillery pieces made Dashanyan think of the last war, the battle of Jinzhou City and the battle of Liaoyang City that he led the Southern Route Army to fight, and the two major battles with the Dingbei Army, so that his Southern Route Army lost tens of thousands of dollars every day, and finally ended with the defeat of his own side, but history will repeat itself.

Da Shanyan shook his head, cleared the unlucky thought in his mind, and then said: "Yamanaka-kun, Xianbo-kun, the appearance of your two divisions today is obvious to all, but the enemy we are facing is extremely strong, and it is not the responsibility of your two divisions to capture the first fortification of the Dingbei Army outside the gorge of Eagle Gorge, today's attack has caused great losses to your two divisions, and tomorrow your two divisions will not have an attack mission." ”

Yamanaka Nobuyi and Senba Taro nodded at the same time, today's casualties are indeed larger, the 16th Division has more than a third of the casualties, and the 17th Division has nearly a third of the casualties, if the offensive continues tomorrow, it will be a challenge to the morale of the 2 divisions.

Oyama Yan turned his head and said to Kimura Yutsune, the commander of the 18th Division, and Tachibana Koichiro, the commander of the 19th Division: "Tomorrow, the 18th Division and the 19th Division will launch an attack on the Dingbei Army's position outside the gorge of Eagle Gorge. ”

Standing in the middle of the other division commanders, Kimura Yutsune and Tachibana Koichiro heard the words of Commander Oyama Iwa, and at the same time took a step forward, nodded and shouted loudly, "Hi! ”

Oyama Iwa continued: "Kimura-kun, Tachibana-kun, tomorrow we must capture the first fortification outside the gorge, please!" ”

Yutsune Kimura and Koichiro Tachibana glanced at each other, then both nodded and said, "Hi! "But this hi is much quieter than the first time.

At the mouth of the gorge to the west of Eagle Gorge, that is, behind the Dingbei military fortifications in Eagle Gorge, the headquarters of the Third Division was set up here, and the commander of the Second Division, Wang Hongjun, was still in Vladivostok, so the temporary commander of the first line of the Sikhote Mountains in the entire Far Eastern Province was served by Ni Fan, the commander of the Third Division.

At this time, Ni Fan and Hu Desheng, the commander of the Seventh Division, were in this command, Ni Fan took a report of today's losses and said to Hu Desheng with a wry smile: "I haven't fought with the Japanese for several years, their army is even crazier than before, I don't care about my own life, this is just the first day, we have lost a lot of losses, more than 2,000 killed, and more than 500 seriously injured, not counting the light wounded, and more than 30 guns with a caliber of more than 75 mm have also been lost." ”

Hu Desheng said: "Judging from the battle report on Sakhalin, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army is indeed much stronger now than it was a few years ago, not only because of the fighting spirit of not being afraid of death, but also because the equipment of the Japanese Army is no longer inferior to the level of European countries, and it seems that our next battle will not be too easy." ”

Ni Fan looked at the map on the table and said: "The marshal sent a telegram that 5 B divisions have been transferred from Baikal and Outer Mongolia provinces, ready to support our Far Eastern Province and Yalu River Province in the two directions of the battlefield, Yalu River Province The Japanese army there has no intention of attacking, so these 5 divisions may all be sent to us, and then it will be the beginning of our counterattack." ”

Hu Desheng asked: "Old Ni, do you mean that when the 5 B divisions arrive, they will prepare to launch an offensive against the Japanese troops who have landed in the Far Eastern Province?" Are there any specific plans? ”

Ni Fan nodded and said: "If the 5 B divisions arrive in the Far Eastern Province, I am going to let their 5 divisions bypass this piece of the Sikhote Mountains and attack the Japanese army from the flank, while our divisions will attack the Japanese army from the front, and strive to drive the Japanese army into the sea with a flank attack from both sides." Of course, the premise is that we must hold the Eagle Gorge and the Sikhote Mountains, and now we need to use the fortifications to consume the living forces of the Japanese army here, but the first line of positions outside the mouth of the Eagle Gorge has been bombed by Japanese artillery and is somewhat damaged, and it seems that the first line of fortifications will not last long tomorrow. ”

Hu Desheng looked at the map and nodded approvingly at Ni Fan's plan, although the 5 B divisions that detour may encounter supply problems, but it doesn't matter, we have airships, and after launching a frontal attack, there will be no supply problem for the 5 divisions on the flank.

At about 8 o'clock in the morning of October 13, an infantry wing of the 18th Division of the Japanese Army, under the cover of nearly 1,000 artillery pieces of the Japanese artillery, launched an attack on the first position of the Dingbei Army outside the mouth of the Eagle Gorge.

The Japanese soldiers shouted "board loaded" and rushed to the position of the Dingbei Army layer after layer like a wave, and the position of the Dingbei Army was like a seaside embankment, blocking layer after layer of waves from the embankment.

Half an hour later, the Japanese 19th Division also joined the charging troops with 1 infantry wing......

By about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Ni Fan saw that the first line of positions outside the mouth of the Eagle Gorge was too bad, and the number of casualties of the troops on the position was increasing, so he decisively ordered the officers and men of Dingbei who were guarding the first line of positions outside the mouth of the Eagle Gorge to withdraw from their positions and withdraw to the second line of positions behind.

Then the charging Japanese troops occupied the first line of positions of the Dingbei Army, which made the Japanese officers and soldiers who occupied the positions extremely excited, they stood on the positions waving Japanese plaster flags, raised their rifles in their hands, and kept cheering "Great Japanese Empire!" "His Majesty the Emperor is onboard!"

Just as the Japanese army has broken through the entire Dingbei Army's position in Eagle Gorge, the truth is that there are still many positions built by the Dingbei Army waiting for them behind.

However, to the joy and sorrow of the Japanese army, the artillery of the Dingbei Army did not consider the feelings of the Japanese army at all, and came to cover the shelling of the Japanese troops who had just stepped on the position and were cheering, and at least 4 or 500 Japanese soldiers fell on the positions they had just occupied in this shelling.

However, the flaws are not hidden, although the artillery of the Dingbei Army came so suddenly in the end, some of them were not so perfect, but Da Shanyan, as the commander, saw that the first position of the Dingbei Army outside the gorge of Eagle Gorge had finally been captured, and he was immediately ecstatic.

Dashan Yan admitted that the casualties were somewhat large, but he saw the hope of breaking through the Eagle Gorge, as long as he could break through the Eagle Gorge, the loss would be worth it, and the base camp would continue to send troops to the north of Japan by sea to transport reinforcements and new divisions. R1152