On the artillery position, the team members are resting. Each of them was shirtless, some lying on the ground, some leaning against ammunition boxes, in various positions. Ma Kai was sleeping soundly in the tent of the American artillery commander when suddenly there was a noise outside. Ma Kai opened his eyes and got up and walked outside, only to see Li Tie leading the team to appear, and the comrades-in-arms jumped and jumped when they saw each other. Li Tie saw Ma Kai running over quickly, and his eyes were hugged together. "Any news from the other detachments?" For a long time, Ma Kai asked.

"No news has been found from other detachments, it is estimated that they have penetrated deep into the area, and I believe that they will definitely return?" Li Tiedao. Ma Kai looked at the east and said, "I also believe that they will come back, how about the casualties of your department?" "Nine killed and six wounded." "Our unit lost 4 killed and 3 wounded. The detachment led by you and I did not suffer much losses, and I was worried about the other detachments. Li Tie saw that Ma Kai was a little sad and said: "The result is better than we expected, after all, we have completed the task, and I immediately sent someone to find other detachments." ”

Ma Kai shook his head and said: "The other detachments will come back automatically, and at the moment our task is to temporarily act as an artillery and stand by here." As soon as Ma Kai's words fell, suddenly there was a cannon sound from the northeast, and everyone couldn't help but watch. At this time, a communications officer, Pegasus, arrived. "Report to the captain, a large number of Japanese reinforcements have been found in the northeast, and the commander has ordered your unit to temporarily act as an artillery to quickly support the 3rd Division to block the Japanese army." Ma Kai ordered: "Immediately shift the muzzle and shoot in a northeast direction." Ma Kai said to Li Tie: "There is also an artillery position 500 meters on the right, you lead your troops to arrive immediately and use artillery fire to support the blocking troops." ”

After the landing operation began, the Japanese army quickly increased its troops. And two divisions were added to the north of Hamada. After dawn, the Japanese army received a report from the headquarters of the coalition forces that the defensive line of the American army had been lost, and the Chinese army had successfully landed. The Northern Command of the Japanese Army heard about it. Immediately ordered two divisions to rush to Hamada to support. At present, 3 divisions of the 1st Army went ashore, and 3 divisions of the 2nd Army began to land. The 1st Division of the 1st Army defended in the east, the 2nd Division defended in the south, and the 3rd Division defended in the northeast. Since the 2nd Corps was attacking Akiyama southwest of Hamada, the Japanese forces in Akiyama were unable to divide their forces.

The Japanese troops in the northeast moved quickly, and the battle was fought first in the northeastern defensive line. At first, the battle was fierce. The aim of the Japanese army was to recapture Hamada at any cost. Since there were no fortifications to the northeast, the 3rd Division, having deployed in the north, quickly dug trenches. The trenches have not yet been dug up. The Japanese attacked in a frenzy. The battle soon entered a white heat, and the Japanese army launched one charge after another at almost no cost, at this critical moment. Shells exploded in the ranks of the Japanese charge. The impact point is not regular at all and is very scattered. Suddenly, a shell landed on the headquarters of the Japanese brigade, the smoke cleared, and the brigade headquarters that commanded the charge disappeared.

The failure of the Japanese army's forward command organ caused the Japanese army to retreat in a moment of confusion, and the 3rd Division seized the time to redeploy its defenses. However, the Japanese army briefly organized and launched a charge, and the battle situation became dangerous again. At the critical moment, the 1st and 2nd Divisions came up to support two brigades. Gradually stabilized the position. With the troops of the 2nd Army coming ashore, the troops continued to deploy in the northeast and formed a second line of defense. The onslaught of the Japanese army was contained.

On the artillery position, Ma Kai personally operated the cannon shirtless, sweat flowing down his cheeks and back like a river. At this moment a fast horse came galloping, and a communications officer turned over and dismounted, and when he saw that everyone was sweating bare-chested, he asked, "May I ask which is the captain of the horse?" Ma Kai stepped forward and said, "I am!" The communications officer saluted: "Captain Ma, the Japanese army has been defeated and retreated, and the military headquarters has ordered you to stop the shelling." "Mackay ordered to stop firing, and the team members received the order, and immediately staggered to the ground, and it seemed that the artillery was indeed not good.

"Captain Ma, the commander of the 3rd Division asked me to salute the special forces on behalf of the division headquarters, you fought too well, if there was no artillery support, the position would have been broken through by the Japanese army long ago. Little Japan is almost desperate to die. "How many troops are there in the Japanese army!" "About two divisions, and wave after wave of group charges. The 1st and 2nd Divisions supported the two brigades, both of which fought very hard, and had it not been for the landing force of the 2nd Army to crush the enemy. Captain Ma, there are dead bodies of Japanese soldiers everywhere in front of the position, I can't bear to see it! The communications officer sighed and left.

For six hours, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the two divisions of the Japanese army continued to attack in turns, and the scene of the attack was unbearable to witness. The Japanese soldiers were so reckless that it was estimated that the Japanese command gave a death order, that is, to recapture Hamada and drive the Chinese army back to the sea. With the increase in reinforcements, the Japanese offensive exhausted and had to retreat to the northeast. It is initially estimated that the Japanese army left at least 5,000 corpses in front of the position, and the 3rd Division also suffered 2,000 casualties, which can be said to be a fierce battle.

At dusk, the special detachments active in the east came back one after another, and after preliminary statistics, excluding detachments 13 and 14, a total of 32 people were killed and 48 were wounded. So far, Mackay does not know that all 13 and 14 points were killed, and if you count them, the number of soldiers killed in battle is 72. This was the greatest loss since the formation of the special operations force, and given that there was still no news from the 13th and 14th detachments, and the northeast was a Japanese-controlled area, Ma Kai had already decided in his heart that the 13th and 14th detachments had no hope of survival.

After the sun set, a detachment of officers and men of the evacuated artillery brigade went ashore, and they took over all the captured American artillery, and after inspection, the captured American artillery could be equipped with an artillery division. Ma Kai handed over all the artillery to the artillery brigade commander and led his troops in the direction of the dock, Ma Kai received an order to go to the dock to stand by, and to the military headquarters of the First Army to hold a military meeting. "Brother Ma! Brother Li! Suddenly, hearing someone shouting loudly behind them, Ma Kai and Li Tie turned around to check, and saw Zhuang Lei and the guards galloping over.

Zhuang Lei came to the front and turned over and dismounted, and teased: "Brother Li, your kid is still alive!" "Nonsense, if I don't live, it's hard for you to want me to die! , tell you that the bullets and shells that killed me haven't been made yet! "Do you know that you can't see cows here?" “weishenme？” "Did you blow it to death and still have a cow?" The two of them fought with each other. "I said you two can't talk well if you two have something to say!" Ma Kai was dissatisfied. "Brother Ma, don't mind, in fact, I've always been thinking about Brother Li, and when I saw Brother Li, I didn't know it was like this." Li Tiedao: "It seems that you and I are happy enemies in this life!" A few words to each other to show cordiality. The servants couldn't help but laugh when they heard this.

"Brother Zhuang, are you going to a meeting?" Ma Kai asked. "Yes, the military headquarters asked our division to withdraw and the landed 2nd Army to take over the defense." Zhuang Lei said with a smile. "If I'm not misjudged, I'll soon launch an attack on Akiyama?" "I also think so, Akiyama is a deep-water port that must be captured, and it seems that the heavy responsibility of capturing Akiyama falls on our First Army." "Are there big losses in the landing operation?" "There were more than 2,000 casualties, much less than expected. Brother Zhuang, if you don't make a timely move, I'm afraid our 1st Division will be disabled. This breakthrough of the Hamada defense line and the successful landing, your special combat team should take the first credit, I heard that Commander He will personally commend the special forces. ”

"What is special forces, that is, to play a special role at a critical time and in a key location, we are doing this, and there is nothing to be proud of." Mackay waved his hand to indicate that this was as it should be. The group rushed to the dock, and the generals above the division of the First Army were already seated. The commander of the 1st Army shook hands very warmly when he saw Ma Kai, and the military situation was urgent, and the commander of the 1st Army said straight to the point: "Tonight, the 2nd Army will take over our defense, and according to the order of the headquarters, our army is required to launch an attack on Akiyama Port tomorrow morning." ”

"The successful landing on Hamada is just to build a landing bridgehead, but in fact, the capture of Akiyama is our real goal. Due to the peculiarities of the Hamada coastline, the key is that there is no deep-water port in the Hamada area, and our large warships and heavy weapons cannot land, and according to the requirements of the headquarters, it is necessary to seize the port of Akiyama as soon as possible to meet the landing of the 2 Corps. After the landing of the 3rd Army, Hamada will not be able to land new troops, and the other armies of our 1st Corps will turn to Akiyama for landing. The Corps Headquarters asked us to take the port of Akiyama within two days, and then the 2nd Corps cooperated in the onslaught on the port of Akiyama. ”

"I know that the troops are very tired from continuous combat, and originally launched an attack on Akiyama from the 2nd Army according to Jihua, but the Corps Headquarters believes that our 1st Army has rich experience in attacking fortified positions, so the Corps Headquarters once again entrusted us with the task of attacking the Akiyama Port, which is the great trust of the Corps Command in us. To cut a long story short, the troops had a good rest this evening, and the divisions reported their battle losses as soon as possible. The Corps Headquarters ordered the 2nd Army to be withdrawn to replenish our army, and everyone was relieved. ”

1 After the military meeting was convened, the commander left Ma Kai behind. There is no doubt that the attack on the port of Akiyama will be of great use to the special forces. (To be continued......)

PS: Successful landing does not mean that it is done.