On the position, the defenders used mortars to fight back sharply against the small artillery positions of the Japanese Second Infantry Wing. The sudden artillery counterattack not only drowned the small artillery positions of the Second Infantry Wing in gunsmoke and firelight, but also made Lin Wenxiu, the commander of the Second Infantry Wing, who was supervising the battle behind, open his mouth in surprise.

Before Lin Wenxiu Dazuo could come to his senses, * fell down on the heavy machine gun position again. Not surprisingly, the eight heavy machine guns on the heavy machine gun position, even the Japanese soldiers of the machine gun squadron, were blown to pieces, and the heavy machine guns became a pile of parts. Only a small fraction of the Japanese soldiers escaped. Lin Wenxiu's eyes were on fire, and he shouted for the herald to inform the mountain artillery wing and use the mountain artillery to destroy the mortars of the Chinese people.

Just as the herald was running to make a call, the artillery on the position fired three more rapid shots at the attacking infantry brigade. The Japanese infantry brigade was already in a stalemate with the defenders on the position, and the sudden artillery attack caused them heavy casualties, and the soldiers also lost the courage to attack and retreated under the command of the captain.

The continuous destruction of the Japanese small artillery positions and heavy machine gun positions by mortars, and the retreat of the infantry brigade because of the shelling, all of which were seen in the eyes of Chu Xifeng, the commander of the second battalion. Chu Xifeng finally had a smile on his face, and said to himself: "This Feng Gui, the artillery is not bad!" As soon as the Japanese army withdrew, Chu Xifeng also ordered all the soldiers in the trenches to withdraw to the anti-artillery hole.

In this battle, the 2nd Battalion lost 56 officers and men, 27 seriously wounded and 66 lightly wounded. This is already the strength of a company, and it can be regarded as a considerable loss. The medical guards in the anti-artillery hole were busy turning around, bandaging the lightly wounded, or treating the wounds, these soldiers could do it themselves, mainly more than 20 seriously wounded, and the medical soldiers were not in a position to operate on them now, and they could only stop the bleeding, clean the wounds, and inject penicillin to prevent infection.

During the day, the Japanese artillery fire was too fierce for these wounded to be sent back, and they could only be sent to the field hospital in the city at night. Chu Xifeng reduced the fighters who could fight into two companies, and the lightly wounded and the rest of the men were used as reserves. Chu Xifeng was reorganizing his subordinates while waiting for the Japanese artillery bombardment, but the strange thing was that the shelling that should have started long ago was delayed.

Chu Xifeng couldn't guess why the Japanese army didn't launch an artillery bombardment, but in fact, the Japanese army stopped shelling because Lin Wenxiu Dazuo went to see the brigade commander, Major General Ishimoto Sadanao. As soon as Lin Wenxiu Dazuo saw Major General Shi Ben Zhenzhi, he said: "Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, please give the order to temporarily stop the shelling!" Major General Shi Ben Zhenzhi glanced at Lin Wenxiu Dazuo and asked strangely: "Lin Wenjun, why are you asking to stop the shelling?"

Lin Wenxiu Dazuo bent down and replied: "Your Excellency Brigade Commander, when I was supervising the battle, I found that the fortifications on the Zhina position were extremely strong, and our mountain artillery was not powerful enough, so it was difficult to destroy the strong fortifications on the Zhina position. Therefore, I ask not only Your Excellency the Brigade Commander to stop the shelling of the Mountain Artillery Wing, but also Your Excellency the Commander to use heavy artillery to attack. ”

When Major General Ishimoto Zhenzhi heard this, his face couldn't help but show embarrassment, and then Major General Ishimoto Zhenzhi asked: "Lin Wenjun, how many troops are there on the position of the Zhina people?" Lin Wenxiu Dazuo replied: "Your Excellency the brigade commander, there are not too many troops on the Zhina position, according to the observation of his subordinates, it should be less than 500 people, but the weapons of the Zhina army are very sophisticated, there are dozens of light and heavy machine guns on the position, and there are quite a lot of automatic weapons such as charging and sharp guns, accounting for almost half. Not only that, but the Chinese also had a large number of mortars, which they used to destroy the small artillery and heavy machine gun squadrons of our wing in the attack just now, and even caused serious losses to one of the attacking infantry brigades. ”

Major General Shimoto Zhenzhi stood up in surprise and asked, "Lin Wenjun, are you sure you are not mistaken and exaggerated?" As far as I know, it is impossible for the Chinese army to have so many light and heavy machine guns and automatic weapons, let alone a large number of mortars. Park Wenxiu Dazuo hurriedly said: "Your Excellency the brigade commander, please believe my report, my report is absolutely not a lie!"

Major General Shimoto Zhenzhi still thought of something, sat down in silence, and after a while, when even Lin Wenxiu Dazuo was a little anxious, Major General Shimoto Zhenzhi finally spoke, and he said to Lin Wenxiu: "Lin Wenjun, have you heard of the Ninetieth Army, which is known as the strongest army in China?" Lin Wenxiu's face tightened, and he asked: "Your Excellency Brigade Commander, do you mean that since the Battle of Songhu entered the war, you mean that since the Battle of Songhu entered the war, the Ninetieth Army of the Zhina has repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on our Imperial Japanese Army, and several division commanders have been shattered in their hands?"

Major General Shimoto Sadazhi nodded with a heavy expression and said: "It is the Ninetieth Army of this Zhina, and the opponent we are facing now is also one of the divisions of the Ninety Army, and only this Ninety Army of Zhina will have such a powerful firepower." Lin Wenxiu's eyes widened in surprise and said, "Ah, no wonder the firepower on the positions of the Zhina people is so fierce, and these Zhina soldiers are so well-trained. Your Excellency Brigade Commander, how can we deal with an entire division of the 90th Army if we only have one brigade that is not fully staffed?"

Major General Sadanao Ishimoto sighed and replied: "I wanted to try to attack, but what if the 90th Army of the 1st branch was exaggerated? It seems that I was wrong, with the strength of our brigade, we would not be able to capture the position of the Shina people in front of us. Lin Wenjun, you go back to the team first and continue to organize the attack, but as long as you put pressure on the Zhina, you don't need to attack again. As soon as the commander and the main division arrived, I will go to meet His Excellency the commander. ”

Lin Wenxiu understood that the next attack could only be shown to His Excellency the Commander, and after agreeing, he returned to the Second Infantry Wing. At this time, it was past noon, and Lin Wenxiu Dazuo did not want the artillery support of the mountain artillery wing, and immediately sent an infantry squadron to attack, but the squadron leader had already received the order, and it was only a feint, and as soon as the Chinese army counterattacked, it would withdraw after holding on a little.

The ensuing battle was somewhat dramatic, with a Japanese infantry squadron setting up two heavy machine guns 400 meters away, and then the soldiers attacked under the cover of heavy machine guns. The soldiers walked quite slowly, and as soon as the guns rang out from the defenders' positions, they all lay down, and then withdrew with a flurry of guns, and did so again after a while.

At first, Chu Xifeng thought that the Japanese army was going to play some tricks, but after the second such attack, Chu Xifeng understood that the Japanese army was attacking and defending, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements behind. Chu Xifeng didn't plan to attack, but the Japanese army attacked like this, which was exactly what he wanted. So Chen Ergen's company stayed in the trenches, and when the Japanese troops got closer, they fought for a while, and the Japanese troops withdrew and rested in the trenches.

After the day was completely dark, the Japanese troops stopped attacking, and the seriously wounded of the second battalion had taken the opportunity to be sent back to the rear field hospital in the afternoon. Several company commanders gathered in front of Chu Xifeng, smoking cigarettes and discussing how to fight tomorrow's battle.

Commander Masaharu Honma, with the headquarters, the main force of the 16th Division, and the heavy artillery units and chariot units behind them, also came to the back of the Taiwan Mixed Brigade five kilometers in the evening. As soon as he heard that Commander Masaharu Honma and the main force had arrived, Major General Sadaharu Ishimoto immediately left for the headquarters and asked to see Commander Masaharu Honma. Commander Masaharu Honma did not expect Major General Sadaharu Ishimoto to arrive so soon, but Commander Masaharu Honma immediately invited Major General Sadanao Ishimoto into the tent of the temporary headquarters.

Major General Sadanao Ishimoto saluted Commander Masaharu Honma, and then said, "Your Excellency, today, our brigade and the Shina army on the front position have been fighting fiercely for a day, and the losses of the troops are not small. Our Taiwan mixed brigade has now been reduced by nearly half of its personnel, and it is really unable to launch any more attacks on the Chinese army on the position. ”

When Lieutenant General Honma Masaharu heard this, his brows furrowed. He didn't expect the Taiwan Mixed Brigade to achieve much success, but the two armies only fought for one day, and this Ishimoto Sadanao ran to ask the main force to take over their attack, and Masaharu Honma couldn't help but have a little contempt for Major General Ishimoto Sadanao. Commander Masaharu Honma thought for a moment and said to Major General Sadanao Ishimoto: "Okay, Ishimoto-kun, I will send the 16th Division to replace you tomorrow, so you can withdraw and rest first!"

Major General Sadamao Ishimoto achieved his goal, and with satisfaction, he thanked Commander Masaharu Honma and left. As soon as Major General Sadamao Ishimoto left, Commander Masaharu Honma invited Lieutenant General Shiro Makino, the commander of the 16th Division, to come over. As soon as Lieutenant General Shiro Makino arrived, Commander Masaharu Honma stood up to greet him. The two sides are already very familiar with each other, and Commander Honma Masaharu is not polite, and said directly: "Makino-kun, I want you to come here to discuss with Makino-kun about the exchange of places between your division and the Taiwan mixed brigade in front of you tomorrow. ”

Lieutenant General Makino Shiro had just been promoted to the commander of the lieutenant general division, and he did not hesitate to show himself in a hurry, and replied: "The 16th Division is sent by His Excellency the Commander!" Commander Masaharu Honma couldn't help but nod his head again and again, and with a smile on his face, he completely told Makino Shiro the content of the report of Major General Sadanao Ishimoto. Makino Shiro has never fought against the 90th Army, but the 16th Division is not only not poorly equipped, but also the individual quality of the soldiers is not weak, so it should not lose to the 90th Army in this branch.

Out of prudence, Honma Masaharu also asked Makino Shiro to send part of his troops first, and Makino Shiro immediately sent out the 20th Infantry Wing and the 16th Field Artillery Wing. The 16th Division now has only three infantry wings left due to the needs of the war, but it still has its own confidence. The 16th Wing of the Field Artillery of the 16th Division is not equipped with old-fashioned mountain artillery like the Taiwan Mixed Brigade, and in addition to the 24 new 75-caliber field guns, there are also 24 15O-caliber field grenades and artillery guns.