Chapter 46: The Third Battle of East Henan (XIV)
Koyamabei is a private first class from Matsue. As a reserve soldier of the former 10th Division and now a member of the 110th Division, he likes to look down on people with his chin up. After coming to China, he was thinking about how to gain military merit in the war, and then work his way up through the ranks of private first class, corporal, sergeant, sergeant major, and army special agent sergeant major (warrant officer), and finally got the opportunity to attend a military academy and become a powerful non-commissioned officer of the Empire of Japan, thus completely bidding farewell to the tragic fate of a farmer in the countryside of Matsue.
In the Japanese army, Koyamabei's idea was not surprising. The country's rural veterans' organizations had been promoting the Imperial Army's brilliant military exploits and the weakness of the Chinese. Therefore, even now, two years after the war broke out, there were still too many new recruits who had just been recruited from the countryside and simply regarded the expedition to China as a relaxing and enjoyable outing.
But illusions could not conceal the reality of the battlefield. So after carrying out several relatively easy operations to clear out anti-Japanese armed forces in the occupied areas, the 110th Division joined the bloody battlefield in eastern Henan. It first carried out the insane street fighting in Kaifeng, and then fought with several Chinese troops on the Zhongmu front. After occupying Zhongmu and fighting to the outskirts of Zhengxian County, it paused under the threat of Chinese counterattacks and was forced to repair trenches and prepare to block the enemy on the spot.
However, the Chinese army's counterattack was so powerful that the several lines of defense that the Japanese army had worked so hard to build were completely useless. So when the tanks of the China's 8th Mechanized Brigade appeared outside the city of Kaifeng, the brigade where Xiaoshan Bingwei was located, which was the last reserve, had to launch a desperate attack.
"I, I, don't want to die."
Taking the explosive bomb forced into his hands by his superior, a fellow villager from Xiaoshan trembled all over and cried softly.
"Junko, Junko is still waiting for me to go back and marry her."
However, his screams did not bring him sympathy from his superiors. Instead, they slapped him hard in the face and knocked him to the ground: "Asshole, you coward, are you still a soldier of the Empire of Japan?"
Xiaoshan looked sadly at his fellow villagers who were being beaten and kicked by the sergeants. In fact, the sergeants did not want to die either, but under the watchful eyes of the non-commissioned officers, they vented their fear of death on their weaker companions. In this case, they might as well find joy in suffering and drink up the sake in their hands with the pride of becoming gods.
Before Oyamabei could sigh further, the roaring iron beasts on the other side of the battle line were already spewing black smoke and charging towards him.
In this critical situation, the superiors had no time to give more instructions. With just one order, a dozen leading members of the rescue team climbed out of the trench wearing only shirts as white as the first snow.
“It must succeed.”
The little mountain lying there raised his head slightly and observed, while secretly cheering for his accomplices who were attacking. Of course, if this group could not successfully stop the opponent's rapid advance, he would be the next to attack.
"please!"
However, Xiaoshan and his superiors were destined to be disappointed. As soon as the Japanese soldiers who tried to approach the Northwest Army's tanks raised their bodies, they were greeted with either 20mm machine gun shells or cheaper bullets fired from machine guns.
The Japanese soldiers didn't even have time to detonate the explosive tubes in their hands, and they fell one by one in a foreign land.
"Second team attacks!"
The cold-blooded commander gave orders loudly. Xiaoshan was startled and felt someone pushed him. He staggered out of the trench and rushed towards the nearest Northwest No. 1 tank.
Before he could rush to the tank, Chinese soldiers who were deployed behind the tank a little further away started firing bullets.
Several Japanese soldiers who rushed towards the tank were knocked down by bullets. Only Xiaoshan was quick to lie down and thus avoided losing his life.
However, saving one's life is just the beginning. Xiaoshan tightly grasped the explosive bomb in his hand, waiting for the best opportunity.
The sound of the tracks rolling became louder and louder in his ears. Xiaoshan pulled out the fuse of the explosive tube, then stood up like a wolf and sent the explosive tube under the rut of the tank.
After a few seconds that seemed almost as long as half a lifetime, an explosion sounded. The No. 1 tank with a broken track moved forward sideways for several meters, and finally stopped helplessly.
“It worked.”
Xiaoshan, who had recovered from the shock of the shock wave, looked up with a sense of accomplishment, but before he could confirm his achievements, a string of machine gun bullets came from a Jaguar in the distance, instantly pecking several large holes in Xiaoshan's chest.
"Am I going to die?"
Xiaoshan was confused. He subconsciously wanted to shout "Long live the Empire of Japan", but the words could not come out. He looked towards his starting position with difficulty, hoping to call on his companions to rescue him, but what he saw was the scene of Chinese tanks crushing the trenches and driving the Japanese army to flee in a panic.
"How could this be? Shouldn't the Imperial Army be invincible? Mom, I want to go home." The Chinese 229th Division, accompanied by the 8th Mechanized Brigade, had already approached the city of Kaifeng. However, the 36th Division, trapped deep inside the city, was tightly entangled by the Kaifeng defenders who counterattacked upon hearing the news.
The two sides fired at each other in every street and alley, fought for every ruin, and even almost hit each other with mortar shells.
"We must tie up the 36th Division and not let them transfer the soldiers in the city to the outside to serve as a blocking force."
Tong Chixin, who had successfully reduced himself to an ordinary soldier, mixed in with the attacking team with a Czech light machine gun.
"Hold on for the last five minutes. Victory will definitely belong to us. We can't let the brothers who defended Guide laugh at us."
The officers and soldiers, sweating profusely, were moving quickly through the ruins. Using their familiarity with the terrain, they were going to go around the periphery to block the Japanese army. This was of course a life-threatening mission, but as for sacrifice, these officers and soldiers of the Northwest Army were more concerned about not losing face in front of the Northeast Army and the Sichuan Army.
"chief of staff."
The front team suddenly stopped, and a voice that was unclear whether it was angry or terrified shouted.
“Come and see!”
Tong Chixin squeezed over and saw a horrifying scene in front of him: dozens of wounded Chinese soldiers were lying on the ground in disarray. The cold weather made them retain their painful expressions before death.
"They were stabbed to death by the devils with bayonets!"
The bayonet marks on the body and the black-stained soil on the ground showed the treatment the deceased had received during his lifetime.
"Look, this is the doctor."
Even more inhumane were the several military doctors who were reluctant to abandon the wounded and escape with their lives. Their heads were chopped off, their limbs were severed, and there were knife wounds all over their bodies to tell of their tragic experiences.
"It's the Ninth District First Aid Station."
"Fuck you little Japs! I'm going to skin you alive!"
The officers and soldiers, filled with righteous indignation, clenched their fists and swore with hatred from the bottom of their hearts.
"Hurry, hurry up, we can't let any Japanese escape from the city alive."
"Xiao Wang, didn't you bring a camera?"
Tong Chixin instructed the propaganda officer of the city defense headquarters who had also transformed into a soldier.
"Take a picture of it. This is irrefutable evidence. We will use it to seek justice from the Japanese in the future."
Having said that, Tong Chixin ordered.
"Send it back to the headquarters immediately after the filming."
"Mr. Yasuda, part of the Chinese army has entered Kaifeng from the west gate. How many troops can you spare to stop them?"
Lieutenant Colonel Jiro Komiya, commander of the 223rd Infantry Regiment, looked at Major Michitomo Yasuda beside him with bloodshot eyes.
"Sir, there is only one squad in our brigade that is relatively complete now."
"No need to say more, send this team over immediately."
Lieutenant Colonel Komiya gave the order decisively.
"According to the order of the division commander, the regiment flag squad and the regiment headquarters must withdraw from Kaifeng immediately, but I am assigning all the officers below the adjutant of the regiment headquarters to you. You must hold off the Chinese army for two hours to buy time for the troops in the city to withdraw."
"clear."
Captain Yasuda also knew that he could not bargain in the daily urgent situations, so he accepted the military order very readily.
"I'll arrange it right away." Before Daoyou Yasuda could finish his words, gunshots suddenly rang out.
"Oh no! It's the Chinese army in the city, sir!" Major Yasuda exclaimed, and saw in his sight, Lieutenant Colonel Komiya Jiro's face suddenly exploded, and the almost headless body shook for a while and then fell to the ground with a bang: "Asshole!"
Despite being called bastards and bastards, Major Yasuda, who was lying on the ground dodging stray bullets, knew what he should do now: "Flag Guard, immediately cover the flag and retreat. Everyone else, listen to my orders, pick up your weapons, and fight back! Fight back!"
The whistling bullets and exploding grenades covered up the voice of Major Yasuda. The Japanese regiment headquarters, which was only equipped with pistols and other weapons, was in chaos. Many staff officers and guards were shot down by the opponents with superior firepower. The terrified Major Yasuda had finally gathered enough riflemen, but only a single digit of them were left.
Just when the 223rd Regiment was on the verge of destruction, the only squad on standby from the Yasuda Battalion heard the gunshots and rushed to reinforce. After a barrage of indiscriminate grenade fire, the Japanese army finally stabilized the situation at the cost of accidentally injuring more than a dozen of their own officers and forced the Chinese soldiers, who had only a slight advantage in terms of manpower, to engage in a bloody hand-to-hand combat.
“Go to hell!”
The 36th Division was a newly formed three-unit security division in 1939, and the 223rd Division was not considered the first echelon in the northwest, but at this moment, both sides threw themselves into the fight, one was fighting like a trapped beast, and the other was determined to retaliate to the death. The two sides immediately fought back and forth, killing with great pleasure and murderous intent.
“Snap! Snap!”
The sound of rifles suddenly awakened these selfless soldiers. Both sides who had not yet separated looked out of the corner of their eyes at the same time, and found a group of new forces rushing over from the street in the distance.
"What is this? Hooray!"
The Chinese soldiers who were fighting hard suddenly cheered loudly. Judging from the helmets they were wearing, these should be the reinforcements they had been thinking about day and night.
"Kill! Don't let the devils escape. Blood debt must be paid with blood!"
"retreat!"
Covering his bleeding arm, Major Yasuda hurriedly gave orders, and the Japanese army's embarrassing escape was a true portrayal of the climax of the Battle of Kaifeng at this moment.
