Volume 1 Deserter's Bloodbath Chapter 55: Naval gun bombardment!
The attack in the dark lasted until dawn. In the fierce attack of the 33rd Brigade, one and a half battalions of the 43rd Regiment, which had been losing troops since the landing, failed to hold Luodian and retreated to the northwest corner of Luodian. The position of the former 14th Division blocked the attack of the 33rd Brigade by relying on the river and occupying the houses.
At daybreak, Ye Peigao was unwilling to give up and ordered his brothers to continue the attack. One company of brothers found door panels from the ruins and forced their way across the river under the hail of bullets from the Japanese. However, they were blocked on the Qilian River by the Japanese machine guns, mortars and grenade launchers. All the brothers in the company died on the river, and their bodies floated along the river. The narrow river surface was filled with the remains of the brothers who died in battle.
"Commander, it's dawn. The enemy's planes and heavy artillery will arrive soon. Why don't you order the brothers to build fortifications? We'll think of a solution tonight!"
The head of the 66th Regiment, Hu Lian, suggested with a heartache,
"Ah! All efforts were in vain! Damn the 14th Division, they didn't say a word even after withdrawing their defenses!"
Ye Peigao had no choice but to agree with Hu Lian's suggestion and ordered his brothers to build defensive fortifications and prepare to meet the enemy's attack. This was currently happening on the Songhu battlefield. During the day, the enemy launched attacks under the cover of airplanes, tanks, and heavy artillery. The national army could only hide in trenches, anti-artillery holes and other fortifications and fight to the death. At night, they would use their own flesh and blood to recapture the positions lost during the day.
"What? The 14th Division behind us withdrew? They went to Caowang Temple?" The commander of the 31st Brigade, Wang Yan, looked incredulous.
Since the 31st Brigade captured Lujia Village, it has been repairing its positions in preparation for the counterattack of the Japanese 11th Division.
"Order, the 67th Division will launch an attack from the west of Luodian, and must annihilate all remaining enemy forces in Luodian!"
Luo Zhuoying's order was transmitted to the commander of the 67th Division, Lieutenant General Li Shusen, through radio waves. The 67th Division, which had suffered heavy casualties, had to set out again and launch an attack on Luodian, but at this time, the sky had already begun to brighten!
Luodian, this small town with strong Jiangnan characteristics slowly emerged in the light. The lone town that had been bombed by several rounds of artillery shells now seemed peaceful. Except for sporadic gunfire, there was no other movement. The soldiers who had fought all night were now busy looking for shelters. Their targets were the houses and ruins that had not completely collapsed.
The Death Squad was assigned a task. Along the Qilian River, a section of land near the river bank in the northeast direction of the Qilian River was designated for Brother No. 30 of the Death Squad. Feng E's task was to guard against the Japanese counterattack and make sure not to let the Japanese cross the river.
"Feng E, our section is pretty good! There's a room in the back, so the brothers don't even have to dig trenches. I'm going to go take a nap."
An old soldier muttered that there was a house more than a hundred meters behind their river bank. There was an open area from the house to the river bank with a good view, which was conducive to defense. They could stay in the house and set up an observation post. If the Japanese launched an attack from here, they would not need to run away, but could launch a counterattack relying on the rammed earth wall.
"Everyone, start digging trenches fifty meters from the river bank. Dig deeper, then build communication trenches all the way to the ruins behind the house. Get started!"
Feng E ignored him and gave orders anxiously.
"Feng E, what do you mean? You just took over as the leader and you want to torment the brothers? Isn't it good to sleep at this time?"
"That's right, I haven't slept all night, I'm so sleepy!"
The brothers munched on their cold multi-grain bread and began to protest.
"If you want to die, just sleep in the house! It's a living coffin. With the rammed earth walls and half of the roof left, do you think it can stop the enemy's artillery shells?"
Feng E reminded everyone,
"What do you mean?" Li Chenglin stopped eating and asked Feng E in confusion.
"What is the first move of the Japs' attack? Think about it carefully!" Feng E reminded the criminals.
"Artillery fire, and the caliber won't be small!"
Li Chenglin finally reacted and answered Feng E.
"From last night till now, the main force of the Japanese has not come to reinforce. What does this mean? They must have been blocked by other brothers. If the Japanese want to counterattack Luodian, the fastest way is for the Japanese on the other side of the river to attack. The whole Luodian will be turned into a living hell under the bombardment of the Japanese. Do you think the Japanese would keep such a good place and not be willing to bomb it?"
Feng E pointed to the other side of and said,
The criminal soldiers standing beside the room fell silent, staring at each other without being able to speak, they were all awake, cold sweat kept coming out of their heads.
"Hold on tight if you don't want to die, the Japs won't give us too much time. " After Feng E finished speaking, he began to swing the shovel he had dug out from the ruins, struggling in the mud. He would first dig a single-soldier shelter, and if there was time, he would connect all the single-soldier shelters together to form a simple trench!
"Don't dawdle, hurry up."
Li Chenglin yelled, then rushed into the house and started rummaging around, looking for tools...
"Fuck! This guy didn't cheat us, let's get started!"
The criminal soldier from Northeast China who liked to be a troublemaker roared and rushed into the ruins. In the hazy morning light, more than 20 figures were busy and busy in the ruined house.
"Squeak!"
Amid the harsh sounds of metal friction, the Japanese fleet anchored on the sea surface of Shanghai began to rotate the cold gun barrels, and the thick barrels of the naval guns slowly raised up, facing the gray sky of Songhu. "Clang" the shells entered the barrels and took their place.
The first wave of artillery fire from the Japanese this time exceeded all expectations, including Feng E's worst-case scenario. It was not the army's heavy artillery that was used, but rather the naval guns that were used directly on the warships.
Compared with the army's heavy artillery, the navy's naval guns have a larger caliber. Their main guns are at least 4 inches (120mm), and the battleship's main guns are even 356mm. Even with the same caliber, the navy's naval guns are more powerful than the army's heavy artillery because their barrels are longer!
The importance of Luodian was revealed. The Japanese did not dare to risk losing Luodian. They were eager to wipe out the National Army's area in Luodian. At this time, the Japanese no longer cared about wasting precious naval gun main gun shells!
“Chirp!”
The shells from the large-caliber naval guns whistled towards Luodian. The Japanese naval guns had the guidance of the remnants of the 43rd Regiment hiding in the northwest of Luodian, so there was no problem with positioning!
“Boom!”
What was the scene like when the shells fired by the main guns of the surface fleet fell to the ground? The power of the explosion, carrying a large amount of smoke and debris, directly condensed into a small mushroom-shaped smoke cloud in the air. The smoke from the explosion rushed up into the air for dozens of meters. No sound could be heard within dozens of meters where the shells fell. The shock wave of the explosion swept everything around, no matter whether it was a house or ruins, they were all swept away by the shock wave of the explosion and dissipated in the shock wave without any resistance.
“Boom!”
The aftermath of the first explosion had not yet subsided when the second shell followed. The whole town was still shaking from the first explosion, and the flying gravel and dust had not yet landed when the second tremor followed.
