gnovel Chapter 60 Chaotic Battle in the Dark, Without Distinguishing Friend from Foe
Chapter 60 Chaotic Battle in the Dark, Without Distinguishing Friend from Foe
Saburo Isoda said in a low voice:
"Division Commander, it seems we should wait until dawn to launch our attack. These enemies are far too experienced in combat."
In contrast, the 114th Division they led only began to participate in the battle after landing in the Hangzhou Bay area.
Most of the soldiers on Yuhuatai had been fighting on the front lines since the very beginning of the Battle of Shanghai.
Suematsu Shigeharu originally just wanted to try out this kind of night raid operation, the key to which is to be unexpected.
The enemy is currently on high alert, with no gaps in their defenses. A forced night raid would only result in greater casualties.
"Withdraw and attack the enemy positions with armored forces tomorrow morning."
Unlike those top-tier divisions, the 114th Division had a limited number of tanks and rarely used them.
However, the infantry offensive has suffered heavy casualties and made no progress, so these tanks have to be used even if they are not needed.
Before long, a large number of Japanese soldiers began to withdraw from the front lines and return to their positions.
They looked somewhat disheveled, and their own casualties were also considerable, with many wounded still groaning in pain.
Even Shigeharu Suematsu couldn't help but sigh at this scene.
Sure enough, that old fox, Tani Hisao, already knew that the enemy would be difficult to defeat.
Just then, from the darkness ahead, another group of soldiers dressed in Japanese military uniforms walked towards them.
They were numerous, running headlong under the light of flares, and their equipment was mostly Japanese.
The soldiers on duty at the front line, seeing this scene, did not have much doubt, after all, there was more than one night raiding force, and many of them had turned back one after another.
This advance force, mainly led by Deputy Commander Liu, was drawn from the Fifth Regiment of the Guangxi Army.
The reason for doing this is simple.
The Japanese soldiers were short in stature, and the Guangxi Army was also relatively short overall. Even though they were still taller than the Japanese soldiers, it was still better than having a group of tall and strong people impersonate them.
That way, they might not even be able to fit into the Japanese soldiers' uniforms, making it easier to be exposed.
Deputy Liu was an anomaly among them because he was tall and slender, so when he ran, he had to hunch his legs, making his height appear to be 1.7 meters instead of 1.8 meters.
Even at 1.7 meters tall, he was considered tall among the Japanese soldiers.
After all, someone like Tomoyuki Yamashita, the "Tiger of Malaya," was 1.74 meters tall and could be called a "giant" in the Japanese army.
This shows that the Japanese pirates were short in stature.
The Japanese soldiers on guard duty ahead began shouting as the unit drew closer.
"Which unit are you from?"
Lieutenant Liu couldn't understand the Japanese language; all he knew was "Baka yarou," so he shouted it at the front.
"Baka!!"
This shout startled the Japanese soldiers on duty, who thought it was a high-ranking officer leading a group.
The troops continued marching until a gunshot rang out, and the Guangxi soldiers unleashed their grenades directly at the Japanese positions.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!!"
A large number of grenades were thrown over, including Japanese cannon grenades and M24 grenades.
Caught off guard, the Japanese soldiers never expected that these "Japanese soldiers" would throw grenades at them.
"It's enemy forces!!!!"
A Japanese soldier shouted, but the grenade had already exploded.
Lieutenant Liu no longer needed to crawl; with a flick of his long legs, he charged into the enemy ranks amidst the still-lingering smoke of battle.
As soon as the explosions and gunshots rang out, Lin Yongzhi's assault team charged forward.
At the same time, Wang Chengzhu roared angrily from the artillery position behind the hillside.
"Rapid fire!!! Open fire!!!"
Amidst the roar, 75mm field guns, 105mm howitzers, and 150mm heavy howitzers opened fire simultaneously, bombarding the Japanese positions deep within their lines.
"Boom!!!!!"
A total of 26 cannons were simultaneously bombarding the Japanese positions.
The Japanese troops that had just withdrawn were once again subjected to intense artillery fire before they could fully regroup.
The moment the large-caliber grenade landed, the shockwave released by the explosives sent fragments flying in all directions, like leaves being swept up by a whirlwind, instantly tearing apart large numbers of Japanese soldiers and hurling them into the air.
The Japanese soldiers closest to the bomb were torn to pieces, leaving no trace of their bodies, only a pool of dark red blood, which was then covered by black scorched earth.
Shigeharu Suematsu had originally planned to comfort the retreating soldiers, but the sudden artillery barrage sent him flying with the blast wave. He landed face-first, losing two front teeth and letting out a painful cry.
While the Japanese deep positions were being bombarded, on the front lines, the Guangxi Army soldiers led by Lieutenant Liu had already broken through the Japanese forward positions.
For a time, the Japanese army was unable to distinguish between friend and foe, and fell into chaotic fighting. The Japanese commanders were also unable to organize an effective defense.
At the same time, the assault team soldiers transported by trucks also rushed over, even surpassing the charging Guangxi soldiers, and stormed into the Japanese camp that had just been shelled.
The roar of submachine guns, the howl of machine guns, and the thunderous explosions of Panzerfaust 60 rifles quickly engulfed the entire camp.
The Japanese camp, which had just been shelled, was filled with wounded soldiers and Japanese soldiers struggling to get up.
They were caught off guard by the sudden barrage of submachine gun and machine gun fire.
Moreover, the soldiers who attacked them wore the same uniforms as them, and some even used the same weapons, making it difficult for the Japanese army to distinguish between friend and foe.
In fact, to distinguish friend from foe, the Nationalist soldiers who participated in the attack all had a white towel wrapped around their arms.
In the chaos, the Japanese soldiers were unable to distinguish right from wrong, and were left only with their fighting instincts.
Even if someone could distinguish them, in such a noisy battlefield, before the information could be transmitted, a bullet would have already pierced them.
The third assault team, led by Wang Dayong and Yu Hongzhi, attacked from both flanks and made a deep advance into the Japanese camp.
The flank assault teams are equipped with more comprehensive firepower, including not only light and heavy machine guns but also a large number of flamethrowers.
Some Japanese soldiers, hiding in tents or trenches, had no time to fire back before they saw scorching flames shooting out and engulfing them in an instant.
On the main front, Zhu Chi's 262nd Brigade, with over a thousand soldiers, also launched an assault on the Japanese positions under artillery cover.
This left the Japanese army's flanks and frontal defenses under the firepower of the National Revolutionary Army's counterattack.
The key issue is that the Japanese troops on the flanks are now in complete disarray. They have no idea whether the soldiers wearing the same uniforms as them are actually enemy soldiers in disguise.
Panic began to spread, and Japanese commanders struggled to organize an effective defense, even losing track of their own soldiers.
Many Japanese officers were themselves key targets for killing.
Some of them gave orders to a Japanese soldier, and the next second that soldier pulled the trigger and pierced his head.
In their panic, some fired shots at other Japanese troops, only to discover that the person was not an enemy in disguise.