Chapter 1522 When Will the Reinforcements Arrive?

Ge Youcai was injured in the last battle in the south of the city a month ago.

The scene of "Lieutenant General and Division Commander bare-chested to kill the devils" that was once exaggerated by the newspapers really happened.

It was not that Ge Youcai wanted to boost morale, but with the start of the 10th Zhangjiashan Recapture War, he had no more soldiers available.

The 4 infantry regiments under the 10th Reserve Division, the 3 main regiments 28th Regiment, 30th Regiment, and 31st Regiment have all been crippled, and the only supplementary regiment 29th Regiment had less than an infantry company as early as 10 days ago, and the guard company directly under the regiment headquarters had less than a guard platoon, and was still at the tiger's nest front.

The main position of Zhangjiashan was lost 9 times and recaptured 9 times. The top of the mountain was already covered with corpses of both Chinese and Japanese, which was one of the reasons why the 10th Reserve Division suffered such heavy casualties.

Zhangjiashan must not be lost. If it is lost, the entire southern position with Zhangjiashan as the core will be breached, and Huangchaling, which is isolated outside the main position, will no longer have rear wing protection and will become an isolated island.

There are still hundreds of elite soldiers of the Four-line Regiment there!

Although the 10th Division of the Reserve Division has obtained permission from the headquarters to withdraw to the urban area of ​​Hengyang at any time, Ge Youcai finally decided to retake Zhangjiashan after looking at the smoke-filled Huangchaling.

But that time, he no longer had regiment commanders and battalion commanders to send. The commanders of the three main regiments under his command, one was seriously injured, two were sacrificed, and the nine battalion commanders, six were killed in battle, one was seriously injured, and two were in Wuguiling and Huxingchao.

Even the headquarters of the 10th Division of the Reserve Division was empty, because the infantry regiment was extremely short of officers, and all officers above the lieutenant level in the division headquarters had been filled with front-line troops.

His subordinates were only the remnants of two infantry companies that retreated from Zhangjiashan, and the last 60 people in his division, including signal soldiers, cooks, maintenance soldiers, grooms, etc.

"Damn it, there is really no good thing among the scholars. They make up things that don't exist for me. Now, I really have to go into battle bare-chested this time."

The lieutenant general of the army took off his general uniform, tied his belt, put two pistols on his waist, put a big knife behind his back, and raised a submachine gun. He spit on the ground in front of more than 200 soldiers.

"Let's go, I, the lieutenant general company commander, take back the position!"

"Yes!" Under the moonlight, the whole army was solemn.

Dozens of large and small artillery in Hengyang City focused their fire on Zhangjiashan, turning this position that once belonged to Chinese soldiers into a sea of ​​fire.

The Japanese soldiers hiding in the ruins of the remaining trenches were also numb!

Such scenes have been staged almost every two days in the past 20 days. Either the Japanese bombed or the Chinese bombed. Anyway, as long as there is an opponent on this hill, artillery shells are frequent visitors on this hill. At least 50,000 shells fell on this small hill.

At this time, it is a joke to talk about fortifications or not. What permanent fortifications are nonsense in such artillery fire. Even the trenches are reduced to a section or a segment in front of such artillery fire. It is impossible to be connected. Countless huge craters are a good place to hide.

More than 200 Chinese soldiers rushed to the top of the mountain in the artillery fire, using rifles, submachine guns, pistols, grenades, bayonets and machetes to kill all enemies in different uniforms.

Repeat positions!

But only 90 people survived!

Ge Youcai, the commander of the 10th Reserve Division, was shot in the chest and was seriously injured and waiting to die!

The injury was too severe, and he was not transported to the field hospital in time. Tan Tai Mingyue personally brought three military doctors to the Yanhuifeng air-raid shelter and performed surgery on him in the simple air-raid shelter, saving his life.

The first sentence he asked after waking up was: "How many soldiers are left in my unit!"

No one dared to answer his question, for fear of irritating the dying man, who did not die from the Japanese bullets, but died from the bursting of the wound.

It was not until a week later that Tang Dao came to see him and told him the number that made him silent for two days.

Today, the lieutenant general of the army, who can drink some rice porridge and sit up, finally asked his superior: "When will the reinforcements arrive!"

"My guard Yu Ying, the one known as the silly bird, is also dead. He was not killed by the Japanese. He didn't want to live anymore, because there were no living people in my guard platoon!" Ge Youcai murmured.

After Ge Youcai was seriously injured and unconscious, his guard platoon withdrew from Zhangjiashan and handed over the position to the infantry battalion that came from other positions for support. However, two days later, Xichan Temple was in urgent need of help. As the last reserve of the division headquarters, the 30-man guard platoon of the 10th Division of the Reserve Division went up again.

But this time, they never came back.

Yu Ying was a soldier picked up by Ge Youcai three years ago. He was tall and strong, but he seemed to have some problems with his brain. When he saw the large army marching, he took the initiative to walk in. The military regulations of the 10th Division of the Reserve Division were very strict, so he was kicked out and almost executed on the spot.

It happened that the regiment commander Ge Youcai saw him and called him over, intending to give him a steamed bun to get rid of this stupid big guy. As a result, Yu Ying saw the steamed bun and didn't leave. He followed the large army 20 meters away. He rested when the army rested and walked when the army walked. Ge Youcai had no choice but to call him over and ask him what he would do.

The big fool didn't say much. He just hugged a heavy machine gun with his arms and carried it up and walked around for a long time. This was even without a full meal. Ge Youcai was happy. It didn't matter if he was stupid. He had enough strength to help him, the commander, carry things. So he recruited this stupid soldier who came to him on the spot.

Unexpectedly, this stupid soldier, who was later called "Silly Bird", developed a special ability with his strength. He could throw grenades far and accurately, just like a human mortar. He was assigned to the guard platoon and became Ge Youcai's guard. He followed Ge Youcai on the battlefield several times.

As a result, Ge Youcai was seriously injured this time. The guard platoon was ordered to defend the Xichan Temple position. After the Japanese army failed to capture it for a long time, they actually used 105 howitzers to bombard the position.

Silly Bird was stunned. When he woke up, he found that he was almost buried by the loose soil raised by the shells. There was no one around, and the Japanese army on the opposite side had already launched a charge.

Silly Bird jumped into the trench, grabbed two boxes of grenades and started throwing them. He threw 40 grenades in one breath, and relied on these 40 grenades to repel the Japanese army's charge.

Until an infantry platoon came back to support, he could leave after completing the defense mission.

But when the infantry platoon that came to support searched everywhere, they found helplessly that the Japanese 105 howitzer was too terrible. The three anti-artillery holes where the guard platoon hid were hit. Except for the silly bird who was counting his grenades in the rear trench, all the others died in the battle.

The silly bird cried loudly and refused to leave the position, even if a major battalion commander who came to this position later persuaded him.

In the end, the silly bird fought on that position for a day and a night, and the reinforcements changed three groups of people, but he didn't leave.

Until the end, the defenders on the Xichan Temple position were ordered to evacuate, and the silly bird with one leg broken by the explosion insisted on not leaving. His only request was to give him grenades.

This famous silly guard of the 10th Reserve Division obtained the last two boxes of grenades on the position.

The explosion of the grenades lasted for 10 minutes, until the end, there was thick smoke and a loud bang rising in the distance.

No one saw how Silly Bird died in the end, but everyone could guess how he died. He had six grenades tied around his waist.

If it weren't for so many grenades, there would never be such a high column of smoke.

"Sir, my brothers are almost dead! They are almost dead! The damn reinforcements are turtles. They have crawled over these three months!"

Speaking of this, the tears in the eyes of a lieutenant general of the army ran unscrupulously on his face!

Fang Xianjue held the cold hand of his trusted subordinate for a long time without saying a word.

He also wanted to ask this question, but he was completely tired of the man repeating for nearly 50 days: "Reinforcements will arrive tomorrow!"

The reinforcements are nowhere in sight.

Then, is there any hope for the Hengyang defenders?

Is it really like what the young army colonel said with great confidence: "Yes! Fight to the end, and you can survive?"

But they have been fighting in this city for 90 days. There are less than 4,000 soldiers in the 20,000-strong army now. Nearly 15,000 young and strong soldiers have joined the army, most of whom died in the battle. There are as many as 16,000 wounded in the city alone, and the number of wounded who die every day even exceeds the number of those who die on the front line. Isn't it considered a bloody fight to the end?

What is a bloody fight to the end?

Does it mean that all the people in this city have to wait and die?

Can the city of Hengyang alone bury so many corpses?

Even though Fang Xianjue joined the army 20 years ago and has experienced countless bitter battles, he can't help but feel shaken and bitter in his eyes when he thinks of the 90-day bloody battle.

. . . . . . . . .

In fact, at this point in the war, it is not just Fang Xianjue, the Chinese commander, who is in pain.

The commander of the 11th Japanese Army, Isamu Yokoyama, was in a trench less than 1,800 meters away from Fang Xianjue.

Under the dim moonlight, the Japanese Army Lieutenant General, wearing an ordinary Japanese infantry uniform, looked at the battle ahead with a solemn look.

Although it was the 11th Army that launched a large-scale siege attack, it did not mean that the Japanese army had already occupied all the advantages.

In fact, the air forces of China and the United States still firmly grasped the air supremacy, frequently bombing the Japanese garrisons outside Hengyang City, and even hovering at low altitude to strafe the exposed Japanese infantry.

All the anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns of the 11th Army were exhausted in the long air battle, and there was almost no anti-aircraft counterattack force.

Therefore, during the day, except for the infantry who entered Hengyang City to fight for the blocks, the rest of the officers and soldiers basically hid in the stuffy trenches, fortifications or dug individual anti-gun holes, enduring the disgusting strong stench of corpses.

Yes, Hengyang City and the surrounding areas of Hengyang are so smelly that a gust of wind can make people faint.

One month before the Hengyang War began, both China and Japan were still trying to get their remains back and bury them deep. By the second month, there were not many living people left, so who would care about the dead?

By the third month, everyone had gotten used to death, so let them die! Anyway, the next one might be themselves, and the Japanese army had completely given up on collecting corpses.

For the Chinese who were on the defensive, they lost this ability, which also led to more corpses in the city.

With the rise of flares, Yokoyama Yong, who quietly arrived at the front line, could clearly see the scene in the trenches in the block ahead.

In the wide trench, corpses in uniforms of different colors were lying in all directions. If the Japanese infantry wanted to pass through the trench, they had to crawl in the trench, which meant crawling on the rotten corpses. Wherever they passed, the Japanese Army Lieutenant General even heard the "puffing" sound made by the bloated corpses being squeezed by heavy objects, which was creepy.

If you don't want to climb, you can just walk over these corpses with your back bent, but the price is that you may be hit by the Chinese snipers ambushing in the corner.

After a month of urban attack and defense, a large number of Chinese snipers hiding in this ruined city caused extremely serious casualties to the 11th Army.

They seemed to have evolved suddenly, and their shooting skills were terrifying. Even at night when the visibility was extremely poor, they could accurately hit the enemy 200 meters away, even if the light was fleeting.

What's more, the entire city has a huge underground tunnel system, and they can reinforce or retreat to a block at any time.

Even if the 11th Army used tanks and artillery to open the way during the day and conquered this block at the cost of a large number of infantry losses, the Chinese would organize a counterattack at night and even throw grenades next to the sleeping soldiers.

The terrible troop transport ability and accurate shooting skills have caused the current dilemma of the 11th Army. The Hengyang City in front of them has become a hot potato that cannot be swallowed. Give up! The 80,000 casualties invested in the early stage were wasted, and the Battle of Hengyang was a complete defeat.

Not to mention that Yokoyama Isamu could not bear this responsibility, even General Tian Junliu, who had already resigned, could not bear it, so Yokoyama Isamu was still gritting his teeth and persisting.

However, after he personally arrived at the scene today, the tragic battlefield made this Japanese veteran's eyes sparkle.

Hiding in the trench where he would not face the front firing range, the Japanese Army Lieutenant General saw with his own eyes that a soldier had finally climbed out of the trench full of rotten corpses, and just raised his gun and planned to rush behind a low wall of only 70 centimeters to continue forward.

But this distance of only 6 meters made this Japanese infantryman no longer reach his destination. A bullet accurately shot into his chest, and the Japanese infantryman fell to the ground and rolled and groaned in pain.

Although the ground was covered with blood, the Japanese corporal was obviously not dead yet. He was still groaning loudly, and his hands and feet were still twitching.

But no one went to save him!

"He's not dead yet, why don't you save him!" Yokoyama Yong roared angrily.

"There's no way to save him. There are more than one Chinese sniper. They are waiting for someone who dares to show up, and then turn that place into a graveyard for the Imperial Army." A middle-aged man who was also wearing a Japanese infantry uniform explained bitterly.

That was the major captain in charge of this block. Such things have happened in front of him no less than ten times. From the first anger to the bitter calmness later, dozens of Imperial infantrymen have spent their lives.

The Chinese soldiers who were forced into a desperate situation were far superior to the Imperial infantry in street fighting tactics! Their military strength seemed endless.

Every night, there would be no less than the number of Chinese soldiers from the previous night returning to the block from the tunnel to attack the Japanese army. No matter how many they killed, the next day would be the same.

If this was just a certain block, it would be easy to explain, but in fact, dozens of blocks were like this.

I'm afraid they were deceived from the beginning. There were definitely more than 20,000 Chinese in the city. The exact number could not be guessed, but it was definitely a number that could make any Japanese commander collapse.

Even if the entire 11th Army was put in, it was not known whether it would be enough to fight against the unknown number of Chinese.

In fact, the Japanese Army Major had another subtext that he did not say. If the Japanese corporal who was shot in the chest had to choose between being injured and dying, he would most likely choose the latter.

Just as the Chinese defenders in Hengyang regarded their own field hospital as a daunting task, the soldiers of the Japanese 11th Army also regarded their field hospital in the northern suburbs of Hengyang as "hell".

Any Japanese soldier who had been to a field hospital knew what kind of place they were going to. There were no medicines or food in the Japanese field hospital either.

The weak logistics of the Japanese army was a shortcoming. The Chinese Expeditionary Army Command had already done its best to ensure the ammunition and food used by the front-line soldiers. They could not take care of the medicines used in the field hospital at all, not to mention the influx of tens of thousands of wounded soldiers, which far exceeded the capacity of the Japanese logistics.

Moreover, a large number of patients gathered together, without enough disinfectants, are most likely to breed epidemic diseases such as dysentery and cholera. Even if normal people get this, the mortality rate is not low, not to mention the weak wounded?

Since the war resumed on July 9, the number of Japanese wounded soldiers who died in field hospitals alone has reached 8,000!

Rather than rotting in the hell hospital, it is better to die on the battlefield, and the pain is less.

In front of the commander of the 11th Army Lieutenant General, the Japanese corporal who was shot in the chest gradually calmed down.

But he was not alone. Before his death, two more Japanese soldiers were hit, one died on the spot, and the other was twitching constantly. It was estimated that it was only a matter of time before they came to him to drink tea with Amaterasu.

Yokoyama Yong lowered his head fiercely.

However, there was more sadness in his eyes than pain.

Perhaps only this Japanese Army Lieutenant General knew that the word "defeat" first appeared in his mind.

Although he quickly banished these two words from his mind, he, who was already over sixty years old, knew that some thoughts, once they came to him, would surge in like waves in the vast ocean at any time.