Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 123 Defense Line in Crisis

The Japanese artillery bombardment ended quickly. After the bombardment ceased, the company commander rushed out and immediately organized the company's soldiers to reorganize their defenses.

To the company commander's surprise, the Japanese did not continue their attack after this round of shelling. An eerie silence fell over the battlefield.

"Signalman, notify all platoon leaders to come over."

"Yes."

Soon the platoon leaders arrived.

"How are the wounded in each platoon?" the company commander asked.

"One platoon suffered 7 casualties, 3 serious injuries, and more than 20 minor injuries, but these did not affect their ability to fight."

"The second platoon is down to one man. Five soldiers were killed, one was seriously wounded, and more than ten were lightly wounded. Five of them are unable to continue fighting."

"The third platoon has suffered heavy casualties. In the last wave of attack, 10 soldiers were killed, 5 were seriously wounded, and more than 10 were slightly wounded. They can no longer continue fighting."

"Two members of the heavy firepower platoon were killed, three were seriously injured, and there were no minor injuries."

"Based on this calculation, our company suffered nearly a third of its casualties in this battle," the company commander calculated.

What about the casualties of the Japanese?

"The first platoon killed about twenty Japanese soldiers and forty or fifty puppet troops."

"The second row is about the same."

"In the last wave, the third platoon killed at least 50 Japanese soldiers."

"From this perspective, the Japanese soldiers who attacked us suffered more than half their casualties. However, this time we took advantage of the fact that the Japanese had not figured out our situation. We used heavy firepower to ambush the Japanese and inflicted casualties on them."

"Now that the Japanese have figured out our strength, we won't be able to defend against the next wave so easily. More importantly, it's almost dawn," the company commander said, looking at the sky in the distance where the first hint of light was appearing.

"The Japanese are most likely waiting until dawn, when their visibility will be better, to launch their attack. Everyone, what are your thoughts? Otherwise, we might not be able to hold out until the next wave of attacks," the company commander asked the group.

"Company commander, let's consolidate our defensive positions. We don't have enough troops right now, so it's better to stick together and fight as one to kill the Japanese better," the platoon leader said.

"Yes, and we can plant explosives on the abandoned positions. If the Japanese dare to come in, let them taste what it's like to be blown up," the second platoon leader said fiercely.

"Company commander, we can use the heavy firepower platoon as the core of the battle. We will continue with the previous plan to create opportunities for the heavy machine guns. In addition, we have already set up five or six heavy machine gun positions in advance. When the heavy machine guns finish firing a wave, we will immediately change to another position to avoid being targeted by the Japanese artillery fire."

"Okay, that's fine, let's do as everyone says."

"We'll immediately consolidate our defensive positions. First Platoon Leader, you're good at planting booby traps, so you'll be in charge of planting explosives on the position," the company commander ordered.

"Yes, platoon leader, I guarantee I will complete the mission."

"The other platoons should hand over all the explosives they have to the first platoon so they can give the Japanese a big blast."

"Yes, Captain."

"Reporting to the company commander, the regimental commander has sent an urgent telegram." The shop assistant ran over from behind the position.

"read."

"The commander told us to hold out for another hour; reinforcements will be here soon."

"Reporting to the commander, we have already engaged the Japanese. The company has repelled the first wave of Japanese attacks, and we are confident that we can repel the second wave and hold our position for an hour."

"Yes."

At this moment, Tang Weiguo, who was on his way to reinforce the Hekou outpost, was contacting various units about their situation.

"Li Qin, inquire about the positions of the third and fourth companies."

"Yes, Captain."

"Reporting to the regimental commander, the first company just replied that they have already engaged the Japanese and repelled the first wave of Japanese attacks."

"The Japanese have indeed attacked the Hekou stronghold. If we can hold out for another hour, we can reach the stronghold to support them. I hope they can hold on," Tang Weiguo prayed silently.

"Commander, the Third Company just reported back that they have arrived at Xifeng Village and are still an hour and a half away from the Hekou stronghold. They are currently on a forced march."

"Order them to launch an attack from the outside as soon as they reach the river mouth stronghold."

"Yes, Commander."

"Zhou Yuan, can we speed things up? It's almost dawn, and it'll probably be even harder to defend against the enemy now." Tang Weiguo looked worriedly at the rising sun.

"Commander, it's almost dawn now and visibility is better, so I can increase my speed."

"it is good."

"Is Staff Officer Ozawa ready?" On the Japanese side, Tanaka Itsuki reorganized the Japanese troops to prepare for the second wave of attack.

"Reporting to the Commander, we are ready. I have identified all the enemy's firing positions. I am confident that I will be able to take the river mouth stronghold this time."

"Alright, now we're racing against time to catch up with the enemy's reinforcements. If we can capture the river mouth stronghold before the enemy's reinforcements arrive, we can thwart the Chinese army's plot and win the victory."

"Yes, Commander, I will definitely take care of those river mouth strongholds this time."

"Alright, launch the attack in 10 minutes."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."

Staff Officer Ozawa reorganized the troops and launched an attack. This time, in order to prevent the collapse of the puppet army from affecting the Imperial Army's offensive, Staff Officer Ozawa made sure that the vanguard of the attack was composed entirely of Japanese soldiers, followed by the puppet army.

To boost the morale of the puppet troops, Staff Officer Ozawa thoughtfully organized a small supervisory team for them. If any deserters were found, they would be executed on the spot in accordance with battlefield discipline.

"Artillery, prepare to fire."

The Japanese artillery launched another artillery attack on the militia's positions.

"Take cover, take cover, the Japanese devils are attacking again!" The squad leaders quickly organized the soldiers to go to the air-raid shelters to avoid the Japanese artillery fire.

"Damn it, it looks like the Japanese are serious this time. It's been 10 minutes and the shelling hasn't stopped." The company commander calculated the shelling time.

Ten minutes later, the Japanese artillery fire finally stopped, and the soldiers of the 10st Company quickly came out of the air-raid shelter and took up their defensive positions.

Just as the company commander had predicted, the number of Japanese soldiers and puppet troops attacking this time was twice that of the last time.

"Soldiers, this is going to be a tough battle. We must hold our ground until the regimental commander provides reinforcements!" the company commander roared.

"Yes, platoon leader, we'll hold the position as long as we're here, let's fight the Japanese devils to the death!" The platoon leader and his men were all ready to die for their cause.

"Platoon leader, pay attention to the detonation time, the Japanese are coming up soon."

"Yes, Captain."

The moment the platoon leader saw the first wave of Japanese soldiers rush to the position they had voluntarily abandoned, he made a decisive move and quickly detonated the buried explosives. Instantly, a series of explosions rang out on the Japanese-occupied position.

When the smoke cleared, almost all the Japanese soldiers at the front were lying on the ground, while the puppet troops behind them, under the supervision of the Japanese supervisors, gritted their teeth and continued their attack on the militia's position, stepping over the corpses of the Japanese soldiers.

"Attack!" The company commander ordered his soldiers to attack the puppet troops.

"Artillery, fire!" Staff Officer Ozawa, who was observing from the rear, didn't care about the lives of the puppet troops at all and ordered the artillery to attack again.

With the whistling of shells, the Japanese shells once again landed on the militia's defensive positions.

"Damn it, those Japanese devils are eighteen generations removed!" the company commander roared. At this point, they had no way to retreat to the air-raid shelter; once they retreated, the Japanese devils would come up.

The company could only fight against the Japanese artillery fire, the puppet troops who were also being bombarded by Japanese artillery, and the Japanese troops pressing in from the rear. For a time, the company's defense line was in grave danger.