Chapter 1 Gift

Jiang Yuanwu used a borrowed flower to present to Buddha. Regiment Commander Shi Junxia happily accepted this gift and immediately ordered, "The Second Battalion will attack the city center and seize the artillery positions of the Japanese devils first."

The ten infantry companies of the Second Regiment quickly entered the city through the west gate, moving with great speed.

After rushing into the city, the First and Second Companies continued their advance towards the city center, while the Third and Fourth Companies moved onto the city walls, charging north and south respectively.

The Fifth and Sixth Companies advanced along the southern city wall, the Seventh and Eighth Companies along the northern city wall, and the Ninth and Tenth Companies followed the First and Second Companies to continue the attack.

Lieutenant Colonel Ishigaya Sanzuro’s breakout plan failed before it even began, as the Second Regiment stormed into the city.

Hua Xiao’s ground attack aircraft squadron only now diverted half of its planes to the east of the city to support the First Regiment's attack.

Despite the lack of air support, the First Regiment had already reached the edge of the city walls.

Yuyama Ayumu, the company commander, was on the city wall, directing the Japanese defense, and watched helplessly as the outer defense line was breached time and again by the First Regiment.

The two companies of over three hundred Japanese soldiers outside the city were unable to lift their heads under the attack.

He loudly ordered the Japanese soldiers on the city wall to provide fire support. "Da-da-da!" Machine-gun fire swept from the city wall towards the attacking First Regiment in the distance.

Hua Xiao and the other pilots providing air support finally arrived on the scene, and upon arrival, they spotted the stronghold on the city wall. A dense rain of bullets fell from the sky.

Countless bullets jumped around Company Commander Yuyama Ayumu. Bullets were everywhere, and Sergeant Major Kameyama Yoki's machine gun was already smoking.

The support for the outer defense line was of little use. The determined Chinese soldiers relentlessly attacking the defense lines did not shift their focus and ignored the attacks from the city wall.

The machine guns of the ground attack aircraft were not for show. Each aircraft had four machine guns, inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese soldiers still resisting on the city wall.

Yuyama Ayumu was among the first Japanese soldiers to be killed. Following in his footsteps, the rest of the Yuyama company were killed by bullets from the sky.

Regiment Commander Gui Wen, still outside the city, saw that the opportunity was too good to miss and immediately ordered his troops to attack the city.

Ladders were quickly brought to the city wall. Five bamboo ladders were quickly set up, and Yi Chengye, the First Company commander, was the first to rush up.

There were few Japanese soldiers left defending the city wall. The exposed position of the city wall was perfect for ground attack aircraft strafing.

The four machine guns swept along the city wall, making it impossible for the entire Yuyama company to endure. Six planes swept past once, delivering six blows to the Yuyama company.

With Company Commander Yuyama already dead, the surviving Japanese soldiers of the entire company fled towards the city.

All the city walls of Gaoan had been captured by the Special Operations Brigade. Both regiments were advancing towards the city center.

Although Lieutenant Colonel Ishigaya Sanzuro gathered the last remaining Japanese soldiers of the entire regiment, organizing them to fight street by street in the city, he knew that time was running out. The artillery positions of his regiment had not fired a single shot in today's battle.

Now, the infantry guns were being dragged over by the soldiers of the Second Regiment to bombard the Japanese soldiers holding buildings.

As Lieutenant Colonel Ishigaya Sanzuro was committing suicide in despair in his command post, his command post was hit by a shell.

The Japanese soldiers defending this place fought to the death, but Ji Wudi did not hesitate.

She ordered an eighty-eight-millimeter anti-aircraft gun to be brought in. The soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade were most attached to this type of gun and were most familiar with using it.

It could be set up in a few minutes. The muzzle was lowered, and three shells were fired at the command post in succession. The last resistance of the Japanese soldiers in the entire city of Gaoan came to an end.

After retaking Gaoan, the First Regiment's defense line now included this location. Ji Wudi ordered the First Regiment to send four infantry companies to garrison Gaoan and defend the city.

At the same time, all the vehicles captured today were left in Gaoan for the First Regiment to drive back to Shanggao Airport.

This would allow the First Regiment to quickly support Gaoan from the airport if it was attacked by the Japanese again.

Regiment Commander Shi Junxia was a little reluctant. Ji Wudi said, "Or should the Second Regiment leave four infantry companies here to defend?

We are going to attack Yingxi next. If you reduce your strength by half, will you still be able to be used as the main force?"

These words made the division commander decide: The entire regiment would attack!

Gaoan was too important. The last time, the Special Operations Brigade handed it over to the Fifty-first Division to defend, but it was taken away by the Japanese in a single day.

This time, four companies were assigned to defend it, with six companies stationed outside to reinforce it. The faster the reinforcements arrived, the better.

Now that they had vehicles, they certainly had to use them.

Regiment Commander Gui Wen pleaded with a bitter face, "Teacher! Let's switch! These vehicles were captured by you, so you should use them.

You defend Gaoan and Shanggao, and I will attack Huangxi!"

"Get lost! You little brat, you're trying to get a good deal and act like you're suffering!" Regiment Commander Shi Junxia was in a bad mood.

"Captain! What about these guns?" Regiment Commander Shi Junxia asked.

"Take as many as you can." Ji Wudi was very generous.

Shi Junxia hesitated. He wanted all these guns, but if he took all forty-eight guns, his regiment would become an artillery regiment.

Seeing his hesitation, Gui Wen suggested, "Divide the infantry guns among the infantry companies and take all thirty-six guns to Dacheng.

Then you can leave these one hundred and fifty-millimeter cannons behind, and give the other two types away.

Or you can keep the seventy-five-millimeter field guns and give the rest of the cannons to the other two brother regiments."

This was a good idea, and Ji Wudi adopted it first. She asked, "Which one do you want?"

"The one hundred and fifty-millimeter one." There was no need to hesitate. Shi Junxia already had a rocket launcher company, which could be used at close range. Using the newly captured cannons for longer distances would be perfect.

Now that a decision had been made, Ji Wudi immediately notified the Third and Fourth Regiments in Dacheng to send a company over to receive the cannons.

This was originally a good thing, but the Third and Fourth Regiments were now facing a difficult situation: they had also captured a batch of cannons in the battle to intercept the Japanese soldiers coming from Fengxin.

Having too many cannons in an infantry regiment would increase the requirements for roads, and they did not want to become artillery regiments either!

In the end, after some discussion, the cannons captured by each regiment during this period were combined and distributed, with each regiment equipping an artillery battalion.

Everyone was happy now. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Regiments all directly converted their Tenth Companies into artillery companies.

The Second Regiment was not in a hurry to return to Dacheng today and was stationed in Gaoan.

The team sent by Li Youan, the regimental commander of the Fifty-first Division, to scout near Gaoan watched as the Special Operations Brigade retook Gaoan in one morning.

Upon receiving the news, Regiment Commander Li led his men to Gaoan City in the afternoon and met Ji Wudi.

When he saw this woman, Regiment Commander Li was very impressed. He had heard from his reconnaissance platoon leader that this woman had been charging at the front line.

This time, Regiment Commander Li still wanted to take over Gaoan, but Ji Wudi said bluntly, "Gaoan can be handed over to you, but only when my troops and my regiment retreat back to Shanggao."

Regiment Commander Li asked, "When will you retreat back to Shanggao?"

"Division Commander Wang has asked us to take Huangxi, saying that this location is very important for attacking Nanchang.

After taking Huangxi, we would like you to take over from Huangxi, Shengmi Street, and Dacheng all the way, and finally take over Gaoan.

Our entire army will retreat back to Shanggao.

What do you think?" Ji Wudi asked.

What else could he say? For Regiment Commander Li, Ji Wudi's attitude could not be said to be insincere.

Although she did not say it explicitly, she was very dissatisfied with herself for not holding Gaoan.

Regiment Commander Li was now unable to express his difficulties: his regiment was facing a full regiment of Japanese soldiers at that time.

A regiment formed into a fist was attacking Gaoan, so what else could he do but retreat?

But how could he say these words in front of Ji Wudi?

Because this regiment was completely wiped out by her, with attacks here and there.

Although this kind of fighting was somewhat opportunistic, after all, she was only fighting one battalion of Japanese soldiers at most at a time, which was very different from fighting a regiment.

But she had completely wiped out a regiment anyway!

Regiment Commander Li could only bid farewell and return.

Commander Chen Cheng and Deputy Commander Xue Yue of the Ninth War Area were very happy after receiving the battle report sent by the Special Operations Brigade.

In this counterattack against Nanchang, although the progress of the other troops has not been very smooth so far, the operations of the Special Operations Brigade have been very effective.

This was now the second time they had retaken Gaoan, but they were unwilling to hand over Gaoan to the Fifty-first Division to defend, which was a bit inappropriate.

If they captured Huangxi and continued to attack Nanchang, directly retaking Nanchang, would they also be unwilling to hand over the defense like this?

Well, because Lin Fan was already used to it, it was okay to use the Special Operations Brigade as a tool.

Of course, Lin Fan understood this, but as a patriot, he really could not care about the interests of small groups and individuals at a time when the country was in such distress.

He knew that the most important task now was to drive out the invaders, and under this premise, the sacrifices made by small groups were worthwhile.

Ji Wudi led the Second Regiment to launch an attack on the Japanese soldiers in Huangxi on the morning of the twenty-sixth.

For this attack, she had done enough homework in advance. Each regiment and each company had conducted detailed reconnaissance of the Japanese soldiers on this defense line.

Moreover, each regiment had now added an artillery battalion, and the matching shells had been urgently replenished from the rear.

All of these preparations had only one purpose: to defeat the Japanese soldiers on this defense line with lightning speed.

This was her last battle in this campaign. Ji Wudi did not want to leave any regrets, nor did she want to be indecisive and cause misunderstandings among friendly forces.

In her opinion, everything at present was based on the War of Resistance as the most important thing. Other things could be put on hold.

This idea was completely consistent with Lin Fan, and this may be one of the reasons why she and Lin Fan could get along.

This time, she was leading the Second Regiment, part of the Third Regiment, and all of the Fourth Regiment to attack the Japanese soldiers in Huangxi.

Defending here were two battalions of the Thirteenth Regiment of the Eleventh Brigade of the Sixth Division, the Okamotoyasu Regiment.

Behind these two battalions, there was also an infantry battalion as a reserve force, which could be put into battle at any time.

Division Commander Inaba Shiro of the Sixth Division had put his heart into defending Huangxi.

Captain Eguchi Toshiro was ordered to guard the line from Wushinao to Xiaofengjian. He stationed a company on each of these two high grounds and set up an artillery position two kilometers behind the defense line.

He set up a mountain gun company here, concentrating twelve infantry guns to provide fire support to the entire defense line.

The loss of Gaoan to Dacheng and then to Shengmi Street a few days ago had shocked the Sixth Division. At the military conference, Regiment Commander Okamotoyasu Rokuro requested that each unit defend its position well. The reinforcements organized by the Eleventh Army were on their way.

After the reinforcements arrived, the troops would launch a fierce counterattack and would definitely wipe out the troops on the front.

Until then, they needed to endure!

This was the first time since the regiment commander had been in command that he had asked his subordinates to endure! This was a new trend. Battalion Commander Eguchi Toshiro was a very obedient soldier.

The order it issued to the entire battalion was to defend, to defend at all costs, not to advance one step, not to retreat one step, and to hold the defense line like a nail.

In order to do this, the artillery position it set up in the rear had deliberately test-fired at each defensive point and marked the positions.

It was just waiting for the attacking troops to enter the pre-set defense line so that they could be given the greatest blow.

The Japanese soldiers were well prepared, and Ji Wudi was also very well prepared this time. The two and a half regiments had not experienced too much combat intensity in the past few days, and the soldiers had received ample rest.

The most important thing was that in order to replenish the consumed ammunition and to match the newly captured cannons, a batch of shells was specially replenished from Jurong.

Today's attack would be a cannon bombardment!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

First, all the captured shells were returned to the Japanese soldiers, and then the shells sent up from the rear were fired at the Japanese soldiers.

Battalion Commander Eguchi Toshiro had thought of everything, but he had not thought that the attacking Special Operations Brigade would bombard his defense line for two hours.

The two-hour bombardment caused heavy casualties to the troops it had deployed on the positions of Xiaofengjian and Wushinao, and even the constructed fortifications were all flattened.

Company Commander Karasawa Yusei, who was defending Wushinao, called to report, "All the trenches and fortifications on Wushinao have been flattened."

Company Commander Matsushima Taiji, who was defending Xiaofengjian, reported, "Xiaofengjian has been bombed down by a foot, and all the fortifications and trenches on the mountain are gone.

The Japanese soldiers who were lucky enough not to be killed in the bombing are now lying prostrate in the floating soil, preparing to defend."

At this time, the troops on the front had not yet launched an attack, and Battalion Commander Eguchi could not send the reserves to reinforce them now.

It just emphasized, "Hold the defense line! Be sure to hold the defense line!"

The only good news was that the troops on the front had not yet begun to attack after two hours of continuous bombardment.

Ji Wudi and Shi Junxia had sufficient reasons for not ordering an attack: after the artillery bombardment, there would be aircraft strafing.

They all wanted to minimize the cost of the attack as much as possible. Of course, it was best to have aircraft support when dealing with enemies who had set up defenses in absolutely advantageous terrain.

Fighters circled in the air, and ground attack aircraft began to strafe the Japanese soldiers on the defense line.

Only then did the soldiers of the Second Regiment begin to charge according to their respective missions.

The face of Company Commander Karasawa Yusei, who was being beaten to death by the ground attack aircraft, finally showed a little smile as they launched their charge.

It grabbed the phone and excitedly shouted to the Igarashi Hosho artillery company, "There are a large number of attacking troops in areas three to seven on the Wushinao front line."

The voice that came over the phone was dejected, "I am under attack! I am under attack! I cannot fire! I cannot fire!"

Dense explosions could also be heard from the microphone, which stunned Company Commander Karasawa Yusei.

The reason it was able to hold on to this place was that it had the support of the artillery company behind it, especially since the artillery company had divided the front line into many areas and had carried out test firing.

It had been said so well: when the attacking troops rushed up from different directions, it only needed to report the area number to launch a fatal bombardment on them.

When it was being bombarded by artillery fire for two hours just now, it and the Japanese soldiers under it were thinking about what it would be like to see the attacking troops being bombarded by artillery fire after they rushed close, right?

For this belief, the entire Karasawa Yusei company had been struggling to hold on, but now it said it was under attack and could not fire?

"We are also under attack, so can we just say we can't hold on?" Company Commander Karasawa Yusei complained in his heart, but had to accept the fact that there was no artillery support.

It ordered the entire company, "Gentlemen! Prepare to be destroyed here with the mountain!"

Sergeant Nagasawa Toshinori did not know how many times he had climbed out of the dirt. At first, it was in the trench, listening to the sound of shells exploding on the hilltop.

Feeling the earth shaking when the shells exploded, and his body shaking in sync. This feeling was still a bit novel, but gradually this novelty turned into fear.

It found that the frequency of the earth shaking was getting faster and faster, and explosions were ringing everywhere on the entire defense line.

When Sergeant Major Shiina Yuto and his signalman were running around in the trenches, encouraging each Japanese soldier, they were blown to pieces by a shell.

Their small pieces of minced meat were scattered within a radius of dozens of meters. This was not the end, but the beginning of a nightmare for the entire squad.