The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 251 The Last Day (Part )

On the evening of the 29th, because Hu Biao and others gave up the night attack, both sides in Taierzhuang had a rare night of peace.

The 30th was the next day, which was also the last day that the Japanese could take the initiative to launch an attack. The fierce battle between the two sides gave them a good opportunity to recuperate.

At 30:653 in the morning on the th, a group of people from the Third Battalion of the Subei Independent Regiment, carrying a batch of combat supplies, entered Taierzhuang from the south gate via a pontoon bridge.

Just like the second battalion entered the village yesterday, the south gate was closed immediately after they entered.

The difference was that a big fire broke out on the floating bridge and was quickly burned out.

A platoon of military police on the city wall, which originally served as a supervisory team, took their 24-gun heavy machine gun and went to the front-line position to begin defense.

It should be noted that this floating bridge was burned down on the initiative of Commander Chi and Commander Hu, who were in charge of the village, under the unanimous order of the two.

The reason is very simple, since there is no reinforcement.

Then use this desperate approach to cut off the retreat and tell all the brothers in the village: there is no other way to survive except to defend Taierzhuang.

Starting at six o'clock in the morning, the Japanese launched an artillery bombardment that lasted for an hour.

It can be said that this was the most violent battle since the Battle of Taierzhuang.

It looked like life was about to end. One of them was about to use up all the ammunition at hand and completely blow up the area guarded by the Nationalist army in Taierzhuang, and the defenders would be killed...

Amidst a series of "Pooh" sounds, the explosions outside stopped, probably indicating that the Japanese artillery bombardment had finally ended.

Lao Yu, a rookie who was in the east area of ​​the city, crawled out of the anti-artillery hole while spitting out the mud and sand that was almost blocking his throat.

In this kind of indiscriminate bombing by the devils, the people hiding in the anti-bomb holes just need to keep their mouths shut.

Or maybe just cover your mouth with a towel?
You were overthinking it. The mud and sand in the anti-gun cave caused by the artillery fire kept falling from above your head like rain, and flew around in the narrow environment.

Even if you cover your mouth with a towel, the flying mud and sand will flow into your nostrils and into your mouth.

During the bombing just now, poor old Yu felt like his stomach was forced to be filled with mud and sand, so he didn't even need to eat breakfast.

But after he rushed out, in the smoke and dust that had not yet completely settled, he saw everything that was happening in front of him in horror and no longer cared about the small matter of eating some mud and sand.

They had worked hard for most of the night to reinforce their defensive positions, but now they had almost completely disappeared.

So much so that next to him, a group that had just rushed out of the anti-artillery cave and was carrying a Type 92 heavy machine gun together, several members looked at each other in confusion, all of them were at a loss.

Because the several machine gun fire points they had prepared were all destroyed in the previous artillery attack.

For a moment, they didn't know where to set up the heavy machine gun.

Knowing that the Japanese might come up soon, there was no time to rebuild their fortifications.

Old Yu pointed at a crater created by a 150mm heavy artillery piece, where the soil was still steaming, and roared:
"Go over there and set up the heavy machine gun for me."

As a result, just as those brothers had hurriedly set up the Type 92 heavy machine gun at the edge of the crater, a large number of Japanese soldiers appeared before them.

The last and most intense day of the Taierzhuang Defense War began.

If Hu Biao and his men could hold on, then what would follow would be a welcome counterattack; if they couldn't, they would be completely finished...

******
"Damn it! Why do the Japanese still have so many tanks?"

Looking at the three Japanese tanks slowly moving forward through the gap between the ruins and heading towards this side, Chen Tang cursed.

Because it is already past 30 o'clock in the morning on the 11th.

This does not include the number of Japanese tanks they destroyed in the previous three days of fighting using cluster grenades, anti-tank mines, anti-tank guns, and various DIY anti-tank weapons.

This morning alone, they destroyed two Japanese tanks.

However, in this attack, the Japanese actually dispatched three more tanks, as if they could not defeat them all.

In fact, Chen Tang knew that the Japanese had not many tanks left, and they had probably invested their last bit of assets in the attack.

And they also knew another point: compared to the open area outside the village, the Japanese tanks could maneuver quickly and their firing range would not be greatly affected. If they wanted to defeat them, the National Army would have to pay a staggering price.

But if they are not destroyed, they will become a powerful weapon for the Japanese to retreat and break out.

On the contrary, in the current village, where there are ruins everywhere, the Japanese tanks will be easier to destroy because they are too restricted.

Defeating them in advance will be beneficial to the subsequent operation to annihilate the Seya Detachment.

Although Chen Tang knew the above principles, he still had a headache.

The Japanese offensive tactics today were simple: artillery bombardment followed by infantry charge, and then artillery continued to bombard the infantry after they retreated, with planes occasionally appearing during this period.

They threw bombs and fired at the positions crazily.

However, it made it quite easy for them to resist, and the number of casualties was staggering.

The most crucial point is that up to now, there are no defensive fortifications on the position, and all the mines and explosives that had been deployed before have been detonated prematurely by the artillery fire.

In this situation, he really had no confidence in withstanding the attack launched by the Japanese with the assistance of three tanks.

What to do? After Chen Tang looked around, he ran to the left side of the position, where he saw a PAK36 37mm anti-tank gun that was dragged there by the artillery crew.

Whether we can withstand the enemy's attack depends on whether we can use this thing to knock down all three of their tanks...

The Japanese's Type 97 medium tank and two Type 95 light tanks drove all the way and finally stopped 150 meters in front of the position.

This was because the Japanese had learned their lesson after the defenders used their DIY PIAT anti-tank grenade launchers to destroy two of their tanks.

Last night, the wizard and Mo Shuiyan stayed up all night again.

Although their eyes were as red as rabbits due to lack of sleep for a long time, they still managed to produce twenty DIY PIAT anti-tank grenade launchers in one go.

Including the batch manufactured the night before yesterday, there are six of these DIY anti-tank firepower units in the Chentang position alone.

Even though the accuracy of this thing is a bit hard to describe, but if so many of them fire at the same time, even a blind cat catching a dead mouse can pose a huge threat to the Japanese tanks.

The only pity is that due to the limited elasticity of the spring, the maximum range of this thing is only one hundred meters.

Now the three Japanese tanks are parked there and cannot be attacked at all.

On the contrary, after the tank's machine gun and tank gun opened fire, the defenders lying in the shell craters on the position immediately came under tremendous pressure and could hardly raise their heads.

At the same time, one hundred and twenty to thirty Japanese soldiers jumped over the tanks and took the opportunity to advance towards this side.

Even so, several soldiers holding DIYPIAT anti-tank grenade launchers on the position still pulled the trigger and fired 60mm mortar shells one after another.

On the one hand, this DIY PIAT anti-tank grenade launcher can be used like a mortar to bomb infantry, except that its range is shorter.

On the other hand, after they opened fire, they could also attract the attention of the Japanese tanks.

Look! After several mortar shells landed, killing and injuring seven or eight Japanese soldiers, the three tank guns immediately turned, ready to shoot down these DIY PIAT anti-tank grenade launchers.

Chen Tang immediately yelled, "Let go."

The gunner, who had aimed at the target early on, immediately pulled the gun rope in his hand; with a muffled "bang", a 37mm caliber armor-piercing shell was fired out.

It hit the front armor of a Type 97 medium tank and penetrated it easily like a chopstick poking tofu.

It was probably because it didn't hit the ammunition depot, so it didn't explode directly.

But it doesn't matter. The metal jet produced when the armor-piercing bullet hits the tank splashes and rebounds wildly inside the tank, which is enough to kill the entire Japanese crew.

Faced with this victory, Chen Tang didn't even have time to cheer.

He ignored the fact that his left thumb was broken yesterday and now felt severe pain in his left hand whenever he exerted force, and lifted a support column of the PAK36 37mm anti-tank gun with both hands.

He shouted loudly: "Quick, quick move..."

(End of this chapter)