Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 104 Bombardment
On the morning of March 24, 1938, a thin mist enveloped both banks of the canal.

The morning sunlight pierced through the mist, casting dappled shadows on the south bank of the canal.

Twenty-four M2A1 105mm howitzers, their gun covers removed, gleamed with a cold, sharp light in the morning sun.

At the gun positions, gunners were busy at work.

The cannon barrels were raised high, menacingly pointing towards the north bank.

The unloaded shells in the ammunition boxes emitted a faint smell of gunpowder, which, mixed with the damp morning air, irritated the gunner's nostrils.

The outline of the north bank was faintly visible in the mist, like a lurking beast. The gunners would occasionally look up at the opposite bank, their eyes filled with a mixture of excitement and tension.

Battalion Commander Zhang Zhihao's uniform was soaked with dew and clung to his body, but he paid no attention to it.

He raised his wrist to look at his watch. The ticking of the second hand seemed amplified infinitely in the quiet morning, the ticking sound exceptionally clear.

At 6:59, he suddenly raised his right hand, and the loader who had been watching him quickly pushed a 15-kilogram high-explosive shell into the breech.

With a loud clang, the shell was pushed into the breech.

He then deftly inserted a propellant charge and closed the breech.

Finally, gunner Ann connected the rope.

After all this was done, just as the clock struck seven, Zhang Zhihao raised his right hand and roared, "All units, pay attention... fire!"

The first salvo tore through the stagnant air, the whistling of the shells like hundreds of crows sweeping across a wheat field.

In the trenches of the Japanese position, a lieutenant who had just woken up took out his pocket watch to check the time when suddenly, a sky full of crimson fireballs was reflected on the bright watch face. Before he could even utter a sound, the entire trench was blasted into the sky by the blast wave, and bloodstained military boots and rifle parts tumbled in the column of smoke.

Meanwhile, at an observation post a few hundred meters outside the Japanese position, Su Yaoyang was observing the movements of the Japanese position through binoculars.

With a sharp whistling sound, he saw a dilapidated house in front of the brick wall crack like paper in the purplish-red flames. An inconspicuous machine gun position suddenly burst into orange flames, and then two burning human figures rushed out from behind sandbags, quickly torn to pieces by the shock wave of the second round of shelling.

Even from hundreds of meters away, puffs of gunpowder smoke still filled his nostrils, and the scorching air mixed with the smell of blood made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

The sudden artillery bombardment caught the Japanese army off guard, and the entire Japanese position was thrown into chaos.

The force responsible for attacking the main positions at Taierzhuang these past two days is Su Yaoyang's old rival... the 33rd Brigade led by Seya Kei.

Ever since he suffered a great loss at Su Yaoyang's hands last time, Seya Kei knew that his career path was completely over.

Although the transfer order had not yet been issued, he knew very well that the day he would return to his homeland to report for duty was not far off. Therefore, he had been fighting with great intensity these days, ordering his two infantry regiments to launch a frontal attack on Taierzhuang with the strictest measures.

Perhaps due to their lack of desire and ambition, the 33rd Brigade has launched extremely fierce offensives in recent days, inflicting heavy casualties on the 31st Division. A division of more than 8,000 infantrymen has been reduced to only more than 3,000 men, and they have occupied most of the positions in Taierzhuang.

In his mind, Seya Kei was even planning that once he took Taierzhuang, he would find out exactly where the Nanjing Security Regiment that had ruined his future was, and see if he could wipe them out before returning to Japan.

But things just happened to be so coincidental. The two teams that had missed each other in Tengxian met again in Taierzhuang, and in such a dramatic way. When the first 105mm high-explosive shell exploded on the Japanese position, Seya Kei was awakened immediately.

His first reaction was: This is the sound of heavy artillery. Who ordered the cannons to fire without authorization?

But as the second and third shells fell, he suddenly regained his senses.

"Oh no... these are Chinese artillery pieces!"

Kei Seya jumped up from his cot and shouted, "Quickly...order the soldiers to take cover from the artillery fire!"

Unfortunately, his order came too late; by then, the Japanese positions were already covered by artillery shells raining down from the sky.

保安团的炮营虽然只装备了二十四门M2A1式105榴弹炮以及一个M2型107毫米重型迫击炮连，乍一看起来似乎不多，但事实真是如此吗？

这个时期，素来以奢华著称的美军一个步兵师，也就下辖3个105毫米榴弹炮营（每个营装备12门M2A1），另加1个155毫米榴弹炮营（12门）。

From this perspective, the Nanjing Security Regiment's artillery configuration was already severely overstaffed.

Thirty-six artillery pieces with a caliber exceeding one hundred calibers unleashed their firepower on a position of less than two square kilometers, causing considerable damage.

Due to the shortage of artillery, during the week of fighting the 31st Division, the National Revolutionary Army probably fired less than a hundred shells at the Japanese positions, and they were all small-caliber mortars. There were almost no shells larger than 100 millimeters. This gave the Japanese troops of the 33rd Brigade a false impression that they only needed to focus on the offensive and did not need to worry about the enemy's large-scale artillery counterattack.

It was this misconception that caused them so much suffering.

Shells rained down mercilessly on the Japanese positions, turning the entire town of Taierzhuang into a living hell.

At the Second Army Command Post, dozens of miles away from Taierzhuang, Li Zongren and Sun Lianzhong, who were still fast asleep, were woken up by their staff officers.

The dim light illuminated their faces. Sun Lianzhong first grabbed the tea mug on the table and drank the already cold tea in one gulp before asking the staff officer who had woken them, "How is the situation in Taierzhuang?"

"The artillery deployed by the security regiment on the south bank of the canal has begun shelling Taierzhuang. The scene is incredibly lively. Our observation posts report that they can't see anything inside the village at all. They've never seen such intense artillery fire in their lives."

"Ah……"

Li Zongren couldn't help but laugh, and pointed upwards to Sun Lianzhong, saying, "Fanglu, shall we go up and take a look?"

“If the commander gives the order, I will gladly oblige,” Sun Lianzhong said with a hearty laugh.

Accompanied by several staff officers, the two left the command post. Guards had already set up ladders, and the two quickly climbed to the roof of the second floor.

Because the command post is located on high ground, one can see the situation in Taierzhuang, which is more than ten miles away, from here.

Although they were far away, the two could still see through their binoculars that most of the area around Taierzhuang was engulfed in flames, with thick smoke and dust billowing into the sky, shrouding the entire village.

(End of this chapter)