Quartermasters can also fight the devils

After carefully pondering the words of Major Kyuichi Fujii, the captain of the 3rd Battalion, Major Sosuke Kitahara once again bowed deeply to express his gratitude. He roughly understood what Major Kyuichi Fujii meant, which was that as long as safety was guaranteed, nothing else mattered.

After Major Sosuke Kitahara returned to his Third Battalion, he also gathered all the officers together. He explained the Second Battalion's attack method today to all the officers, and asked everyone to attack according to the Second Battalion's tactics. Don't be too hasty, make sure to ensure your own safety, and don't rush too far without absolute certainty.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the artillery units of the Japanese army began to bombard again. Major Kitahara Sosuke looked at the Chinese army positions in front of him that were constantly bombarded by artillery. He sighed in his heart that the Chinese army was really very tenacious. No wonder Major Fujii Kyuichi wanted to focus on self-protection. With a force like the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government as an opponent, they should indeed be cautious.

When the troops of the Third Battalion began to attack, Major Sosuke Kitahara was nervously observing the advance pace of his attacking troops with a telescope from behind. He did not want any accidents to happen to his troops.

But what was strange to the Japanese attacking force was that when they advanced to a distance of about 200 meters from the Chinese army's position, there was still no shooting on the opposite side of the Chinese army's position. This made the officers of the Third Battalion's attacking force in the front a little unsure. Wasn't it said that the Chinese army would generally start shooting when the attacking force entered within 230 meters? Now they had led their men to a distance of 200 meters, so why hadn't the Chinese army opened fire yet?

As the officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion gradually approached the Chinese army's position, the regiment commander Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada and the chief of staff Lieutenant Colonel Kinsaburo Yasumi, who were watching the battle from behind, were also extremely nervous. They were worried that the Chinese army would suddenly shoot at the attacking troops, but they also hoped very much that their troops could occupy the Chinese army's position.

When the attacking force of the Third Battalion cautiously arrived twenty meters in front of the Chinese army's position, the soldiers of the First Squadron of the Third Battalion also quickly charged forward under the order of the squadron leader. The distance of twenty meters was enough for the Japanese army to rush into the trench in less than ten seconds.

When the officers and soldiers of the first squadron just rushed into the trench, the regiment commander Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada and Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Kinsaburo Yasumi, who were watching the battle from behind, saw a series of deafening explosions at the defensive positions of the New 22nd Army of the Chinese government.

The commander of the Second Battalion, Major Fujii Kyuichi, was also watching the battle from behind. He felt a little jealous that the Third Battalion was able to encounter the Chinese army's voluntary retreat during the first attack. Why couldn't his own troops be so lucky? This was like getting credit for nothing.

But before he could feel jealous, he saw explosions happening one after another on the battlefield. Now Major Fujii Kyuichi no longer felt jealous. He was now holding the telescope in amazement, with only waves of fear in his heart. It was the Third Battalion that bore the explosion instead of his own troops. Thank you Amaterasu for the blessing of the sun goddess and thank you for the wise decision of the regiment commander.

As soon as the explosion occurred, Major Sosuke Kitahara ordered all the remaining officers and soldiers in the battalion to rush forward to see if they could rescue some of the officers and soldiers of the First Squadron. However, he knew in his heart that his First Squadron was probably gone. With such a violent explosion, even if the people did not die, they would be basically disabled.

Major Kitahara Sosuke also felt aggrieved. This was the first time that his Third Battalion was responsible for the attack, but they ended up encountering such a move by the Chinese army. It was really unexpected. Didn't the Chinese army fight very well before, and the defense was organized very tightly. There was no reason for them to withdraw suddenly. Before, everyone's attention was focused on how to capture the Chinese army's positions, and they completely ignored the issue of the Chinese army's retreat.

When Major Sosuke Kitahara led his troops to the position, he hurriedly searched everywhere for the surviving officers and soldiers of his first squadron, but to his disappointment, all the officers and soldiers of the entire first squadron were killed. This was mainly because the explosives of the new 211th Division were buried in the front-line trenches this time, and they exploded almost under the feet of the Japanese army. The power of the explosion was completely unobstructed and acted entirely on the Japanese officers and soldiers. It was a miracle among miracles that they could survive.

Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, commander of the 42nd Regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Kinsaburo Yasumi, chief of staff, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Major Sosuke Kitahara and his troops rushing up to the Chinese army's position. They had previously seen about a squadron of officers and soldiers from the 3rd Battalion rushing up to the Chinese army's defensive position. The explosion would at most result in the loss of a squadron of officers and soldiers on their side. They felt that it was not too much of a loss to capture the defensive position of the Chinese government's new 22nd Army, and they could barely accept it in their hearts.

"Send a telegram to Major General Goto Juro, commander of the 132nd Brigade, and tell him that after hard fighting, the nd Regiment has successfully broken through the first line of defense of the New nd Army of the Chinese government in the South China Sea, and is now continuing to advance towards Nankai City." Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, commander of the nd Regiment, ordered the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Yasumi Kinsaburo, with a little pride.

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Hidenosuke Yamada, felt that he had finally managed to send a decent telegram. It had been almost two days since his 42nd Regiment replaced the 41st Regiment in the attack. He would feel embarrassed if he did not hand in some decent battle report.

Major Sosuke Kitahara looked at the devastated position. He could only let the second squadron do the guard defense at the front, while the third squadron carried the bodies of the first squadron's officers and soldiers on the position down to prepare for cremation. If the Chinese army's position was occupied because of the loss of a squadron of officers and soldiers after a fierce battle with the Chinese army, then Major Sosuke Kitahara would still feel that he had accomplished something.

But now Major Sosuke Kitahara felt very awkward in his heart. His troops had occupied the positions of the Chinese army, but the Chinese army withdrew on their own initiative. The death of the officers and soldiers of his squadron could be said to be quite aggrieved. Major Sosuke Kitahara looked at the position in front of him, and he suddenly thought that if the troops of the new 22nd Army of the Chinese government did the same at the next position, then his battalion would only be able to occupy three Chinese army defensive positions at most, and then the third battalion would cease to exist.

What's even more terrifying is that China is so big that if the Japanese Empire wants to occupy the entire China according to this standard, no matter how many officers and soldiers it has, it will not be enough. At this moment, Major Kitahara Sosuke had serious doubts about the Japanese Empire's goal of completely conquering China, and his confidence in winning began to crumble.

The retreat of the new 211th Division was also to cooperate with the actions of the new 100th Division, but they only retreated about three kilometers. This was the second line of defense they had set up before. They would slowly attract the Japanese army to the front. Whenever the Japanese army attacked a position for more than a day, they would retreat to the next position, forcing the Japanese army to advance according to the rhythm of the new 211th Division.

Lieutenant General Andriyoshi, commander of the 100th Division, led the th Regiment and the st Battalion of the st Regiment and encountered the first line of defense set up by the new th Division on a roundabout way. Lieutenant General Andriyoshi did not seem too surprised at the appearance of the Chinese army's blocking positions on their way forward.

The Chinese army will definitely have some troops to defend key flank locations, which is normal. However, according to pre-war intelligence analysis, there are only so many Chinese troops near Yangcheng. The frontal attack on the west bank of the Pearl River is also very fierce. The Chinese government's new 22nd Army should have put its main forces on the front line to fight. The Chinese troops in front of them are likely to be just some Chinese miscellaneous troops or small units of the Chinese government's new 22nd Army doing alert defense.

No matter which unit the Chinese army commander orders to defend and guard here, his own Fifth Division troops will defeat these Chinese troops and capture Sanshui, but it may only take a little time.

"Is the field artillery regiment not ready yet? Tell Colonel Yoshio Kudo that he only gave his field artillery regiment fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes, I want to see the offensive artillery support provided by the field artillery regiment. In addition, Captain Watanabe, your troops need to defeat the opposing Chinese army's defense line as soon as possible. Our mission is to occupy Sanshui. Don't waste too much time on the road." Lieutenant General Anriyoshi ordered Colonel Tsunahiko Watanabe, the commander of the 11th Regiment.

After hearing the order from Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, the commander of the 11th Regiment, Colonel Watanabe Tsunahiko, immediately bowed and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the Division Commander, I have asked the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion to be ready. We will launch an attack after the artillery support begins. I have observed the defensive positions of the Chinese army on the opposite side. I think the officers and soldiers of the First Battalion should be able to successfully occupy this Chinese army's position after two attacks."

Lieutenant General Anriyoshi was very satisfied with the answer of Colonel Watanabe Tsunahiko, commander of the 11th Regiment. He felt that his Fifth Division should have such an indomitable fighting spirit. He also observed the positions of the Chinese army from a distance. Judging from the size of the positions, the Chinese army here would not exceed the size of a regiment at most. For a defensive force of this size, it could at most delay his troops for thirty minutes to an hour, or this might not even be considered a regular battle.

"Very good, Captain Watanabe, I'll be waiting here for your good news." Lieutenant General Anriyoshi, the division commander, said to Colonel Watanabe Tsunahiko with a smile.