Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Due to the thick fog on the mountain before, the visibility of the Chinese army and the Japanese defensive forces was not very good. This allowed the attacking force of the 60th Division of the 37th Army of the Chinese government to sneak up on the Japanese defensive positions under the cover of the thick fog.

However, as the battle began, the thick fog on the mountain actually dissipated, and the attacking force of the 60th Division was completely exposed to the rifle and machine gun fire of the Japanese defensive forces. Since this time the attacking force of the 60th Division was only an exploratory attack, it was mainly to find out how many Japanese troops were defending the Xiangudian high ground. After basically understanding the situation, the attacking force of the 60th Division withdrew.

However, the Japanese Third Squadron defending on the Xiangudian Heights suffered heavy casualties in the 60th Division's attack. Among them, Second Lieutenant Hirota Tetsuo, the squad leader of the Second Squad, was hit in the head by a bullet in the first round of shooting by the 60th Division and died on the spot.

Lieutenant Rokuguruma Hideji, the captain of the Third Squadron, looked at the list of casualties he had just counted with a very grim expression. Now, there were only seventy-three soldiers in the Third Squadron who could still fight, including himself. With such a small force, it was completely impossible to hold out against the next attack of the Chinese army. He had to request reinforcements from the commander of the regiment, even if it was just sending a small team of reinforcements.

When Colonel Yoshio Kamekawa, commander of the 236th Regiment of the Japanese Army, saw the list of battle damage and the request for reinforcements sent by Lieutenant Hideji Mukuma, commander of the rd Squadron, he had no choice but to order the th Squadron, which was responsible for guarding the regiment headquarters, to reinforce the rd Squadron and replace it to have a rest.

In order to better defend the important high ground of Xiangudian, Colonel Yoshio Kamekawa, commander of the 236th Regiment of the Japanese Army, ordered Captain Katsuki Shimohira, the operations director of the 236th Regiment, and Lieutenant Hitoshi Kurioka, the captain of the engineering squadron, to work with Lieutenant Ooguchi Sekida, the captain of the th Squadron, to arrange and hand over the defensive positions on the Xiangudian high ground.

At noon, Lieutenant Ooguchi Sekida, the captain of the 6th Squadron, Captain Katsuki Shimohira, the operations director of the regiment headquarters, and Lieutenant Hitoshi Kurioka, the captain of the engineering squadron, came to the Xiangudian heights to conduct the handover of positions with Lieutenant Hideji Mukuma, the captain of the 3rd Squadron, and to re-examine the arrangement of positions.

Just as several people were observing and arranging their positions, suddenly, without any warning, the Chinese army's mortar shells fell like hail on the Japanese positions on the Xiangudian Hill. Immediately, columns of smoke rose from the ground and the explosions were deafening.

Captain Katsuki Shimohira, the operations director of the 236th Regiment, was hit in the heart by shrapnel and died on the spot. Lieutenant Kurioka Jinqing, the commander of the engineering squadron, was slightly injured in the arm. More than 236 other officers and soldiers were killed or wounded. Under such circumstances, Colonel Kamekawa Yoshio, the commander of the th Regiment of the Japanese Army, changed the previous deployment and ordered the rd Squadron to continue to hold the Xiangudian Heights. The engineering squadron was responsible for reinforcing the rd Squadron's defense line, and the th Squadron returned to serve as a reserve.

This order was good news for Lieutenant Rokuche Hidechi, the captain of the third squadron. At least his troops could get reinforcements from the engineering squadron, which was much better than having no one at all. However, the problem of insufficient manpower was still quite serious.

The troops of the 236th Army of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government knew that there would often be thick fog in the early morning in Dashantang. Therefore, in the early morning of the next day, the offensive forces of the th Army of the Chinese government suddenly launched an attack on the defense line of the th Regiment of the Japanese Army from the north, east and south. The main attack direction was the two heights of Shuanghuajian and Xiangudian.

The 284th Regiment of the th Division of the th Army of the Ninth War Zone of the Chinese government, under the cover of offensive artillery fire, successfully rushed to the defensive position of the Japanese th Squadron on the Shuanghuajian Heights. After a fierce battle, the Japanese th Squadron on Shuanghuajian suffered heavy losses. The commander of the Japanese th Squadron, Lieutenant Yoshishi Miyake, could only flee down the mountain in a panic with only more than people left. The offensive force of the th Division successfully captured the mountaintop position.

At the same time, the 284th Regiment of the 236th Division separated a part of its forces and suddenly launched a surprise attack on the battalion headquarters of the 236nd Battalion of the th Regiment of the Japanese Army. When the commander of the th Regiment of the Japanese Army, Colonel Yoshio Kamekawa, saw that Shuanghuajian Heights was occupied by the Chinese army, he immediately dispatched the th Squadron of the reserve and ordered the commander of the th Squadron, Lieutenant Sekida Imakiyoshi, to lead his troops to reinforce the nd Battalion. He also ordered the commander of the nd Battalion, Major Hideo Mizusawa, to organize troops to counterattack and recapture Shuanghuajian Heights.

The commander of the Second Battalion, Major Hideo Mizusawa, organized all the active officers and soldiers, and together with the reinforcements from the Sixth Squadron, launched a fierce attack while the Chinese troops had just occupied the Shuanghuajian Heights and their foothold was unstable.

Major Hideo Mizusawa, commander of the 284nd Battalion, also led the charge personally. However, the th Regiment of the th Division, which had just occupied the Shuanghuajian Heights, also engaged in a melee with the Japanese troops that rushed up under the command of the regiment commander Huang Hong.

The battle did not last very long. After only fifteen minutes, the 284th Regiment of the th Division, which had not yet established a firm foothold, was recaptured the Shuanghuajian Heights by the Japanese attacking forces.

However, although the 236nd Battalion of the th Regiment of the Japanese Army recaptured the defensive position on the top of Shuanghuajian Heights, in the fierce fighting, the commander of the nd Battalion, Major Hideo Mizusawa, the commander of the th Squadron, Lieutenant Sekida Ikichi, and the commander of the th Squadron, Lieutenant Miyake Yoshichi, all died. In addition, twelve officers and more than soldiers went to see Amaterasu.

Of course, the casualties of the 284th Regiment of the th Division of the Chinese government were equally huge, and the regiment commander Huang Hong also died heroically in this battle.

While the 284th Regiment of the 360th Division of the Huaxia government attacked the Shuanghuajian Heights, the th Regiment of the th Division, led by its commander Zhang Gong, also launched an attack on the Xiangudian Heights.

However, this time, the commander of the 360th Regiment, Zhang Gong, changed the direction of attack. He first led his troops under the cover of thick fog and quietly climbed to the hillside of Xiangudian Highland from the northwest. Then he suddenly threw grenades at the Japanese troops on the top of the mountain, followed by fierce shooting with light and heavy machine guns.

During the fierce battle, a wall of the small temple on the top of the mountain was collapsed by mortar shells, but the Japanese troops on the Xiangudian high ground still relied on the temple and fought desperately, and the battle was extremely stalemate.

Lieutenant Rokuguruma Hideshige, the captain of the 3rd Squadron of the Japanese Army, was also constantly commanding the officers and soldiers in the temple to resist. After finally repelling the attack of the Chinese army a little, the captain felt it necessary to walk out of the temple to inspect the situation of his own position.

(Thanks to the gift support from Weiguogong who loves beef jerky, Mizong who only eats dumplings without vinegar, and who loves lamb and zucchini! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)