A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

On the night of the 22nd, the starlight was faint.

Starting at 3:00 a.m., three infantry companies from the Training Corps Sergeant Battalion on the west bank of the Yuxian River began their covert operations towards designated locations in the northeast, east, and southeast directions from Sanzhang Village.

Although it was the first time the sergeant battalion had been on the battlefield, after several months of hard training, their tactical and technical skills had greatly improved. The soldiers' agile movements and actions, relying on the terrain and features, as well as their resolute and courageous gazes and expressions, all demonstrated their well-trained nature and strong fighting will.

More than an hour later, the assault teams of each company had secretly advanced to a position about 500 to 600 meters from the front of Sanzhang Village. The defending troops were completely unaware of this, and their positions remained calm as usual.

The communications platoon had advanced with the attacking company and laid telephone lines, while the supply platoon was busy delivering supplies and ammunition to the front. Two infantry guns from the infantry artillery platoon were reinforced for Zhang Yi's main attacking 3rd Company. The artillery platoon disassembled the 47mm anti-tank guns, carried them on their backs, and followed the 3rd Company to the designated positions. They then reassembled the guns and prepared for direct fire.

The battalion's mortar company's four 82mm mortars were deployed at a pre-arranged position about 800 meters east of Sanzhang Village. To the left of the mortar position was the artillery battalion's field gun company, and further back, outside the west bank of the Yuxian River, was the mountain artillery company's position, with the dark muzzles of the four mountain guns already marked on targets more than a thousand meters away.

Each team successively reported that they had moved to their designated positions.

Song Hongfei ordered: "All companies, take cover and await orders, and prepare for the attack!"

Before long, all the companies reported that they were ready for battle.

The soldiers in the sergeant battalion held their Type 24 semi-automatic rifles, the veterans' piercing eyes resolute and sharp, all silently waiting. Some soldiers, new to combat, were nervous yet somewhat excited, their faces pale.

"Remember, don't be nervous!" The platoon leaders crouched low and crept into the squads' formations, whispering instructions, "New recruits follow the veterans, don't panic when the guns start! Squad and group leaders, lead your troops according to the combat formation, fight the way you practice! The enemy only has one company, and their weapons aren't as good as ours! Remember, this is a battlefield where you must fight to the death! Don't hesitate, don't be afraid of bloodshed! Otherwise, you'll be the one who dies! Understand?!"

"Understood." The voices were a little uneven; the new recruits, experiencing the battlefield for the first time, were naturally nervous.

"When a man dies, he flies to the sky. What's there to be nervous about!" The platoon leader looked at the recruit's pale face and said dismissively, "Everyone started as a recruit. You'll be fine after one battle! Remember, we've trained for so long, and we're the strongest! Now it's time to prove to everyone that our sergeant battalion isn't just all talk! We've earned our reputation on the battlefield!"

"Do you understand?!" the platoon leader roared in a low voice.

"Understood!" Everyone listened carefully, their voices becoming firmer and their confidence growing.

At 5 a.m., the sky was still gloomy and dark, with few stars and the earth was silent.

Suddenly, a flare struck the sky above Sanzhang Village, slowly descending and illuminating the defending troops' positions as if it were daytime. The loudspeakers on the sergeant's battalion's position blared: "Brothers of the Southeast Army, get up! Evacuate immediately! Once the shelling starts, it will be a river of blood! Cherish your lives, evacuate now! Evacuate now!"

The Southeast Army garrison was kept awake all night by the loudspeaker that kept going off. They were furious and cursed, "Damn it, when will this ever end!"

Some hot-tempered soldiers from the Southeast Army cursed angrily: "Damn it, is this ever going to end?! If you're so capable, fire the cannon! Fire it!"

Before the words were finished, a loud "boom" was heard!

The soldier who was shouting and cursing felt a sudden jolt in his heart and eardrums, and his head was buzzing. He turned around and looked at the watchtower on the edge of the village, dumbfounded.

As the 3rd Company of the Sergeant Battalion advanced, a 47mm direct-fire gun fired at close range. The first shell it fired hit the largest pillbox in the lead, causing the entire pillbox to shake violently, thick smoke to billow out, bricks and stones to fly, and a black hole the size of a window to be blasted through it.

The loudspeaker blared again: "Final warning! Evacuate immediately! Evacuate immediately! Artillery fire in 5 minutes! Artillery fire in 5 minutes!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Get into the fortifications! Get into the fortifications! Don't run around, take cover!" The Southeast Army's company commander and several platoon leaders ran around with their pistols, shouting at the soldiers who were running around in all directions.

At this moment, to the south, the main forces of the Training Corps' 1st and 2nd Regiments, along with the 28th Division, had already unleashed a fierce barrage of artillery fire and heavy machine guns. Immediately, the Southeast Army also launched a fierce counterattack with artillery fire. Instantly, gunfire erupted, trajectories of bullets pierced the night sky, constantly crisscrossing in the air, and shells exploded with deafening roars upon landing. The intense artillery fire even illuminated the sky.

"Reporting to the battalion commander, they are not withdrawing. It seems they are determined to fight to the bitter end!" The attack company of the sergeant battalion reported from the front line.

Song Hongfei's face was ashen, his gaze fixed sternly on the dark village in the distance, without uttering a word. He had done everything he could; there was no room for sentimentality in war.

"Bang!" "Bang!" Two red signal flares immediately soared into the air, illuminating the dark sky above the south bank of the Wei River.

"Boom!" "Boom!" Two cannon shots rang out almost simultaneously from behind the position of the 3rd Company, the main attacking force of the sergeant battalion. The brick and stone watchtower on the northeast edge of Sanzhang Village, which was used to defend against bandits, was hit by two 47mm flat-fire cannon shells almost at the same time, and its main supporting structure was blown off.

At the same time, "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" The battalion's 82mm mortar company, under Song Hongfei's command, had also opened fire. Each mortar fired four rounds rapidly, and the shells, like black crows, fell from the sky and crashed into the defenders' fortifications, exploding in flashes of light and billowing smoke.

Almost immediately afterward, an even more chilling sound tore through the air above the battlefield. It was the roar of 75mm mountain guns from the rear, with metal bullets carrying the aura of death whistling as they hurtled towards the enemy, forming orange-red trajectories in the sky. The defending positions were immediately engulfed in smoke and fire.

Amidst the earth-shaking explosions, shockwaves carried choking smoke and flying shrapnel, sending human remains, fragments of clothing, and broken weapon parts flying into the air and scattering everywhere.

In order to achieve the element of surprise in the artillery bombardment, Song Hongfei required that each gun not be test-fired before the battle, but instead that the firing parameters be determined by precision methods, so that the first round of shells from mountain guns, mortars and field guns could hit their respective targets simultaneously.

Song Hongfei observed carefully; the first round of shelling had a good effect, and he was quite satisfied.

Gui Shuaizhen and the officers and gunners of the artillery battalion were incredibly impressed with Song Hongfei. This could be considered the first time that the Chinese National Army's artillery had used indirect fire in combat, and it happened at night!

For a long time, the artillery of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army has been using the outdated direct firing method. The current "Artillery Training Manual" is no different from the artillery manual of the early Beiyang period, while the indirect firing method has become popular among the world's major military powers since World War I.

During the Battle of Nantianmen in the Great Wall Resistance, the Chinese National Revolutionary Army deployed its most elite artillery regiments—the 3rd, 4th, and 7th—which were not inferior in terms of artillery performance and quantity. However, in actual combat, the Chinese artillery was quickly and easily suppressed by the Japanese army. Subsequently, the Japanese army, with ample time to prepare, conducted comprehensive and destructive fire, destroying all exposed firing points on the Chinese positions, resulting in heavy losses for the Chinese army.

The greatest advantage of the Japanese artillery lay in its advanced tactics. It positioned its artillery in concealed locations such as reverse slopes and valleys, where it was difficult for the Chinese to observe, allowing for indirect fire. The Japanese artillery didn't even need test firings; after precise observation, they could directly determine the firing parameters on maps and immediately suppress and bombard the Chinese artillery.

The indirect artillery firing of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army was pioneered by Sergeant Song Hongfei's battalion. He relied on an infantry artillery platoon attached to the brigade to conduct infantry-artillery coordination training in the 3rd Company. At the same time, he also carried out comprehensive tactical innovations in firing command, observation, geodesy, and communication. During combat, a precise grid coordinate fire table was drawn for the firing area. Artillery observers only needed to work on the map to calculate accurate firing data and could launch a rapid artillery attack directly without test firing.

Even at night, the artillery fire could hit the target with perfect accuracy, as if it had eyes!