A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

The two watchtowers on the outskirts of Sanzhang Village, which were the first to bear the brunt of the attack, collapsed after being bombarded by several types of artillery shells, including 47mm flat-fire cannons, 82mm mortars, and 75mm mountain guns.

The soldiers of the Southeast Army understood that the other side had already shown great mercy and given them five minutes to escape.

Aside from the first pillbox, which was fired as a warning and suffered several casualties among the platoon stationed inside, all the soldiers in the other pillboxes had already fled. Nobody was stupid, and no one, no matter how reckless, would dare to stay inside and be directly hit by artillery fire. The dark, gaping hole in the first pillbox was the most chilling warning.

Illumination flares were fired intermittently from the air, allowing the artillery to observe the effects of the shelling and correct firing deviations. The Southeast Army's defensive positions were subjected to intense artillery fire.

Song Hongfei issued several orders to each company in succession:

"The 3rd and 1st Company assault formations shall immediately move toward their designated assault positions!"

"The mortar company shall maintain accompanying fire cover for the 3rd and 1st companies!"

"The infantry artillery platoon attached to the 3rd Company will engage in close-range direct fire to destroy the remaining enemy strongpoints!"

"The cadet company shall remain on high alert! Send a platoon forward to the outpost to conduct a feint and diversionary maneuver!"

"The artillery battalion's mountain artillery company and field artillery company shall provide fire suppression for the designated targets and exposed firing positions!"

The Southeast Army's garrison company commander was somewhat dazed by the bombardment; the Central Army's artillery fire was too intense! A single round of shelling had caused considerable casualties to his company, and the painful cries of wounded soldiers could be heard everywhere.

The defending company commander shouted, "Messenger, immediately report the situation to the battalion headquarters and request artillery support!"

But the garrison company commander himself knew that this was pure wishful thinking. Putting aside everything else, given the level of the Southeast Army's artillery, in the dark, the long-range artillery fire from the rear could not accurately hit the target.

"Company commander, the enemy is rapidly advancing towards our front line in skirmish lines!" the forward position reported to him.

When the defending company commander ran to the front line, he saw that the two enemy attack formations had already deployed into battle formation and were approaching from the northeast and due east directions, taking advantage of the terrain and features, under the cover of artillery and mortar fire from the rear.

"Mortise and heavy machine guns, fire! Provide fire support! Disrupt the enemy formation!" shouted the Southeast Army's defending company commander.

Immediately, gunfire erupted from the Southeast Army's defensive positions. Heavy machine gun emplacements opened fire fiercely, and the Maxim machine gunners, being very experienced, fired rhythmic long bursts, soon spitting out long tongues of fire from their guns.

"Boom!" "Boom!" The two 82mm mortars assigned to the regiment also began firing.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!" The heavy machine guns of the 3rd and 1st companies, which were the main and auxiliary attackers of the sergeant battalion, immediately roared, providing continuous heavy machine gun cover fire, with flames shooting out from the muzzles more than a meter long. Each attacking company was reinforced with a machine gun platoon, plus the two machine guns that each company was equipped with, now each attacking company was equipped with as many as five heavy machine guns.

Then, intense heavy machine gun fire erupted from the southeast, as Liao Jianchu's cadet company began a feint attack.

The defending company commander turned pale. Just from the heavy machine guns alone, he could hear the continuous firing of more than ten heavy machine guns that were surrounding them from three directions. Judging from the Central Army's firepower configuration, were there three heavy machine gun companies? Add to that the numerous mountain guns and anti-tank guns, and it must be at least a regiment's worth of troops.

He was beginning to have deep self-doubt. Was his single company really worth the Central Army mobilizing an entire reinforced regiment's manpower and firepower?! This was outrageous!

Under the fierce resistance of the defending troops' mortar and heavy machine gun fire, the advance of the Central Army's attack formation seemed to slow down, but it quickly recovered.

The firepower of two 82mm mortars and two heavy machine guns was too weak to face the fierce attacks from three directions. In particular, the two heavy machine guns could not form a crossfire. Although they made a lot of noise, the actual effect was not great. The defending company commander couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

However, he overlooked a fatal flaw: the moment his mortars and heavy machine guns opened fire, the enemy had already located him. After only two or three rounds, a fierce barrage of suppressive fire rained down upon him! And it was a simultaneous counterattack from 75mm mountain guns, 82mm mortars, and anti-tank guns—it was outrageous!

Overwhelmed with grief and indignation, he suddenly awoke with a start, utterly astonished: "How could the enemy's artillery fire be so accurate in the darkness?!"

The defending company commander watched in horror as his only heavy firepower was decimated by enemy artillery fire. Two mortars were blown into the air, and the gunners suffered heavy casualties. One heavy machine gun emplacement was also destroyed, leaving only one heavy machine gun in the trench that was fortunate enough to survive. However, the remaining machine gunner dared not fire again and was shouting for help to move the machine gun.

The garrison company commander turned back to look out and saw something unbelievable: in just a short while, the Central Army's heavy machine gun had moved forward a considerable distance! It had been five or six hundred meters away, but in the blink of an eye, it had almost reached 300 meters.

He stared in disbelief, unable to believe his eyes, but he was certain he wasn't mistaken. In the darkness, the gun muzzles were fiercely spitting out long streams of flame, highly visible, and occasionally firing tracer rounds to indicate targets to the artillery. The dense sound and sustained firing capability confirmed that they were undoubtedly heavy machine guns.

Heavy machine guns accompanying infantry attacks?! This was unheard of! His shock was beyond words.

"Messenger, call the battalion headquarters! Requesting reinforcements!" shouted the defending company commander.

Unexpectedly, the call from the battalion headquarters came before him. The battalion commander of the Southeast Army roared, "What's the situation in your company? How many troops does the enemy have?"

The defending company commander replied, "The enemy's firepower is fierce, and my company has suffered heavy losses. We cannot give a specific count of casualties at the moment, but the unit is still in place! It's dark, so we can't see the enemy's strength clearly, but judging from the artillery and heavy machine guns, it's at least a regiment! I only have one heavy machine gun left, and I request reinforcements!"

The battalion commander was furious: "What?! We didn't even see the enemy in a single exchange, and we've already suffered such heavy losses? What are you good for?!"

Amidst the fierce gunfire, the defending company commander shouted, "The enemy's artillery fire is too intense! The enemy infantry, under fire cover, has now closed to within 200-300 meters! Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements! Or perhaps some artillery support! Artillery support!"

Despite his fury, the battalion commander remained calm. From his headquarters on the west bank of the Chishui River, he could hear the Central Army's fierce artillery fire—mountain guns, field guns, mortars, and extremely dense heavy machine gun fire. Judging from the Central Army's usual equipment configuration, it was at least the firepower of a reinforced regiment. It was unrealistic to expect anything more from his subordinates when a regiment was attacking just one of his companies.

The battalion commander immediately said, "Your company should hold your ground and wait for reinforcements! I will report to the regimental commander right away and request that he allocate two mortars to provide you with fire support."

The battalion commander was also anxious, as he had run out of cannons.

Each infantry regiment of the Southeast Army had one 82mm mortar company with six mortars, one heavy machine gun company with twelve Maxim heavy machine guns, and one 4-gun 37mm anti-tank gun company. Infantry battalions did not have their own battalion-level mortars and heavy machine guns; these had to be assigned to them by the regiment during combat. He deployed the two mortars assigned to his battalion at a stronghold on the east bank of the Chishui River to strengthen suppressive fire, but unexpectedly, the two mortars were destroyed in a single round of enemy attack, meaning that one-third of the regiment's mortars were lost.

"Yes! I will hold out for reinforcements! But reinforcements must come quickly! Quickly!" the defending company commander shouted, then his voice turned somber. "The enemy's firepower is too strong. They have formed a three-sided encirclement. I don't know how much longer we can hold out."

The battalion commander's eyes welled up with tears. He knew the situation was extremely critical, and his men had done their best.