A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

"Attack across the board!" Gui Shuaizhen, the commander of the Training Corps, gave the order.

The 1st and 2nd Regiments of the Training Corps, along with the Special Service Battalion, launched a fierce attack across the entire front, stretching from Sanzhang Village and Yantou Village in the north to Beihui Dongfang Village and Jiang Village in the south. Further south, the 28th Division of the Central Army also launched an attack simultaneously to support the operation.

Immediately, gunfire erupted, and the entire Chishui River defense line of the Southeast Army was engaged in combat, bearing immense pressure on the front lines.

Song Hongfei issued a series of orders via vehicle-mounted radio:

"1st Company, launch an attack on the left flank of Qinglong Village and cut off the enemy's main trenches from the western positions of Qinglong Village!"

"2nd Company, coordinate with the armored infantry and tanks to attack from the rear of the trench on the west side! Battalion artillery fire will extend along the southwest trench depth to engage the enemy's follow-up trench echelons!"

"3rd Company, quickly advance southwestward into the open area on the south bank of the Wei River! Artillery Battalion of the General Corps, bombard the newly dug enemy trenches north of Changmin Village!"

Two Sd.Kfz.221 armored vehicles of the Central Army drove out from the east and west ends of Yantou Village, and the vehicle-mounted machine guns opened fire fiercely. The two villages were only a little over 200 meters apart. The Central Army's mortar fire was extremely fierce and accurate, and it quickly suppressed the Southeast Army's firepower. The sergeant battalion and the special service battalion then launched a fierce attack from both flanks.

The remnants of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the Southeast Army were defending the position north of Qinglong Village, while a company of the 3rd Battalion was stationed at the main trench position on the northwest side of the village. At this moment, both groups of defenders were in a state of panic, and the position of Qinglong Village was in imminent danger under the fierce attack of the Central Army from both flanks.

The 1st Company of the Sergeant Battalion advanced from the southwest of Yantou Village, cutting off the connection between the main trench of the Southeast Army and Qinglong Village. The two enemy units were separated and unable to support each other, and were thrown into chaos. The positions north and northwest of Qinglong Village were like boiling water, with fierce fighting everywhere and bursts of dense grenade explosions from time to time.

"Machine guns and submachine guns provide cover! All squads, charge forward, use plenty of grenades, and drive the Southeast Army out of the trenches!" Wang Jingxiong, the company commander of the 1st Company of the Sergeant Battalion, roared.

Dust and sand kicked up by bullets flew everywhere, and the Southeast Army soldiers, convulsing from the dense barrage of automatic weapons, fell one after another into the trenches. The battle instantly intensified. Without any exposition or supervision, the soldiers on both sides understood one thing: if they didn't eliminate the enemy, they would die. War is that cruel; killing the enemy or being killed by the enemy is that simple!

The MP28 submachine guns of the sergeant battalion have extremely terrifying firepower and lethality in close-range trench warfare. At such close range, the spray often hits multiple targets, tearing open horrific bloody holes in the bodies. The wounded are unlikely to survive and will die from blood loss in a very short time. The scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere strongly stimulates the soldiers' taut nerves.

"Hold on! Hold on! Don't retreat!" Seeing his soldiers about to collapse and retreating, the Southeast Army company commander waved his pistol and roared.

A soldier tumbled and crawled out of the left-wing communication trench, his face deathly pale, his whole body trembling, his mouth agape but too terrified to utter a complete sentence: "Company, company, company commander—"

The Southeast Army company commander cursed, "You son of a bitch! Spit it out!"

The soldier pointed to his left rear with a trembling hand, his voice shaking with extreme fear: "Rear, behind, tanks, tanks!"

The Southeast Army company commander was terrified. He ran to the rear of the position and saw tanks and armored vehicles emerging from the darkness and morning mist like menacing steel monsters, approaching with an overwhelming momentum, as if they wanted to devour his position.

The Southeast Army company commander felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. His lips trembled as he stammered, "Damn it, they have no sportsmanship. So many tanks..."

The Central Army's tank formation drew ever closer, the biting wind whipping past like knives, raising clouds of dust behind the tanks, and the infantry following behind them could be seen advancing steadily.

Several heavy machine gunners from the Southeast Army fired a long burst of fire at the tank. A dense volley of bullets made the armor of the tank at the front clang loudly, but it was of no use. Apart from leaving small dents in the paint, the tank continued to advance without slowing down.

This fearless heavy machine gun position has been locked onto, and the zigzag machine gun on the vehicle fired a string of tracer rounds, clearly indicating the target to the artillery.

The tank commander, his eyes glued to the sights, roared, "Left 18! Elevation 2 degrees! Prepare grenades!"

"Boom!" A deafening explosion!

A 47mm tank shell blasted the firing point into the air, scattering Maxim heavy machine gun parts and human remains everywhere.

The fire support formation unleashed a barrage of mortars and artillery fire, creating a spray of blood on the defending positions.

Within a short distance of a few hundred meters, more armored vehicles opened fire. The armored troops were conducting a routine formation training exercise in an orderly manner. The vehicles of each platoon searched, stopped, aimed, fired, and advanced in sequence. The 7.92mm machine guns and 47mm tank guns carried out firepower firing drills to their hearts' content.

The 20mm autocannon on the Sd.Kfz.222 armored vehicle fired at an extremely high rate, blasting earthworks to shreds. Some panicked soldiers were directly hit by the high-speed spinning projectiles, their flesh and blood torn to shreds, turning into bursts of blood and gore. This gruesome and terrifying scene was utterly horrifying, a powerful physical and psychological shock to the soldiers who witnessed it. Even Song Hongfei, observing the battle from the rear with binoculars, felt a chill run down his spine.

Song Hongfei silently recalled a saying that circulated in the military in later generations: "Put the anti-aircraft guns flat, and you'll be sentenced to a military court!"

A young soldier from the Southeast Army was splattered with the brains of his comrade who had just exploded in front of him. He was so terrified that he screamed hysterically. His wide, horrified eyes gradually became dull and numb. He stood there dumbfounded in the trench, his eyes empty, yet a strange and chilling smile appeared on his face.

The soldier miraculously escaped being hit by the fierce fighting, without any wounds on his body, but his soul was scattered. Although he lived for several more decades afterward, he became mentally impaired, unable to express himself in a complete sentence, and often screamed in terror from nightmares.

The bloodshed and cruelty of war, and the extent of its trauma and devastation to people, are unimaginable to those who have not experienced the battlefield firsthand.

The Southeast Army company commander was plunged into despair. He had no heavy firepower to counterattack, and even his only heavy machine gun, which he had positioned at the highest point in front of him in order to achieve a wide field of fire, was blown away by a single shot from the enemy.

On the Southeast Army's defensive positions, the soldiers were trembling with fear, their fingers shaking as if they no longer belonged to them. Any soldier who could still hold a gun at this moment was considered to have a strong mentality.

The left-wing armored assault formation has fully deployed its platoon-level combat units, like several indestructible arrows piercing straight in with overwhelming momentum, unstoppable!

The Southeast Army defenders felt the ground beneath their feet begin to tremble, and even the air seemed to be shaking. The roaring engines and the faintly audible creaking of the steel tracks sounded like the death knell of hell, sending chills down their spines.

The defending company commander witnessed an even more horrifying scene: far behind this torrent of steel, another, even larger torrent of steel was sweeping into their own territory under the cover of fierce artillery fire along the plains along the banks of the Wei River, raising clouds of dust and sweeping across the land like a tiger!

The deep positions in the southwest direction had long been covered by the Central Army's artillery fire and were engulfed in flames.

"Straight ahead to the rear of the 105th Division!" This was a judgment that the defending company commander was still able to make at this moment, but he had no time to think about anything else, and he closed his eyes in despair.

"Messenger, report to battalion headquarters immediately! More than 10 enemy tanks are launching a fierce attack on our position from the left flank! Another formation is also flanking and attacking southwestward along the riverbank!"

In his panic and helplessness, this was the only solution the Southeast Army company commander could think of at that moment.

The defending soldiers were in a state of panic and despair, their spirits collapsed, and they had long lost the will to resist. In their terrified minds, there was only one thought: escape for your lives!

The soldiers who could still move their hands and feet fled in panic to the rear.