BSI Chapter 219 Encirclement and Reinforcements: A Massacre Begins
Chapter 219 Encirclement and Reinforcements: A Massacre Begins
Locking in the twilight years of dark clouds, locking in, locking in every update of "I put you in charge of the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a German-equipped division."
Only six or seven hours after the general offensive began, two blocks in the western part of Huainan City had already been completely captured by the Third Column.
The attacking forces continued to expand their occupied territory, while simultaneously using artillery fire to destroy more city walls, facilitating the entry of subsequent troops.
Ohno Nobuaki originally thought that with this city wall, they could at least hold out for a few more days.
In retrospect, it seems that all of this was just wishful thinking on his part.
The enemy's artillery density and the impact capability of its tank units far exceeded his expectations.
His years of tactical training at the Army NCO School rendered him a laughingstock in the face of such unreasonable firepower.
He grabbed the phone and, with trembling hands, dialed the brigade command.
As soon as the call connected, he started yelling in a tearful voice.
"Brigade Commander! Hurry! The enemy's offensive is too fierce!"
"Those tanks are endless, they're flooding the city like a tsunami! We can't hold them off any longer!"
On the other end of the phone, Mitsuru Ushijima's voice maintained the composure and calmness of a soldier.
If you listen carefully, you can hear the urgency that can't be hidden in his tone.
"Stay calm! Ohno-kun, you have to stay calm!"
"I'm leading the main force of the brigade at full speed to reinforce them. The division headquarters has given our 36th Brigade all the trucks they can mobilize!"
"We'll definitely reach Huainan before dawn!"
To speed up the march, Mitsuru Ushijima's 36th Brigade achieved basic motorization.
Thousands of soldiers crammed into hundreds of trucks, speeding wildly through the night along the highway from Gushi to Huainan.
On the bumpy road, the truck bounced violently, and the Japanese soldiers inside clung tightly to the railings.
Tension was written all over everyone's face, and they gripped their rifles tightly.
After several hours of forced marching, they were less than 30 kilometers away from Huainan.
The tank detachment of Baicheng Mountain did not participate in the attack on Huainan from beginning to end.
They had concealed themselves in advance on the only road from Gushi to Huainan, ready to trap the Japanese reinforcements.
Reconnaissance soldiers had been deployed ahead of time, constantly transmitting the movements of the Japanese army through their communication equipment.
Bai Chengshan sat in the Puma armored command vehicle, listening to the reconnaissance results reported loudly by the communications soldier, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Reporting to the detachment commander! The 45th Regiment of the Japanese 36th Brigade is marching at full speed along the road towards our position!"
"They're moving very fast; they're expected to make contact with our main force in about an hour!"
"As expected, the 36th Brigade of Ushijima Mitsuru arrived the fastest."
Bai Chengshan slammed his fist into the bulkhead, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.
"Order the troops to immediately deploy into battle formation!"
"Once the main force of the Japanese 45th Regiment is fully encircled, launch a general offensive immediately!"
The tank detachment at Baicheng Mountain was ordered to block all Japanese reinforcements heading to Huainan.
He just hadn't expected these Japanese soldiers to arrive so quickly; it seemed they had really brought out all their resources.
At exactly one o'clock in the morning, the darkest hour of the night.
The lead truck of the Japanese 45th Regiment was speeding along the road when suddenly a loud explosion blew the entire vehicle into the air.
"Boom!!!!!"
The pre-planted anti-tank mine was triggered, and the violent explosion blew the entire front of the vehicle away.
The truck flipped in the air before crashing heavily onto the road, bursting into flames.
The speeding convoy was instantly forced to stop on the narrow road.
Before the Japanese troops could react, a sharp whistling sound came from the hills on both sides of the road.
The tank detachment's howitzers, field guns, and self-propelled artillery launched a full-coverage fire attack on the Japanese convoy on the road.
"Boom!!!!!"
The explosions instantly engulfed the entire highway, and flames rose and fell in the darkness, illuminating the area as if it were daytime.
Trucks loaded with Japanese soldiers and ammunition were hit and destroyed one after another by artillery shells.
The ammunition inside the carriage was detonated, causing a secondary explosion that turned the entire vehicle into a huge fireball.
The Japanese soldiers on the truck scrambled off the sides of the truck amidst the officer's shouts.
Some hid under trucks, some jumped into the drainage ditches on both sides of the road, and some rolled into the craters that had just been created by the explosion.
But just as they found cover, a new round of artillery fire came down on them again.
The blast wave overturned the truck, crushing the Japanese soldiers hiding underneath into a bloody pulp.
Almost simultaneously with the artillery barrage, Bai Chengshan gave the order to charge the main force of the tanks.
"Charge!!! Crush them!!!"
At a single command, the tank units hidden in the woods on both sides of the road instantly started their engines.
The Puma armored vehicles, M3 armored tracked vehicles, and Type 234 armored tracked vehicles all rushed down from the hills at the same time.
They moved at a steady pace, following closely behind the artillery fire, waiting for the moment when the artillery fire would extend.
After ten minutes of artillery barrage, the highway was littered with burning truck wrecks and mangled corpses.
The screams and cries of the Japanese soldiers rose and fell in the darkness, creating utter chaos.
The shelling was over, but for the Japanese 45th Regiment that had been ambushed, the nightmare had only just begun.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!"
The roar of tank engines echoed through the valley as a large number of modified armored vehicles, now at full power, charged toward the Japanese troops on the road.
"Maintain formation!! Watch out for enemy tanks!!! Set up anti-tank guns!!!"
The Japanese commander brandished his sword and roared hoarsely, trying to reorganize his chaotic troops.
But it was all too late.
The two sides were too close, and once the tank units floored the accelerator, they could reach them in just a few minutes.
These Japanese soldiers didn't even have time to unload the anti-tank guns from the trucks.
Before they could even load the shells into the cannon, the steel torrent was already upon them.
The vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun roared first, and a dense barrage of bullets rained down like a storm.
Immediately afterwards, the vehicle-mounted artillery roared, and high-explosive shells exploded one after another in the dense crowd of Japanese soldiers.
"Da da da!!!! Boom boom boom!!!!"
Gunshots, cannon fire, screams, and the sound of tracks crushing the ground intertwined to create a symphony of hell.
Under intense fire, the tank tracks and wheels had already crushed into the chaotic formation of the Japanese troops.
The inevitable massacre had officially begun.
The Japanese soldiers who put up a stubborn resistance were mowed down by machine gun fire.
Soldiers attempting to escape were rammed by armored vehicles and crushed under their tracks.
The narrow road became the graveyard of the Japanese 45th Regiment.
In the darkness, only the firelight of the chariots continued to flicker, like the scythe of death, reaping lives time and time again.