129: Chapter 129 Turning Defense into Offense
At the height of the night, the Chinese Soldiers of the 5th Regiment divided into teams of one hundred, breaking up into smaller units and dispersing as they advanced toward the positions of the Little Devils.
After two days of attacks, the Little Devils were extremely lax.
The artillery units, gas units, and medical teams had no infantry protection.
At this moment in the base camp of the Little Devils, a group of Japanese Officers was discussing strategies for the next day's assault.
"Your Excellency Colonel, tomorrow will be the third day. The Division Commander's order is for us to take Zijin Mountain within three days at all costs," a Japanese Officer spoke up.
He looked toward Noda Ken, the Regimental Commander who was seated at the head of the table.
"Over the past two days, the Chinese Defenders on Zijin Mountain have resisted with extraordinary tenacity. The enemy has suffered significant losses, but our regiment has also suffered heavily. The 1st Battalion was completely wiped out, and the other battalions have also suffered substantial losses."
"Now that all the Red Canisters and flamethrower troops have been deployed, I believe we can launch a full-scale assault tomorrow and take Zijin Mountain in one fell swoop," another Japanese Officer said, expressing his thoughts.
As the overall commander of this battle, Noda Ken watched the discussion among the officers below him.
Having been thwarted for two consecutive days of attacks, this had somewhat exceeded his expectations.
Originally, in his estimation, this battle should have ended within two days at the earliest.
But this time, it seemed they had encountered a tough nut to crack.
Having fought for two consecutive days, the loss of manpower had already exceeded initial projections several times over.
This was the most difficult battle their regiment had fought since entering China.
Personnel losses were already approaching one-third.
In past battles, they had always been invincible and victorious.
"Your Excellency Colonel, I also believe we can launch a full-scale assault tomorrow," another officer spoke up.
"Seconded."
The other Japanese Officers all chimed in to support this suggestion.
Upon hearing the suggestions from the officers below, Noda Ken pretended to hesitate and think for a moment.
Eventually, he agreed to this decision.
They would launch a full-scale assault tomorrow to take the Zijin Mountain position in one fell swoop.
After the meeting concluded, all the Japanese Officers left.
...
On the other side, the two thousand Chinese Soldiers of the 5th Regiment gradually approached the various positions of the Little Devils.
Their mission was to destroy these positions.
Besides that, they were to locate the Command Post of the Little Devils.
If they could wipe out the Command Post of the Little Devils, that would be for the best.
Even if they couldn't, they would still be able to delay them for some time, buying more time for the defenders on the mountain.
For this mission, their main objective was to defend.
Of course, if they could turn defense into offense and rout the Little Devils in one fell swoop, that would be even better.
It was just that this felt somewhat difficult.
With the disparity in equipment and being cut off from reinforcements, the difficulty of taking the initiative to attack was too great.
Regimental Commander Zhao Liang of the 5th Regiment was followed by three teams of one hundred men; their target was the artillery position of the Little Devils.
According to custom, the artillerymen of the Little Devils would fire at the positions on Zijin Mountain around five or six in the morning.
It was now two o'clock in the morning, and they had arrived outside the artillery position of the Little Devils.
Just as they had anticipated, the artillery units of the Little Devils had absolutely no circular infantry defense.
The infantry of the Little Devils had all been sent to fight on the front lines.
Perhaps the Little Devils did not think at all that there would be enemies attacking them.
After all, the enemies were all hunkered down on the mountain, and for the past two days, they had been beaten so badly that those Chinese Defenders did not even dare to show their heads.
The invincible victories on the Chinese battlefield had long since made them somewhat arrogant.
Regimental Commander Zhao Liang and a group of Chinese Soldiers hid in the darkness.
They were all wearing homemade camouflage suits, so even when moving in the dark night, they were not easily discovered.
The defenses at the artillery position of the Little Devils were extremely lax.
Seeing this, Regimental Commander Zhao Liang immediately arranged for a 20-man squad to sneak up.
They were all carrying bayonets, and their task was to go up and kill the night-watch Little Devils silently.
At the artillery position of the Little Devils, the number of Little Devils on night watch was not high.
Coupled with the fact that it was around two o'clock in the morning, these night-watch Little Devils had long since begun to doze off.
Their mental state had long since begun to daze, and they were just about to collapse.
The twenty Chinese Soldiers quickly and silently sneaked onto the position of the Little Devils.
They seized the opportunity and struck together, killing the few Little Devils on the outermost perimeter.
Afterward, they continued to sneak forward.
Behind them, a Chinese Soldier rushed back to the main force to report the news.
"Regimental Commander, the mission is proceeding smoothly; we have already taken care of the outermost sentries of the Little Devils. The defenses of the sentries of the Little Devils are very lax, and we can move in."
Upon hearing that progress was smooth, Regimental Commander Zhao Liang's face revealed a happy smile.
"1st Team, 2nd Team, and 3rd Team, all follow up. Tonight, we're going to give these Little Devils a big surprise and blow up all the artillery of the Little Devils."
The Chinese Soldiers nearby heard this and immediately nodded.
Their goal was not just to kill the artillerymen of the Little Devils, but more importantly, to destroy the heavy artillery of the Little Devils.
These heavy artillery pieces posed too great a threat to the defensive fortifications on Zijin Mountain.
If it weren't for the shelling from these heavy artillery pieces, the casualties of the defenders on the mountain could be reduced by more than half.
Furthermore, it would be much more difficult for the Little Devils to break into the defensive fortifications on the mountain.
In order to destroy these heavy artillery pieces, he had specifically brought high explosives.
Besides that, he had also brought combat engineers; in case of necessity, the artillery shells of the Little Devils could also be used as explosives.
Then, the artillery could be blown up together with them.
Using the explosives of the Little Devils to blow up the Little Devils.
Two teams of one hundred men plus seventy soldiers followed and sneaked into the position.
Regimental Commander Zhao Liang also wanted to follow, but he was stopped by the Chinese Soldier beside him.
This was his Guard.
"Regimental Commander, it is dangerous up ahead; you cannot go and take risks."
"How dangerous can it be? We don't have enough manpower right now; everyone who can go must go, including this Regimental Commander," Regimental Commander Zhao Liang glared at this Guard.
"Regimental Commander, my mission is to be responsible for protecting your safety. The troops are now relying entirely on you to command."
The Guard tried to persuade him once more.
Upon hearing this, Regimental Commander Zhao Liang did not insist any further.
The reason he wanted to go up this time was because the Little Devils were too lax.
He felt that this operation would not involve too much danger.
As it turned out, his Guard still refused.
At this moment, there were still nine Chinese Soldiers beside him.
Seeing this, Regimental Commander Zhao Liang felt that there were still too many people left behind.
"You five go and help as well; leaving four people is enough, we don't need so many people. If there are more hands over there, the success rate will be higher," Regimental Commander Zhao Liang looked at the few people beside him and spoke slowly.
"But, Regimental Commander, will this number be too small?"
"It won't be; you all hurry and follow up, that is an order."
Regimental Commander Zhao Liang said sternly.
The other few Chinese Soldiers heard this and immediately stood up to follow the main force in front.
At this moment, there were only four Guards protecting Regimental Commander Zhao Liang.
However, Regimental Commander Zhao Liang felt it was enough.
Now, they were the ones launching the offensive.
The initiative was in their hands.
As long as he didn't run over there, the Little Devils would have no idea of his location.
The probability of encountering danger was very low.
So this was the reason he was not worried.
At this moment, the main force was rushing toward the artillery position of the Little Devils.
The task of the 20-man squad in front was to take out the night-watchmen of the Little Devils.
And their task was to take out those Little Devils who were still fast asleep.
And they could not wake those Little Devils up, otherwise everything would be wasted.