Chapter 129: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 128: Retreat from Luodian

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

On the bridge of the Mutsu, the captain peered through his rangefinder at the Xia Guo position in the distance that had repeatedly brought shame upon the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army.

"All ships, take note: target, the Shizilin coastal defense works and the deep positions behind them! All main guns, fire at will!"

No sooner was the order given than the entire fleet sprang into action.

The Mutsu's eight 410mm guns roared deafeningly; due to recoil, the massive hull seemed to shudder backward, and giant shells weighing over a ton tore through the air, shrieking across the sky.

Immediately after, the cruisers' 203mm and 155mm secondary guns, and the destroyers' 127mm guns, also opened fire on the Shizilin Battery.

In an instant, the Shizilin position and the entire defensive zone of the Sixty-Seventh Division behind it were completely blanketed by an unprecedented barrage.

When the 410mm shells landed, they were no longer simple explosions, but tore up whole patches of earth, shredding fortifications like paper and hurling them into the air.

Thick smoke and fire shot into the sky, forming black pillars that seemed to connect heaven and earth; at this moment it truly felt like the apocalypse had arrived.

In the air, Type 96 carrier fighters taking off from the Kaga and Soryu swarmed across the sky like locusts.

The enemy aircraft circled and dove, some attacking the Shizilin position, others providing air cover for the attacking fleet.

At the same time, Type 96 land-based attack aircraft rushing from bases in the Japanese home islands joined the bombing, carrying aerial bombs specifically for bombing missions.

Under this world-shaking joint air-sea strike, Huang Wei could not help but sigh: "Compared to the old warlord battles, the intensity of war cannot compare to today's fighting; what is high-intensity war? This is high-intensity war!"

Huang Wei, who had originally praised the fortifications as sturdy, could now barely stand in the violently shaking command post.

Outside came no longer continuous explosions, but a single endless roar; one could say the explosions had no interval at all, and his ears kept ringing.

The telephone lines had long been blown apart, and communication relied mainly on messengers dashing through artillery fire, but every second soldiers were disappearing.

"Report! The position of the Third Battalion's Eighth Company is gone!"

"Division Commander! The Left Wing Machine Gun Company was covered by aerial bombs, not a single survivor!"

Soldiers exposed in field positions met a miserable fate; often one large-caliber naval gun salvo would instantly wipe out an entire platoon or even company, leaving only huge shell craters and scattered limbs on the position.

"Brother Weiyue's fortifications... cannot withstand such artillery fire!" Huang Wei's eyes were red, his heart wrenched; these were troops he had personally trained, yet they were being mowed down under the enemy's absolute firepower advantage.

"No, we can't stay here; all regiments fall back a bit, withdraw beyond the range of the enemy's naval guns; if anything goes wrong, it's on me; leave one battalion to hold the position, and if the enemy takes it, we'll take it back!"

"Also ask Commander Luo why the retreat order hasn't been issued yet!"

On the sea surface, inside the Mutsu bridge, Third Division Commander Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu was likewise observing this heaven-shaking offensive.

Though he was a lieutenant general division commander, this was the first time he had witnessed the full bombardment of the Imperial Japanese Navy's main fleet so close up and so clearly.

Watching the Shizilin Battery position in the distance completely shrouded in flames and thick smoke, as if heaven and earth had been remade, Fujita Susumu was first struck dumb, deeply shaken by this world-destroying scene.

After the shock, an uncontrollable rage surged in his heart, and he roared at the naval officer beside him: "Damn it! The Navy possesses such terrifying power! Why were they so stingy with shells before like a miser?

Talk of gun barrel life! If they had done this even a day earlier, why should my Third Division have shed so much blood on the beachhead! Why should the Eleventh Division have paid such a heavy price! Are the lives of Imperial Japanese warriors worth less than a few gun barrels?!"

"With such good stuff, why not bring it out sooner! These naval idiots are simply joking with the Army's blood!"

The Mutsu captain remained unmoved; Commander Gu Qingchuan had already ordered unreserved support for the Army, and he himself did not want to argue with them anymore.

Shanghai Expeditionary Army Commander Matsui Iwane stood with his arms crossed, sighing inwardly: "Finally able to set foot on Xia Guo's soil!"

Under cover of powerful artillery fire, the landing craft of the Sixth Regiment of the Third Division's infantry once again charged toward the Shizilin beachhead.

Though beach obstacles remained, after repeated clearing by naval guns and aircraft, many gaps had appeared.

The enemy soldiers of the Sixth Regiment, under the battle supervision of Colonel Kuranaga Naritomo, displayed the so-called bushido spirit of fearing no death.

"Banzai!!!"

"For Emperor Tenghuang!!!"

One battalion, squadron, and platoon after another shouted slogans, leaped from the landing craft, waded through waist-deep, blood-reddened seawater, and, facing the sporadic fire of the Sixty-Seventh Division, charged forward madly.

Officers such as First Battalion Commander Major Suzuki and Second Squadron Leader Captain Kondo brandished their military swords, howling as they led the enemy soldiers in a reckless charge toward the defenders' position.

Enemy soldiers were constantly mowed down by machine guns and blown into the air by shells, but those behind still advanced stepping on the corpses and blood of the dead, the offensive like a tide.

Under the Mutsu's nearly perverse furious bombardment, the Shizilin Battery position and its surrounding defensive system suffered structural destruction, and the remaining battalion's soldiers suffered extremely heavy casualties.

Huang Wei had brought his main force back to the rear and was now considering whether to send troops to support the frontline and help that battalion hold the beachhead position.

Luo Zhuoying personally came to the frontline and found Huang Wei behind Shizilin.

Seeing that Huang Wei had withdrawn his men to the rear, he felt reassured: "You kid, you're not completely stubborn after all! Immediately arrange for troops to retreat backward; we can't hold out to the death; fall back to defend the Luodian area, which is a bit farther from the enemy's naval guns!"

"Commander Cheng finally came to his senses?!"

"Hurry up! For external purposes, say it's by order of Third War Zone Commander Feng Yuxiang; don't mention Commander Cheng; all units alternate covering the withdrawal! By the way, how are the Sixty-Seventh Division's casualties?"

"The main force is still intact; I've pulled my troops back from the front, but I still have one battalion left on the position!" Huang Wei said.

"You are the division commander, not a regimental commander; it's not your place to manage; convey the retreat order."