Chapter 442: An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth

Inside the bunker, Inaba Shiro was so furious his lungs felt like they were about to explode! Because, at a single glance, his elite Japanese 6th Division now looked like nothing more than a rabble.

"Baka yaro!"

After a roar of rage, Inaba Shiro turned his gaze toward the others, "You are all warriors of the Imperial Army; think of a solution immediately, how should we resolve this predicament?!"

In the command post, the several commanders of the Japanese 6th Division, seeing the endless roaring of their Division Commander, could not think of any solutions in their hearts.

Right now, the Sichuan Army had set up an artillery regiment; just the 75mm caliber guns alone numbered a full fifty or sixty. Such powerful artillery fire, combined with both special smoke and conventional shells, was completely forcing the Japanese 6th Division onto a path of death!

At the same time, at the Sichuan Army's artillery position, the artillery led by Yu Dazhu had already arrived at the No. 2 artillery position. According to the Sichuan Army's shelling habits, that meant firing a five-round volley to see the effect!

After firing five shells, the Sichuan Army artillery immediately began to relocate. The artillerymen led the mules and horses, carried the shell crates, and everyone quickly departed to head for the next artillery position.

Meanwhile, the Artillery Regiment that the Japanese 6th Division had deployed in the low mountains outside the airport had almost no living artillerymen left.

It was only because the Chinese side's chemical industry capabilities were poor and lacked countermeasures that the Japanese Army was able to use poison gas wantonly on the Chinese battlefield.

From the Battle of Songhu to the Battle of Nanjing, the 26th Group Army had suffered from the Japanese Army's poison gas; many soldiers had died from the gas, and Zhang Zhenhan hated this stuff to the core.

"It cannot be considered an elite division. If we are talking about elite forces, that would have to be the Independent Brigade under Liu Zhangqing; this brigade is now the ace in the Sichuan Army's ranks."

Here at the airport, the Sichuan Army's three divisions and one Independent Brigade, plus Zhang Yungang's reinforced regiment, had all arrived at their designated locations. Now that the artillery bombardment was nearing its end, they were just waiting for the poison gas at the foot of the mountain to dissipate.

"Block the Japanese Army from breaking out of the encirclement at all costs!"

Nowadays, the large-scale infrastructure in Sichuan Province—not just chemical plants, but also automobile factories and the Arsenal—had already been initially completed.

Seeing the weapons carried by the Sichuan Army's 27th Group Army, Zhang Zhenhan saw nothing but Czech Light Machine Guns, Type 26 General Purpose Machine Guns, and submachine guns, plus M2 Heavy Machine Guns.

At this moment, a soldier carrying a short-wave communications radio came before Liu Zhangqing: "Report, Brigade Commander."

This sight made his eyes turn red with envy; these were all damn good pieces of equipment. If his own troops could use such good equipment, Zhang Zhenhan guaranteed that his 41st Division could at least take on a Japanese brigade.

Then, after putting on the gas masks issued by the Sichuan Army, they just needed to charge into the Japanese airport and finish off the little devils!

Because, when the Japanese Artillery Regiment Commander brought his artillery out to set up the artillery position, he felt that the gas mask was a nuisance. Furthermore, the Japanese 6th Division had been traversing the Chinese battlefield for over a year, and the Chinese military had never once used special smoke.

During the Wuhan Battle, the 9th War Zone was of the utmost importance. Yu Hua specifically had his wife, Xiao Ningxin, send several ships full of poison gas bombs to Wuhan; in terms of quantity, it was absolutely enough for the Sichuan Army to use.

The Sichuan Army troops that arrived were definitely elites; this was Zhang Zhenhan's conjecture, because, judging solely from their equipment, he believed the New 133rd Division was an elite division within the Sichuan Army.

If Zhang Yun learned of Zhang Zhenhan's thoughts, he would certainly smile and say: "Brother Zhang, this is the standard configuration for our Sichuan Army units now!"

Liu Zhangqing patted his own chest: "Send a telegram to Adjutant Yu, tell him that my Independent Brigade will certainly not let him down."

Although the Japanese Army had captured this city, the city walls were mostly preserved and very sturdy; if they launched a direct assault, the troops' casualties would be very small.

The fighting here at the airport was intense, and the Sichuan Army troops were at their attack positions, watching this performance.

"The Independent Brigade is a large formation of 14,000 men, with an Artillery Battalion, a Machine Gun and Artillery Battalion, anti-aircraft machine guns, anti-tank guns, as well as a cavalry battalion, a Special Operations Battalion, and so on."

The New 133rd Division, in terms of artillery configuration, could not keep up with the Independent Brigade; they only had six Type 41 Mountain Guns, six Type 94 Mountain Guns, and an additional 12 Type 92 Infantry Guns!

With this amount of artillery power, they really could not be considered an elite division within the Sichuan Army!

"Brother Zhang Yun, how is your Sichuan Army going to fight this battle?" Zhang Zhenhan asked slightly, as the 26th Group Army attacked Anqing City today.

"And the Artillery Battalion is equipped with 105mm Howitzers; only units equipped with 105mm Howitzers can now be considered an elite division within the Sichuan Army."

"Good, good, good..." Zhang Zhenhan clapped his hands, his heart filled with joy.

The Division Commander of the Sichuan Army's New 133rd Division, Zhang Yun, met with Zhang Zhenhan, and neither side stood on ceremony, directly inquiring about the upcoming operations.

Especially outside the city, Zhang Zhenhan led his 41st Division as the vanguard and met up with the Sichuan Army.

Meanwhile, inside Anqing City, the Hada Detachment had also strengthened its defenses tonight. A division of the Sichuan Army's 27th Group Army, plus the units of the 26th Group Army, totaling 30,000 men, had all moved into position.

This led the Japanese 6th Division's Artillery Regiment Commander to believe that the Sichuan Army had no special smoke. Now that the Sichuan Army's artillery regiment had fired a volley of special smoke, the Japanese artillery units had all been hit!

Zhang Zhenhan widened his eyes: "Brother, does your Sichuan Army really have this stuff?"

"Now that the Japanese Army has violated the rules, don't blame our Sichuan Army!"

"Brother Zhang, don't the little devils like using poison gas bombs?"

Guo Xunqi, Rao Guohua, Liu Yuqing, Liu Zhangqing, and others were also using telescopes to observe the changes on the battlefield below.

Since the Sichuan Army was going to use poison gas bombs, Zhang Zhenhan said: "On the river, can our artillery reach the Japanese Army's warships?"

"If these warships are not destroyed, it will be unfavorable for our subsequent operations."

At the same time, Liu Zhangqing also called over a messenger: "Pass on my order, have all the brigade's light and heavy machine guns, mortars, and Type 92 Infantry Guns make combat preparations, aimed at the direction the Japanese Army might choose to break out."

"The latest order from Adjutant Yu: the Japanese 6th Division has been struck by our artillery fire; to prevent them from acting out of desperation and breaking out, please have the Independent Brigade make combat preparations."

"If you see the Japanese Army breaking out, no need to ask for instructions, just open fire and kill these animals!"

To deal with the little devils' poison gas bombs, after the chemical plants in Sichuan Province produced poison gas bombs, they sent several special trains to the Sichuan Army in various war zones.

Zhang Yun nodded, "We have them. The Commander of our Sichuan Army's Second Route Army has already said that as long as the Japanese Army does not use special smoke, our Sichuan Army will absolutely not use it."

At the same time, on Rao Guohua's side, the Communications Soldier also relayed Yu Hua's order. When Rao Guohua saw the Communications Soldier arrive to deliver the order, his expression was just like a young man entering the bridal chamber—impatient.

"Poison these animals to death!" Zhang Zhenhan looked at Zhang Yun: "Let these animals also taste the flavor of poison gas, to pay tribute to my fallen soldiers."

"Today, we will give them an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and let this group of Japanese soldiers also taste the flavor of poison gas."

Zhang Yun nodded: "We can reach them. Behind our division, there is another artillery battery with four 105mm Howitzers being towed by trucks; the range of these guns is enough to reach the Japanese warships."

Good heavens!

Hearing about the 105mm Howitzers, Zhang Zhenhan realized the range must be at least eleven or twelve kilometers!

He hadn't expected the Sichuan Army to be even wealthier than Principal Chiang's Central Army now, actually using 105mm Howitzers.

Working overtime recently, I managed to find some time to update a chapter today. I'm too busy, so updates will be irregular. Thank you for your support, brothers!

(End of chapter)