Chapter 312: Battle of Yiling, Moji Shan

It turns out that Moji Shan is not without defending troops.

The Japanese Army stationed a company of troops here, and the Company Captain is named Xiaotian Yilang.

Long before the troops reached Luojia Chong, the meticulous Yao Quanyi had already sent scouts to infiltrate the riverbank. Their mission was not only to find a suitable landing site, but more importantly to ascertain whether any Little Devil units were ambushed nearby.

The reconnaissance results were as expected; the cunning Little Devil indeed planted a nail on Moji Shan.

A company's strength—neither many nor few.

Moji Shan, perched high to watch the movements on both banks of the Yangtze River, also serves as a forward post to prevent the Chinese Army on the south bank from using artillery to bombard Yichang city.

Logically, faced with such a massive troop pressure, the Japanese Army surprisingly assigned only a single company to guard this crucial position, with the number topping at about 200 men, which seems overly optimistic.

But there is an extremely critical factor here that is often overlooked: distance.

Why does Xu Guozhang repeatedly emphasize Moji Shan on the battle map? Why does Jiang Anguo also mention it many times, even placing it alongside Dianjun Shan?

In fact, this is the high ground on Yichang's south bank, the spot closest to Yichang's water‑land dock.

The straight‑line distance between the two points is even less than six hundred meters!

What does six hundred meters mean?

At this range, an American‑made LCI landing craft, throttled to full power and roaring at 15 knots, can ferry fully loaded personnel and equipment to the opposite Yichang dock within three minutes.

Moji Shan is the most ideal "stepping stone" for an assault on Yichang.

Conversely, for the Japanese Army, this is also an important defensive line on the south bank of the Yangtze.

As long as they hold Moji Shan, even if they only set up a few field guns on the north bank, that six‑hundred‑meter span allows precise coverage from the foot of Moji Shan to the riverbank, directly threatening any force that attempts to assault Moji Shan or cross the river.

It is a six‑hundred‑meter death line; whoever occupies Moji Shan holds the key to Yichang city.

Moji Shan, a steep peak on the south bank of the Yangtze in Yidu, lies like a massive beast coiled by the river, overlooking the entire river surface.

It is Yidu's natural barrier and the inevitable route to Yichang. Whoever controls Moji Shan strangles Yidu's throat. Guarding it is an elite Japanese Army unit, whose Company Captain Xiaotian Yilang is also a battle‑hardened veteran who, since the battles of Songhu, has led troops deep into Huaxia's interior. He fully understands Moji Shan's importance, has long leveraged the treacherous terrain to build layered permanent fortifications, and swore to bury the Chinese Army at the foot of the mountain.

8:03, the thin mist over the river surface gradually dissipated.

Yao Quanyi glanced at his watch and silently thought that the time was about right.

Boom—boom—boom.

From the southeast toward Xiaoting, earth‑shaking explosions roared, and the P-38 fighter aircraft, without turning, flew straight up over Yichang.

The engines emitted a deep rumble.

William's fighter aircraft are already carrying out the second wave of bombing.

Yao Quanyi is the overall commander of this river‑crossing, so Jiang Anguo merely assists Yao Quanyi in completing the operation; Jiang Anguo cannot match Yao Quanyi's battlefield adaptability.

Before departing, Yao Quanyi contacted William's air squadron, requesting three fighter escorts to fly to Yichang.

The aim is to, at the moment of attack, use the fighters' roar to break the Little Devil's courage.

Leveraging the distant artillery fire and the sound of fighters heading toward Yichang's sky.

Cover the Independent Regiment's assault on Moji Shan.

The main forces of the 2nd Battalion are at the front; the 2nd Battalion's 1st Company had already looped around to the north before the battle, while the 2nd Battalion's 3rd Company launched its attack from the south on Moji Shan.

Just as Jiang Anguo fought at Bamo, Yao Quanyi's main 2nd Company merely covers the attacks of the 1st and 3rd Companies; on Moji Shan's front positions, Yao Quanyi had already spotted several bunkers through his binoculars, and even on the flanks the Little Devil had constructed numerous hidden forts.

A full assault, even with our six hundred‑plus men, might not succeed, so we can only use the 2nd Company to fix the Japanese main force, creating the illusion that the Huaxia Army is mounting a major attack on Moji Shan.

As the front‑line commander, Yao Quanyi now crouches behind a concealed shelter, never putting down the binoculars in his hand.

Through the lenses, he can see the seemingly sturdy works on the Japanese positions.

He slowly lowers the binoculars; his face shows no extra expression, only a chilling composure.

"Fire!"

Yao Quanyi coldly uttered a single word, his voice low.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

Behind the position, the mortar unit, long primed, had already completed its settings. Accompanied by a series of deep, rapid roars, the mortar barrels belched out plumes of white smoke.

These shells, whistling sharply, sliced through the sky toward the Japanese positions.

Immediately after, the ground began to shake violently.

"Boom—!"

More than a dozen 80‑mm mortar shells, almost simultaneously, struck the Japanese defensive depth like thunderbolts from the heavens. The once‑quiet hill was dulled, and the previously level ground suddenly erupted with countless soaring earth columns and fireballs.

The explosion's shockwave, mixed with scorching heat, instantly swept across the entire forward line.

In that instant, steel and flesh became vulnerable.

The Japanese Army's painstaking sandbag works were blown cleanly in half, and the shelters in the scattered pits crumbled like paper before the massive blast. Many Japanese soldiers didn't even have time to utter a scream before a shell killed them outright—perhaps the Little Devil was lucky.

The Little Devil's severed limbs flailed in the air, opposite the Type 38 rifle shattered by the shells, with shattered stone and scalding mud mixing together in the crater.

Moji Shan was instantly drowned in the sound of artillery.

The Japanese Army's positions on Moji Shan, under this barrage of fierce artillery, instantly turned into a living hell, with wails and explosions intermingling.

At this moment, in the command post of the Japanese 13th Division several kilometers away, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was almost suffocating.

Since news of Yidu's fall arrived, the entire western Hubei front has been like the first domino knocked over, triggering a violent chain reaction.

Yesterday, reinforcements from the Zhijiang direction rushed to Baiyang Town and engaged the landing Chinese forces; what puzzled Nei Shan Yingtailang was that the supporting 232nd Regiment was repelled.

And they learned that on the south bank of the Yangtze, in the Yidu direction, the Chinese forces possessed heavy artillery!

The commander of the 13th Division sent urgent telegrams one after another to subordinate units from the headquarters, the order being a simple sentence: stay alert, defend rigidly, and be prepared for any contingency!

Especially along the Xiaoting line, which is just a step away from Yichang; once lost, Yichang would be directly exposed to the Huaxia Army's spear.

Japanese commanders at all levels still do not know how many Chinese troops are opposite them; the only information is the 150th Division and an Independent Regiment, which, according to the 13th Division's staff analysis, belongs to the 200th Division—a unit from Myanmar that suddenly appeared in Yichang.

In other words, the only forces currently capable of taking Yidu, crossing the Yangtze, and attacking Xiaoting are the 150th Division and an Independent Regiment.

This left the Japanese 13th Division puzzled: since when has the Chinese forces' combat power become so strong?