Chapter 31: Probing Attack
St. Paul’s Church in Nanjing was completed in 1923 during the 11th year of the Republic of China, covering more than 1,600 square meters, and it was also Nanjing’s first formal Christian church.
It consists of two churches, large and small, and outside there is a thick wall built with blue bricks and cement, making it appear exceptionally sturdy.
Due to the church’s perimeter wall being too long, with only over a hundred soldiers under Li Gaoyuan’s command, defending such a long wall was somewhat stretched thin.
But fortunately, the wealthy Su Yaoyang was very supportive, not only equipping them with ten M1917 heavy machine guns but also burying a large number of landmines around the church, making the Japanese army hesitant to launch a full assault until the mines were cleared.
Not only that, after the 11th Regiment launched their attack, they were shocked to discover that the defenders’ light weapons fire was extremely powerful, especially their rifles which had an astonishingly fast rate of fire; by the time their own soldiers’ Type 38 rifles had fired one shot, the enemy had instantly returned five or six shots.
Nagano Yuichiro was lying behind the window of a slightly intact house, watching with a grave expression as his own soldiers cautiously advanced toward the church under the officers’ commands.
At this moment, through the binoculars, a Japanese squad was seen advancing rapidly toward the church gate along several buildings under the officer’s command, but problems arose when they entered within 200 meters of the church.
St. Paul’s Church is a standalone building, with no structures within one or two hundred meters around it; the open terrain provided the defenders with excellent visibility.
But such terrain was extremely unfavorable for the attackers; the Japanese had to run 200 meters under the defenders’ bullet rain to rush into the gate.
And these 200 meters were a death zone for the Japanese; in less than half an hour, more than thirty soldiers had already fallen on that assault path.
A major officer burst into this temporary command post covered in dust and dirt, first picking up a teacup from the table and gulping down several large mouthfuls, then speaking breathlessly; this man was Morimura Juro, the third battalion commander of the 11th Regiment.
“Regiment commander, sir, the Chinese firepower is too strong; our Type 38 rifles are no match for them at all.”
Nagano Yuichiro put down the binoculars and turned his head to glare at him.
“Morimura, come here.”
Morimura Juro put down the teacup and quickly walked over.
Nagano Yuichiro pointed ahead and said: “I saw your battalion’s probing attack just now; the reason the first two assaults failed was not only because they were blocked by the enemy’s minefield but also because the covering soldiers failed to suppress the enemy’s fire points in time.
Therefore, this time I require you to fully utilize the grenade launchers, infantry guns, and precise shooting to suppress the enemy; you absolutely must not let the Chinese defenders leisurely kill the attacking soldiers.”
Morimura Juro smiled bitterly: “Regiment commander, sir, the Chinese rifles opposite have an incredibly fast rate of fire; our Type 38 rifles are simply no match for them.
Moreover, because the infantry is very mobile, they immediately shift positions after emptying a magazine, making it hard to suppress them with grenade launchers; that’s the most headache-inducing part for me.
You know, we’ve only been fighting for half an hour and already lost thirty-eight soldiers killed, with another twenty-seven wounded; such casualties are really too high.”
Nagano Yuichiro’s face darkened, and he raised his voice: “That’s not an excuse for you to retreat; I don’t want casualty numbers, I want the church!
If you can’t do it, just say so, and I’ll send the second battalion up.”
In the Japanese army, if a commander was spoken to this way, it already meant the superior doubted his ability; if he didn’t show something now, it would greatly affect his career.
“Hai!”
Morimura Juro said no more, instead bowed, straightened his uniform, and left the regiment command post directly.
Soon, Morimura Juro led the third battalion, which had briefly rested, to launch another attack…
“Boom…”
A Type 91 hand grenade exploded on the wall, the huge shockwave making the blue brick and cement wall hum, even blasting two guards here to the ground.
Lu Shaobin struggled to get up from the ground, coughing while shouting loudly: “Cough cough cough… Wang Fui, Zhang Wenshan, are you still alive?”
“Deputy company commander, I’m fine.”
“I’m fine too.”
Soon, two dusty figures crawled out from the dust, coughing as they replied.
“Good as long as you’re okay.” Lu Shaobin quickly poked his head out to look, then hurriedly pulled it back.
“This place has been targeted by the devils’ grenade launchers; we can’t stay here anymore, let’s quickly change positions.”
“Yes.”
The three bent over and stopped at a corner, where there were pre-arranged sandbags and firing ports.
The three stopped and didn’t rush to poke their gun barrels out, but first quietly observed through the firing ports.
Suddenly, Zhang Wenshan said in a low voice: “Deputy company commander, the devils are coming again.”
Lu Shaobin looked through the firing port and saw, to their left front, dozens of Japanese soldiers advancing in a skirmish line from over 200 meters away toward their position.
“Wait… don’t fire yet.”
Less than twenty meters from Lu Shaobin and the other two was a machine gun position; he stopped the machine gunner who was about to pull the trigger: “Don’t be hasty; the devils are trying to lure you into firing now, which would really fall for their trick; let us handle it.”
With that, Lu Shaobin gestured to Zhang Wenshan and Wang Fui beside him.
The two understood, quietly poking their guns out through the firing ports and aiming outside.
Soon, accompanied by the shriek of the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun, a Japanese squad rushed out from cover, charging madly toward the church, kicking up a cloud of dust underfoot.
“Fire!” When the Japanese had run forty or fifty meters, Lu Shaobin’s shout rang out from the wall.
“Bang bang bang…”
“Bang bang… bang bang!”
Lu Shaobin on the wall shouted loudly, and seventeen or eighteen Garand rifles fired in unison, the dense and powerful “bang bang bang” shattering the silence.
7.62mm bullets flew out like raindrops, turning those originally ferocious and reckless charging Japanese soldiers into targets instantly.
Five or six soldiers fell almost instantly, their bodies sprawled powerless in the flying dust, in stark contrast to the surrounding scattered small stones and Type 38 rifles dropped on the ground.
The ears of those attacking Japanese soldiers were filled with a chaotic mix of gunfire and shouts, while their vision was filled with rolling clouds of gunsmoke rising continuously, dyeing the air gray.
Beside a house that had been half demolished by a bomb, a wasp nest fell to the ground due to violent shaking; the wasps on it panicked and swarmed out, hovering uncertainly in the air, like the chaotic scene on the battlefield, with nowhere to belong.
