Chapter 296: Fire The Cannon
Night had already deepened, but for the commanders of the Chinese and Japanese sides on the verge of a major battle, neither showed any sign of rest.
In the brightly lit command post in Zhanyang Town, Li Gaoyuan, Pi Ruoyu, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and others were gathered around the sand table and maps, finalizing and simulating every attack step and every round of artillery coverage time. The air was filled with the unique tension and excitement before a major battle.
On the other side, the atmosphere on the Japanese army’s frontline positions in Taiyuan was one of dead silence and heaviness.
Under the cover of night, Japanese First Army Commander Shinozuka Yoshio, escorted by a group of officers and guards, personally arrived at a trench less than three hundred meters from the foremost position.
What did such a close distance mean?
It meant that if a sniper on the opposite militia position wanted to use a bullet to pierce his left eye at this moment, that bullet would absolutely not have a chance to reach his right eye.
Despite such danger, Shinozuka Yoshio still came. He needed to see with his own eyes what his defensive line, which he boasted was impregnable, had become now.
Now that he had come, the changes in the position truly exceeded his expectations and made everyone, including him, tense up.
The trench was filled with a pungent smell of gunpowder and earth mixed together.
By the occasional afterglow of flares streaking across the sky in the distance, one could see the desolate land around them, like the surface of the moon, covered with densely packed craters of varying depths.
The once sturdy bunkers were now reduced to ruins and broken walls, with twisted wreckage piercing toward the night sky like the bones of monsters.
Shinozuka Yoshio remained expressionless, maintaining the dignity of an army lieutenant general, but the hand holding the binoculars involuntarily tightened a bit.
When he slowly lowered the cold binoculars, he turned his head to Lieutenant General Igawa Rin, the commander of the 36th Division, who followed behind him with an equally grave expression, and said.
“Igawa-kun, your division has had a tough time these days, hasn’t it?” His voice was calm, revealing no emotion.
“Yes, Commander.”
A trace of undisguisable bitterness appeared on Igawa Rin’s face. He deeply bowed to Shinozuka Yoshio and said while bowing:
“Before the Chinese airplanes began bombing, I prepared 167 large and small bunkers, seven anti-tank trenches, and 379 various support firepower points for the empire on the outskirts of Taiyuan.”
He straightened up, his voice trembling slightly: “But as of now, we only have 48 bunkers left, only two anti-tank trenches remaining, and only 122 firepower support points… Moreover, due to the continuous bombing, before even formally engaging the enemy, we have already lost over 1,300 imperial warriors killed or wounded.”
Listening to the string of cold numbers reported by Igawa Rin, Shinozuka Yoshio tightly pressed his lips together and said nothing.
The night wind blew, carrying a faint smell of blood, making him feel a piercing chill.
He had anticipated that after completely losing air superiority, the ground troops’ defense would become extremely difficult and might suffer some losses.
But he never imagined the losses would be this severe! The continuous bombing was like using a dull knife to carve a large chunk of flesh from his proud First Army even before the battle began.
The losses to the positions were secondary; those fortifications could be rebuilt.
But losing over a thousand soldiers for no reason before the formal battle even started truly made him feel waves of heartache.
Although the 36th Division was only a Type B division, most of the soldiers inside were veterans who had participated in multiple campaigns, precious war resources of the empire.
To have them consumed in bombing where they had no power to fight back was truly too regrettable!
His gaze withdrew from the bombed positions and fell again on Igawa Rin’s face full of frustration. In a low voice, he asked: “Igawa-kun, if the Shanxi militia launches an attack tomorrow, can your division… repel the Chinese offensive?”
This question weighed on Igawa Rin’s heart like a heavy boulder.
He lifted his head, meeting Shinozuka Yoshio’s inquiring gaze. His lips moved a few times, but he ultimately just shook his head with difficulty.
He didn’t say he could, nor did he say he couldn’t. He just said in a tone close to despair that he would do his best, but he dared not make any guarantees regarding victory or defeat.
This ambiguous answer obviously could not satisfy Shinozuka Yoshio.
Major General Kusayama Hideyoshi, the First Army Chief of Staff standing beside Shinozuka Yoshio, couldn’t help but step forward upon seeing this and said to Igawa Rin in a stern tone: “Igawa-kun, you are too disappointing.
The Commander is asking if you can hold the line?
Taiyuan is the empire’s lifeline. You must hold here for at least half a month.
At all costs, exert your utmost strength to consume the Shanxi militia’s living forces. Do you understand?”
Kusayama Hideyoshi’s voice was particularly piercing in the silent night, but what he got in return was Igawa Rin’s even longer silence.
Igawa Rin lowered his head, looking at the mud caked on his boots.
Hold for half a month?
When the enemy’s airplanes and heavy artillery could freely plow his positions back and forth like tilling fields, using soldiers’ flesh and blood to consume the opponent’s steel—he couldn’t do it, nor could he issue such a suicidal order to his subordinates.
And his silence was the most silent and most desperate protest.
Seeing Igawa Rin’s deadpan silent demeanor, Chief of Staff Kusayama Hideyoshi’s anger flared up again. He was just about to open his mouth to reprimand once more when Shinozuka Yoshio raised his hand to stop him.
Shinozuka Yoshio knew that mere pressure and scolding had no effect on a commander who had already lost confidence.
He took a step forward, standing in front of Igawa Rin. His originally cold eyes became complex, containing sternness and a hint of near-pleading.
In an extremely serious tone, he said to Igawa Rin word by word: “Igawa-kun, I know this demand is perhaps extremely difficult for you and every warrior of the 36th Division.”
His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone present: “But you must know that what you are holding is not just a defensive line, but Taiyuan’s lifeline, the face of the entire North China Area Army.
If the positions on the outskirts of Taiyuan fall, the Chinese can advance unhindered and launch a full assault on Taiyuan city. At that time, it will be a tremendous blow to the reputation of the Great Japanese Empire. Do you understand?”
Shinozuka Yoshio’s gaze swept over the blurry outline of Taiyuan city in the distance, then returned to Igawa Rin’s face, emphasizing his tone: “Therefore, you have no choice! You must hold here, on this position already bombed into ruins, for at least half a month.
At all costs! Hold until the 27th Division sent by North China Area Army Commander Tada Shun and the Independent Mixed 7th Brigade stationed in Zhangjiakou arrive.
By then, we can form an encirclement against this arrogant Shanxi militia and crush them completely!
Do… you understand?”
“Hai!”
With his own commander speaking to this extent, what more could Igawa Rin say? He knew he had no retreat and no room to bargain. He lowered his head deeply and responded with all his strength, indicating compliance.
He knew that from this moment on, he and his 36th Division would have to use flesh and blood to fill this already riddled defensive line until reinforcements arrived or the entire army was annihilated.
The next day, the sun rose as usual, its golden light spilling over Shanxi’s mountains and dispersing the morning mist. For this star that had burned for billions of years, the petty struggles of humans on the ground might not even qualify for a second glance.
However, for the positions on the outskirts of Taiyuan about to receive baptism by blood and fire, this was the day that would decide their fate.
On several carefully camouflaged hidden artillery positions six kilometers from the Japanese defensive line, the atmosphere was already one of solemnity.
Over three hundred ferocious steel behemoths had shed their gun covers, revealing their cold and deadly true forms.
The thick barrels of the 155mm heavy howitzers, the elegant yet lethal lines of the M1 105mm howitzers, along with rows of 75mm mountain guns and 107mm heavy mortars—all muzzles like hungry beasts, pitch-black and uniformly aimed at the Japanese positions.
The gunners had already loaded the first shells into the breeches and were standing breathlessly at their posts, awaiting the final order.
Further ahead, on the frontline positions just a few hundred meters from the enemy, the warriors of the New 1st Regiment and Independent Regiment led by Li Yunlong and Ding Wei were clinging to the trenches like geckos.
Many Eighth Route Army warriors were seeing such a scene for the first time. They widened their eyes, excitedly and nervously watching the seemingly calm Japanese positions ahead.
Li Yunlong clutched a brand-new pair of binoculars, with an unlit cigarette butt in his mouth. His heart itched like ten thousand ants crawling; in all his life of fighting battles, he had never fought one this lavish!
In the rear artillery command post, Artillery Regiment 1 Commander Zhang Zhihao and Regiment 2 Commander Xiong Junfeng—the two artillery experts single-handedly trained by Su Yaoyang—stood like statues by their respective telephones, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the clock on the wall.
Every tick of the second hand struck everyone’s hearts like a heavy hammer.
When the hour, minute, and second hands perfectly aligned on the number “7”—
“Ring ring ring—!”
The piercing telephone bell rang almost simultaneously in both command posts, breaking the dead silence before dawn.
Zhang Zhihao and Xiong Junfeng snatched up the receivers at the first instant of the ring, their movements so fast they blurred.
Soon, a steady and powerful command came through the receiver, processed via encrypted lines. The command was simple, just two words:
“Fire!”
