Chapter 222: The Clash of Iron and Blood (Part 2)

Artillery was the main theme of this symphony of death. The Black Flag Army unleashed all their light and heavy guns, firing rapidly at the advancing Japanese infantry, using what they called “treating mountain guns like heavy machine guns.”
The first round of fire saw hundreds of shells fired—whether from heavy cannons, mountain guns, autocannons, or mortars—all firing frantically in an attempt to shatter the enemy infantry formations. There was no need to worry about accuracy, as this was a position carefully prepared by the Black Flag Army over half a month. Markings had been made, and multiple trial firings had been conducted. Their artillerymen were confident they could hit targets even with their eyes closed.
Yet the loudest sound came from the Black Flag Army’s dozen or so Maxim heavy machine guns. From the moment they opened fire, streams of bullets swept back and forth through the Japanese ranks, achieving a perfect balance between precision and rate of fire. Watching the enemy soldiers hit by these bullets, the machine gunners shouted, “Faster!”
The firepower provided by a single Maxim machine gun was almost equivalent to that of an entire infantry battalion firing in unison. Yet snipers managed to locate the Japanese commander among the crowd and kill him with a single shot.
Rifle fire, too, was an indispensable part of this “symphony.” The concentrated fire from rifles made every spot on the battlefield unsafe. A single burst could instantly reduce a whole squad to two-thirds dead.
Shells continued to fall on the infantry formations. One shell could turn an area of several meters—or even tens of meters—into a deadly zone. Shrapnel scattered like dandelion seeds, yet it was deadly enough.
Ye Chenglin witnessed firsthand how a single heavy mortar shell reduced an entire infantry company from full strength to just one-third of its members. Then, autocannon shells rained down on the squad once more.
Across the battlefield, countless shrapnel, bullets, and bursts of fire swept back and forth. The vanguard squads were hit first, with barely anyone left alive in each squad.
A lieutenant waving his saber shouted loudly, but when he turned around, he found his squad wiped out—no one else was alive except him, still waving his saber uselessly.
Death was reaping lives constantly, with rows of soldiers falling with every moment that passed.
Such a level of firepower was something the Japanese had never seen before. Even during the Russo-Japanese War, they had rarely encountered coordinated infantry and artillery ambushes combined with overwhelming machine gun fire.
At that moment, Oyama Iwao’s face turned red, while Nogi Maresuke could hardly speak: “We… we must… we…”
He didn’t know what to fill in—the word for courage or the lives of infantrymen?
Oyama Iwao finally shouted, “Artillery! Artillery!”
At this point, the Japanese artillery was almost the only force they could rely on.
Without Oyama Iwao’s orders, the Japanese army’s 21 artillery pieces had already begun firing, trying to cover the advancing infantry units.

Before them, hundreds of key targets were exposed in an instant—the Black Flag Army’s infantry defense positions, artillery positions, observation posts… But the problem was that with only twenty-one cannons, it was impossible to suppress so many targets. The Black Flag Army had also gained experience in artillery warfare during their war against France, so they immediately moved five cannons to engage in artillery duels with the Japanese forces, while the remaining cannons continued to fire relentlessly. The six Japanese infantry battalions found themselves trapped in the carefully laid-out artillery network of the Black Flag Army, suffering increasing casualties. Across several kilometers, all that could be seen was black smoke and white mist. The Black Flag Army used rear observation posts and telegraph networks to direct the artillery to shift their fire. The first two Japanese infantry battalions were nearly destroyed—their battalion commanders were killed or wounded, eight company commanders were killed or wounded, and lower-ranking officers also suffered heavy losses. The battalion headquarters could only muster one or two incomplete companies. Under such intense fire, the acting battalion commander saw that his soldiers were all exposed to the Black Flag Army’s firepower. He could only wave his sword and shout, “Break through the enemy lines! Fight to survive!” “Break through the enemy lines! Fight to survive!” The few remaining Japanese officers also shouted such slogans to boost morale, and the surviving soldiers of the two battalions charged forward again. Despite another round of heavy fire, the Japanese managed to accomplish the seemingly impossible—they managed to break into the positions of the Black Flag Army’s two forward infantry platoons. In any case, the Japanese had a significant advantage in infantry strength. The Black Flag Army’s two infantry platoons fought back, and both sides suffered heavy losses in an instant. A few minutes later, the Japanese finally seized a corner of the position. However, the two infantry battalions that managed to break through now only had five damaged infantry companies at their disposal, with each company consisting of thirty to forty men—equivalent to just one infantry squad before the war. Yet this painful victory gave the Japanese forces trapped under the artillery network a glimmer of hope for success. “Break through the enemy lines! Fight to survive!” The twenty-one Japanese cannons fired at full strength, and whatever troops the Japanese infantry battalions could muster rushed forward. This wasn’t the combined attack of four infantry battalions but rather that of four infantry companies. After all, the Black Flag Army’s positions had some weaknesses, and the Japanese artillery also played a significant role. Two more of the four infantry battalions, along with over a hundred men, managed to break into the Black Flag Army’s positions. This time, the Japanese went all out. These best infantry battalions in Japan ignored the fact that the Black Flag Army used mountain guns as heavy machine guns, charging through the fire, stepping on landmines, and building bridges over barbed wire. Once a breakthrough was achieved, the Black Flag Army’s firepower advantage diminished significantly. Many heavy weapons had to shift their fire to target the advancing troops to avoid accidental casualties. The Japanese forces trapped under the artillery network also saw hope and rushed forward desperately. In response to the enemy forces that had broken into a corner of their position, the Black Flag Army immediately organized forces to drive them back, resulting in close combat between the two sides.

Within just a few minutes, the Black Flag Army’s counterattack had already cost nearly a hundred casualties, and their infantry units were under heavy fire from the Japanese forces, losing contact with their forward positions. More Japanese soldiers rushed into the positions, preferring to die in close combat with the Black Flag Army rather than be shot to death by artillery fire. At this point, someone suggested to Ye Chenglin, “The enemy is already heavily damaged; we might as well abandon a few secondary positions…” “No!” Ye Chenglin shouted. “The enemy still has strength!” Although six infantry battalions had been destroyed, the Japanese still had enough strength to launch a second attack. He shouted, “Follow me!”