Although it is known that this mysterious Chinese force is currently at Lengkou Pass, who knows whether they will quietly move to Xifengkou 30 kilometers away?
Sakamoto Masaemon doesn't want to receive another piece of bad news before the main force of the division arrives. Then he may be dismissed and go home before he can lead the 6th Division to the Great Wall.
So he sent an urgent telegram to the 13th Regiment, ordering them to defend in place in front of Xifengkou and not to attack easily to avoid a sneak attack by the Chinese army.
However, he forgot how arrogant and arrogant his troops were, and even more so, he forgot that after the Japanese army tasted the sweetness of its unauthorized actions since the September 18th Incident, the current middle- and low-level officers have become accustomed to doing their own thing and do not put military orders aside. In the eyes.
Colonel Suzuki Ryo, captain of the 13th Regiment, is one of the best, and as a member of the strongest division known as the "double wall of the empire" together with the 2nd Division, he has already served as a leader for the seniors of the 6th Division. Intoxicated by the honors created and the undefeated record.
Moreover, this honor and inheritance have been deeply engraved in the bones of him and his colleagues since the first day he entered the 6th Division, and they are proud of it.
Now, the destruction of the advance team and the 14th Mixed Brigade did not make him and his men feel fear or fear, but instead inspired them with endless fighting spirit and fighting spirit.
In their view, the two annihilated friendly forces were both composed of troops from the 7th Division, known as the "unlucky division". It was the incompetence of their commanders and the cowardice of the peasant soldiers that ruined their lives. troops, not how powerful the Chinese army is in his eyes.
Therefore, on March 8, the day the 13th Regiment arrived at Xifengkou, Ryo Suzuki and Colonel Company's own camp defense positions had not been fully repaired, so they ordered an attack on the Chinese defenders at Xifengkou. attack.
The battle process was completely consistent with his imagination. In just one afternoon's attack, the Chinese defenders stationed on several highlands outside Xifengkou were defeated by the fierce Japanese offensive and suffered a large-scale rout.
In the early morning of March 9, after a night of packhorse and manpower transportation, the mountain artillery squadron of the 13th Regiment and the artillery detachments of the 3 brigades, a total of 4 75mm April 1 mountain guns and 6 70mm 92 infantry guns, were all deployed. We arrived at Heizui Mountain, which is less than 1 kilometer away from Xifengkou Pass in a straight line and almost as high as the pass.
Xifengkou is a pass in the eastern section of the Yanshan Mountains. It was called Lulongsai in ancient times. The road connects the north and the south. Since ancient times, it has been an important pass in the Central Plains to resist the southward invasion of the northern grassland nomads.
The geography of Xifengkou is different from that of Lengkou Pass. The highest point of Lengkou Pass is Fenghuang Mountain where the pass is located, as well as Baiyang Valley in the east, Cherry Orchard and Baili Mountain in the west. As long as these four highlands are guarded, Lengkou Pass will It can be said to be impregnable.
However, there are many highlands and valleys around Xifengkou. Although the terrain of each highland is dangerous, they are distributed in front and back. Because the troops must be divided for defense and it is inconvenient to support each other, it also increases the difficulty of defense.
It can be said that the defense of Xifengkou mainly revolves around the competition for several peripheral highlands and valleys. If all the peripheral highlands are lost, it will be impossible for the pass to defend against attacks from several directions at the same time.
Among these highlands, the most important is Heizui Mountain located northeast of Xifengkou, and the other is Luowen Valley located in the northwest.
The terrain of these two highlands is dangerous. Heizui Mountain is the nearest commanding height in front of the pass, which is equivalent to the front gate of Xifengkou, while Luowenyu protects the side of Xifengkou and is regarded as the side gate of Xifengkou.
If the front gate is broken, it means that the Xifengkou Pass is directly exposed to the danger of Japanese artillery. If the side gate is broken, the defenders are threatened from both sides.
It stands to reason that the Northeastern Army originally stationed in a highland like Heizui Mountain, which is directly related to the safety of Xifengkou, should send powerful troops to defend it to the death. Moreover, in terms of terrain, Heizui Mountain is steep. Although it has already entered spring, the weather is still cold and the mountain is steep and slippery. The Japanese offensive troops cannot deploy their troops. It is still very difficult to conquer.
However, the Fourth Army of the Northeastern Army stationed at Xifengkou is the remnant of the hasty retreat from Rehe. Not only has most of its heavy firepower and artillery been discarded, but it has also suffered consecutive defeats for more than a month. Its morale is low and its military morale is unstable. He was already frightened and did not have the courage to fight to the death with the enemy.
Therefore, ten artillery pieces of the 13th Regiment fired at the top of the mountain, and the defenders stationed at Heizui Mountain dispersed. Even because of the steepness of the mountain, more people fell to death while escaping than were killed by Japanese artillery. .
In this way, the Japanese army only launched one attack, and the most critical barrier of Xifengkou failed, which only fueled the fierce flames of these proud soldiers of the 13th Regiment.
In the early morning of March 9, the Japanese army set up artillery on the top of the Heizui Mountain. The Xifengkou Pass position was completely exposed to the direct firepower of the Japanese artillery. It was only a matter of time before they failed.
At this time, even though Colonel Ryo Suzuki believed that the Chinese defenders at Lengkou Pass might be stronger, they were still too strong and could not possibly be an opponent of the 6th Division, which was known as "black skin and bright red blood". , so he didn't even bother with ambushes and sneak attacks by the Chinese army, and directly ordered the troops to attack the pass.
At this time, the Northeastern Army finally found its bloody spirit in the desperate situation. Army Commander Wan Fulin personally led the guard battalion to the front line to supervise the battle, and shot the officer who took the lead in escaping from Heizui Mountain. He led the entire army to fight fiercely with the Japanese army for most of the day without retreating. .
However, due to the sharpness of the Japanese artillery, most of the passes were captured by the Japanese at dusk. The Northeastern Army's defenders suffered more than half casualties and faced the desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food.
At this time, Colonel Suzuki already felt that the resistance of the Chinese defenders was about to collapse and victory was imminent. He had even prepared a draft to report to the command headquarters on the successful capture of Xifengkou.
However, a troop wearing special gray military uniforms passed by the hastily retreating defenders and suddenly appeared at the forefront of the battle.
What surprised Colonel Suzuki was that the Chinese army, which numbered thousands of people, did not conduct any fire support or artillery suppression at all, but rushed directly to fight under a hail of bullets.
This iron-gray human wave seemed not to care about bullets and artillery shells at all. The soldiers in the front row kept falling down like wheat, but the wave behind them continued to rush forward bravely even after passing over the bodies of their comrades.
In Colonel Suzuki's telescope, he could clearly see that all of their rifles were carried on their backs, and each of them was carrying a bright broad-backed sword. In just a blink of an eye, they rushed into the yellow crowd attacking the Japanese army. .
