Chapter Seventy-Four: Reinforcements Arrive

  In the morning mist, Japanese soldiers wearing black military uniforms, with white cloth wrapped around their legs, carrying cowhide cross-shoulder straps, holding Village Type 18 rifles, formed the most standard dense assault formation, like a group of mice during a mouse plague, surging forward in all directions.

  However, they had a painful lesson before, although it was still a dense formation, but at least they opened up some distance, after all, who can bear the tragedy of one bullet killing two people.

  Six thousand Japanese troops thus began their death charge.

  They were first greeted by shells, and the Qing army's artillery was already very mature in terms of technology, with a clear hierarchy of attack. The Krupp 75mm field gun and Bofors 82mm mortar, which had the longest range, attacked first, firing hundreds of rounds per minute, filled with nitrocellulose and antimony, whizzing through the air, then exploding among the Japanese troops, sending countless shattered bodies flying in all directions amidst the flames.

  As the Japanese army approached, other small-caliber artillery and Han Yang Arsenal's Type 82 mortars joined in the bombardment. Although these guns had a short range, they were terrifying in number, with over a hundred guns concentrated here under Zhang Gaoyuan's command. Ample ammunition supplies allowed the gunners to fire at almost rifle-like speeds, especially the Hotchkiss revolving cannons, which fired sixty rounds per minute from their five bundled barrels, spewing forth death-dealing flames that often didn't even need to explode to simply blast Japanese soldiers in two.

  Notsu Michihiro, still with an unyielding expression, gazed at the soldiers engulfed in flames from the exploding shells, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword trembling slightly.

  His Imperial Majesty's brave warriors, with a sense of shame and indignation, and the prospect of wealth, women, or a full meal, disregarding the shells falling around them and the blood and flesh splashing on their faces, charged forward without hesitation amidst the sound of wooden clappers, carefully aiming and firing their rifles in hand, trying not to waste precious bullets. However, their shooting was basically useless. Zhang Gaoyuan was about to vomit blood at the ratio of 4,000 bullets to one enemy eliminated. Before the battle, strict orders were given that anyone who dared to fire without permission would be executed on the spot, so now the Qing soldiers were all hiding in the trenches with their heads down.

  At the same time as the Japanese infantry charged, the bronze field guns and mountain guns in their artillery positions also fired at the Qing army's position with the maximum speed they could reach. Especially the iron wire and wooden stakes in front, which were said to be new weapons by the Tianjin spies, were actually ignored by Oyama Iwao. He had seen barbed wire before, and it was a joke to say that this thing could be used for battle. Looking at the ruined barbed wire through his binoculars, he couldn't help but smile slightly.

  His smile soon froze, however, as he saw the black tide charging forward, only to come to an abrupt halt like a wave crashing against rocks. The soldiers behind were unable to react in time and crashed into the backs of those in front, with 6,000 Japanese troops packed tightly in front of the barbed wire, amidst which shells exploded continuously, instantly magnifying the lethal effect to its limit.

  "Bastard, run quickly! That's barbed wire, not a wall!" Kōsuke Noda yelled furiously from afar, swinging his military sword wildly like a madman.

  He was right, that was barbed wire, not a wall. If it were a wall, it would be easy to handle. But if it's a piece of barbed wire entangled by shells, with a depth of more than 50 meters, unless you bring in tanks, there is absolutely no hope of passing through. The dense Japanese soldiers struggled in those poisonous iron thorns, just like being trapped in the mud, making every step difficult.

  And it was at this moment that the real hell began, with the shrill sound of Western-style bugles, countless bullets suddenly erupted from the Qing army's position on the opposite side, and the Japanese troops crowded in front of the barbed wire were like a sudden collapse of the ground, and a large piece of the black attacking group in front suddenly collapsed.

  The slaughter continued, and the Japanese army was just a heap of sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Thousands of soldiers fell down at a terrifying speed, blood began to collect on the ground, forming streams, corpses piled up, and pairs of lifeless eyes stared blankly. This small area turned into a real abattoir. The surviving Japanese struggled in the blood and fire, not knowing what to do, waiting for their destined fate. The dead bodies accumulated more and more, until some places even blocked the machine gun's field of view.

  At this time, not to mention the Japanese army, even the Qing army machine gunners inside the fortress were frightened by their own slaughter. The gunfire from several fortresses began to weaken, fortunately, there were enough shooters in each of them, and they were all equipped with supervising officers. Those who had already collapsed psychologically were dragged aside and replaced by those who hadn't been scared yet, continuing to spew out death.

  At the same time, the infantry lying in the trenches were also creating death at a rate that was not inferior to machine guns. The Japanese army was now a group of living targets. It wasn't necessary to aim, and even with their eyes closed, just by leveling the muzzle and pulling the trigger would result in a hit. As they watched the enemy fall one by one under their gun barrels, these Qing soldiers were gradually maturing, and the situation where they wasted bullets without any purpose would never happen again. Now they already knew where to aim for an easier hit.

  In the distance, Nozu Michitsura sat on the ground in despair, his latest attack having failed once again. The Japanese army's courage, which had been barely rallied, had now collapsed for a second time. Although there was no rout yet, it was impossible to launch another attack. The remaining soldiers were crouching behind the bodies of their comrades, trembling with fear, while some were exchanging shots with the Qing army.

  The Qing army was growing, and so were the Japanese troops. They knew that escaping in this situation would not guarantee safety, and even if they did, it would only be relative. The distance was just behind the Qing army's defense line, which was the optimal attack range for the self-produced mortars from the Hanyang Arsenal. All of the 82mm mortars with a maximum range of only two kilometers were hidden in concealed shelters, not even revealing their muzzles. In front of the barbed wire, this area had been repeatedly tested and adjusted, and the artillerymen only needed to hide in the shelters to load the shells.

  Apart from the howitzers, those direct-fire artillery pieces scattered all over the battlefield were also pouring shells onto the Japanese troops non-stop. As for those long-range Krupp guns and Bofors howitzers, they began to shift their targets towards the Japanese artillery. The Krupp guns had a slightly higher range than the Japanese bronze cannons, while the Bofors howitzers were roughly on par with them but excelled in concealment. The Japanese advantage lay in their more accurate artillery fire. The artillery duel between the two sides was so intense that it could be said to be evenly matched, but the problem was that both sides were fundamentally not on the same level in terms of numbers or firing speed. As a result, those twenty-odd mountain guns and field guns under Nozu's command soon fell silent.

  The Japanese army, led by Lieutenant General Nogi Maresuke, could no longer hold on. Although they claimed to want to fill the Qing army's defensive line with their soldiers' corpses, that was just an empty boast. Moreover, his soldiers were not even close to reaching the Qing army's defensive line. Continuing to fight had already lost all meaning. As a result, the remaining fewer than three thousand Japanese troops finally heard the order to retreat.

  While Notsu Michitsura was unlucky, the other two Japanese troops also suffered heavy losses. More than a thousand people from Oshima Yoshiakira's unit were hung on the iron wire in front of Nie Shicheng's position, and another half brigade that launched a containment attack also hung more than 500 people on it. However, their battle results were brilliant in this battle.

  Because Xu Bangdao, who was killed by the Japanese army, personally commanded his subordinates to pursue and kill during the Japanese withdrawal. As a result, the Japanese army, which was forced to retreat, turned around and launched a precise shooting, pushing back the Qing army that had been blocked by its own barbed wire. In this short period of time, Xu Bangdao lost more than 200 men, more than Zhang Gaoyuan's casualties on the main battlefield.

  This also poured cold water on the other three generals, who were originally eager to launch a counterattack. They immediately shut their mouths, and it was clear that if they didn't have the protection of trenches and barbed wire, going out into the open battlefield would be no better than attacking the Japanese army themselves.

  Besides, this tactic is quite good now, just wait comfortably for the Japanese army to send themselves to death, after all, they can't bypass here no matter what.

  The unexpected gain on the southern line also allowed Notsu no Michinori, who was already prepared to retreat, to put his mind at ease. To be sure, he now had a total of only six thousand troops, and with this small number of men, not to mention attacking, even defending was very dangerous. However, since the Qing army's attack was so weak, there was no need to retreat. The two sides continued to stalemate, waiting for the arrival of the First Division before making another move.

  At this time, the First Division had already boarded ships and sailed north along the Luo River, while on the same day, the Northern Route armies of Song Qing and Liu Shengxiu also arrived at Anzhou.

  Upon receiving the news from Yashan, Li Ergou was delighted but also had a headache. Defending without attacking would not work under any circumstances, but if they were to attack, with the current combat effectiveness of the Qing army, it would be impossible to defeat the Japanese army even with four or five times more troops. Xu Bangdao's unit was already considered the elite of the Huai Army. But where could such a large number of troops come from? They were already struggling to make ends meet. It was out of the question to send those useless Green Standard soldiers into battle. The only solution now was to continue recruiting new soldiers.

  "We need to recruit more soldiers, at least 40 battalions. Can't a small country like this be dealt with? Li Hongzhang is getting older and his courage is getting smaller. He even wants to reuse Liu Mingchuan again, I don't know what's good about that bandit?" The Empress Dowager Cixi said, her mood not being great lately, having executed over a dozen palace maids and eunuchs who had been beaten to death. She looked at Li Hongzhang's memorial requesting the reuse of Liu Mingchuan.

  "Old Master, what about this memorial?" Shi Zheng hastily said.

  "Never mind, now that the battle is on, let him be. Also, pass an edict to Yiketang'a, don't let people laugh at us Manchus for having no heroes." Cixi said coldly.