Devil's Army

Chapter 2136 The Battle of Ma'anshan Fortress Complex (Part 1)

The Japanese army secured its positions inside the city, and more troops continued to pour into the city.

With the city wall fortifications gone, the Fourth Regiment was gradually pushed deeper into the county by the Japanese army.

Under the relentless pressure from the superior Japanese forces, the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment and the Second Paratrooper Company retreated into the Ma'anshan Fortress Complex.

The Ma'anshan Fortress Complex was the core support point of the southwestern section of the Hunchun Fortress, part of the Japanese army's "Eastern Maginot Line". It is located southwest of Hunchun City and north of the Changlingzi Port, forming a west-southwest barrier together with Shileizi Mountain and the Changlingzi position.

The Ma'anshan Fortress Complex is the main position of the western section of the Hunchun Fortress, blocking the border passage from Hunchun to Changlingzi, protecting the left flank of the Wujiashan core area, and forming a flanking coordination with the Dongning Fortress.

It is located north of Shileizi Mountain and south of Changlingzi, about 8–12 kilometers from the old city of Hunchun. It is in a low mountain and hilly area with an altitude of 200–400 meters, and controls the Hunchun-Changlingzi highway and border passes.

The fortress complex employs a fortification system of "main position + forward guard + deep support," primarily consisting of permanent reinforced concrete fortifications supplemented by field fortifications. Core fortifications include:

1. Ground firing positions: permanent machine gun bunkers (spaced 25–300 meters apart), artillery positions (including rapid-fire gun/mountain gun bunkers), observation posts, firing ports with armored shields, covering roads and open areas.

2. Underground tunnel system: connecting the command room, ammunition depot, barracks, medical station, and power generation room. The tunnels are 1.6–2.0 meters wide and 1.8 meters high, and are equipped with communication trenches and trench networks to interconnect with adjacent positions.

3. Obstacle system: The front line is equipped with anti-tank ditches, multiple layers of barbed wire, and iron embankments, which are cut into steep walls according to the terrain to form a multi-layered defensive barrier.

When the Japanese troops advanced to Longjing County, they encountered a tough challenge, and their offensive slowed down.

The Japanese troops in Longjing County dispersed their forces and launched a full-scale attack on the Ma'anshan Fortress Complex.

However, the Ma'anshan fortress complex has strong bunkers and hidden bunkers in all directions.

The soldiers of the Fourth Regiment blocked the Japanese attack on the left flank, while the Second Paratrooper Company blocked the Japanese attacks on the central and right flanks.

The Japanese troops were unable to advance due to the dense machine gun fire from the various bunkers and pillboxes.

The Japanese mortars were unable to destroy the reinforced concrete bunkers and pillboxes.

At this moment, the Japanese commander was probably cursing their engineers for making the Ma'anshan Fortress complex so sturdy.

At this point, the Japanese commander thought of the vicious poison gas bombs and attempted to use them to poison all the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment and the Second Parachute Company in the Ma'anshan Fortress complex.

However, things didn't go as planned; the wind kept blowing in the direction of the Japanese army, and the Japanese army's plan to drop poison gas bombs was abandoned.

To the relief of the Japanese commanders, their soldiers, after fierce fighting, finally captured the outer positions of the Ma'anshan Fortress Complex.

However, under the cover of night, the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment and the Second Parachute Company recaptured all the outer positions of the Ma'anshan Fortress complex that the Japanese army had occupied during the day through the trenches.

Enraged, the Japanese commander ordered artillery fire to cover the positions they had just lost.

However, as soon as the soldiers of the 4th Regiment and the 2nd Parachute Company heard the whistling of the shells, they immediately crawled into the bunker.

The Ma'anshan Fortress complex was bombarded by Japanese artillery fire, leaving mud flying everywhere and smoke billowing.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment and the Second Parachute Company crouched in the bunker, covered their ears, and opened their mouths wide to listen for the sound.

That night, the Japanese army did not launch another attack on the Ma'anshan fortress complex, but instead planned a new attack for the next day.