The daylight attack by the 2nd Division of the Imperial Japanese Army ended in failure, with heavy losses.
The 5th and 4th Infantry Regiments had both paid a heavy price.
Facing the overwhelming firepower of the Beiyang Army, the 2nd Division of the Imperial Japanese Army could only resort to other means.
That night, the 2nd Division of the Imperial Japanese Army launched a fierce attack on the large city defended by the 13th Infantry Division of the Beiyang Army.
This time, the 5th and 4th Infantry Regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army gathered all their remaining strength, with a total force of over four infantry battalions, launching an attack from the east of the city.
Meanwhile, the 16th and 17th Infantry Regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army launched attacks from the north and south of the city.
It could be said that in order to completely crush the 13th Infantry Division of the Beiyang Army, the 2nd Division of the Imperial Japanese Army had spared no effort.
All four of its main infantry regiments were thrown into the attack.
Even the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment, which had suffered heavy losses and lost a third of its artillery in the daylight battle, joined the attack.
The entire 2nd Division was now left with only the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the 2nd Supply Regiment, and the 2nd Engineer Regiment, as well as other second-line combat units.
In the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness, a large number of Japanese soldiers crept towards the Beiyang Army's positions.
To avoid making noise and being detected by the Beiyang Army, many Japanese soldiers had pieces of cloth or bayonets and daggers in their mouths.
Every Japanese soldier's eyes were filled with a vengeful gleam.
The Japanese had suffered heavy losses in the daylight battle.
This was a battle that determined whether the Japanese Empire could rise.
However, they had suffered such heavy losses at the start of the battle, which naturally filled every Japanese soldier with anger.
Time passed slowly, and the Japanese soldiers got closer and closer to the Beiyang Army's defenses.
On the Japanese side, Lieutenant General Sakuma Zomata and others held binoculars, looking towards the direction of the large city.
Although it was pitch black at night and nothing could be seen.
But they were all hoping that this night attack would be successful.
“Boom!”
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out.
A fiery orange light shot up into the sky.
The explosion was so loud in the quiet night.
The light was so bright in the pitch black night.
All the soldiers of the Beiyang Army on the frontline were awakened.
Everyone immediately picked up their weapons and threw themselves into battle.
“Da-da-da!”
The Maxim heavy machine guns, already loaded, began to fire, with tracer rounds drawing bright lines in the night sky.
“Whew! Whew!”
Mortars launched one illuminating shell after another.
The dazzling white light dispelled the darkness, illuminating the surroundings.
Illuminating shells were not very technologically advanced.
At Li Jingyuan's request, the Beiyang Army's arsenals had already developed and equipped them to the troops.
It was undoubtedly very effective against enemy night attacks.
When the darkness was dispelled and night turned into day, the Japanese soldiers were stunned.
But the whistling machine gun bullets and the constantly falling shells took away the lives of one Japanese soldier after another, also reminding them that they were in the midst of a battlefield.
So, these Japanese soldiers no longer cared about their surprise and could only lower their heads, walk with crooked legs, and launch an attack.
However, even though they had charged to within a hundred meters of the Beiyang Army's positions, they were stopped by barbed wire and landmines.
Japanese soldiers continued to step on landmines, being blown to pieces.
The barbed wire, laced with sharp thorns, pierced the Japanese soldiers, leaving them bleeding profusely.
The Beiyang Army's Maxim heavy machine guns, as well as the rifles in the soldiers' hands, were firing furiously, taking advantage of this opportunity to frantically harvest the lives of these Japanese soldiers.
When the explosions rang out, Lieutenant General Sakuma Zomata and the others turned pale.
“Baka! The night attack failed! Artillery, fire immediately!” Lieutenant General Sakuma Zomata immediately ordered.
“Hai, Division Commander!”
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The remaining units of the 2nd Division of the Imperial Japanese Army Field Artillery Regiment, which had been prepared long ago, immediately launched an attack.
One by one, the 70mm mountain guns and 70mm field guns began to bombard the Beiyang Army's positions.
The shells hit the Beiyang Army's positions, exploding.
Many Beiyang Army soldiers who were fighting were unable to dodge the shells that came from the sky and were blown up on the spot.
Some Beiyang Army soldiers were even torn to pieces.
The 13th Artillery Regiment of the Beiyang Army, as well as the artillery companies of each regiment, immediately launched counterattacks.
But it was not easy to suppress the Japanese artillery at night.
Moreover, the Japanese learned from their mistakes and deliberately dispersed their artillery units.
As a result, it was even more difficult for the Beiyang Army's artillery to completely eliminate the Japanese artillery.
This forced the Beiyang Army soldiers to endure the Japanese artillery fire and hold their positions, fighting the Japanese soldiers.
Naturally, casualties continued to rise.