Chapter 41
The Japanese offensive was once again disintegrated. Ken Okazaki had no choice but to join the infantry's repeated attacks. From noon to evening, the Okazaki Squadron launched more than a dozen attacks, all of which ended in failure. Megao's position remained unmoved, but the Okazaki Squadron broke from a 250-man strengthening squadron to a missing team of less than 50 people.
The captain of the 1st brigade, Shinmi Ito, was furious and wanted to cut off Okazaki Ken's head with one knife. Considering that Okazaki Ken joined the army earlier than him and had always performed well after landing in Shanghai, Shinmi Ito suppressed his anger and finally gave Okazaki Ken a half-day deadline, which was limited to taking Meigang before noon tomorrow.
Of course, it is unrealistic to expect Ken Okazaki to take down Meigang with a team of less than 50 people. Ito Shinkami still pinched his nose to replenish the troops for the 1st Squadron. This time, what he added was no longer reserve troops who had only received simple military training and had no practical experience, but a group of retired veterans who had participated in actual combat.
Okazaki left in shame, returned to the squadron command and began to think about tomorrow's tactics. The old Japanese man didn't know that his opponent had already replaced him. At 10 o'clock that night, Xu Shijiu received the order from Feng Shengfa. The 19th Brigade immediately went to Saihongqiao to meet with the main force of the division, and the Yuhuatai position was replaced by the 88th Division.
It turned out that the battle situation had undergone major changes during the day. Just when the war broke out on Yuhuatai, the Guanghua Little Zhonghua Gate was also attacked by the Japanese army at the same time. The 9th and 6th Divisions of the Japanese army mobilized hundreds of heavy artillery pieces, and dozens of bombers repeatedly dive bombed, and in the afternoon, two gaps were blown up in the city walls.
The 9th Japanese Division first blew up a section of the city wall on the right side of Guanghua Gate. The 1st Battalion of the 19th Infantry Regiment flocked in along the gap formed by the collapse. Qiu Qingquan, the Chief of Staff of the Central Military Academy Teaching Corps, urgently dispatched the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Brigade to block the gap. The regiment commander Xie Chengrui personally led the suicide squad to charge, and then regained the gap and stabilized the defense line.
Shortly after the gap in Guanghua Gate was blocked, the 6th Japanese Division blew up a section of the city wall between Zhonghua Gate and Shuixi Gate. The one who opened the gap was the 36th Infantry Brigade that captured the Shanghai Municipal Government. The brigade commander Niu Daoman. I have to say that Niu Daoman, the old Japanese devil, was really lucky. The great achievements of the first trap in Nanjing almost fell on him.
Guanghua Primary School Zhonghua Gate was in danger one after another. Tang Shengzhi, the commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Garrison Department, was still leisurely and leisurely, without any sense of urgency that the situation of the battle had collapsed. He still did not have the intention of inquiring about the battle command in detail. He just took two guards to take leisurely in the backyard of Baiziting Mansion, smoking cigarettes while savoring fragrant tea.
Luo Zhuoying, deputy commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Garrison Chief Department, Liu Xing and Chief of Staff Zhou Lan were all panicked. Chief of Staff Liao Ken volunteered to take the phone with him to block the gap. He also agreed with the headquarters to talk to him every ten minutes. If there is no phone call for more than ten minutes, it means that he has sacrificed his life for the country.
As a result, before Liao Ken arrived, a first condemnation brigade of the 36th Japanese Infantry Brigade had already rushed into the city of Nanjing. With the streets and alleys, Liao Ken brought a Jiang defense regiment that had just left the Jiangyin Fortress. The personnel were not in place and the equipment was not complete. As a result, there were only a hundred people left in the regiment and they could not fight again.
Luo Zhuoying urgently ordered the commander of the 72nd Army Sun Yuanliang to lead the 88th Division to counterattack and eliminate the Japanese troops rushing into the city. He ordered the commander of the 72nd Army Sun Yuanliang, but was not there. He asked the chief of staff Zhang Boting and the two brigade commanders, only saying that Sun Yuanliang went out in the morning and had not returned yet. The current commander of the 72nd Army and commander of the 88th Division were missing.
Where did Sun Yuanliang go? In the morning, he took the guards and tried to escape from Yijiangmen, but was blocked by the commander of the 78th Army Song Xilian with a machine gun. Song Xilian did not report this to the garrison headquarters due to romance. After that, Sun Yuanliang never returned to the 72nd Army headquarters. A few days later, Nanjing was lost, but Sun Yuanliang appeared in Wuhan without any damage.
Sun Yuanliang evaporated from the world, the morale of the 72nd Army fluctuated, and the combat effectiveness of the troops dropped sharply. Luo Zhuoying thought of Yu Jishi's 74th Army again, but when he called the 74th Army headquarters of Saihongqiao, he asked, Yu Jishi was not there.
Where did Yu Jishi go? He was leading the 151st Brigade of the 51st Division to build a floating bridge at Sanhankou (the intersection where the Qinhuai River flows into the Yangtze River). Why did he build a floating bridge? Of course, it was to cross the river. When Yu Jishi saw the Japanese army's fierce offensive, he felt that Nanjing had been lost for only three or two days, so he thought of retreating to Xiaguan Wharf as soon as possible so as to cross the Yangtze River north first.
Not only the 151st Brigade of Zhou Zhidao, but also the main force of the 58th Division was transferred to Shangxin River by Yu Jishi (close to the Yangtze River and a small town near Jiangxinzhou). The 74th Army was supposed to retreat to Saihongqiao, and the Yuhuatai line relied on the city wall to fight the Japanese army, but in the end, only Zhang Lingfu, Qiu Weida's two remnants and the 19th Brigade were still defending in Yuhuatai.
The Nanjing Defense War has reached its present momentum, and the command system of the National Army has actually been paralyzed.
Luo Zhuoying was furious when he learned the news. He immediately ordered Xiao Shanling to take the military police to Sanhankou to stop the 74th Army from building a floating bridge. He then passed Yu Ji and directly ordered Feng Shengfa to order the 58th Division to block the gap between the Zhonghua Gate and the Shuixi Gate, and at the same time sent capable troops to clear the Japanese troops entrenched in the gap.
After receiving the order, Feng Shengfa quickly led the main force of the 58th Division to the direction of Saihongqiao, and sent several groups of messengers to Yuhuatai, ordering the 19th Brigade to go to Saihongqiao to join the main force of the 58th Division. However, at this time, the 6th Division of the Japanese army had already reached the city of Nanjing, and the national army and the Japanese army had formed a situation of staggering thorns. The several messengers sent by Feng Shengfa could not cross the Japanese sealed line, and the order could not be conveyed to the 19th Brigade in time.
It was not until ten o'clock in the night that the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division came to Meigang to take over the defense. Xu Shijiu heard from Zhu Chi, the commander of the 262nd Brigade, and immediately handed over the position to the 262nd Brigade, and then led the troops to Saihongqiao overnight. The distance from Yuhuatai to Saihongqiao was not far. The 19th Brigade quickly arrived at the destination. On the contrary, the main force of the 58th Division had to break through the seal of the 6th Division of the Japanese Army because of the long distance, and was half an hour later than the 19th Brigade.
As soon as he met Feng Shengfa, he said, "Ajiu, tell me about the situation of the 19th Brigade.
Xu Shijiu naturally would not hide it and answered truthfully: "In terms of personnel, eliminated the serious injuries, there are more than 400 people left in the 19th Brigade. In terms of weapons, equipment and ammunition, there are 2 left in 82mm caliber mortars, 20 shells, 4 heavy machine guns, 12 light machine guns, more than 40,000 bullets, and 20 boxes of grenades left."
Feng Shengfa nodded and took Xu Shijiu to the Nanjing City Defense Map posted on the wall, pointing to a small street between the Zhonghua Gate and the Shuixi Gate and said: "The Japanese army opened a gap here. About 300 Japanese soldiers entered the city through this gap and occupied this street. Ajiu, are you confident of killing this Japanese army?"
Xu Shijiu stood attentively and said solemnly: "Don't worry, the 19th Brigade will never disappoint you!"
"Okay, very good!" Feng Shengfa patted Xu Shijiu's shoulder with relief and said, "In this way, I will add two hundred veterans to your 19th Brigade, two Maxim heavy machine guns, six Czech light machine guns, 20 Zhihua Machinery and 100,000 rounds without bullets, but I am talking about the ugly words before, if I can't kill this group of Japanese before dawn, you will only ask."
Xu Shijiu stood at attention again and shouted: "Yes!"
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When Xu Shijiu returned to the temporary base of the 19th Brigade, it was already early in the morning on December 10.
At this time, more than 400 officers and soldiers of the 19th Brigade and 60th-70th-severely injured were all resting in the military camp south of Saihongqiao. According to the scorched earth order issued by the Nanjing garrison commander, all buildings within 2,000 meters of the outer wall of Nanjing were burned or demolished. But for some reason, this military camp was retained, not to mention the circular barricade, and even the heavy machine gun nest was not blown up.
In fact, this is by no means an individual phenomenon. The scorched earth order of the Nanjing Garrison Chief Office was not completely implemented. The reason why the Niudao Brigade was able to break into the city through the gap between the water west gate of the Chinese small water so quickly was because there were two five-story western-style buildings outside the gap that were not blown up, thus providing the Japanese army with a condescending firepower support point.
Xu Shijiu just walked into the temporary brigade headquarters. Deputy Captain Gu Wei, 2nd Company Commander Lu Yong, 3rd Company Commander One-eyed Dragon, Cannon Company Commander Hu Jie, Guard Platoon Commander Gao Shenxing and other officers surrounded him. At this time, there was already a rumor, saying that Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 72nd Army, had left his troops and fled, and the morale of the 19th Army was also affected.
Xu Shijiu waved his hand to stop everyone from asking questions and said to Gao Shenxing: "Shenxing, you will immediately take the guard platoon to escort the seriously injured people to Confucius Temple." The field hospital of the Nanjing Garrison Chief Office is located in Confucius Temple. This is also to take advantage of the awe of the Buddhist temple and Confucius Temple. The bombers of the Little Japanese rarely bomb the temple.
"Yes!" Gao Shen stood attentively, saluted Xu Shijiu, and then turned around and went.
As soon as Gao Shenxing left, Gu Wei came up and asked anxiously: "Captain, I heard that Sun Yuanliang, the commander of the 72nd Army, has left his troops and fled. Isn't this true?
Xu Shijiu asked back, "What do you think?"
Gu Wei opened his mouth wide and ate and said, "Is that really running away?"
Xu Shijiu lowered his face and said in a deep voice: "You guys know about this matter, and you are not allowed to talk nonsense everywhere. Sun Yuanliang's escape is his business. As long as the garrison headquarters does not order a retreat for a day, our 19th brigade cannot retreat for a day. Also, whoever dares to spread rumors, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Gu Wei, Lu Yong, Hu Jie and one-eyed dragon were silent.
Xu Shijiu's cold eyes swept across the faces of the four people and said, "Now, the combat mission is arranged."
Chapter completed!