Cross the Songhu battlefield and rise to become the most powerful warlord

Chapter 276 Fierce Battle

276 Fierce Battle

"After a night of attack, you only managed to capture a few Chinese frontier positions on Purple Mountain?

Baka, waste.

What I want is the main position of Zijin Mountain.

Continue the attack. You cannot stop the attack until you capture the main position of Zijin Mountain."

At the headquarters of the Japanese 16th Division, the division commander Nakajima Imago hung up the phone angrily.

He was very dissatisfied with the battle reports from the attacking troops on the front line.

It was originally thought that a surprise attack at night would be beneficial to them.

But now it seems that the Nationalist army has obviously been fully prepared and is waiting for them to attack.

Even so, their artillery units were adequately supplied with ammunition and the shelling basically did not stop all night.

However, after a whole night, the Japanese 16th Division only captured a few small forward positions in Zijin.

He never even managed to set foot on the main position of Zijin Mountain.

Even Zhou Xinghai's flank position was as stable as a rock.

With Zhou Xinghai's militia division, they held the flank position.

It guarded the flank of the main defense position of the Teaching Corps and reduced the defensive pressure on the Teaching Corps.

Not only the Japanese 16th Division's attack was thwarted.

The three divisions of the Japanese Tenth Army also failed to complete the task of seizing control of the line from Guanghua Gate to Taiping Gate.

In this way, they would not be able to cut off the connection between Zijin Mountain and Jinling City.

"Hurry! Hurry up."

At dawn, a National Army troop, escorting a group of civilians and carrying stretchers, rushed up Purple Mountain from the foot of the mountain.

Send the soldiers injured in last night's battle to the hospital.

At the same time, new ammunition and food were delivered to the defenders on Zijin Mountain.

That is, the advantage of Zijin Mountain is that it has not lost its connection channel with Jinling City.

Ammunition and supplies can be replenished at any time, and the wounded can be transferred to hospitals in the city at any time.

The old Japanese soldier Matsui Iwane soon learned the news of the failure of last night's attack.

This was far from what he expected.

"Baka, the three divisions of the Tenth Army attacked but failed to retake the Guanghua Gate line?"

The old Japanese soldier Matsui Iwane asked coldly to the Japanese chief of staff next to him.

"Hi!

General Heisuke Yanagawa replied that the elite 88th Division of the Chinese Army was defending the Guanghua Gate line.

The other side's defense was so resolute that even with heavy casualties, they showed no signs of backing down.

Now, Tani Hisao's Sixth Division is fighting fiercely with the 88th Division of the Chinese Army.

The fighting was extremely brutal.”

The Japanese Chief of Staff reported.

“Tell Tani Hisao that I don’t want to hear any excuses, and I don’t care how many casualties they suffer.

If he fails to take back Guanghua Gate before sunset today.

The support channels of the Chinese army in Purple Mountain and Nanjing City cannot be cut off again.

All the generals above the rank of colonel in the Sixth Division should resign en masse."

The old devil Matsui Iwane said with a blank expression on his face but a cruel look in his eyes.

Not long after, Tani Hisao received this extremely strict order from Matsui Iwane.

"Baga, pass on the commander's order.

Tell the soldiers that they must recapture Guanghua Gate before sunset."

Tani Hisao roared with a ferocious look.

When he saw the strict order given to him by Matsui Iwane.

He knew that he had no choice.

Today's battle is the first battle of Matsui Iwane's general offensive, and it is very important.

If they fail to win this battle, it will be a huge blow to the morale of the Japanese.

By then, the old Japanese devil Matsui Iwane might really withdraw him.

As Tani Hisao issued the death order, the remaining nearly 88 Japanese soldiers of the th Division launched wave after wave of attacks on the positions of the th Division.

At this time, the Japanese Sixth Division had a full strength of nearly 30,000 people.

But after the Battle of Shanghai and the one and a half month Battle of Nanjing, their number of troops had been reduced to less than 20,000.

But even so, the Sixth Division was still one of the most powerful divisions among the seven Japanese divisions around Nanjing at that time.

Other divisions, such as the worst-hit 13th Division, have been reduced to 13,000 to 14,000 men.

After the old Japanese soldier Matsui Iwane arrived in Nanjing, he was faced with the situation that he was temporarily unable to obtain additional troops and his major regiments had suffered serious casualties.

The only option is to reduce the size of each division and merge two regiments into one to improve combat effectiveness.

At this time, the total strength of the seven Japanese divisions outside the city was only about 120,000.

And most of them are exhausted.

In terms of military strength, Ye Qingshan currently has more than 100,000 militiamen under his command.

Adding the 60,000 to 70,000 Nationalist troops before, the country already outnumbered the Japs in terms of military strength.

In terms of weapons and equipment, except for the lack of bombers and larger numbers of artillery, we are no less capable than the Japanese in other weapons.

The situation is much better than a month ago when the Japanese broke into the city.

And Tani Hisao's Sixth Division is one of the most powerful among the seven major divisions of the Japanese devils around Nanjing.

That's why he was sent out by the old Japanese soldier Matsui Iwane to fight the first battle.

The Sixth Division launched a ruthless and reckless attack.

The 88th Division's defensive positions on the Guanghua Gate line were lost one after another, resulting in heavy casualties.

"Commander, a large group of Japanese soldiers broke through the gap in the northern city wall and charged in.

An entire battalion of the Third Regiment was killed in the battle.

I have already ordered the first regiment to send some men to block this large group of Japanese enemies.

The Japs were like crazy, attacking fearlessly.

Their artillery has not stopped firing since last night.

We can't keep fighting like this.

Otherwise, our 88th Division would be wiped out within three days.

Can we retreat to the city and fight the devils in the streets as we did before?"

Chief of Staff Chen Sunong came over and reported the battle situation to the division commander Sun Yuanliang and expressed his concerns.

“Damn it.

I don't believe that the Japanese will have endless artillery shells.

Can't withdraw!

The headquarters’ order is for us to defend Guanghua Gate to the death.

I have just finished reading the headquarters' operational plan.

This time, all the troops can retreat into the city, engage in street fighting with the Japanese and consume their energy.

The only ones that are not good enough are us and Wang Yaowu's 51st Division.

We must stop the Japanese from seizing Purple Mountain, otherwise, we will not be able to win the street fighting.

We are changing, and the Japs are changing too.

The Japs have found a strategy to restrain Qingshan's street fighting, and the key is Zijin Mountain.

So, tell the soldiers, we have no retreat in this battle.

The only option is to fight to the death."

Sun Yuanliang said with a firm look in his eyes.

"This……"

"But you don't have to worry, Chief of Staff.

Qingshan said, let us hold on for two days.

Two days later, the headquarters will let us retreat and rest, and let the 66th Army come to take over our defense line."

"That's good!

Otherwise, our 88th Division would have been wiped out."

Chen Sunong also breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Sun Yuanliang say this.

With a strength of less than 88 men in the th Division, they were trying to withstand an attack by the nearly men of the Japanese Sixth Division.

It's simply a foolish dream. It's already good enough if we can hold on for two days.

“However, we cannot just defend stubbornly, we need to be more flexible in our tactics.

If you cannot defend the city walls during the day, you can retreat into the urban area to avoid the Japanese artillery fire.

At night, a suicide squad was organized to counterattack and retake the city wall.

We have to hold on for two days."