The Sixth Division did not have the opportunity to fish out the soldiers who died in the mud one by one for statistics.
It was beaten into a pile of rotten flesh by bullets and then soaked in water. Not to mention the smell, just the shape of the puff bag would make people sick to death.
The Japanese commanders were 'humanized' this time and allowed their unlucky compatriots to become fertile river mud in the moat of Songjiang City.
It is said that after more than ten years, the farmland formed by the river mud dredged from the Songjiang moat will yield a bumper harvest no matter what you plant.
The Sixth Division finally recorded in the battle report based on the last number of people alive that in the battle to capture Songjiang launched at 5 pm on November 7, 306 people were missing.
That means that in the first wave alone, as many as one and a half infantry squadrons died in the moat. If you add in the unlucky children who were crawling in the mud and being bombarded by Chinese mortars, at least
Two infantry squadrons are gone.
His Excellency Lieutenant General Hisao Tani's sword had just been unsheathed when he was hit by a Chinese man with a stick and his mouth was wide open. It was strange that His Excellency Hisao Tani's face looked good when he was watching the battle from a distance.
Even Tanabe Moritake's eyes did not dare to leave the high-powered telescope for a moment. It was not that the anxious battlefield attracted him at this time, but that he was afraid of seeing the green face of Lieutenant General Hisao Tani.
So how should he be comforted?
He said, "Your Excellency has an army of more than 20,000 people. What's wrong with killing these useless snacks?"
Hisao Tani actually maintained this posture and did not move for a long time.
Perhaps, not only is he embarrassed and angry, but his head is also buzzing. Where is the promised sword?
The two Japanese army generals could only press the high-power telescope to their eye sockets in a tacit understanding and stopped communicating until the entire battlefield ended.
Hisao Tani had high hopes for Kambuto Yoshida who led his subordinates into a quagmire and became a living target for the Chinese. Hisao Tani had no chance to feed him medicine because Major Kambuto Yoshidaho became the Sixth Division under Matsue Castle.
The first major-level commander to die in battle, the third of the 100,000-strong Tenth Army on November 7th.
Finally, our Kunisaki detachment was not the worst group. After receiving the Dongcheng District battle report, Major General Kunizaki sighed darkly in private.
.......
However, Hisao Tani on the battlefield had already made up his mind to attack the city. How could he stop the attack just because of the setback of hundreds of casualties?
Moreover, based on the counterattack intensity of the Chinese soldiers on the city wall, Hisao Tani, who was constantly listening to reports from the front, judged that the extended artillery bombardment of the artillery regiment had worked. Otherwise, the Chinese would never have invested less than two infantry companies on such a long defense line.
of military strength.
If there is no light in the east and light in the west, the artillerymen may have gained more, so they ordered the artillery regiment to continue the artillery bombardment. They even assessed the situation and, based on the characteristics of the fortifications within the city wall, seconded two 120mm cannons to the Sixth Heavy Artillery Brigade.
To be honest, when Hisao Tani ordered to continue to use artillery fire to blockade and continuously increase the number of troops on the front line, covering the engineers and constantly throwing sandbags into the moat in an attempt to build a road sufficient for infantry to pass, Tang Dao, who arrived from Dongcheng District to Xicheng to watch the battle, could not help but
He frowned.
Hisao Tani's ability to become the division commander of the so-called "strongest division on the surface" was really not based on bragging. His blockade with artillery fire really hit the weak points of the defenders.
If Tang Dao is given a month, he will definitely learn the tactics used by the Chinese soldiers in the Five Sacred Mountains to deal with American cowboys, hollow out the entire city underground, and build underground tunnels. Not to mention that the Tenth Army only has one heavy artillery brigade, and then give it to them.
With two of them, Songjiang could defeat a hundred thousand Japanese troops and beat them to a pulp without making any progress.
Unfortunately, the Japanese army is not that tolerant and will wait until you build the fortifications before attacking.
Using nearly 40,000 manpower in one day and one night to carve out more than ten kilometers of trenches in the city to provide the soldiers with the most basic protection was already the limit of the Songjiang defenders.
Part of the trenches were destroyed with heavy artillery, and then small-caliber artillery was used to block the area. The 643rd Regiment had to brave artillery fire to transport troops to the front line. Even the commander at the rear did not know how many troops the six infantry companies could really reach the front line.
How many.
Because all the telephone lines used to connect to the front line have been blown out, even artillery observation posts have to use semaphores to transmit coordinate information to the rear. For this reason, the mortar battalion of the 643rd Regiment has lost four artillerymen.
Observation post.
Hearing the fierce gunshots not far away, even if he didn't see it, Tang Dao knew that the Japanese army was still attacking crazily.
In the telescope, except for the smoke and the faintly visible dilapidated city walls, the situation on the battlefield could not be seen at all.
For Tang Dao, who arrived in Dongcheng District through the trenches, he did not come here with a frown on his face. The only thing that attracted him here was the famous butcher Lieutenant General who was probably opposite him.
The colonel commander of the 643rd Regiment over there was red-eyed and was regrouping his troops. It seemed that he was going to continue to invest his infantry company into the barrage area.
Tang Dao sighed in his heart, this colonel is brave when it comes to bravery, but he has missed some calculations. His infantry regiment has a total of more than 2,000 people, and more than 1,000 people have already been filled in. The casualties and the battle situation on the front line are not yet known.
If they just throw their old troops into the fight, maybe it won't be too long before another infantry regiment needs to be put on the battlefield as a reserve for them.
However, this is the official first day of the Battle of Songjiang. The losses are so great. How long can it last if the battle continues like this?
The position is important, but protecting the effective forces is equally important.
The most important thing to do now is not to compete with the Japanese artillery fire with all your strength, but to send officers of sufficient rank to observe the battlefield situation and make suggestions to the rear commanders, and make new tactical adjustments based on the actual battle conditions.
However, Tang Dao did not rush to persuade him.
As a mid-level and senior officer, the Northeastern man who is not very familiar with Tang Dao naturally has his own pride, otherwise he would not be on the front line constantly sending troops to the front line of death. For every commander, it is
It's an extremely difficult decision to make.
Even more difficult than deciding to rush into that death barrage yourself.
Tang Dao was even sure that the army colonel with his unbuttoned face, darkened face, and completely hoarse voice would soon rush to the front with his infantry company.
After pondering for a moment, he called his signal soldier Xia Dayu, took out a pen and paper from his bag, wrote a short message, put it in his bag, and then gave him a few words of caution.
"Batalion Commander, you go and come back quickly, otherwise I won't be able to explain to Deputy Battalion Commander Zhuang and the others." Xia Dayu's eyes showed worry, but he rarely had the fragile mind of a young man, and he tried his best to prevent Tang Dao from going into such a dangerous situation.
Yes, Tang Dao decided to go to the front line of the city wall, not only to observe the battle situation, but also to observe the battlefield in the East City that he wanted to observe.
But the young man who has experienced a life-and-death farewell has quietly grown up and is no longer as fragile as he was half a day ago.
Of course, it is possible that the young man has not developed the same attachment to Tang Dao as he does to Crow, even if Tang Dao stroked his bald head in front of Crow's spirit and said to him: "Follow me, you will become like your Uncle Crow."
man."
"Don't worry, I'll be back!" Tang Dao patted his little signal soldier on the shoulder and smiled.
The confidence of being the strongest individual soldier in China infected Xia Dayu, and the young man nodded fiercely: "Batalion Commander, I will wait for you here and I won't go anywhere."
Tang Dao still carried the Mosingana rifle he had received from Lieutenant General Wu, and turned around to leave.
The soldiers of the 643rd Regiment were still hiding in the trenches, watching the barrages that kept exploding dozens of meters away. Tang Dao, who was carrying a rifle, walked past them and then jumped out of the trenches.
Who is that? What do you want to do?
The soldiers were dumbfounded as they watched the figure start up at high speed like a predatory cheetah, and continue to accelerate, breaking into the barrage...
The smoke completely obscured his figure, and no one knew whether he could still run wildly in the barrage as before.
All those who witnessed this only knew that he rushed into death at an unimaginable speed.
"That's our battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tang Dao, the commander of the security battalion!" The young man answered with great pride as he faced the surprised gazes of a group of big men.
