In the early morning of December 12, the Japanese Ninth Division captured Yuhuatai, while the Japanese Sixteenth Division captured Zijin Mountain, and then broke into Zhongshan Gate and broke into the city.
The Japanese 13th Division stormed the Wulongshan Fortress, and the 9th Brigade crossed the Yangtze River in an attempt to seize Pukou and cut off the defenders' only north retreat route.
At this time, Commander Tang finally panicked and cried to the Hankou government: "Our army fights with steel with its flesh and blood, and the number of casualties is of course heavy."
Commander Tang was unable to save the situation, and he did not have the ability to do so in the first place, so he could only issue a temporary retreat order at around 4 p.m. that day.
Of course, at this time, we also need to say some high-sounding words: "Nanjing is now very critical. A few enemies have already rushed into the city. In your opinion, do you think it is still safe to defend it?"
To put it in his words, any fool would know that the troops were in disarray and poorly prepared, and that trying to hold Nanjing was just a fool's errand.
What's more, he is the only one here who is hot-headed and wants to defend Nanjing, so many senior military officials present can only look at each other in confusion, and the atmosphere is very embarrassing.
Therefore, our Commander Tang could only announce the Chairman's secret order that he had treasured for a long time: "If the situation cannot be maintained for a long time, we can retreat as a plan for the future."
"Ahem!"
After reading out the Chairman's secret order, Commander Tang regained his momentum, coughed a few times, and then said loudly: "The war does not end today, but continues tomorrow. The war does not end with the garrison of Nanjing, but
All the high-ranking officials cheered, then dispersed like birds and beasts, went home, took away their own gold and silver, and ran away. As for their own troops, birds only took care of them.
So a vigorous battle to defend Nanjing turned into an escape race to see who could run faster.
Of course, Commander Tang was the fastest runner because he had prepared a small steamer for himself early.
So in this battle, if Duan Wu had not made arrangements to keep Tang Jiujiu and open the ferry, we don't know how many people would have died this time.
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At the same time, in the mountains fifty kilometers away from Bengbu, Duanwu was looking at a map and investigating the terrain.
Because they were stopped by the Japanese army again.
The Japanese army opened pocket formations in the Yandang Mountain area, just waiting for the Dragon Boat Festival to jump in.
Endo was naturally there, and all this was arranged by him. He notified the captain of the 150th Regiment early to set up a formation in Yandang Mountain, and he did so without any concealment.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, they stayed up at night and did not move during the day. They sent out scouts to investigate and discovered this huge pocket array.
No, this can no longer be called a pocket formation, but a sea of devils.
The Japanese took the lead here, and all the commanding heights were under their control. They had built no less than ten artillery positions, and they had plenty of ammunition.
Although Lao Shou, who was in charge of the investigation, only saw the tip of the iceberg, he was still very shocked. There were Japanese fortifications all over the mountains and plains. How could he survive this?
After hearing the report, Zhou Weiguo said: "It seems that we can only go west."
Duanwu smiled and said: "Then how do you know that if you go west, the Japanese will not be as defensive as they are now?"
Zhou Weiguo was shocked: "You mean?"
Duanwu said: "Yes, the Japanese have been completely angered by us. If we kill them from their hinterland again, then there will probably be no place for their faces. Moreover, when we came to An County, we let one go."
A ruthless Japanese, I'm afraid our current predicament is all at his hands."
Zhou Weiguo said disdainfully: "Humph, he's just a coward."
But although Zhou Weiguo said so, he didn't think so in his heart, because it would be wise to assess the situation and retreat quickly under unfavorable circumstances.
Qiu Ming seemed to be in even more trouble at this time, because the Eighth Route Army he had brought out had more than a thousand people, but after several battles, not even 700 people could still fight.
Of course, it was not just the Eighth Route Army that suffered losses. The same happened to the Dragon Boat Festival Independent Regiment and Zhou Weiguo's 522nd Regiment. The two regiments combined had less than 600 men who could continue to fight, and they also brought with them
A large number of wounded.
And if it hadn't been for the captured Japanese truck, they didn't know how they would have taken away the wounded.
And at this time, seeing a war about to break out, many people felt very hesitant.
This is true for Zhou Weiguo, and so is Qiu Ming. And this is even more true for the officers and soldiers under the banner of several people.
But at this time, there were not many people worried about Dragon Boat Festival. Although there were pursuers behind him and Japanese soldiers chasing him in front, he was much better than when he went to Shamadian alone.
At that time, there were only eighteen of them facing a large group of Japanese soldiers. Thinking about it, it was a life-or-death situation.
But he survived, not to mention that he still had more than 1,300 people to mobilize at this time.
These people are all veterans of the battlefield, and they are different from those bandits.
In addition, he has sufficient ammunition, three tanks, and dozens of cannons.
Although the cannonballs are slightly insufficient and can only hit one base at most, they are still much stronger than his bare hands.
What's more, at this time, Duanwu also thought of someone, and this person was General Zhang.
This General Zhang was Zhou Weiguo’s mentor.
So Duanwu put his arms around Zhou Weiguo's neck and said, "Old Zhou, didn't you say that Lao Zhang might have arrived in Bengbu? Just ask? Lao Zhang has an army in his hands!"
Zhou Weiguo gouged out Duanwu, because there must be nothing good happening when Duanwu opens his mouth.
However, the situation was critical, so he still said: "I just said that General Zhang might have arrived in the Bengbu area, but I didn't say that he would definitely arrive? By the way, what are you looking for him for?"
Duanwu pursed his lips and said with a bad smile: "It's a gift. We can't eat such a big piece of cake. How about being filial and respectful to him? What do you think? Hehehehe!"
"··············"
Zhou Weiguo was speechless. It was obviously you who was blocked by the Japanese, and you said it was a piece of cake. Only you could come up with such a harmful idea.
However, Duanwu's words reminded him that it was impossible to break out by relying on them alone, but it would be much easier if they relied on external forces.
General Zhang's Fifty-ninth Army, which consists of two divisions, if they can arrive in time, the few little devils in front of them may not be enough to fill their teeth.
However, at this time, it was very difficult to contact General Zhang, because the Japanese did not have time to change the secret code, and neither did they.
In other words, nowadays, they are almost playing openly with the Japanese. If Zhou Weiguo sends a message to General Zhang, the Japanese will definitely know about it and make arrangements.
Therefore, Zhou Weiguo felt that although the Dragon Boat Festival sounds easy, in fact it is not feasible! ...