The battle that followed this day can be described as calm.
A counterattack directed by Wang Changyun completely destroyed the last bit of morale of the remaining joint forces of Tiangu Detachment and Kunozaki Detachment. Although this remaining Japanese army still retains a strength of about 3,000 people, in fact, no matter Ouyang Yun, Li Hanhun and other generals of the Xuebing Army, or Japanese generals such as Naojiro Amaya and Iwane Matsui, they all know that the final fate waiting for this army must be to be completely annihilated.
As for why the Xuebing Army suddenly stopped when the situation was so good, the Xuebing Army had its own plans, and the Japanese army also knew what their opponents wanted to do. But unfortunately, even if they knew that the Xuebing Army was digging a trap, they wanted to trap them. Killing more imperial troops, Matsui Iwane and Amaya Naojiro did not dare to give up easily. The war of aggression against China started in 1931 and has been annihilated until now. It seems that only the 108th Division of the Japanese army has been annihilated. Of course, in the end, everything was fine. The proud Japanese reorganized this unit. If the Tiangu detachment and the Kunisaki detachment were completely wiped out, what kind of negative impact would it have on the entire war situation? Let alone the so-called plan to destroy China in three months. It will definitely become a joke at that time. After all, with the Japanese troops being wiped out along the way, the encirclement of Nanjing will definitely not be formed. By then, the plan to annihilate the main enemy force in the suburbs of Nanjing made at the beginning of the war will definitely be in vain, let alone be completely destroyed. It destroyed the morale of the Chinese people. Let’s not talk about these strategic issues. Even if they consider their personal future, they would not dare to do this.
At this time, Matsui Iwane had already vaguely felt that it was inappropriate to move the 18th Division towards Zhenjiang, because according to the intelligence provided by the reconnaissance plane, the main force of the Xuebing Army had already crossed the Xiushui River, and it was very likely that Xiushui Bridge would be used as a sniper line again. , launched an encirclement and annihilation campaign against the 18th Division. As for Naojiro Amaya, he actually wanted to have a fight and fight to the death with the Xuebing Army. However, considering the strong combat power displayed by the 604th Regiment, he thought that once his entire army He thought about the negative impact of destruction, but finally did not dare to make this decision.
The war situation is moving in the direction that Ouyang Yun and Li Hanhun originally envisioned. This has allowed Ouyang Yun to somewhat escape the shadow of the Zhenjiang War, and his self-confidence has once again expanded.
Time slipped away little by little. After circling along the Xiushui River for a while, the main force of the Xuebing Army finally broke away from the surveillance of Japanese reconnaissance planes at around four o'clock in the afternoon and disappeared.
At this time, the 18th Division, led by the 23rd Infantry Brigade, fought aggressively towards Xiushui Bridge. Among them, the vanguard was the First Battalion of the 56th Infantry Regiment led by Major Shunichi Teramachi.
Matsui Iwane, an old devil, was really determined to rescue Amaya and the Kunisaki detachment. To this end, six fighter planes were specially mobilized to help Ushijima Sadao attack Shimohide Bridge.
At that time, Wang Changyun had already grasped the enemy's situation early. He squatted at the entrance of a dug air-raid shelter near the bridge, followed the roar of the aircraft engine and looked up into the sky with his telescope, and soon caught a Japanese fighter jet flying in front. Looking at the Japanese pilot's cold face, he put down his binoculars and issued the air defense order. Then, shrinking into the air raid shelter, he cursed loudly: "Oh, this wave of little devils has some background. They actually got aircraft to support them. Damn it, I wish I had an anti-aircraft artillery battalion. With only six Japanese planes, I can definitely beat them all down."
Tu Dai was squatting in an air-raid shelter opposite him. Hearing this, he said: "Learn from the First Army, learn from the Second Army, and learn from the Third Army. There are air defense troops at the regiment level. Lao Wang, I asked, is the commander discriminating against our Fujian Army?" , Speaking of which, we also left from Guangdong..."
Before he finished speaking, a sound of "Uuuu.." suddenly rang out from the sky. Wang Changyun immediately buckled on his helmet and then cursed: "The bomb has fallen. Hurry up and retract your ass."
"Qiu, you are the idiot."
"Boom,." The explosion sounded one after another, Wang Changyun opened his mouth, and his two ears fluttered, but he wanted to hear the sound of no artillery,
The bombing by Japanese planes made the trenches dug by the officers and soldiers of the 604th Regiment so hard that they were riddled with holes. Many places were filled up due to the accumulation of soil. After the six Japanese planes dropped all their bombs, they used Machine guns plowed the battlefield deeply, and at this moment, the Japanese attack was launched,
Teramachi Junichi was riding on a tall horse and waved his sword: "Advance." A Japanese army group of more than a thousand Japanese soldiers pressed forward in a dense formation.
"Team leader, the Japs have begun to attack." The lookout post immediately reported this information to Wang Changyun.
Wang Changyun: "Don't worry, wait until the devil's iron bird flies away, Xiao Min."
"Here." Xiao Min poked his head out of an air-raid shelter not far away,
"How many brothers are there in your company?"
Xiao Min frowned, looking sad, and said: "There are still seventy-six more."
"Hurry up and get the grenade. In a moment, you can use the grenade to blow the little Japs back."
"yes."
"The reconnaissance company has assembled. Brothers, go to the munitions department."
"yes."
Xiao Min took all the surviving brothers of the reconnaissance company and ran in the trenches despite being strafed by Japanese fighter planes. By the time they ran through the death line of more than 100 meters and reached the air-raid shelter group where the military supplies department was located, only six of the seventy-six people were left. Thirteen,
At this time, Teramachi Junichi's brigade had arrived on the other side of the bridge.
Shimohide Bridge is a stone bridge with a length of more than fifty meters and a bridge deck width of only five meters. If they walk side by side, up to eight people can pass at the same time. Teramachi Shunichi ordered the fifth squadron to take the lead in the attack, and three squadrons of Japanese soldiers followed along. Lie down on the river, assume mortars and firearms, and prepare to suppress the enemy's firepower on the other side of the bridge.
The Japanese aircraft and the ground troops cooperated tacitly, focusing on the third trench that the 3rd Battalion was responsible for defending. The rain of bullets made the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Battalion dare not leave the air-raid shelter. However, Xiao Min's reconnaissance company was fearless. , the soldiers held the grenades in their arms and ran over. In the process, twenty-one people fell again,
After about five minutes, the Japanese plane finally ran out of bullets, then circled over the battlefield and flew away. At this time, the Japanese troops rushing forward had already crossed the bridge and were only about 20 meters away from the third trench. distance, the soldier in charge of the lookout saw Xiao Min and immediately reported the enemy's position to him. Xiao Min picked up a grenade, put his thumb in the ring, and suddenly shouted: "Brothers, beat the dog!" Japs, avenge the brothers, pull the ring, one, two, three, surrender.”
"Throw it." "Blow him up."... Accompanied by the shouts of the soldiers, dozens of grenades were thrown at the Japs' heads, and then exploded in the air at a distance of about five meters from the ground, like a goddess scattering flowers. Generally, it shoots thousands of shrapnel in all directions.
The squadron leader of the fifth squadron of the Japanese army is named Yamada Masunobu. He is walking in the middle of the team. He is happy that his troops have passed the bridge and have passed the most dangerous area. He did not expect that the Xuebing Army would do something like this. He was shocked. He immediately yelled: "Lie down, lie down."
It's still too late, or it doesn't work. More than two-thirds of the dozens of grenades flew into the air. In this case, unless there is a bunker, there is no way to escape within the killing range.
There were originally crops growing on Xiuxiao Bridge, but when the 604th Regiment established their position, they had already pulled out all the crops and even leveled the ground. Therefore, in addition to some craters caused by the Japanese bombing, There was no place for the little Japs to hide in the pit. Suddenly, with howls of misery, more than thirty Japs from the Fifth Squadron fell down.
As soon as the Japanese machine gun fire stopped, Wang Changyun lay down on the trench. Seeing the tragedy Xiao Min and the others had caused, he grinned and said: "Well done." Then he shouted in his unique loud voice: "Three You little bastards in the camp, let’s get to work. Give me a good beating. Damn it, there are more planes than us. If you have the guts, you keep using planes to blow up.” As he said that, he had already grabbed a machine gun and took the lead in shooting at the Japanese. Fierce shooting,
Immediately afterwards, intensive gunfire rang out. A small group of Japanese soldiers who rushed across the bridge were all wiped out, while all the Japanese soldiers who stayed on the bridge fell to the ground, so suppressed that they did not dare to raise their heads.
Almost at the same time, the Japanese troops on the opposite side also began to fire violently. With the sound of gunfire, the third battalion quickly suffered casualties. The two sides fired across the Xiushui River, which was about 60 meters wide. Obviously, this battle seemed to be more tangled than the one at noon. Seeing soldiers falling down from time to time around him, Wang Changyun's eyes widened with anxiety, and the curses in his mouth never stopped.
Twenty minutes later, the first wave of Japanese attacks was repelled, but the Third Battalion also suffered more than fifty casualties.
After the gunfire became sparse, Tu Dai approached Wang Changyun and suggested: "The battle line is too long. The Japanese have a numerical advantage. Lao Wang, I suggest that we shrink the defense line and focus on defending Qiaokou. We should arrange less in other places and use them as sentries." To prevent Japanese troops from sneaking in from other places."
Wang Changyun nodded: "It's up to you. You can make arrangements. I have to send a call to the headquarters."
"Why, you asked for help so quickly."
"There is nothing we can do. We have to beware of that little bastard Amaya Naojiro later. Our regiment has too few troops."
"Old Wang, it's rare for you to be like this."
"I'm worried about the Japanese sneaking in from other places. Do you know why I don't use mortars? I'm just worried about this and use it as a trump card."
"The commander said we should hold on for two hours. Judging from the situation of the Japanese troops on the other side, they should be the vanguard. Once the main force of the Japanese army comes up, with artillery as a supplement, we will definitely not be able to defeat it. It is right to call for reinforcements early. If the position is lost, we will be responsible But it’s too big.”
…
In fact, there was no need for Wang Changyun to ask for help. Ouyang Yun had already considered this. When he learned that the Japanese army had dispatched aviation troops, he knew that life of the 604th regiment was difficult, so he ordered Zhang Changsheng and Niu Yide to immediately attack the Tiangu detachment. The Kunisaki detachment also launched a fierce attack, while letting the armored troops rush along the Xiushui River toward Xiuqiao to support the 604th Regiment as soon as possible. At the same time, he took the main forces of the 60th Division and the 5th Division, starting from Xiuzhen, directly Driving to the back of the 18th Division,