There are a total of eleven regular divisions under the Nanjing Garrison Headquarters. Except for the Jiangsu Baoan First Division, which has existed in name only, and the Third Xuexi Division, which has lost more than half of its name, it is not worthy of its name. Among the other nine divisions, six are not directly under the Xuebing Army. Of course, the sixth The 10th Division is a unit under the nominal cadet army, and because of the presence of the division commander Lin Baiyin, it can also be used by Ouyang Yun. Perhaps it is because of this special situation that Wu Keren, the commander-in-chief of a series, Liu Yuqing, a simple commander of a division, although they received orders from Ouyang Yun, they had no idea what was going to happen next.
It's not that Ouyang Yun doesn't trust them. For example, Fang Shuhong learned the whole plan. In fact, even Ouyang Yun himself is not sure whether he can get the desired result with an outnumbered enemy.
In the Japanese military documents, the Chinese army under the Nanjing Garrison Command has a simple code name: Nanjing Guards the Enemy, while in the documents of the Kuomintang Military Commission, it is referred to as the Nanjing Garrison Group Army,
The Japanese army formed the Central China Front Army with the Tenth Army and the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, and attacked Nanjing's defenders from multiple routes in an attempt to annihilate the Nanjing defenders in one fell swoop. Since the formulation of this strategy, the frequency of Japanese reconnaissance aircraft has suddenly increased much more. In order to rely on this Gain air superiority to win the intelligence battle to fully grasp the initiative on the battlefield.
The "Mixed Second Army" sent by Li Hanhun formed three new divisions with nearly 30,000 troops. They had no intention of concealing their whereabouts. At the same time, the three divisions of the original second sequence began to march in He County. The area shrunk silently, from the original three divisions of nearly 30,000 people to the remaining troops of one brigade and three regiments.
The garrison had no intention of covering up, and the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft naturally quickly detected the situation. Two hours later, the Japanese troops responded quickly, and the 23rd Brigade under the Japanese 18th Division broke away from the Chupu Line. The Japanese 114th Division in Dangtu moved towards Wuhu, leaving only the Jin Guozhen Brigade of the Korean puppet army behind; the 16th Division, which had been prepared for the attack, took a step back and was three miles away from Wuhu. The Liaojun area, which was ten kilometers away, turned from offensive to defensive, and began to build strong fortifications.
Four hours later, the abnormal behavior of various Japanese troops was reported to the headquarters of the garrison group headed by Ouyang Yun through the reconnaissance teams under each unit. At this time, Ouyang Yun was still staying at Xiaguan Pier, and the fighting was in full swing ahead. Among the three divisions in sequence, except for the 3rd Xuexi Division which began to cross the river, the 114th Division, the 26th Division and the 1st Jiangsu Baoan Division were all in full-scale combat with the pursuing Japanese troops.
With Ouyang Yun's armored off-road vehicle as the center, the headquarters of the garrison army is located on these five vehicles.
It was already around ten o'clock in the evening, and it was completely dark. However, the area of dozens of square kilometers centered on Haguan Pier was almost as bright as day. One after another illumination bombs were fired into the sky, and then another Explosions flashed from time to time, and the sky and water at Xiaguan Pier were almost dyed red. Cannons rumbled, gunfire bursts, and occasionally the roar of aircraft engines. With this as the background, China and Japan The two sides are fighting all night,
The rapid destruction of the three Japanese troops led Hisao Tani, Ryosuke Yoshihashi and others to conclude that it should be the work of the elite of the Xuebing Army, or even the work of Lang Ya or Da Dao, and from this they inferred: Ouyang Yun It should still be in Nanjing, so the offensive is becoming more and more fierce. Take Yoshihashi Ryosuke as an example. Although half of his 9th Division has been destroyed. It can be said that he has suffered an unprecedented defeat since the Second Battle of the Great Wall, but he still All the troops were thrown out, and a group of old subordinates such as Akiyama Yoshitsune and Isho Nobutoki bluntly said: Even if Ouyang Yun cannot be killed in this battle, as long as his troops can be held back and prevented from crossing the river, it will be a victory. ,
On the water surface of Xiaguan, the bombardment of the Japanese gunboats was unprecedentedly fierce. If it were not for the capture of two gunboats and the construction of a water defense line around them, at this moment, almost any unit in the third sequence would have to cross the river. Impossible. Even so, under the fierce bombardment of the Japanese gunboats, the 26th Division of the Sichuan Army that was crossing the river also suffered great losses. Almost every regiment that passed, at least one battalion of soldiers was directly killed by the shells, or Falling into the river, life and death unknown,
The war situation is unprecedentedly dangerous,
Originally, Fang Shuhong only wanted to leave one brigade of troops behind, but as the scale of the battle expanded, in fact, the entire 114th Division had already entered the battlefield. In this way, the Japanese offensive was contained.
Since entering Jiangsu, Ouyang Yun has never had a good rest. At this moment, he has a slovenly beard and a sallow complexion. He is as haggard as ever from his bones to his skin. The only thing about him that makes others feel at ease is his eyes. Still profound and maintaining an aggressive momentum,
The combat map was slumped on the seat, with three telephones surrounding him, several staff officers crowded together, and everyone holding many cases and documents in their hands; and outside the car, a dozen people headed by Ding Yi The special warriors of the Broadsword Regiment were armed with live ammunition, and the battle had reached this point. Liu Zheliang finally did not dare to trust the strength of the guard regiment, and directly used his privileges, and even asked Ding Yi to come over to strengthen the defense around Ouyang Yun.
Ouyang Yun held a cigarette in his left hand and a bright pencil in his right hand. At his feet was a cup of strong tea. Now, he could only rely on cigarettes and strong tea to keep his mind clear. "Huang Ye and the others are here." Where is it?"
Staff officer Jiang Huangyong immediately replied: "We have arrived in Wujiang. According to your order, we are gradually replacing the second sequence. Now, the 103rd Division has completed its lurking, and the 60th Division is sneaking towards the Bailinpu area. 117 The division is also waiting for the opportunity to sneak back to Wujiang River."
Bailinpu is a large market town located 20 kilometers northwest of Jiangpu. The reason why the Sixty Division was allowed to sneak there is because there is a large lake in the south of the town, with dense reeds growing on both sides of the lake.
"That person is the person recommended by Commander Li. Where are the troops he led?"
This person is Guo Yulin, and what he commands is the vanguard of the mixed second army, which is composed of nearly 30,000 logistics personnel brought by Li Hanhun.
Staff officer Xu Hua was responsible for contacting the ministry and immediately replied: "Two divisions have arrived in Wuhu, and another division is on the way. In order to allow the 10th Xuexi Division to sneak back to Hexian smoothly, the division has slowed down its march. "
"How is the situation over there, Commander Li?"
"Commander Li and the others are secretly preparing to cross the river. If nothing unexpected happens, they will start crossing the river in an hour at the latest, that is, at 11 o'clock tonight."
The current combat method of the garrison group army is actually very simple. It is to mobilize the Japanese army through frequent mobilization of our own side, causing the Japanese army to make errors in judgment, and then seize its weak links and strike hard, strive to win one or two battles, and eliminate some Japanese troops. In order to create an opportunity to move north to Xuzhou, Li Hanhun and Ouyang Yun, when they first formulated the strategy of suspecting troops, did not guess the specific actions of the Japanese army later. Now, since only a soft persimmon Jin Guozhen Brigade was left in the direction of Dangtu , then, if the troops of three or two divisions in the second sequence are gathered for encirclement and annihilation, the chance of victory should be very high. Once Dangtu is captured, the Japanese command will inevitably make mistakes in its judgment of the battle situation again. By that time , there should be a better chance of severely damaging a Japanese army,
Ouyang Yun circled the dang with a pencil and said: "Okay, tell Commander Li, he will have full control over the direction of the dang." After saying that, Ouyang Yun put down the pencil, picked up the tea cup and took a sip of strong tea, then bent down and stood up. Get out of the carriage,
I stretched my body, looked up and looked around, and saw the roar of artillery in all directions. One after another, illumination bombs rose into the sky, illuminating the surrounding areas.
The Japanese army's offensive was very fierce, and they seemed to have no intention of stopping the fighting at night. He thought like this and frowned tightly. The Japanese army was pressing too hard. In this case, he didn't know how the remaining troops could survive. It is impossible to cross the river safely, and once the crossing cannot be completed, subsequent actions will definitely be affected. After all, there are still all the 114th Division, two regiments of the 3rd Xue Division, and one regiment of the 26th Division remaining in Jiangnan. Including the troops directly under him, they account for half of the troops in the third sequence.
Liu Zheliang got off the car immediately, stood behind him, handed over a biscuit and said: "Commander, let's have something to eat."
He nodded, took it, took a few bites carelessly, and asked, "Have Brigadier Shan and Commander Fang come back?"
Since nightfall, due to the tightness of the two defense lines on the eastern and northern fronts at the same time, Shan Renxiong and Fang Shuhong, who had come back to talk to Ouyang Yun, returned to the army. After that, the two sides only communicated through walkie-talkies. Half an hour ago, Ouyang Yun asked them to arrange I will lead the rear troops to retreat later, but they have not been seen until now.
The battle has reached this level, and it is no longer possible for the entire army to retreat. Only a part of the troops can be left to defend in exchange for the evacuation of the larger army. This is a cruel decision. Those who stay have basically no chance of surviving. Presumably , this makes it difficult for two commanders to do it, right?
Jiang Huangyong suddenly rushed out and shouted: "Commander, there is a call from Division Commander Liu Yuqing. The last group of the division has boarded the ship."
Liu Zheliang: "Commander, let's withdraw."
"Let the brothers from the Third Division go first, and I will wait for them."
Before Liu Zheliang said anything, Wu Jianding, the leader of a regiment that He Zhengjian stayed behind to ensure Ouyang Yun's safety, said loudly: "Commander, under the order of Commander He, we must follow you closely. If you don't get on the ship, we will If you can’t leave, I think it’s better to let the brothers from the military department get on the boat first.”
Ouyang Yun glared at him and said, "Okay, Jiang Huangyong, you get on the boat first and watch what I do and execute the order. Don't worry, I'll be there in a minute."
Jiang Huangyong and others looked at each other and could only choose to leave silently. But not long after they left, a group of troops drove up not far away. Under the illumination of a flare, Ouyang Yun saw that the leader was Fang Shuhong, with a look on his face. An expression of relief,