Tsukada is indeed a professional staff officer. His words were well-founded and immediately won the approval of many old Japanese. Of course, this did not include Hisao Tani.
Hisao Tani’s stated reason is: “If the facts are indeed the work of the Central Army as speculated by Tsukada Attack, in other words, it is the plan of someone by Chiang Kai-shek, then it is worth considering that there is no one in the Imperial Army. When they attacked the city of Nanjing, why did the Central Army rush to evacuate? Also, according to the information we have, the personal relationship between Jiang and Ouyang Yun was quite bad. This is why the Xuebing Army was the last one left to garrison Nanjing. The reason is that Jiang hopes to use the imperial army to help him eradicate dissidents. So, why would he leave behind to help his political opponents? The strength of the Chinese army in Jiangpu, Wuhu and Dangtu is currently at war. , we already have a clear understanding, and in the direction of Wujiang River, when Ushijima-kun called, the sky was still dark. It can be concluded that he did not know the true strength of the enemy, so I think it is necessary to give priority to supporting the 18th Division. We should wait until dawn to obtain accurate information. That is, the 18th Division encountered the main force of the China Army. With the combat power of this division, it should not be a problem to hold on until dawn. If they cannot support it until dawn, such an army will Is it still worth saving us? I think we should strengthen the frontal attack now, completely annihilate the main force of the student army, capture Jiangpu, and then divide our forces to attack. By then, regardless of the four places of Wujiang, Hexian, Wuhu, and Dangtu, wherever They are the main force of the enemy army, and under the iron hooves of the imperial army, their true colors will inevitably be revealed one by one."
But what he really wanted in his heart was that he was unwilling to accept that all his subordinates who had safely crossed the river were wiped out.
The high-ranking Japanese military officials were noisy and uncertain. In the end, they had to send a message to Matsui Iwane in Shanghai, hoping that he would give a decision. Poor old Japanese Matsui, because of the bad news that Jin Guozhen's brigade was wiped out, his heart was already hurt a lot. Hearing about the 18th Division again He was also ambushed, and he fainted without even taking a breath.
After Matsui Iwane woke up leisurely, all the old Japanese soldiers in the Nanjing headquarters, including Hisao Tani, knew that they would not be able to escape a rebuke this time. They all fell silent and made no sound.
Matsui Iwane took two deep breaths, took the phone from the adjutant, and called Tsukada Kagumi to answer the phone.
Tsukada accepted the phone respectfully and said softly: "Your Excellency, Commander, the battle situation is not as bad as imagined. Please take care of yourself..."
Before he finished speaking, a series of scoldings rang out from the microphone: "Asshole, Jin Guozhen's brigade was wiped out, the 18th Division was besieged, Wuhu and Jiangpu could not be captured for a long time, the imperial army suffered serious losses, but the main force of the Chinese people was still there. I don’t know, isn’t this a rotten battle situation? Tsukada-kun, you let me down so much, how on earth did you command?”
Tsukada-kun said "Hai hai", but he felt aggrieved in his heart: I was giving the command with all my heart, but Hisao Tani and the others didn't buy it, so what could I do?
Matsui Iwane said this in one breath, coughed violently, and then, after taking a few breaths, he shouted loudly: "Now, immediately, rescue the 18th Division immediately, Tsukada-kun, you are the chief of staff, you have to believe in yourself With your judgment ability, your plan is the only one available at the moment, gentlemen, please work hard."
After receiving Matsui Iwane's affirmation, Tsukada hung up the phone and immediately became energetic. He turned to face everyone and shouted in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, the commander has given us high expectations, and we must not live up to them. Now, please, please Get to your stations and start fighting according to the commander’s latest deployment.”
"Hai."
The sky gradually gets brighter, and as a red sun leaps out of the sea of clouds, a new day has arrived.
On the Pukou River Beach, there were originally more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers. After more than two hours of fierce fighting, only about 300 people were left, including more than 50 lightly wounded people. Relying on the facilities, we are carrying out the final desperate resistance.
Beside Qingyuan, a fellow villager asked softly: "Major, have we been abandoned?" There was a look of despair on his face. Facing the thunderous shouts of killing from three sides, the Japanese who set their heart in the spirit of Bushido, and then They cannot underestimate life and death. Death has become a lingering demon in their hearts at this moment, tearing their courage and faith into pieces.
Qingyuan Major's face was ashen and he shouted in a deep voice: "Ba Ge, don't disturb the morale of the army." After saying that, he looked towards the river to his right and vaguely saw the shadows of several gunboats. The despair in his heart completely spread. As an officer, , Major Qingyuan was more discerning than his fellow countrymen. When he saw the Marine officers and soldiers belonging to the Third Fleet being picked up by ships, and then the ships sailed sideways upstream, he knew that he and his men had been abandoned. Even if the commander of Hisao Tani Division wanted to support them, it was unrealistic.
"Boom." A violent explosion sounded not far behind him. He suddenly felt that his back was wet with some hot liquid. He turned around and saw that his fellow countryman had fallen into a pool of blood. A bomb exploded more than ten meters away from them. The fellow was hit by multiple shrapnels and immediately flew up. His back was also wet with the fellow's blood.
"Eight grids." He cursed secretly, and his heart was filled with a feeling of helplessness. Once upon a time, the majestic army had become a target for the Chinese. This was simply a disgrace to the Imperial Japanese Army, which was known as the second largest army in the world. Shame, the Chinese on the opposite side only had three or four guns and about ten tanks at most. However, their shells seemed to be free of charge. They hit them one after another, leaving them with no temper at all. Otherwise, with the combat power of the 6th Division and the 9th Division's subordinate brigades, how could they be so passive?
On the position of the 26th Division, Ouyang Yun had already put down the sniper rifle in his hand. This battle was a bit easy, so easy that he couldn't believe it. He originally thought that the Japanese army would definitely send reinforcements, at least. They would use gunboats for support, but in fact, from the beginning to now, the Japanese gunboats seemed to be mute and did not say a word. As a result, the brothers of the artillery regiment and the tank regiment were naturally rude. It was a wonderful creation, and as a result, the little Japanese's mortar team and machine gun firing point were destroyed with artillery fire.
When Ouyang Yun saw this situation, he knew there was an advantage to be taken, so he simply asked the 26th Division to stop charging and switch to positional warfare, compressing the Japanese's living space bit by bit, and then use tanks and heavy artillery to destroy the enemy.
At the beginning, Liu Yuqing was obviously not used to this bullying style, and once expressed deep doubts: What happened to the Japanese?
Ouyang Yun guessed a little bit and said: "Perhaps Commander Wu was too harsh and attracted all the firepower of the Japs. That's fine. In the previous sniper battle across the river, our artillery and tank troops suffered heavy losses." , the extra shells can be used to annihilate the Japanese on the river beach, and you don’t have to take them away."
"The little devil's fleet picked up the Marines and headed upstream." Soon, Jiang Huangyong learned about this situation from the reconnaissance team, and he immediately reported it to Ouyang Yun.
From this, Ouyang Yun further concluded that the ambush on Wu Keren's side was very successful and had attracted sufficient attention from the Japanese army.
Liu Yuqing said: "What do you mean, little devil? Do you want to land from Wujiang River to rescue the 18th Division?"
This is a new situation, and if the little devil succeeds, Wu Keren's second team will undoubtedly fall into a passive situation. Ouyang Yun thought for a while and said to Jiang Huangyong: "Immediately telegraph this situation to Commander Wu." Then, he said to Liu Yuqing: "Mr. Liu, let's seize the time to annihilate these Japs, and then go directly to Wujiang."
Liu Yuqing nodded and said, "It's time to end." Then, he directly issued the order for a general attack.
At around four o'clock in the morning, the battle at Pukou Railway Station ended first. The Japanese Taiwan Infantry Brigade persisted for more than two hours, but found that the enemy was fighting more and more. They decisively chose to retreat, and then at around five o'clock After receiving the order to attack Tsukada, he gave up the original retreat route and turned towards Bailinpu.
At almost the same time, the leading troops of the 1st Jiangsu Security Division led by Shan Renxiong and the 114th Division led by Fang Shuhong had arrived in Langxiang, Chu County, and had a fierce battle with a squadron of Japs left behind there.
Chu County is only 60 kilometers away from Nanjing and even closer to Pukou Railway Station. Shan Renxiong and Fang Shuhong put together the more than 20 military trucks assigned to them by Ouyang Yun, and it took only an hour to arrive at Langxu.
As the "Key to Jinling", Chu County's strategic significance relative to Nanjing is self-evident. This is also the reason why the Taiwan Infantry Brigade wants to keep troops here for defense. Of course, a mere brigade of Japanese soldiers want to hold it here. , but it is also impossible,
As soon as the battle started, the Japs from the other two squadrons came to support from Dingyuan County and Fengyang County. With the arrival of the 1st Security Division and the 114th Division, the defense line that the Japanese army had worked so hard to build was immediately torn to pieces.
An hour and a half later, Chu County was taken back by the Nanjing defenders.
Another half hour later, that is, around six o'clock, the vanguard troops of the Japanese 6th Division and 9th Division successfully crossed the river in the direction of Banqiao and encountered the vanguard of the 26th Division.
At that time, Ouyang Yun's motorcade happened to be following the leading troops of the 26th Division. When gunfire sounded in front, he instinctively ordered to stop, then got out of the car, picked up his binoculars, and looked towards the place where the gunfire came from. At this moment, , the Japs team closest to him was only more than 1,500 meters away. Through the telescope, he could only see dense crowds of Japs rushing up from the rice fields carrying Sanba Gai. He subconsciously thought that this was the Japs preparing to cut his way out. , couldn't help but secretly rejoice that he had the foresight to issue the order to evacuate the front hoof. Otherwise, if the Japanese succeeded in landing from here, then he and the 26th Division would have no choice but to be surrounded.
Putting down the telescope, he couldn't help but muttered: "It's okay, it's okay." Then he immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and gave an order to Liu Yuqing: "Commander Liu, the Japanese army has landed from here. We immediately distance ourselves from the Japanese army." Then, he Then he said to Jiang Huangyong: "Give power to Shan Renxiong and Fang Shuhong, and have them come to meet us immediately."