Chapter 222: A different battle for defense of Nanjing (III)
Wulong Mountain is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River 30 miles northeast of Nanjing. It turned out that there was only one fort in Laolongtai. Before the Battle of Songhu, the National Government added two modern forts, A1 and A2, each equipped with four large-caliber coastal artillery. Later, in order to deal with Japanese aircraft, anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery were added. Among them, Laolongtai fort was an old fort, and some soldiers were even soldiers from the Qing Dynasty. Each fort was an artillery squad. The soldiers were all student soldiers trained by the National Government, with about 150 people in each fort.
At this time, the forefront of the 13th Japanese Division who participated in the besieging of Nanjing had crossed the Wulong Mountain, and the fort was already behind enemy lines, and the situation was very dangerous.
In the early morning of December 15, the Japanese fleet advanced west along the Yangtze River, preparing to cooperate with the Japanese army to attack Nanjing.
The officers and soldiers of the Wulong Mountain Fort were ordered to retreat. When they saw the arrival of the Japanese fleet, they immediately took their seats and quickly launched artillery bombardment on the Japanese fleet and blocked the river surface.
The first round of artillery fire did not cause much damage to Japanese ships. Only one ship was shot. The Japanese ship retreated while fighting back, retreated to the range of the shore artillery, and then called the air force.
At this time, the artillery soldiers of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army who were advancing to Nanjing discovered that the ship formation was intercepted by the artillery, and bombarded the artillery with mountain cannons in the north of Wulong Mountain. The officers and soldiers of the fort immediately pushed off the earthen encirclement and barbed wire and turned to shoot against the Japanese mountain cannons.
The Japanese mountain artillery fired against the artillery for a short time, and the large-caliber shore artillery quickly gained the upper hand, forcing the artillery soldiers of the 13th Division to transfer their positions.
The Japanese ship fleet took the opportunity to pass through this section of the river. Seeing this, Deputy Director Li Tingfang immediately ordered three artillery batteries to aim at the Japanese ships that were eager to pass and began to fire volleys. This time, the harvest was great. Three enemy ships were shot, two of them caught fire. Seeing that they were about to sink, the Japanese ship fleet retreated again in a hurry.
At this moment, two Japanese planes finally arrived, and the fire of the turret was immediately organized to fire at air, but the enemy planes dropped five bombs on the turret A, and Li Tingfang and four soldiers died.
After Li Tingfang died, the Fort Director crossed the river alone and reported to the headquarters, leaving Deputy Director Peng Yushan to continue commanding the battle.
On this day, the Wulong Mountain Fort relied on the terrain to fight desperately with Japanese naval guns, mountain field guns, and aircraft, and kept firmly controlling the river surface, preventing the Japanese ship formation from advancing westward.
After dark, the officers and soldiers of the fortress, who were in danger behind the enemy, were ordered to retreat. The officers and soldiers retreated from the artillery bolts, buried them on the spot, crossed the river to retreat north while the night was dark, and reported to the Wuhan headquarters fortress department.
Seeing that the Japanese ship formation stopped shelling the artillery, it soon discovered the problem and immediately advanced westward to intercept the retreating officers and soldiers.
Seeing this, Deputy Director Peng Yushan was furious and immediately ordered to stop retreating. He threatened the enemy ship's artillery fire and returned to the fort, dug out the buried running bolts, and quickly launched artillery bombardment at the enemy ships, which made the Japanese fleet on the river fall and flee in a panic.
Then Peng Yushan cursed, "Damn it, I dare to fight with your grandfather, I'm still a little tender." He led the officers and soldiers to cross the Yangtze River calmly and retreat to Liuhe.
At 10 a.m., Lieutenant General Yoshizuru led the main force of the 9th Division to arrive in front of Tongji Gate, Nanjing City.
Looking at the towering Nanjing city walls, Yoshizuru Ryosuke was ecstatic. This famous ancient capital in the world was about to fall into his hands. After entering the city, he must engrave Lieutenant General Yoshizuru Ryosuke on the city gate. In 1937 AD, he led his army to capture this city, and promote the power of our Emperor's army.
Yoshizuru Ryosuke, who was full of complacent faces, saw from the telescope that there were only a few patrol sentries standing guard on the Nanjing city wall. It felt incredible. When was it that the Chinese people were still playing Zhuge Liang's empty city plan. Don't you know this trick?
Lieutenant General Yoshisuke, who felt that his wisdom was insulted, ordered the Master Goro Ikebian who was proficient in Chinese to come forward and persuade him to surrender.
Major Goro Ikebian, who received the order, slammed out and stood 500 meters away from Tongji Gate, shouting loudly: "Listen to the Chinese defenders, General Yoshizuru Ryosuke of the Great Japanese Imperial Army ordered you to surrender. As long as you put down your weapons and open the city gate, the Imperial Army is willing to treat you as prisoners of war."
The 618th Regiment of the 103rd Division was guarding Tongji Gate, which was the famous Wanba Regiment under Wang Jialie, who was the elite of the Guizhou Army. When the Red Army crossed the Wujiang River during the Long March, it was attacked by the Red Army. In February, when the reorganization was in Sichuan, the troops had just changed their clothes, including Hanyang-made rifles and Czech-made heavy machine guns.
Seeing that the Japanese army was so arrogant, they dared to persuade them to surrender under the city. The regiment commander Wan Shijiong, who was hiding in the city walls, whispered to the sharpshooter in the regiment and asked him to kill the rampant Japanese.
After the sharpshooter observed the distance, he shook his head and said that the distance was too far, so it would not work.
When Wan Shijiong heard this, he immediately took the iron trumpet and went up to the city wall and shouted loudly: "Listen to the Japanese army under the city, I can't hear what you said. Please step forward. Our commander wants to know whether our army can be maintained after surrender."
When Major Goro Ikebia heard that there was a gate, he should surrender if the army was overthrowing the city. It was estimated that this defender might want to be loyal to the Imperial Army. After riding a horse and asking for instructions from Yoshizuru Ryosuke, Goro Ikebia slapped his horse and ran up and shouted loudly: "Listen to the defenders in the city, Lieutenant General Yoshizuru Ryosuke Ikebia said that as long as you surrender and open the city gate, you will be promoted. The regiment commander can be the division commander, the division commander can be the commander of the army, and the commander can be the commander of the group army. Imperial army gold tickets, a great reward from Miss Hua."
Major Goro Ikebian was about to shout, but with a bang, a bullet flew over and just penetrated it from his open mouth. Goro Ikebian fell off his saddle.
Yoshisuke was furious when he saw this and was about to issue a shelling order, when a burst of gunfire sounded on the city wall. The man just now stood up again, holding the iron trumpet and shouting: "Listen to the Imperial Army opposite, it was really unexpected just now. Our commander has arrested those who do not want to surrender, and ask the Imperial Army to send people to negotiate."
Who is Yoshisu Ryosuke? He would not have been fooled casually. He just sent an interpreter to ask the defenders to open the city gate first and then talk about other things.
Seeing that the Japanese army was no longer fooled, Wan Shijiong waved his hand down, and with a bang, the translator who dared to be a traitor immediately burst into tears.
Yoshizuru Ryosuke realized that he had been talking for a long time and asked Major Goro Ikebian to go back to see Master Amaterasu. In awe, he immediately ordered the siege to prepare for the siege and called on the air force to cooperate with the attack.
The Nanjing city wall was very strong. After the first round of artillery fire of the Japanese army, although bricks and stones splashed on the city wall and smoke filled the smoke, it did not destroy the city wall. While Yoshizuru Ryosuke ordered the artillery to continue the artillery, he ordered the tanks to be dispatched and directly approached the city gate to shoot. For a moment, the sound of artillery artillery rumbling and artillery fire filled the city gate. Under the cover of artillery fire, the Japanese army led the tanks and formed a battle formation and attacked the city gate.
Seeing that the Japanese artillery fire was so fierce, Wan Shijiong ordered the officers and soldiers to hide under the city wall and not to show their heads. It was not until the Japanese tanks and infantry attacked the city and the artillery fire extended into the city. Wan Shijiong ordered the officers and soldiers to go up to the city wall immediately, concentrate their firepower, and fire at the enemy.
It was bustling now. All the light and heavy machine guns and rifles on the city wall opened fire, and grenades flew into the Japanese group, killing the Japanese troops behind the tanks and fell to the ground. Only a dozen tanks were left stubbornly attacking the door hole.
Major General Yoshihiro Akiyama, who was responsible for the front line, saw that the infantry attack was frustrated, immediately ordered all heavy machine guns, infantry artillery, and grenade launchers to shoot at the city walls, suppress the firepower of the defenders, and cover the tank attack. He ordered the infantry of the second attack wave to be dispatched immediately to protect the tanks.
Now the 618th Regiment, which had only light weapons, could not bear it anymore, and casualties rose sharply. Wan Shijiong ignored the danger and shouted loudly on the city wall to blow up the Japanese tanks and beat the enemy back, running back and forth, commanding the soldiers to make up for the absence.
Look at the enemy tanks, they opened the city gate and were about to rush into the door hole. Several veterans tied the explosive pack to a long bamboo pole, lit the fuse, stretched down from the city tower, and exploded directly on the tank top cover. After the turret was blown away, the armored soldiers inside were eager to escape. As soon as they were exposed, they were blown away by grenades and flesh and blood.
When the explosive bag was confirmed, the soldiers on the city gate tower quickly took action, tied bundles of grenades or explosive bags with long bamboo poles and sent them down. They actually blew up seven tanks in one breath.
Seeing that the attacking troops suffered too much loss, Yoshizuru Ryosuke ordered Major General Akiyama Yoshiyun to stop the attack, transfer all the tanks, concentrate all heavy artillery of the field artillery corps, cooperate with the tank guns, and be sure to blow up the city tower and open the passage into the city.
At the moment when the Japanese army retreated, Wan Shijiong hurriedly ordered the troops to withdraw from the city wall and quickly prepare for street fighting.
When Wan Shijiong retreated to the bottom of the city wall, he burst into tears. Just now, the 618th Regiment lost one-third of the attack and defense battle. Hundreds of brothers lay on the Nanjing city wall and could never return to Guizhou.
Wan Shijiong had already understood that the city gate could not be defended at all. Fortunately, he strictly followed the tactics of Lieutenant General Zhang Zhi to fight. Otherwise, according to the past fighting style, the whole regiment lined up and guarded the city wall. After the fierce fire just now, his 618th regiment might have been revoked.
I heard that Chief Zhang’s tactics were learned from General Liu Yimin. It seems that this Red Army general, which is similar to the legend, does have a set of things.
Thoughtful, Wan Shijiong did not dare to hesitate at all, and immediately ordered the troops to enter the street fighting fortifications and put the Japanese into the city, preparing to detonate the explosives buried under the gate and on the road.
Fortunately, Wan Shijiong saw that the plane was fast and the troops retreated quickly, otherwise the entire regiment might have died on the city wall. Because the Japanese army had only prepared for an hour, they transferred all the tanks and lined up outside the Tongji Gate, and cooperated with the field artillery corps to bombard the city gate building.
The Japanese planes that had just arrived also began to act fiercely, circling and diving over and over again, and throwing shells and shelling.
Not long after, the city gate tower at Tongji Gate collapsed. Major General Akiyama Yoshihiro smiled grimly, pulled out his battle knife, and shouted wildly: "The Emperor's Warriors, Nanjing is ours. Rush in, Miss Hua, and Jinbao are big. Go ahead!" The 35th Regiment under his command rushed towards the city gate with the tanks and flocked in.
Wan Shijiong hid behind a barricade not far from the city gate, beside him was an engineer platoon leader of the headquarters engineering regiment. Seeing that the Japanese army rushed into the city gate and rushed to the road, it was time to detonate, Wan Shijiong waved his hand fiercely, and the engineer platoon leader pressed the detonation device. In an instant, a shocking explosion sounded from the city gate to the road 200 meters away. The fierce explosive not only overturned the tanks on the road, but also sent the Japanese soldiers directly to the sky, but also exploded all the bricks and tiles, turning them into killing weapons, and smashed them hard at the stunned Japanese soldiers.
The explosion came too unexpectedly and too fiercely, that both sides of the war stopped fighting and stared blankly at the terrifying scene.
Wan Shijiong and the engineer platoon leader were both shocked and bleeding from their mouths and noses, and their ears were roaring, and they couldn't speak. But he knew in his heart that this was not the time to appreciate the masterpiece, so he quickly pulled the engineer platoon leader and led the soldiers to move their positions.
Major General Yoshihiro Akiyama was shocked by the explosion. From the telescope, he could clearly see the broken arms and legs of the imperial soldiers flying all over the sky, and the tank that was burned after being overturned.
Yoshihiro Akiyama sat on the ground and muttered to himself: "What a cruel Chinese, with just a rumbling sound, a large group of warriors went to see Amaterasu. It was so terrible!"
Yoshiyun Akiyama, with a pale face, tore open his military uniform with a trembling tremblingly, holding a sword in reverse, and then he wanted to apologize. It was the captain of the 35th Regiment who was quick-witted and snatched the sword, which saved him from the tragedy of Yoshiyun Akiyama's suicide.
Lieutenant General Yoshizuru Ryosuke heard that Major General Yoshiyun Akiyama almost had a caesarean section, so he hurried to Akiyama Yoshiyun's command post, reached out and slapped him a few times, and beat Akiyama Yoshiyun's face into the shape of a pig's head. Then he smiled and said softly: "Akiyama-kun should not have a caesarean section. The lost soldiers will quickly replenish their land, cheer up, lead their troops into Nanjing, and punish the Chinese army. The most important thing is to punish the Chinese army."
Only then did Yoshihiro Akiyama completely awakens, stood attentively and bowed, and quickly adjusted his deployment and commanded his troops to enter the city.
Seeing that Major General Akiyama Yoshiyun finally recovered his spirits, Lieutenant General Yoshizuru nodded and said "Yoxi" a few times, then squinted his eyes and looked at Nanjing City, thinking: "The Chinese people seem to be cunning, this is good. I want to see how many tricks you have!"
While the Tongjimen was fighting fiercely, the Third Regiment of the Second Brigade of the Teaching Corps also had anger with the vanguard of the 16th Division in Zijin Mountain.
The 16th Division of the Japanese Army came from Kyoto. Historically, this beast army committed heinous crimes in Nanjing. It was this army that took the lead in blasting the Nanjing city walls and planted the Japanese flag on the upper floor of the Nanjing Municipal Government. Later, because he was not convinced, the 6th Division killed more people than the 16th Division, Lieutenant General Nakajima Imago ordered the entire army to carry out a massacre.
Now history has changed. Zhang Zhizhong commanded the 74th Army and the Teaching Corps to eat up the Seventh Regiment of the Ninth Division, which caused the Ninth Division, which was eager to retaliate, to march overnight, and rushed in front of the 16th Division and the 6th Division, and took the lead in attacking Nanjing City.
After learning that the Ninth Division had launched an attack, Nakajima Atsugo was jealous and ordered the 33rd Brigade, the pioneer of the division, to speed up the attack speed and not to lag behind the Ninth Division.