After the main force of the division evacuated, Luo Ying did an even better job than the other Xie Zhongyuan. He did not even defend the outer positions and evacuated them all to the Sixing Warehouse;
The headquarters is located on the fifth floor. The third battalion and the machine gun company are hidden on the fourth floor as reserves. Most of the excess equipment and supplies are also concentrated on the fourth floor.
The second battalion is deployed on the sixth and fifth floors, the first battalion is deployed on the third and second floors, and only one security squad is deployed on the first floor;
On the top floor, a large number of sandbags and steel plates were used to build three half-moon-shaped machine gun fortifications, one in each direction. The front was the core fortification, and two 92 heavy machine guns were deployed, one on each side.
The roof of the fortification was built with three 10-centimetre-thick iron plates, divided into three layers. There was one layer of sandbags without any layer of iron plates. The front was made of two layers of sandbags with a layer of steel plates sandwiched between them. It had no problem blocking the direct fire of the 92 Infantry Cannon.
The ceiling can withstand the blows of howitzers up to 105 mm. Each fortification has a squad deployed, and all the heavy machine gun platoons of the machine gun company are deployed on the ceiling;
If necessary, the thunder cannon can also be used to support it. It is very convenient and is the core of the independent regiment's defense. Each machine gun is equipped with 5,000 rounds of ammunition. The 6.5 mm bullets captured previously were finally put to use.
Above the ceiling, a steel pipe was erected with a blue sky and a red flag covering the ground. People south of the Suzhou River could clearly see that the Chinese army was still holding on in the city.
Sihang Warehouse was built in 1931. It is a warehouse jointly funded by four banks, Jincheng, Continental, Zhongnan and Yanye, so it is named Sihang Warehouse;
Sihang Warehouse is located on the north bank of the Suzhou River in Zhabei. The dividing line between the concession and the Chinese boundary is only separated by the Suzhou River. There is a bridge on the river leading to John Bull's concession. John Bull deployed a company south of the bridge, led by Red-headed Asan. For the sake of the Lord, no one would dare to force their way into the concession with them, otherwise it would cause international disputes.
John Bull was the spokesman for the League of Nations, and the reason why the National Government asked the Independence Group to stay was for the sake of John Bull and Gallic Chicken, the two big bosses of the League of Nations;
The government has illusions about them and hopes that they can uphold justice for China. This is the meaning of the existence of the independent group. To put it bluntly, it is the face of the government.
Luo Ying was very satisfied with the location of the Sihang Warehouse. It was adjacent to the Continental Bank Warehouse to the east and two warehouses to the west. The Japs could not deploy their troops on these two sides at all;
Across Guangfu Road on the back is the Suzhou River, and on the bank of the Suzhou River is John Bull's concession. The new garbage bridge leading to the concession is located to the east, very close to the Sixing Warehouse.
The only place where the Japs can deploy their troops to attack is the front. Most of the houses have been blown up, leaving a wide area for both sides to engage in battle.
"Captain, why not build some forward positions in the blocks ahead. These positions can hold off the Japs for at least two or three days, and the main position will not be exposed to the Japs' firepower too early."
Inside the headquarters, deputy commander Xie Zhongyuan asked curiously, Luo Ying is now very famous in the 88th Division and even the National Army, and the light of Xie Zhongyuan, the fourth-term master, has been blocked by him.
Luo Ying was a little embarrassed about stealing Lao Xie's job, so he had a respect for this senior that ordinary people could not understand. Seeing Lao Xie asking about military deployment doubts, he smiled and said patiently:
“The defensive capabilities of the peripheral positions are too poor. Fighting with the Japanese in the peripheral positions will easily cause massive casualties to the troops;
Sihang Warehouse is like a hedgehog covered with thorns. No matter how many Japanese come here, it is difficult for them to eat it.
The task we received is to hold on for a week, and we can hold on to the Sihang Warehouse for seven days, or even longer;
It's not worth it to leave such a complete fortress unused and go into a field battle with the Japanese! "
Xie Zhongyuan thought about it. The Sihang Warehouse had been reinforced and renovated by the independent regiment. Before the ammunition and food were exhausted, they had no problem holding the position for a month.
While the two were talking, the Japanese Marines entered the urban area. They had guarded the urban area before, so it was up to them to take over the urban area this time.
The Shencheng Marine Special Marines suffered heavy losses in this battle. Even the headquarters was taken over by Luo Ying. The two sides can be said to be "old friends". Once they knew that the defenders of Sihang Warehouse had taken over their headquarters, Independent camp, then they will definitely go crazy;
Luo Ying liked to see the Japs going crazy, so he decided that after the two sides started fighting, he had to show his own signs. Only by making them go crazy can he better eliminate them.
In order to strengthen the Japanese occupation of Shencheng, the Navy rebuilt the Shencheng Marine Special Marine Command. All the previously disabled and annihilated troops were replenished, and the strength was restored to 10 brigades with more than 6,000 men.
After the Japanese Marine Corps entered the city, they began to search for the broken troops left by the Chinese in the city. Soon they found the Sihang Warehouse;
The first person to discover the Chinese flag on the roof of the Sihang Warehouse was the Second Battalion of the Special Marine Corps. The captain, Major Yoshitoyo Yasuda, was so angry that his nose became crooked after hearing that, and he cursed:
“There are still people who dare to fly the Chinese flag on Bage Ya Road. They are dead!
The First Squadron was ordered to take over the Sihang Warehouse and all the Chinese inside were wiped out. "
The organization of the Japanese Marine Corps is very different from that of the Army. Their group only has three squadrons, and including the group headquarters, the total number is only more than 600 people;
The Japanese Navy has always followed the example of John Bull, and so has the Marine Corps. They regard the Marine Corps more as an affiliated ground force of the naval fleet. Its combat mission is to help the Navy occupy ports and naval bases in security and defensive operations. To put it bluntly, It's like a security force.
The combat effectiveness is much weaker than that of the Army Field Force. Luo Ying has picked a soft persimmon again this time, but they themselves do not think so;
They don't even look down on the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, let alone the Chinese. These are a group of masters who only care about eating but not fighting.
The Ninth Group Army, the main force of China, withdrew from the city. The Japanese Marines took credit for this. After rushing into the city, they were like a group of crabs on the beach, walking sideways.
The Chinese flag flying on the roof of the Sihang Warehouse completely irritated them, and Major Yoshimine Yasuda immediately sent a squadron to sweep the Sihang Warehouse.
At the independent regiment headquarters, reconnaissance platoon leader Xiong Mi quickly walked in and reported to Luo Ying:
"Tuanzuo, the Japs are coming. They are Black Gouzi, about a squadron in size."
As soon as Luo Ying heard this, he immediately rushed to the observation port and used a telescope to search for the Japanese;
They set aside several lookout points on the fifth floor for Luo Ying to observe the surrounding battlefields. Soon he spotted the Japanese on the front, about five hundred meters away from the Sixing Warehouse.
After Luo Ying finished reading, he handed the telescope to Xie Zhongyuan, and after he finished reading, he said:
"This is the Japs' special marines. They are very arrogant. They came over so carelessly, told the brothers to hide, put them close to the building, and first used a rain of grenades to teach them a lesson;
When the Japanese escape, use machine guns and rifles to see them off. Remember not to expose the heavy machine guns on the roof first. Only use three light machine guns to make the Japanese mistakenly think that we only have one company. "
After hearing this, Xie Zhongyuan excitedly went to deploy. This time he planned to use a battalion and a company, three Czech light machine guns, and dozens of rifles, which would be enough for the Japanese. The submachine guns would not be exposed for the time being.
Captain Kojima didn't know that their squadron had become the prey of the Chinese, and he led his squadron towards the warehouse without much care.
At the beginning, they were relatively cautious, pulling a standard skirmish formation towards the Sixing Warehouse;
When they reached within a hundred meters from the front of the warehouse and saw that they still encountered no resistance, their courage became bolder.
After advancing a few dozen meters, it was still quiet inside the warehouse, the door was closed, and there seemed to be no one;
This was wartime after all, so Captain Kojima was still more defensive. They held their guns and cautiously approached another thirty or forty meters, and the forward team arrived downstairs.
The other two teams were only thirty to forty meters away from the warehouse wall. Only three machine gun groups were on guard two hundred meters away, with the black muzzles pointed at the building.
Captain Kojima had been paying attention to the dozen or so windows of the building. He found no dangerous objects such as gun barrels on them, and he felt relieved immediately;
He thought he should go to an empty building, and was about to ask someone to break open the closed door when he noticed a large number of heads suddenly popping up in the row of windows. Then he saw a large number of "stones" being thrown from the building, and he suddenly looked frightened. A big change, a big curse:
"Baga, grenade!"
