The Japanese's retaliatory bombardment started, and the rain of shells hit the city, as if they were free of charge.
Since the Japanese went south, beggars have been the bosses and they have become richer. Not only did they add a piece of salted fish to their lunch, but they also prepared many more shells for artillery fire.
Just one retaliatory bombardment, which lasted for half an hour, blew up the already dilapidated city wall to pieces and completely flattened it. The buildings within a few hundred meters of the city wall were also blown to pieces.
Looking at the city wall that had been blown into ruins, Colonel Hashimoto's anger calmed down a little. He put down his telescope and said to Major Saburo Shibata, the senior staff officer of the regiment:
"Shibata-kun, Inoue-kun, the first brigade cannot be without a commander. You go over and gather the morale of the troops. I will give you 300 supplementary troops. We will attack the expeditionary force again in an hour;
The defenders are cunning and cunning, so they must be careful and don't make the mistake of Inoue-kun underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly. "
Colonel Hashimoto casually passed the responsibility for the small defeat to the dead Major Inoue, and the holes in the two lost squadrons were filled with replacement troops. After suffering a loss, he began to take the defenders in the city seriously. There are not many Chinese troops with discerning eyes.
At the garrison headquarters, Wan Peng was looking at a simple map of the city and thinking about how to plot against the Japanese. This map was provided by a local wealthy overseas Chinese businessman. Although it was not a military map, all urban areas, streets, and major buildings were marked. It is clear that the defense of the second division and the first regiment is still very helpful.
The first battalion commander, Yang Hua, walked in with a look of dismay, picked up the water in the enamel cup, drank it all, and then said:
"Captain, the Japanese artillery fire was so fierce that it was not safe for our comrades to hide in the house. When one shot came, even the people and the house were blown away, causing many casualties;
Call on our air force to destroy all the Japanese artillery! "
Wan Peng also felt sorry for the soldiers, but the commander clearly told him that Shouyang Miding would not receive air support. Unless the Japanese dispatched a bomber group, the flying detachment would dispatch fighter jets for support.
Not only were the killer bombers temporarily hidden, but the second-generation Wei Shencannon was also not used in advance to avoid scaring away the Sixth Division.
Wan Peng could only execute the order. This reason could not be told to Battalion Commander Yang because he did not have the right to know, so he had to tell him:
"Yang Hua, don't you know how to fight without planes and cannons?
If your first battalion is not good, I will replace you with the second battalion! "
Yang Hua immediately protested:
"Captain, are you being unreasonable? I'm asking you for fire support. If you don't give it, forget it. Just lift the table. I'm an old brother of your secret service team. I don't look at the face of a monk or the face of a Buddha!"
Wan Peng waved his big hand and said:
"Okay, go ahead and do what you have to do. The only support I can give you is the dozen or so Wei Yixiao cannons from the artillery battalion. They can't reach the range, not even the mortars. Just bear with it!"
Wan Peng sent Yang Hua away and continued to study the map. His regiment had to hold on for three days, and it was obviously not possible without more thought.
Suddenly, he had inspiration and thought:
"Just put all the Japs in and beat them. Then everyone will get involved and watch how the Japs explode!
Yang Hua, come back to me! "
An hour passed quickly. The Japanese first brigade had finished reorganizing and continued to attack the city. This time the Japanese were much more cautious and only sent out a squadron of Japanese to launch a tentative attack.
Hattori Taro Cao Chang is an old Japanese soldier and a bear miner. He has been fighting with the 13th Regiment since the China Incident. He participated in the Battle of Jinling and killed at least hundreds of Chinese soldiers and civilians in Jinling City, leaving him with a heavy debt of blood.
He was one of the twenty or so Japs who ran away in the last round of attacks. He was as slippery as a loach.
He held a southern pistol in one hand and a standard saber in the other, and cautiously groped towards the city;
Although the city was quiet, based on his many years of battlefield sense, he judged that the city was very dangerous. He kept jumping between the ruins and obstacles. Every time he jumped, he was hiding in the blind spot of shooting, or there were obstacles in front of him. Block it, if you really don't have him, use other Japanese as a shield.
He constantly reminded the Japanese under his command to be cautious, and he also had rich battlefield command experience.
His team was the first echelon, rushing to the front and most vulnerable to attack, so he was more cautious than anyone else.
There are not many old Japanese soldiers in the 13th Regiment who participated in the Battle of Jinling. The Chinese army fought tooth and nail when they saw them. After several years of fierce fighting, there are only a handful of soldiers like him who are still alive.
Soon they broke through the most dangerous part of the city wall. The Chinese still didn't fire, and the battlefield was eerily silent.
His squad leader was not as patient as him. Not long after he was separated from the Army Military Academy, squad leader Nakano was obsessed with making contributions to the emperor and lacked the most basic respect for the Chinese people;
I have heard so many times in China that Chinese people are as vulnerable as tofu, so I really believe it.
Second Lieutenant Nakano was very cautious at first. After entering the city and seeing no one, he became bolder. He pointed his command knife and shouted loudly:
"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"
The squad leader had given the order, but he, the squad leader, could only carry out the order and lead his squad into the streets of the city.
Hattori suddenly felt danger coming, and he fell down on the spot. A hot bullet almost grazed his scalp and flew out, hitting an unlucky guy behind him.
"Enemy attack!"
Second Lieutenant Nakano began to command the troops to counterattack. Two or three minutes later, several Chinese people at the end of the street ran away dragging their guns.
When Nakano saw it, he shouted excitedly:
"Quickly! Kill the chicken and give it to me!"
He chased after a dozen Japanese soldiers with him, but the cunning Hattori deliberately delayed for half a beat, allowing Koizumi's team to rush ahead;
Second Lieutenant Nakano didn't pay attention to this. In his opinion, a dozen or so of them were enough to defeat a few Chinese people. They chased after them without looking for the direction in which the Chinese people were escaping.
At a commanding height of more than 200 meters, sniper Wang Wei had been paying attention to Hattori for a long time. In order to snipe him, Wang Wei even gave up his target as an officer in the middle field, because this Japanese was the only one who escaped his fatal blow. It was definitely a test for him.
The previous shot almost missed Hattori's scalp and flew away. Since then, he has never found a chance to kill Hattori. The two of them are fighting for patience...
At the end of the street, Second Lieutenant Nakano led the Koizumi detachment and chased them into an alley. Not a single person was seen. Nakano was so angry that he cursed:
"Bagaya Lu, Chinese people who are as timid as mice are not warriors -"
Two groups of expeditionary troops suddenly stood up from both sides behind Nakano. One of them was holding a Garand semi-automatic rifle. This was the standard inverted triangle ambush formation of the independent army system, specially used to ambush small teams like Nakano.
Before Nakano could react, gunshots rang out from both sides. Nakano was shot twice. The Koizumi team was all knocked down within a minute, and no one was spared!
"withdraw!"
After squad leader Li Jinpeng led a squad to ambush a Japanese detachment, he didn't even clean up the battlefield and disappeared among the houses in the neighborhood with a wave of his hand.
