While Zhang Tianhai was still distressed that his troops had suffered such heavy losses, the battle to defend Teng County had entered a completely intense stage.
Shells from Japanese-made Type 38 artillery bombarded the city wall of Teng County like raindrops. The Japanese artillery fire in Linyi was too fierce here. After all, this is the main battlefield on Jinpu Road. !
Since the 15th, the main force of the Japanese army on the northern line of Jinpu Road (the entire 10th Division of Rensuke Isotani and part of the 106th Division and the 108th Division) have attacked the outskirts of Tengxian County .
After reaching the outskirts of Tengxian County, the main force of the Japanese army on the northern line of Jinpu Road launched a fierce attack on Tengxian County under the command of commander Rensuke Isotani.
It's just that compared to the Fifth Division, which only had half of its main force heading south, the Tenth Division's headquarters, after being reinforced by the 106th Division and the 108th Division, is not that powerful. The main combat force amounted to nearly 40,000 people, with more than 70 artillery pieces, and more than 50 cooperating aircraft. It is worth mentioning that there are even two armored trains!
The firepower of the Japanese Jinpu Road North Line troops attacking Tengxian County was much stronger than the firepower used by the Fifth Division when they attacked Linyi - the county seat of Tengxian County was bombarded by nearly 10,000 Japanese artillery shells in one day, and the houses in the city were Almost completely destroyed!
At this time, almost all the people in Tengxian County had fled, and there was almost only an empty city left here.
Zhang Xuanwu, the commander of the 727th Regiment of the 364th Brigade of the 364th Brigade of the 122nd Division of the 41st Army of the Sichuan Army stationed here and the commander of Teng County City Defense, is not in a general hurry at this moment.
Wang Mingzhang, former enemy commander of the 41st Army and commander of the 122nd Division, had told Zhang Xuanwu more than once that he needed to strengthen the city defense. This time the Japanese artillery fire was so fierce that many city walls were already crumbling.
Zhang Xuanwu's 727th Regiment was not always stationed in the county seat of Tengxian County. Originally, his 727th Regiment was stationed at the Beishahe position fifteen miles north of Tengxian County under the order of Commander Wang Mingzhang. However, due to The Japanese army's offensive was so rapid that they directly attacked the city of Tengxian County and launched an attack on Tengxian County with absolute firepower advantage.
At this time when Tengcheng was in danger, at 5:30 pm on March 15, Wang Mingzhang directly issued the following order to Zhang Xuanwu on the phone: "(1) The division headquarters has decided to stick to the county seat of Teng County; (2) ) The 727th Regiment, except for one battalion in Hongding and Gaomiao, which is still performing its original mission, the other battalion left the second line position in Beishahe and was temporarily under the command of the 127th Division. The commander of the regiment immediately led the remaining troops. Depart from here and run back to Teng County to garrison the city."
When Zhang Xuanwu led his troops to withdraw from Beishahe, Wang Mingzhang ordered him by telegram to blow up the railway bridge over Beishahe.
When Zhang Xuanwu led his troops back to the north gate of Teng County, Wang Mingzhang was already waiting at the door very anxiously.
After meeting Zhang Xuanwu, Wang Mingzhang immediately appointed him as the city defense commander of Teng County, and then briefly explained to Zhang Xuanwu the situation in all aspects of the city at this time.
At this time, the first battalion (battalion commander Yan Yi) of the 731st Regiment of the 366th Brigade, which was deployed in Chengqian Town, was also ordered to be transferred back to Dongguan, Teng County.
Wang Mingzhang told Zhang Xuanwu again: "Liu Zhirong Camp (the special agent battalion directly under the 41st Army) has set off from Lincheng by train and will arrive in an hour or two. All these troops are under your unified command .You serve as the city defense commander and coordinate the deployment of these troops to defend the city."
"Yes! Master!" Zhang Xuanwu stood at attention and saluted.
Also arriving at the same time as the 41st Army Special Agent Battalion was a trainload of food and ammunition from Lincheng, especially grenades, which was very sufficient, so Zhang Xuanwu immediately decided to give each of the defenders at Dongguan and the city Distribute fifty grenades.
As of late night on the 15th, the combat troops at Chengguan in Teng County totaled one regiment headquarters, three battalion headquarters, ten infantry companies, and one mortar company; in addition, there were four special agent companies from division and brigade headquarters, and temporary An infantry company of the 743rd Regiment of the 372nd Brigade of the 124th Division came to the city to collect and transport ammunition, with a total of about 2,500 people. In addition, Tengxian County Magistrate Zhou Tong has an armed police and security group with 500 to 600 people.
At this time, there were a total of 3,000 armed forces in the city, but the actual fighting force was less than 1,000.
At dawn on the 16th, more than 10,000 enemy troops continued to violently attack the boundary river position in front of our 45th Army and the Longshan and Puyang Mountain positions.
At 7:50 in the morning, the nearby villages outside Dongguan in Teng County heard the sound of machine guns and rifles. The enemies from Fenghe and Longyangdian had begun to attack our security troops guarding Dongguan.
At about eight o'clock, about a battalion of enemy artillery (twelve mountain artillery pieces, note that this paragraph was written in the original text of Zhang Xuanwu's memoirs) was arranged and tested on the high ground near the Donghe River, and then they fired platoon artillery towards our east of Teng County The Guan, Chengnei and Xiguan railway stations were violently bombarded. At the same time, twelve enemy combat aircraft flew over, bombing and strafing frantically.
At this time, Wang Mingzhang, commander of the 122nd Division stationed in Xiguan Electric Light Factory, heard the sound of gunfire and first asked Zhang Xuanwu on the phone about the situation. Then he went directly into the city to the headquarters of the 124th Division. Together with Chen Li, commander of the 127th Division, and Shui Tiqing, acting commander of the 124th Division (Note: The commander of the 124th Division was concurrently served by Sun Zhen, commander of the 41st Army. After Deng Xihou returned to central Sichuan to handle military affairs, Sun Zhen As the acting commander-in-chief of the 22nd Group Army, the 124th Division met with Deputy Division Commander Shui Tiqing (acting as division commander), 364th Brigade Commander Wang Zhiyuan and City Defense Commander Zhang Xuanwu.
After the meeting, Wang Mingzhang first asked Zhang Xuanwu about the city defense deployment, fortification construction, ammunition replenishment, etc.
After getting Zhang Xuanwu's reply, Wang Mingzhang asked with a serious face: "Captain Zhang, are you sure you can defend the city?"
Zhang Xuanwu asked: "How long will we be guarding?"
Wang Mingzhang hesitated and said, "Two or three days."
Zhang Xuanwu did not answer directly, but asked Wang Mingzhang: "Commander, with the current strength and enemy situation in the city, how long do you think we can hold it?"
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the scene suddenly became heavy.
The corners of Wang Mingzhang's mouth, which was full of stubble because he didn't have time to shave, twitched slightly, and then asked: "Are you sure you can keep it for more than a day?"
Zhang Xuanwu shook his head and said: "Among the ten infantry companies serving as city defense troops, six companies are not the organic troops to which I belong. I cannot estimate the combat effectiveness of the two battalions of Yan Yi and Liu Zhirong, so I I can’t guarantee that I can keep it for more than a day.”
After hearing this, Wang Mingzhang said: "Our reinforcements can only arrive at night at the earliest. If we can't defend for more than one day, then we might as well fight on the move outside the city!"
After saying that, Wang Mingzhang turned to the division commanders and brigade commanders present: "What do you think?"
Several division commanders, brigade commanders and several division chiefs of staff looked at each other, and then they all agreed on the action of mobile operations outside the city.
Seeing that everyone agreed with the idea of mobile operations outside the city, Division Commander Wang Mingzhang immediately called Sun Zhen, the commander-in-chief of the group army in Lincheng, to report the situation and proposed the idea of mobile operations outside the city.
After hearing Wang Mingzhang's report, Sun Zhen thought for a while and replied: "The Chairman called us to defend Teng County and wait for Tang Enbo's army to come to relieve the siege. The leading troops of Tang Enbo's department arrived in Lincheng yesterday, and their follow-up troops are also in Lincheng Arriving one after another, I immediately urged Wang Zhonglian's 85th Army to move north quickly. You should secure Teng County to await reinforcements. You are the former enemy commander-in-chief of the 41st Army. Your headquarters should be moved to the city immediately so that you can personally Take command of the defense of the city. If there are not enough troops, you can transfer all the 41st Army outside the city into the city and wait for reinforcements!"
After listening to Sun Zhen's order, Wang Mingzhang immediately stood at attention through the phone and responded: "Yes! Sir, I am determined to defend Teng County to the death and prevent the Japanese army from seizing Teng County!"
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