For this Mengcheng offensive and defensive battle, the Gui army had no better way except to engage in the final street battle with the Japanese army.
Only street fighting can hold back this Japanese army. Otherwise, if large forces are sent outside the city for positional warfare, they will most likely be covered by the enemy's heavy firepower. Such a situation is not suitable for Chapter 103 at all. The situation of the third regiment - the current 1033rd regiment has only about 1,200 troops in total, and the reinforcements from the rear are not coming so fast at all!
Therefore, they can only choose to fight in the street. Other than that, they have no better choice!
"Remember to strengthen the city wall and make full use of the terrain to block the enemy's advance. Even if we are down to the last man, we must not retreat without authorization!" Zhou Yuan ordered Commander Ling.
"Yes, sir!" Ling Yunshang responded, and then hurried to carry out Zhou Yuan's order.
Soon, it didn't take long for the 1033rd Regiment to formulate a combat plan in which part of the troops would be used as a containment outside the city, while the large force would engage in street fighting with the enemy inside the city.
The next morning, that is, the morning of May 10th, the Japanese forward troops arrived outside Mengcheng and immediately launched an attack on the east gate of Mengcheng.
Fierce artillery fire struck Mengcheng, a small county town, and several gaps suddenly appeared in the city walls made of soil.
Colonel Jiro Wakisaka, who was responsible for commanding this operation, immediately had his eyes lit up - the task of conquering Mengcheng was aimed at today!
Colonel Jiro Wakisaka is the captain of the 36th Regiment of the 18th Brigade of the 9th Division of the Japanese Army. Due to the tight fighting on Jinpu Road, the 11th Division, the 13th Division and the reserve army are the third in the combat sequence. The main forces of the 102nd Division and the 107th Division were deployed in Suxian, Feihe, and Luohe areas, fighting fiercely with the national army.
Therefore, Colonel Jiro Wakisaka's 36th Regiment launched the attack on Mengcheng as a vanguard force. After all, the main force of the Ninth Division also served as the reserve force of the frontline combat troops!
As for the question of why the main force of a standing division needs to serve as a reserve force for the troops in the reserve army's order of battle, the reason is very simple - the main force of the Ninth Division just fought against the National Army on the Songhu battlefield, and it itself is The casualties were huge, and before they could be fully replenished, there was another fight between Nanjing and the 74th Army.
With such a fighting style, how could there not be many casualties? Even if the number of Japanese soldiers killed in battle is relatively small, the injured soldiers can't return to the team so quickly, right?
The 36th Regiment was originally assigned a mountain artillery squadron with four artillery pieces, which was enough for use. Moreover, before setting off, the division commander, Lieutenant General Yoshika Ryosuke, told Jiro Wakisaka: "The current strength of the southern front is It's tight, the artillery shells can be fired freely, but we must ensure that we capture Mengcheng as quickly as possible to support the battle in Suxian County!"
As for the next step of attacking Yongcheng, Yoshika Ryosuke naturally would not say anything, and he had not received any combat orders or plans from the Central China Dispatch Army Headquarters.
The established combat plan to outflank the main force of the National Army's fifth theater is not announced to the public, and even grassroots troops rarely issue such large plans.
After all, if a big plan is handed down to the grassroots troops, it will first increase the risk of leaks. Subsequently, there will also be a meritorious mentality of the grassroots troops, which may lead to the collapse of the plan.
At this time, among the Japanese army, the problem of defeating the superiors was still quite serious!
Neither Juichi Terauchi nor Shunroku Hata want to take this risk, nor can they afford it - once the strategy makes a mistake and the battle of hundreds of thousands of troops is completely defeated, then they will definitely "commit suicide to thank the Emperor"!
Assigning specific combat tasks can perfectly avoid this risk...
As a result, Wakisaka Jiro currently only has the task of capturing Mengcheng. After Mengcheng is captured, he will send forward troops to Eternal City to "observe the situation."
Well, this "inspection situation" can be regarded as equivalent to "power search".
In such a severe fighting situation, if no brigade of troops is dispatched, the possibility of being eaten is very high.
Furthermore, if a brigade was not eaten, it was just luck - for example, in North China, just over Pi County, a brigade of the 103rd Division was eaten up by the Yunnan Army within half a day. Bare.
In Central China, such risks can naturally be reduced a lot. According to information from the Central China Dispatch Army Headquarters: the Chinese troops stationed in Mengcheng and Suxian are Li Zongren's Guangxi troops.
It's not that the Gui Army's combat effectiveness is poor, but that the emphasis in various aspects is different - the Yunnan Army is strong in discipline and equipment, while the Gui Army is good at fighting without fear of death and specializing in mountain and forest warfare.
On the plains, the advantages of not being afraid of death and fighting in the jungle are insignificant - the poor equipment cannot be made up for by not being afraid of death, and no matter how brave you are, it can't be compared to a round of artillery fire.
Although the current 36th Regiment only has four artillery pieces and there are certain shortcomings in personnel, if they encounter the First Regiment directly under the Third Theater Zone or the Yunnan Army Brigade, they may not be able to escape.
However, they encountered the Gui army, which was extremely lacking in heavy firepower and not very well equipped, so a fierce battle began.
The four 75 mountain cannons concentrated their firepower and destroyed one of the corners of the east gate.
"Oh no! Adjust the muzzle! Turn five degrees to the left!!!" the Japanese artillery squadron leader shouted loudly. The fragility of Mengcheng's city walls was beyond his expectation. If this continues, Mengcheng will be destroyed in less than a day. I can take it.
Looking at the collapsed part of the city wall, Wakisaka Jiro's eyes were filled with joy. He pulled out a command sword and shouted: "Warriors! The time has come to make contributions! Charge!!"
Under the waving of Jiro Wakisaka's command sword, these Japanese soldiers who were not tall and had bow legs began to charge forward, just like the wild boars being slaughtered!
Yes, they are wild boars. The lazy appearance of domestic pigs cannot describe their energetic state of mind!
…
News of the collapse of the city wall reached Zhou Yuan immediately.
"What? The city wall collapsed...cough cough cough..." Zhou Yuan was so angry that his face turned red all of a sudden. At this time, his body was very weak. This must be the same as what he suffered when he commanded the troops to fight in Shanghai. That serious injury was related.
Before the body has fully recovered, he has to command the troops to continue fighting. When he suddenly hears the news that the war is not going well, it is inevitable that he will be a little excited.
"Sir Zhou, please rest assured. Commander Ling is commanding the troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese invaders. Mengcheng will never fall in such a short period of time." Liang Jiaju, the accompanying division staff officer, reported.
"That would be great if Commander Ling is here. I'm afraid something might happen on the front line. No, I have to go to the front and have a look." Zhou Yuanqiang held his body up and was about to walk out...
…
While Mengcheng was engaged in a fierce battle, Lanfeng's side was still calm.
But everyone knows that this is just the calm before the storm.
It won't be long before this tranquility will be broken.
…
PS: Make up for the second update from last night.
The first update of tonight will be sent before twelve o'clock!
Thanks to Qidian Book Friends Lingfeng Xiaolangjun, Book Friends 20191223140649913, Lord of Destruction, Book Friends 2018051545831296, *Times Past*, Red Star Republic, Book Friends 201812234059221, and two monthly passes each for a homeless man named Cthulhu Krushu. !
