Chapter 42: Battle of Songjiang: Battle of Songhu (7)

Wu Keren, who had just moved the military headquarters from Baihegang to Qingpu, received a telegram from Huang Qixiang, deputy commander-in-chief of the Right-wing Corps and commander-in-chief of Songjiang Front Command. Wu Keren was shocked. Huang Qixiang's tone was undoubtedly very heavy on the telegram, not only limited the arrival time, but also had a tone to warn him.

If it were to say that if it were Zhang Fakui, the commander-in-chief of the right-wing corps, even more so, Chen Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the front battlefield of the Songhu battlefield, gave an order to Wu Keren in such a tone, he might not be very convinced. But Huang Qixiang is different. He is the leader of the Third Party. In a sense, Huang Qixiang is a banner for them who are dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek, but have to accept everyone led by Chiang Kai-shek.

At that moment, Wu Keren did not dare to neglect, so he quickly convened an emergency military meeting of the military headquarters, ordering the 107th and 108th Divisions to force the army to quickly reinforce Songjiang. At the same time, he decided to personally lead the Chief of Staff Wu Tonggang and a few staff members to set out to Songjiang first. Deputy Commander He Kui and the Military Headquarters followed.

After receiving the telegram from the division commander, Niushima Man was extremely anxious. Two hours were about to pass. The No. 30 Railway Bridge was covered with the bodies of the Imperial Warriors. Yamamoto's brigade had rushed three times but had not rushed across the bridge. The Chinese army on the other side was too cunning. Although artillery fire destroyed part of their firepower points, they moved quickly. In addition to the harassment of the two mortars, they were destroyed by the other side a machine gun squadron and a grenade squadron.

"Order Yamamoto's brigade to advance. If he can't take the No. 30 Railway Bridge, let him be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor." Niushima Man finally showed his hideous face.

Under another fierce artillery fire attack, Yamamoto Ichiki, who had no way out of retreat, took off his military uniform, revealing the dark skin unique to the people of Nanjiuzhou. He tied a menstrual belt with Wu Yun long-term written on his forehead. He personally picked up a crooked machine gun, stood on the bridge and shouted: "Warriors, the opportunity to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor has arrived. Kill me!"

"Onboard, onboard." Some of the remaining soldiers from Yamamoto's brigade took off their shirts like the captain, and rushed towards the bridge with their 38-large covers.

"Captain, the Japanese are trying their best." The first battalion commander, whose face was covered in black with gunpowder, lay beside Zhang Zhengjie and whispered.

Zhang Zhengjie was also in a mess at this time, with his face and clothes all dark. A shell just now hit the upper part of the command post. Zhang Zhengjie and the first battalion commander were buried inside. Fortunately, neither of them was injured. The brothers from the guard platoon tried their best to dig them out of the soil.

"First concentrate firepower and then the troops alternately cover the retreat and exploded the bridge." Zhang Zhengjie ordered calmly. Although they had the advantage of the terrain in the No. 30 Bridgehead position and had already repelled the attack of the Japanese vanguard and three large troops, the first battalion suffered a lot of casualties under the suppression of the Japanese artillery fire and grenade launchers, and the heavy machine guns had also lost four heavy machine guns. It would be better to retreat to Li Tahui and rely on solid fortifications to continue to block the Neon Army. Besides, the river bank here is steep and there is no suitable ferry. The Neon Army can only cross the river lightly, and the artillery cannot reach ashore at all. The only ferry is Li Tahui downstream.

As gunfire sounded on the other side, the neon soldiers charging on the bridge kept falling down. Yamamoto Kazuki, who was rushing to the front, howling while holding a crooked machine gun in his hand, was miraculously not hit by a bullet. As the bridgehead on the other side became closer and closer, the gunfire on the opponent's position suddenly became sparse.

They must have been frightened by the momentum of the Imperial Army. They began to retreat and could soon capture Bridge No. 30. Yamamoto Ichiki felt ecstatic and howled loudly: "Warriors, victory is right in front of him, rush forward and kill all the Chinese."

Suddenly, Yamamoto Ichigi felt a strong force coming from his feet, and then a loud bang, the entire bridge deck was suddenly ignited by the shock wave of the strong explosives under the bridge. In an instant, dozens of Japanese soldiers who were closest to the explosion were thrown into the air. The stones and fragments of sleepers on the railway bridge subgrade became the best weapon of destruction. The Japanese soldiers who were thrown into the air were instantly torn to pieces, and the bloody and rainy mud was mixed with the lungs of the wolf.

The railway bridge was blown off in the middle of the waist, and more than 200 Japanese following behind fell into the river with a drop of nearly 30 meters like dumplings. Yamamoto Ichiki, who was about to approach the bridge in the front, bowed and was lucky enough to escape a sleeper flying from behind again.

Just when he was secretly glad, he suddenly leaned back and the flat bridge deck in front of him suddenly turned into a slope. With the sound of "rattle", the bridge deck quickly sank. Yamamoto quickly threw away the machine gun in his hand. The desire to survive made him subconsciously grab the guardrail next to him, and the bridge deck that was folded into two hit the river bank on the west bank. Yamamoto closed his eyes and held the guardrail to death. When he opened his eyes and looked back, the entire railway bridge was gone. The river below was filled with fallen soldiers and corpses. Many surviving soldiers struggled desperately in the water to call for help, but the steep river bank made all rescue futile.

"I must stand on the other side, and I, Yamamoto, must fulfill my promise." Yamamoto Kazuki endured the huge pain on his body and grabbed the guardrail of the bridge and slowly climbed up. As long as I climbed up, I could stand on the land on the west bank.

Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, finally approached, and the remaining level was left to climb to the opposite shore. When Yamamoto used all his strength to grab the last level guardrail, another "rattle" sound came, and the remaining half of the bridge finally could not bear the bridge deck hanging in the air, and began to break along the tearing hole.

"No--" The bridge deck fell into the river with Yamamoto's scream.

Niu Daoman looked at the bombed No. 30 Railway Bridge and the bodies of the imperial soldiers floating in the river, and closed his eyes miserably. After a while, he slowly opened his eyes and said helplessly to the chief of staff beside him: "Send a report to the division commander that our army encountered a stubborn obstacle at the No. 30 Railway Bridge on the Shanghai-Hangzhou Line. Now the No. 30 Railway Bridge has been blown up. Our army plans to enter the Litahui Ferry Crossing to cross the River in accordance with the second plan."

After saying that, Niu Daoman looked at the last time with a very hatred and resentful look that blocked the 23rd Regiment for more than two hours, and lost a brigade's west bank of the No. 30 Railway Bridge. He turned around and gritted his teeth and roared, "The whole army rushed towards the Litahui Ferry."

On the evening of June 6, the atmosphere in the combat room of the 20th Independent Brigade of Songjiang County was very dull. According to the information sent back by the reconnaissance team in front, the landing troops of the Neon Army were constantly reinforcing towards Songjiang. Moreover, the Neon Army on the north bank of the Huangpu River was searching for wooden boats on a large scale to prepare for another forced ferry. The 23rd Regiment, which was repelled at the No. 30 Railway Bridge, had arrived at the Litahuihe River Ferry and was also preparing for a forced ferry. If the reinforcements of the 6th Division arrived quickly, the pressure faced by the 40th and 42nd Regiments of the Independent 20th Brigade were imaginable.

"Sir Huang, the Japanese on the other side of Mishidu have no movements except shelling my defensive positions during the day. I guess they will definitely make big moves tonight. There is also the Litahui Ferry Crossing, where the narrowest part of the river is less than 80 meters wide, and it is easy to be broken by the Neon Army. If the reinforcements are not allowed in the early morning of tomorrow, the consequences will be unimaginable." Chen Xiuwen frowned. Although he still has the strongest combat power, the brigade's direct troops and the supplementary regiment, this is the last force to defend the county town. Chen Xiuwen will never take it out unless he had to.

"Then let our 43rd Army go to the forty-three. In addition to the seriously injured, we have more than 400 brothers. Besides, Brother Shen has supported so many of our weapons and ammunition, so let's go to reinforce the front line positions first." Guo Rudong said on the side. Anyway, his troops who left Sichuan this time have almost lost all of them, so it doesn't matter if they pay for the last possession. Besides, Chen Xiuwen is also an extraordinary journey to him.

Huang Qixiang also knew the importance of the county town, which was the last line of defense in the Songjiang defense battle. Hearing Guo Rudong's proactive statement, Huang Qixiang was a little moved.

However, before Huang Qixiang could speak, Chen Xiuwen shook his head and said, "Xuwen is grateful to Commander Guo for his kindness. But once the Japanese successfully crossed, it will not be something our troops can resist. The Forty-Three Army should be the last force to defend the county."

The current situation is to fill the remaining 400 people of the Forty-Three Army into it, but it is just a drop in the bucket. It would be better to leave some seeds for others.

"Report, just now, the North Gate reported that the Wu army commander of the 67th Army of the reinforcements arrived." At this time, Ma Congping rushed in and reported.

The three of them were very happy when they heard this and hurried out of the command center.

A group of more than a dozen horses rushed over from the north gate and led a lieutenant of the Independent Twenty Brigade at the city gate to the entrance of the command department.

The leading lieutenant general in his early forties and burly figure is undoubtedly Wu Keren, the commander of the 67th Army of the Northeast Army.

Among the three, only Huang Qixiang knew Wu Keren. When he saw Wu Keren, he was surprised and said, "Jingshan, you are really here."

Seeing Huang Qixiang, Wu Keren did not dare to neglect and hurriedly ran up, stood attentively and saluted: "Sir Huang, Wu Keren of the Sixty-seventh Army was ordered to come and report."

"Okay, okay, okay." Huang Qixiang, looking through Qiushui, said three good words in a row, and introduced Guo Rudong and Shen Xiuwen to Wu Keren. Wu Keren also introduced the major general chief of staff Wu Tonggang who was following him to the three.

"Commander Huang, the 107th Division and 108th Division are too big, and the Japanese air raids along the way are powerful, so the arrival time is delayed than the original arrival tonight. However, a regiment of the vanguard of the 107th Division has now reached ten kilometers north of Songjiang, and it is estimated that it will be two hours later. The rest of the troops promise to arrive in Songjiang before 5 a.m. tomorrow. Chief of Staff and I walked through the path to report to Chief Huang." Wu Keren continued.

Although the main force of the reinforcement force had not arrived yet, Huang Qixiang saw that Wu Keren had only brought five or six guards besides the staff officer, and was able to arrive from Qingpu to Songjiang in time. While moved, a big stone in his heart finally landed.

At this time, Songjiang County could clearly hear the rumbling cannon sound from Mishidu and Litahui. Walking into the brigade headquarters of the 20th Independent Brigade, Chen Xiuwen introduced the current situation to Wu Keren in detail. Wu Keren was not vague and immediately said to Huang Qixiang: "Sir Huang, all the soldiers of my 67th Army are subject to the dispatch of Chief Huang, and a vanguard regiment of the 107th Division will arrive soon. Please ask Chief Huang to inform him."

Wu Keren just finished saying this, but was surprised to find that Huang Qixiang and the commander of the 43rd Army Guo Rudong looked at the young brigade commander Chen Xiuwen, who Wu Keren didn't care much at first.

"Luan, what about your opinion?"

Regarding Songjiang's defense, Chen Xiuwen had a plan before the Neon Army landed in Hangzhou Bay, and had also built peripheral fortifications in a timely manner. It should be said that the defensive plan currently designated by the Independent 20th Brigade was quite appropriate, so Huang Qixiang, the commander-in-chief who rushed to take charge of the front line of Songjiang, was also happy to adopt Chen Xiuwen's plan. This means that Chen Xiuwen is now Huang Qixiang's chief of staff.

At present, Chen Xiuwen was not pretentious when facing Wu Keren's surprise eyes. He pondered for a moment and said, "In terms of defensive pressure, Li Tahui is much larger than Mi Shidu, but Mi Shidu must be the place where the Neon Army's main attack and large-scale crossing of the river. So I suggest that the vanguard of friendly forces will first reinforce Mi Shidu after arriving, and deploy defenses on the second line."

Huang Qixiang agreed immediately and ordered Wu Keren directly: "Jingshan, your pioneer regiment first reinforces Mishidu, where there is the forty regiment of the 20th Independent Brigade. I hope you can unite with sincerity and block the enemy from the south bank of the Huangpu River."

"Yes." Although Wu Keren was full of surprise, he obeyed Huang Qixiang's orders without fail.

At this time, Tani Suo, who was on the north bank of the Huangpu River, also received a call from the commander of the 10th Army, Yanagawa Heisuke. The Yoshito in front of Tani Suo himself could not break through, and Nishima Manta also stopped at the Litahui on the west line of Songjiang. Tani Suo's promise to invite Commander Yanagawa Heisuke to taste the four-gilled perch in Songjiang this evening has become a joke now. Tani Suo had no choice but to apologize to the commander.
Chapter completed!