Chapter 186: The Battle of Defense of Nanjing (10)

"Excuse me! Attack!"

With Zhang Lingfu's roar, dozens of yellow-green figures climbed out of the trench under the cover of mortars, and then the rolling smoke and dust that exploded in front of them as cover, pounced on the roaring steel monsters without hesitation.

The first suicide squadron followed the cover of the smoke screen and was approaching one of the Type 89 tanks that had just destroyed the war defense artillery. The tank found the suicide squadron rushing over. Just as it was about to turn the turret, the Chinese soldier threw a grenade and a ball of black smoke rose in front of the tank. When the smoke dissipated, the Chinese soldier disappeared.

"Where are the damn Chinese?" The Japanese in the tank suddenly felt an inexplicable fear.

The suicide squadron had already hugged the cluster grenade and drilled into the bottom of the Neon Army tank. With a loud bang, a large orange fireball gushed out from the bottom of the tank. The tracks were scattered on the ground like broken chains. The load-bearing wheel, the driving wheel and the load-bearing wheel flew out in all directions. The fired tank was limply on the way. The blood-covered Neon Army tankers climbed out of the car with difficulty. Just opened the hatch, and they were greeted by a dense rain of bullets. Suddenly, several corpses were lying on the side of the fired tank or lying on the turret.

Seeing this, the five tanks behind quickly reversed, and while retreating, pouring out the fire-like venomous snake-like fiery at the suicide squadrons rushing up on both wings. The Neon Army infantry following behind the tank also discovered the intentions of the Chinese suicide squadrons. The Japanese fired fire one by one, overturned the Chinese soldiers who rushed towards the Neon Army tanks without hesitation on the burnt land one by one.

"Fight!" Zhang Lingfu hurriedly ordered firepower to cover.

The Maxim heavy machine gun, Czech light machine gun and mid-official rifle on the position fired together, and dark red bullet marks drilled into the neon soldiers, splashing out bursts of dazzling blood mist. Mortar shells that flew out from somewhere fell into the crowd of Japanese people, and the raging flames and fragments flying all over the sky caused a bloody storm among the crowd.

Under the cover of the brothers, the suicide squad rushed towards the Neon Army tank with despair and fearlessness. The soldiers on the left were shot into sieve by machine gun bullets, and the soldiers on the right rushed up again. Taking advantage of the time when the tank turret was too late to turn, the suicide squad drilled into the bottom of the vehicle one by one and detonated the cluster grenades on their bodies, and then blew the two turtle shells that were slow to retreat and paralyzed on the roadside. The remaining Neon Army tanks first retreated dozens of meters, and with the cooperation of infantry fire, all the Chinese suicide squads who rushed out of the formation were wiped out halfway. Then, the infantry clamored frantically followed behind the tank and rushed towards the position of the 305th Regiment with murderous intent...

"Liberation, I can't stand it anymore. The two Japanese corpses launched an attack together, and there were tanks. The three regiments are less than half left now. If they don't retreat, they will have to be thrown into Chunhua Town. Our military captain has agreed to retreat, so you can retreat too." Li Tianxia's voice came quickly on the phone.

Chunhua Town finally couldn't stand it. Shen Xiuwen, who had returned to the division headquarters, also kept telling the report of the battle situation from the Fangshan position that Chunhua Town was under great pressure. The Japanese now concentrated their main force to attack Chunhua, and a corps were placed at the foot of Fangshan to guard against the defenders on Fangshan to prevent the attack from the flanks. The heavy artillery of the field artillery gang also suppressed the artillery positions on the mountain. In the afternoon, Li Weishan took a great risk to order the artillery soldiers to support Chunhua Town, but three artillery and two anti-aircraft cannons were destroyed by the heavy artillery at the foot of the mountain. Unfortunately, Shen Xiuwen had to order to give up Fangshan and retreat to General Mountain.

"Teacher Commander, the pressure on Moling Pass is also very high. Deputy Commander Teng has called to request reinforcements just now." Qiao Zhen walked over with a message: "As soon as the 153rd Brigade retreated, we are the only ones left in all the outer positions of Nanjing. Moling Pass has become a prominent unit. I suggest that Moling Pass should be abandoned and retreat to General Mountain and Niushou Mountain to set up defenses."

Chen Xiuwen stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back and frowned. After thinking about it slightly, he said: "Okay. Immediately order Teng Donglin to give up Moling Pass and retreat."

"By the way, is Sun Wenhua back?" Chen Xiuwen asked again.

What he is most worried about now is the 200,000 ordinary people who have not had time to evacuate in Nanjing. Yesterday, Tang Shengzhi ordered the ferry blockade, and the people could only retreat from the southwest. Sun Wenhua had connections with the Nanjing Police Department, so Chen Xiuwen sent him to inquire about the situation.

"I haven't seen anyone, I may not have come back yet." Qiao Zhen, who was anxious to go out to convey the order, shook his head.

At this time, adjutant Ma Congping ran in from outside and reported: "Master, Director Sun is back."

"Quick, let him in immediately." Chen Xiuwen said hurriedly.

The next combat arrangement has a lot to do with whether the people in Nanjing have been evacuated. Once all the people retreat, Chen Xiuwen can let go of his hands and feet and move flexibly. However, the people did not withdraw their entire lives, so they could only choose to defend themselves to win the time to let them retreat.

"Master's seat..." Sun Wenhua ran in from outside and saluted.

"Director Sun, how is the situation in the city now?" Chen Xiuwen waved his hand and asked anxiously.

"From yesterday to now, 60,000 to 70,000 people have been evacuated to the southwest suburbs, but there are still more than 100,000 people in the city that have not left." Sun Wenhua hurriedly reported.

As he said that, Sun Wenhua saw Chen Xiuwen's frowning and asked hesitantly: "Master, do you think that once the city is broken, will the Japanese really massacre the city?"

"What really does it do? That's definitely. What's going on? It's almost two days, why did you evacuate such a few people?" Chen Xiuwen walked around angrily and said loudly. He heard that there were still more than 100,000 people who had not evacuated, and he was extremely anxious at this time. Once the city was broken, these people would have to die.

Although Sun Wenhua was not sure why Chen Xiuwen was so sure, seeing Chen Xiuwen was so anxious and angry, he quickly explained: "As a result, many people were reluctant to leave the jars and jars at home and were unwilling to leave; second, the garrison commander and chief minister ordered the blockade of the dock, and the people could only retreat to the southwest, which affected the speed of evacuation. Moreover, the war on the periphery was not good, and many police officers and municipal government personnel were also panicked." At the end of the speech, Sun Wenhua also frowned. As the backbone of the Lixing Society, Sun Wenhua was also angry at the inaction of some municipal government officials and police.

"I met Mayor Xiao this afternoon, and he was helpless. The military police force was transferred to Mufu Mountain and Wulong Mountain by the garrison headquarters. There was a serious shortage of personnel to organize evacuation, which also affected the speed of evacuation." Then Sun Wenhua said again.

"In this way, Director Sun, you take the guard battalion of the Ministry. While the Japanese have not occupied Jiangning Town yet and have not launched an attack on Yuhuatai, they will immediately retreat into the city to assist Mayor Xiao in evacuating civilians. In addition, after the mission is completed, you don't have to rush to retreat, just stay in the city. If..." Chen Xiuwen hesitated slightly and took a deep breath and continued: "If the city is broken, you should try your best to gather the troops retreating to the city and break through the line of General Mountain and Niushou Mountain. At that time, the troops will respond to you and retreat to Gaochun together according to the route we have formulated."

"But, division, we are the troops responsible for the defense of the outside line. We cannot withdraw into the city without the orders of the garrison headquarters. Besides, we must defend Nanjing according to the orders of the garrison headquarters, and even if the city is broken..." Sun Wenhua did not continue, but looked at Chen Xiuwen hesitantly.

"Now, the only one of my honorary first divisions is still holding on the outside position. Who dares to say that I retreat without authorization? There are still more than 100,000 people in the city that have not retreated, so I can't control so many. The eighty-eighth division is defending the Zhonghua Gate, and I will call them to let them go." As he said that, Chen Xiuwen couldn't help but snorted coldly: "Landway Battle? Once the city is broken and the army is like a mountain falling, can only the Xiaguan Wharf withdraw so many troops?"

Sun Wenhua didn't say anything anymore. After looking at Chen Xiuwen with a complicated expression, he stood up and said, "Yes."

The situation was still getting worse. After Chunhua Town fell, the Niudao Brigade of the 6th Division attacked Jiangning Town overnight. The 58th Division of the 74th Army defeated and retreated to the city after two hours of resistance. The 6th Division completely broke through the outside position, and blocked them was Yuhuatai, the main position on the southern line of the Fukuo position. After resting for a night, the 6th Division launched a fierce attack on Yuhuatai, which was defended by the 88th Division under the cover of air force.

Mo Song Maozhi, the commander of the 114th Division who was determined to enter Nanjing City, realized that the left defense line, which was responsible for attacking Nanjing, was the slowest. Although he had broken through Lishui County and Moling Pass all the way, he was still blocked from the outer positions of Nanjing. Moreover, the Moling Pass that had blocked him for two days was the Chinese defenders who took the initiative to give up.

The commander of the Central China Front Army, Matsui Ione, even directly crossed the commander of the 10th Army, Yanagawa Heisuke, and strictly ordered the 114th Division to break through the outer positions of Nanjing within one day, and join forces with the 6th Division to attack Yuhuatai and Zhonghuamen in Fukuo positions.

"In one day?" Mo Song Maozhi, who was bandaged on his head, was at a loss. He had now figured out that his opponent was the elite Honorary First Division of the Chinese Army, and his predecessor was the Independent 20th Brigade of the 6th Division that severely damaged the 6th Division in Songjiang. Now, the ones blocking the 114th Division are Niushou Mountain and General Mountain. Moreover, Mo Ling Pass was given up by the Honorary First Division voluntarily. Within one day, he wanted to break through the two hills guarded by the main force of the Honorary First Division. Mo Song Maozhi touched his head, which was still throbbing and thrusting, and suddenly felt very big.

"Click on the Sixth Division Command to me immediately." After some thought, Shigeji Momatsu finally decided to take the initiative to ask for help from the Sixth Division, asking the Sixth Division to divide a unit to attack the General Mountain from the flank. Otherwise, with his own strength, he would have asked himself that he would not be able to complete the task assigned by Commander Matsui Ishione.

After receiving the promise of Tanisuo to send a wing of the 11th Brigade to launch an attack on the flank of the General Mountain at dawn tomorrow, Shigeji Matsu made a desperate bet and ordered his two subordinate brigades to attack Niushou Mountain and General Mountain at the same time. This last outer line of defense must be broken through within one day.

Chiang Kai-shek, who was far away in Wuhan, was always paying attention to the war in Nanjing. Not only did he ask the Nanjing garrison commander to report the situation during some periods of time every day, but he also sent a limited number of air forces to assist in the war.

However, the situation is extremely unoptimistic. Since the Battle of Nanjing, the international community has brazenly invaded China and attacked the capital Nanjing. Chiang Kai-shek's hope of sending troops to China from the Far East after signing a non-aggression treaty with the Soviet Union and Russia was not reached, but he only sent some air force volunteers to participate in the war. This once again made Chiang Kai-shek's hope of obtaining external forces to force Japan to cease the war.

In addition to the honorary First Division, the main positions of Nanjing were all lost, except for the hard support of the southern line. Fukuo's position was not yet stable, and important strategic support points such as Guanghuamen were attacked by the Neon Army, and Nanjing could be lost at any time. Moreover, in Zhenjiang, the Tiangu Detachment had crossed the Yangtze River and headed towards Yangzhou; the 18th Division of the Neon Army surrounded from the southern line occupied Wuhu on the evening of August 10; the next day, the Guoqi Detachment occupied Dangtu and was preparing to cross the Yangtze River from Dangtu to attack Jiangbei.

The situation is very critical. Once Jiangbei is lost, more than 100,000 troops in Nanjing will be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated. The Central Military Academy Teaching Corps, the 36th Division, the 87th Division, the 88th Division, the 74th Division, and even the honorary first division of Chen Xiuwen are not the flesh of Chiang Kai-shek! In addition, during this period, He Yingqin, Bai Chongxi, Chen Cheng and others have repeatedly made suggestions to give up Nanjing and preserve their anti-Japanese forces. In the end, Chiang Kai-shek made up his mind to give up Nanjing.

However, because Jiang Jiang insisted on defending Nanjing to the end, and before leaving, he passionately gave a speech to the chief officer of the defenders of various Nanjing troops. He personally ordered that he might lose his majesty as the leader and as the principal of Huangpu, and had to order Gu Zhutong, the deputy commander of the Third War Zone, to call Tang Shengzhi and ask Tang Shengzhi to cross the north of the Yangtze River that night. At the same time, he ordered the various departments of the Nanjing defenders to break through the siege.

Gu Zhutong's phone call should have caused Tang Shengzhi, who was in a state of anxiety, to catch a life-saving straw. But when he thought that he was the one who stood up and advocated defending Nanjing amid opposition, if he ordered his retreat at this time, he would probably become a scapegoat for Chiang Kai-shek. After more than ten years of dealing with Chiang Kai-shek, Tang Shengzhi knew too much about Chiang Kai-shek. The lessons of the failure of the past two anti-Chiang Kai-shek told him that this order must be sent by Chiang Kai-shek in person to ensure that he will not be implicated in the defeat of Nanjing in the future. Therefore, he directly told Gu Zhutong on the phone that before the war, he and all the generals of the Nanjing defenders had already made preparations for fighting against the water and swearing to live and die with Nanjing. At this time, he ordered the withdrawal of Nanjing, for fear that the generals of the defenders' troops would not be convinced. The generals of the defenders must be clear about the intentions of the supreme commander before they could retreat.
Chapter completed!