Three hours ago, Tang Dao had entered Cangcheng from Songjiang City.
Two hours ago, the military flags of the Northeastern Army and the Sichuan Army were raised in Cangcheng to swear an oath, and then the entire army entered the position.
Since the arrival of the Japanese army, Watanabe Junichi's eyes have been patrolling this thousand-year-old city, and Tang Dao has not relaxed his observation of them.
When he saw that the Japanese infantry began to avoid residential areas and began to move towards the two wings of Cangcheng from the fields, Tang Dao picked up the phone and informed each infantry company that the Japanese vanguard troops would most likely attack Cangcheng.
The Japanese artillery has probably been set up. More than an hour ago, the cavalry lurking on the south bank also reported to the headquarters via radio that a light destroyer had finally arrived on the Huangpu River.
Although Tang Dao did not see it with his own eyes, he knew that in the Japanese navy, even the Fubuki-class light destroyer was equipped with six terrifying 127mm naval guns.
The main opponent of that thing is a ship covered with steel. If it explodes on land, its power can be imagined.
There are two ways to communicate between Cangcheng and the main city. One is through the telephone. More than 500 civilians spent the middle of the night digging trenches specifically for burying telephone lines. However, no one can guarantee when the Japanese artillery fire will destroy these telephone lines.
The other one is naturally the field radio. The only field radio in Cangcheng now is the one at the headquarters of the 644th Regiment.
Lieutenant General Guo personally notified Tang Dao of the arrival of the Japanese destroyer by phone.
Therefore, Tang Dao concluded that if the Japanese army wanted to attack Cangcheng, they would have to launch a large-scale bombardment first. The intensity of the bombardment would even exceed the imagination of everyone here.
Including the 43rd Army that fought a bloody battle with the Japanese in Dachang Town.
Songjiang Security Group, which had all withdrawn into residential areas, was also informed by Tang Dao through the headquarters to immediately seek shelter from the artillery fire.
Sharp bamboo whistles were heard one after another in residential areas, and more than 2,000 officers and soldiers of the security regiment jumped out of their hiding places and hid in the shelter spots selected by each squad and platoon.
Some are basements dug by wealthy families, some are cellars for storing food, and some are bulletproof holes dug by a group of people with great efforts.
Let’s not talk about whether they can fight or not. At least the Songjiang Security Group showed good self-protection skills before their lives were seriously threatened.
When there is a cannon coming, we guys will hide underground. If there is no cannon, we guys will come out again.
Hey! It’s just such an inch.
The Japanese major who was still staring closely at this place from 800 meters away had several drops of cold sweat on his forehead.
How many troops did the Chinese people in Baga deploy in this residential area? It looked like there were thousands of them?
I only have over a thousand people, how can I fight them?
Fortunately, I didn’t act stupid and made a sample first.
Silently glad that he made the right choice, Junichi Watanabe completely gave up on the stacks of residential buildings and set his sights on Cangcheng on the other side...
Cangcheng City Head.
Young soldiers, no, to be precise, young "veterans", lay quietly on the fortifications at the head of Cangcheng.
I dare not take a breath.
The young soldier who discussed the battalion commander's gossip with his veteran squad leader was originally a private. He killed a Japanese soldier during a counterattack in the Battle of Dachang Town. After the war, he was promoted to a first class private. Moreover, because he was in the infantry platoon
Two-thirds of the veterans died in the battle and was appointed deputy squad leader of the infantry squad.
It's just that the young deputy squad leader hasn't adapted to his new role at all. Most of the time, he still regards himself as a follower of the old squad leader who also survived the battlefield. But now, he has entered a wartime state and must take on the role of deputy squad leader.
responsibilities.
The vanguard of the Japanese army's arrival was eyeing Cangcheng, which protruded from the whole city. Judging from its unfolding formation, it seemed that they were going to attack before dark came.
Lieutenant Colonel Tang Dao, the top commander in charge of the Cangcheng position, did not let the entire army take up the position. Instead, he issued an order for the entire army to enter the bomb shelter. Only guard posts were sent from each company on the two city walls directly facing the Japanese army.
The person responsible for defending the southern city wall was the 3rd Company of the 26th Division of the 43rd Army. The young "veteran" who had not yet adapted to the role of deputy squad leader was brave beyond everyone's expectations. He refused the platoon's draw, and even refused to replace the veteran squad leader.
He led two soldiers up to the hastily completed fortifications at the top of Cangcheng City to serve as guard posts.
In the field of vision of the young deputy squad leader, there were only shit-yellow shadows hundreds of meters away, and no artillery could be seen at all. However, after the battle of Dachang Town, the soldiers of the 43rd Army who were lucky enough to survive were already extremely familiar with the battles of the Japanese army.
Routines.
It's just that after the artillery bombardment the infantry attack, and the infantry attack the artillery bombardment.
If you want to avoid artillery fire and block the infantry at the right time, you can only go to the guard post.
What is a guard post? It means that he will become the eyes of the entire army. Even if the Japanese artillery shells are overwhelming, he must try to survive and then notify the entire army that the Japanese infantry is attacking.
Otherwise, how would the soldiers who were still in the shelter know when to rush into position?
It's just that if you want to survive, you can't rely on willpower or tactics, you can really only rely on luck.
During the Battle of Dachang Town, the young deputy squad leader who had never even seen a mountain artillery experienced firsthand the lethality of Japanese artillery.
Especially for large-caliber heavy artillery, one shot will create a crater the size of a pond. If it hits a certain section of the trench, even with the protection of the trench, the terrible shock wave can easily kill a platoon of people.
With such artillery power, let alone hiding in the observation post fortifications made of sandbags and logs on the city wall, even hiding at the firepower point inside the city wall is not very safe in the face of such terrifying large-caliber artillery shells.
However, the young deputy squad leader is no longer the recruit who just hides in the trench and covers his head with a pale face when the gunfire is fired. No matter how scared he is, he must grit his teeth and hold on!
As a soldier, how can he escape from the battlefield? Besides, he is still the deputy squad leader and has several soldiers under his command.
The reason why he became brave this time and refused the platoon leader's request for each class to draw lots for guard posts was because the squad leaders and deputy squad leaders of the other two squads had wives and children. After listening to the squad leader's gossip about the battalion commander, he
I very much hope that they can have more opportunities to go back and see their mother-in-law and children.
But he himself is only an eighteen-year-old young man, his parents are still young, and he has younger brothers and sisters at home, so he has much less worries.
However, the brave young deputy squad leader did not want to die. At this moment, when he saw the Japanese infantry gradually approaching, he determined that the Japanese army was about to launch an attack, so he drove away the two younger soldiers who were following him.
“You two melon skins, the Japanese are about to open fire. What are you two doing with me? If you die together, you can make meat sauce!”
On the city wall, which is more than 200 meters long, there are three fortifications built specifically for observation posts and artillery posts to observe the battlefield. The other two soldiers were originally communication corpsmen in the regiment. Later, there were less than 200 people left in the regiment, and there was no need for communication corps.
The ball has to be used, so just keep it, except for a few health workers, and all the other personnel have been added to the infantry squad.
The signal corpsmen are all relatively young, and they have common topics with the equally young deputy squad leader, and they quickly become good friends.
You are young, and your greatest strength is your ignorance and fearlessness. When you see the deputy squad leader actively asking to be an observation post, your head gets hot, so you follow suit. Now you see the deputy squad leader who has fought on the front line with a serious face, and you can't help but feel scared.
“Deputy squad leader, how did you know that the Japanese were going to fire?” The soldier’s face turned pale.
"Guawazi, didn't you see that the Japanese dug a trench a mile away? It was their temporary field trench. The Japanese are the best at this. They built fortifications wherever they went and were never lazy." said the young deputy squad leader.
I imitated the calmness of the veteran squad leader and analyzed it for the two soldiers.
“500 meters is the most suitable distance to launch an attack. This can not only ensure that their large-caliber artillery will not accidentally damage them, but also use light and heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, and infantry artillery to suppress the firepower points of the enemy positions.”
"What should we do? I'm afraid of staying alone." The soldier's face showed deep fear.
The courage that once dared to rush up to the city wall has long been gone.
“Afraid of a hammer, Brother Pao, don’t show off your belt.” The young deputy squad leader glared, trying to imitate the veteran squad leader’s tone of scolding the two recruits.
But looking at the two technical soldiers who had only picked up rifles for only half a month, I still felt weak after all, and I wanted to comfort them and persuade them to return to their respective observation posts.
After all, if three people stay together, if they are unlucky, one cannonball will kill them all. If they stay in their own place, the probability of one of them surviving is much higher.
However, before he could speak, a roar suddenly sounded from the sky!
The whistling sound is long and low.
This chapter has been completed!