Chapter 66 The Japanese Army suffered heavy casualties
In two hours, the Japanese soldiers on the other side lost more than fifty people. This was already a small force, and the casualties were very heavy, especially for the Japanese troops on the other side. In the next half day, they calmed down a lot.
They already know that the national army on the other side of the river is different from other national armies. In terms of combat effectiveness, it is far stronger than other national armies. The casualties of the two-hour attack across the entire line only reached dozens of people. The Japanese casualties in this place alone
There were more than fifty people, and this was because the Japanese troops here had the support of artillery. Without the support of artillery, the casualties would have been even greater.
The smart Japanese would not choose to get into trouble. They gave up attacking this place and only dispatched two detachments of Japanese troops, one on the left and one on the right, occupying the houses on both sides, and moved a few mortars to where they were needed.
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The Japanese troops of the second group attacked the Sitang River for a whole day without making any progress. At four o'clock in the afternoon, they gave up the attack.
All day long, the sound of guns and artillery on the Sitang River defense line did not stop. The roar of artillery and the sound of gunfire like fried beans came one after another. The fight between the 18th Brigade and the Japanese Second Brigade was fierce. In Sitang
There were repeated battles on the river defense line. If the Sitang River had not been such a big obstacle, it is estimated that the Japanese Second Battalion would have beaten away the 18th Brigade.
It took heavy sacrifices to defend the precarious line of defense on the Sitang River. The Japanese Second Battalion also sacrificed two to three hundred people and had no choice but to stop the attack.
By sunset and dusk, the Sitang River defense line was basically quiet.
The third company and one platoon were stationed at the fourth company's defense line, while the second and third platoons continued to guard several of their own rooms. Only after the reinforcements from their superiors arrived did the third company and one platoon retreat.
Dinner was the captured Japanese canned food. I scooped some river water and found some earthen jars in the ruins. A few soldiers dug up some wild vegetables and threw them into the earthen jars. They mixed them randomly, and a bowl of random stew was ready.
Everyone found some broken bowls that they had not taken away from the refugees' homes, cut off a few branches to make chopsticks, had a warm meal, and then crowded into a few broken rooms to rest.
The moon is sparse, and the air is filled with miscellaneous gunpowder smoke, ginseng, and the faint smell of blood. When the wind blows, the rustling leaves are rolled up and dispersed without a trace. When the wind calms down, the gunpowder smoke and blood gather together again.
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It is estimated that many people died.
Xia Yuan was not sleeping yet. He was sitting on the grass with his gun in his arms, looking quietly at the dark night on the other side of the river. A few stars were emitting a faint light, but it did not have much impact on him. Once the night vision was turned on,
The whole world seemed like daylight. The eagle's eyes swept around the ruins of buildings on the other side and locked on the secret sentries of several Japanese soldiers.
The situation of the Japanese on the other side is similar to that on their side. They are all in insignificant positions. The Japanese troops do not have too many troops, only a few dozen people, the strength of a small team.
"Why don't you go and have a rest? You traveled all day last night, and you fought the Japanese for so long early this morning." Lu Jingguang didn't find Xia Yuan in the room, so he came to the river bank and took a look. Sure enough, he was here.
"Can't sleep." Xia Yuan pursed his lips, turned off his night vision, and stopped looking at the other side of the river. He lay down on the grass behind him, relaxed his body, and crossed his hands behind his head.
"Get some rest, I guess there will be a tough battle to fight tomorrow." Lu Jingguang sat next to Xia Yuan, his voice buzzing, but his soft voice could still be heard.
"What's the date today?" Xia Yuan asked.
"It's the 2nd, and tomorrow it's the 3rd." Lu Jingguang looked at his watch: "It's the 3rd in more than two hours."
"Time flies really fast."
Before I knew it, it had been a month since I arrived at the Songhu battlefield. During this month, I seemed to have done a lot of things, but it seemed that I had done nothing.
After traveling all the way from Yudi to the Songhu battlefield, have you been promoted? You have been promoted, at least from a recruit to a deputy company commander of the Central Army.
"It's quite fast. A lot of people died in today's battle. The 18th Brigade will probably have to repair and renovate next. If the Japanese don't attack, we still have quite a lot of time."
When Lu Jingguang thought about these things, he felt bad. After three consecutive battles for so long, this was the first time such a battle was fought. The Japanese were very powerful in fighting. Two or three people couldn't win with bayonets, but four or five people were often needed.
If you surround a Japanese soldier, you will have to pay casualties.
This is already considered good.
In today's battle, more than a dozen people from the Third Company were pulled down. Some were hit by stray bullets from Japanese machine guns, others were stabbed with Japanese bayonets, and a few died.
There are still more than two months until the end of the Battle of Songhu. The battle is so difficult that it is estimated that by the end of the battle, the 18th Brigade will be wiped out.
The second wave of Japanese reinforcements has not yet arrived.
Lu Jingguang was right.
On the second day, the Japanese army did not continue to attack. The entire Wusong defense line was eerily quiet. This gave the 18th Brigade some time to rest and breathe. They reinforced the defense line, built fortifications, and mobilized troops to form a confrontation with the Japanese army on the other side of the Sitang River.
The defense line has basically stabilized.
"The Japanese army is like a mad dog. Why did they suddenly stop fighting?"
"That's not bad. If the little Japs don't attack, then all of us will be safe and we won't have to fight against the little Japs."
"All four companies died yesterday, and one company died."
The Japanese army did not attack, which was undoubtedly a good thing for the soldiers of the entire 18th Brigade.
The war in Wusong temporarily fell into calm, and the Japanese 68th Regiment suspended their offensive. However, they were not idle and began to drop leaflets on Baoshan in an attempt to persuade the Chinese army to surrender.
Even the 18th Brigade in Sitang River received the leaflets, which were dropped by Japanese reconnaissance planes. They were like falling snowflakes, floating down one after another.
The fighting on the front line stopped, and Xia Yuan stayed in the house with nothing to do, resting with his gun in his arms. There was a series of footsteps outside the yard, and Lu Jingguang hurried in with a leaflet in his hand, with anger on his face:
"What a special code. These bastard Japanese devils, even if they don't fight, they still try to trick us all into surrendering with just a piece of paper."
Xia Yuan picked it up and took a look, and was amused. Isn't this a surrender letter? On the battlefield to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, the U.S. military also used this trick. Not only did it have a surrender letter, but there were also people sent from the Kuomintang party who used loudspeakers to
He shouted at the volunteer positions day and night. Unexpectedly, he learned this trick from the Japanese.
"They not only lost these papers, but also cigarettes." Zhao Shiguo took out a box of Japanese cigarettes from his pocket and said cheerfully.
"That's great. I'm worried about not having any cigarettes to smoke." Xia Yuan stood up, put the cigarette in his pocket, and said with a smile: "Company Commander, don't be angry, let everyone collect all these papers, and make them while cooking."
A fire starter can also wipe your butt, so good. Don’t waste these cigarettes. When they meet the eighth generation ancestors, let the eight generations of ancestors greet them well."
"You're a big-hearted kid. Okay, I'll do as you say." Lu Jingguang responded and called the platoon leader, "Go and take your people to collect the cigarettes and paper. Let the brothers come up later."
In the toilet, don’t use tree leaves, use paper to wipe it.”
"Why."
The queue leader greeted the people in the row and went out to have fun. After a while, everyone came in holding a thick stack of paper and their pockets were full.
Xia Yuan was somewhat surprised: "This little Japanese devil actually threw so much paper to persuade us to surrender. He really spent a lot of money."
"There are so many, it's like snowing in the winter." Lu Jingguang is obviously still angry. This little Japanese devil is not a human being. He has written on the paper well. He will surrender to protect your safety and prepare a rich meal for you.
The food was served, and cigarettes were even given out to tempt people.
"Lao Lu, don't worry, the little Japanese devil's plan is destined to fail." Xia Yuan said with a smile.
"Why." Lu Jingguang was confused.
"Guess."
"..."
The Japanese army decided to start attacking Baoshan. Baoshan is close to Wusong and relies on the river bank. The original plan of the Japanese army was to occupy Wusong and then advance to Baoshan. However, due to the two-day battle of the Japanese army in Wusong, its intensity far exceeded that of the Third Division.
The regiment suffered heavy casualties as expected, and the troops needed to rest and recuperate, so the attack had to be postponed.
It was postponed to September 4th.
Take the Third Battalion of the 68th Company of the Japanese Army as an example. In the combat log on September 1st, it recorded 131 casualties. However, after the Japanese Third Battalion landed on August 23rd, it recorded 131 casualties.
, by August 31, in nine days, the brigade only recorded a total of 248 casualties.
The casualties in just one day of fighting had already exceeded half of the total casualties since the landing operations.
One can imagine the intensity of Wu Song's battle.
Another reason is to wait for reinforcements.
On September 2, the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army landed in Wusong. The Regiment took out the Third Regiment and part of its artillery and formed the Iida Detachment to prepare for future attacks on the urban area of Shanghai. The main force of the Regiment was transferred to
Along the Sitang River, taking over the defensive tasks of the 2nd Battalion of the 68th Regiment.
The casualties of the Second Battalion were even greater than those of the Third Battalion. At the narrow mouth of a river alone, the Third and Fourth Companies wiped out more than fifty Japanese soldiers, not to mention the battle that lasted a whole day on all fronts.
, the total number of casualties was unprecedented, and it was the highest casualty among the three brigades.
The second brigade was transferred to Baoshan to rest and recuperate while preparing to join the offensive against Baoshan.
In addition to the 18th Regiment of the Japanese Army that landed, the 34th Regiment and the 12th Regiment of the Japanese Army also landed near Wusong one after another. The strength of the Japanese troops on the front lines of Wusong and Baoshan was further strengthened.
Unknown to all of this, the troops stationed in Wusong are still only the reduced battalion of the 31st Regiment, the 33rd Regiment, the 710th Regiment, the 18th Brigade, and the 3rd Battalion of the 583rd Regiment of the National Army stationed in Baoshan.
Just when the fighting on the Wusong side temporarily stopped, the Japanese 11th Division also began to march towards Shizilin Fort and Yuepu Town. The only national troops in this area were the main force of the 583rd Regiment in Yuepu Town and Shizilin Fort.
The second battalion of the 588th Regiment of the 98th Division and the main force of the 588th Regiment stationed at Chen's house in the rear.
The attacking Japanese army was the Asama Detachment composed of the 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion of the 11th Division. With the coordination of Japanese sea and air firepower, they attacked the 2nd Battalion of the 588th Regiment of the 98th Division and Chen Jiazhai at the Lion Forest Fort.
The main attack of the 588th Regiment.
The Second Battalion of the 588th Regiment built a defensive position at Shizilin Fort with barbed wire, trenches, sandbags and machine gun rock mass. Asama detachment organized death squads to conduct several meat bomb assaults, but to no avail. In the afternoon, the Japanese army learned wisely, and the National Army
The army built a large number of bunkers and fortifications on the front, but towards the main force of the 588th Regiment, there were relatively few bunkers and fortifications. The Japanese army detoured to the south side of the fort near Yang's house and launched another attack on the fort.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese army, which continued to charge with human bombs, finally broke into the national army's position and started a hand-to-hand battle with the national army.
When the fort was attacked by the Japanese, the main force of the 588th Regiment immediately dispatched the third battalion to support the second battalion. However, during the march, it was bombed by Japanese aircraft, making it difficult to move and unable to arrive.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, after several hours of fighting, the 2nd Battalion of the 588th Regiment, which was defending the Shizilin Fort, was attacked by two Japanese brigades in turns. It suffered all casualties and the Japanese army captured the fort.
The Japanese army continued to advance towards the Third Division. In the ensuing blocking battle, the Chinese army resisted the Japanese attack at the cost of almost destroying one battalion after another. The defense line was still unable to hold on, and the 588th Regiment suffered even more heavy casualties.
, the second battalion suffered all casualties at Shizilin Fort, the third battalion suffered all casualties in the ensuing blocking battle, and the 588th Regiment retreated all the way.
However, the Japanese Asama detachment also suffered considerable losses in the battle that day. The captains of the two Japanese brigades were killed by the National Army. In the afternoon, the Japanese Third Battalion came under concentrated mortar fire from the National Army.
, Captain Naoki Fujimoto was seriously injured in the bombing and died in the hospital. That night, the national army organized troops to counterattack the Japanese army and drove back the Japanese third brigade.
The two brigades of the Japanese army were separated. The Chinese army occupied Yang's house to block the Japanese army. The first brigade counterattacked and drove the Chinese army away. However, the Chinese army launched a counterattack and cooperated with the Chinese army lurking in Yang's house.
The Japanese army made a surprise attack from behind, and the Japanese army was caught off guard. The captain of the first brigade, Wada Yasuo, who was commanding the front line, was killed by the national army.
However, the Japanese army's fighting power was tenacious and they still drove away the national army. The two brigades merged and on September 4, they advanced eastward to join the Third Division. The Japanese troops of the two divisions met on the north side of Baoshan.
The Third Battalion of the 583rd Regiment here completely became a lone army surrounded by the Japanese army.
On the afternoon of September 4th, three brigades of the 68th Regiment of the Japanese Army, which had rested for a day, launched an attack on the perimeter of Baoshan. Defending around Baoshan was the 33rd Regiment of the National Army. The battle continued until the evening.
The majority of the army's positions were lost, leaving only the gunpowder magazine at Jin's residence.
The building of the gunpowder depot was very strong, and the Chinese army further strengthened it with sandbags and other objects. The Japanese Army's 68th Regiment advanced here, but there was nothing they could do for the time being. That night, reinforcements from the First Battalion of the Japanese 12th Regiment arrived at the Japanese Army's 60th Regiment.