But now, the situation is very different from before. The garrison force in Wusong direction is about one division and tens of thousands of people. Once the 18th brigade retreats without a fight, the Japanese army will be unscrupulous, expand the combat zone, and hoard ammunition. The consequences will be disastrous.
He sighed helplessly.
In general, the Battle of Songhu has reached the current situation. The Japanese navy is anchored on the Huangpu River and strategic supplies have begun to land. If the Japanese army does not continue to increase troops in Shanghai, the current situation is acceptable. At present, the whole country
Local armies from various places are gathering in the direction of Wusong. Locking the Japanese army at Wusongkou is what needs to be done now.
As long as the Japanese Third Division cannot join up with the Japanese Eleventh Division, the situation in Shanghai will be considered stable.
What Chen Cheng didn't know was that the so-called stable situation was only temporary, and the increase in Japanese troops was an inevitable trend.
The documents submitted by the 18th Brigade were irrelevant to him. A single soldier could not affect the direction of the war. The strength of the national army in Baoshan City was not enough to withstand the Japanese attack. As the Japanese army occupied Baoshan West Street and Sitang River Bridge,
Later, a small number of broken troops poured into Baoshan City, but this strength was still not enough.
Chen Cheng didn't know which force to send into Baoshan City. After much thought, the documents submitted by the 18th Brigade gave him an idea.
"Send some soldiers with higher combat capabilities into Baoshan to assist Yao Ziqing in defending Baoshan!"
"Special Operations Team!"
The concept of special operations teams has been around for a long time. They are similar to special operations teams of intelligence personnel. However, there are very few special operations teams used in the military. In the current era, there is no concept of special operations teams. Many wars rely on
Strength in numbers wins.
On the national army side, they basically rely on the human wave tactic. The bald man claims to have two million elite soldiers and is a strong general.
Weapons and equipment are of inferior quality and lack heavy firepower, so the advantage of military strength is particularly important. The special operations team is composed of elite soldiers and cannot actually affect the situation of the war. Chen Cheng thinks this way, mainly because Baoshan's special geographical location requires
For reinforcements, Xia Yuan alone is a company. If he supports the past, he believes that he can hold on to Baoshan for a longer time and buy more time for the reinforcements.
The special operations team is a new concept, and it was Xia Yuan's appearance that inspired Chen Cheng.
Such a soldier with accurate marksmanship should be able to play a huge role if placed in Baoshan City to shoot at the attacking Japanese troops and kill their machine gunners and squad leaders.
At the same time Chen Cheng received the document.
The sky was dark, and Battalion Commander Yao Ziqing in Baoshan City sent a telegram to the headquarters of the 98th Division to report the current situation in Baoshan. The 68th Japanese Regiment had completely surrounded Baoshan, and Baoshan was already in crisis.
Xia Chuzhong, the commander of the 98th Division, called back and said: "Baoshan City has a bearing on the overall situation. The battalion commander should follow Chairman Chiang Kai-shek's will, and he must hold on even if there is only one soldier left in the battle. We have succeeded in becoming benevolent, and we have no two enemies. The battalion should use Baoshan as its base."
At the destination, build unparalleled miraculous achievements. You should also be fully prepared for street battles. If the city is captured, both you and the enemy will die in the city."
The reinforcements Chen Cheng mentioned were that the First Division of the First Army under Hu Zongnan was heading north from Liuhang to support Baoshan. Yao Ziqing should hold on for more time. Even if the battle was down to one soldier, he still had to hold on to Baoshan City and provide reinforcements.
It’s time for the troops to arrive at Baoshan.
Therefore, Yao Ziqing replied a brief telegram to the 98th Division: "I vow to die with the enemy, stick to the city wall, and fight to the end with one breath left. All the officers and soldiers of the professional and battalion are determined to die with the enemy, but the city is alone without help.
It will be difficult to support the enemy as time goes by, and both the people and the city will be destroyed, which will not help the overall situation. We still rush to rescue the siege."
Yao Ziqing was determined to do the same, but what he didn't know was that Hu Zongnan's First Division actually had no ability to go north to Baoshan.
The First Army commanded by Hu Zongnan belongs to the Central Army and is one of the main forces of the national army that newly arrived near Wusong in September. It has the first regiment and second regiment of the first brigade and the third regiment and fourth regiment of the second brigade.
Baldhead had high hopes, but the troops of the First Army belonged to the third phase of the adjustment division and had not yet been reorganized when the Anti-Japanese War broke out.
On September 6, the National Army's 6th Division and other units, which had suffered all casualties, withdrew south to Guangfu to rest and recuperate. The 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division of the National Army took over the defense line of the 17th Brigade and the 710th Regiment. However, that morning
At around five o'clock, the Third Brigade of the 68th Regiment of the Japanese Army captured the Sitang River Highway Bridge in one fell swoop. The Second Brigade could only try to blow up the bridge, but the Japanese Army had already been on guard and the blast failed.
The second brigade's attempt to blast the highway bridge meant that the first division had no intention or ability to immediately restore contact with Baoshan.
At the beginning of the strategic offensive in the Battle of Songhu, the national army concentrated near Shanghai consisted of two German weapon divisions, the 87th Division and the 88th Division. Near Zhabei, including the 88th Division, about
There are more than 20,000 Nationalist soldiers. Together with the 87th Division on the north side of Zhabei, Jiangwan Town, and the municipal government area, the strength is about 10,000, and its strength in Shanghai has reached 30,000.
The strength of the Japanese army in Shanghai includes about 2,500 Shanghai Special Marines (including Hankou Special Marines). The second Wuzhen and the first Zuozhen Special Marines are about 1,200. 'Izumo'
There are about 200 marines. The 11th Marine Corps has about 120 marines, totaling more than 4,000. The 8th Marine Corps and the 1st Mine Corps have not yet sent any marines to land.
With such a huge disparity in strength, at the beginning of the Battle of Songhu, they were not able to penetrate into the Japanese defense lines. What's more, these third adjustment divisions were not yet full. How could they penetrate several Japanese regiments?
What about the line of defense?
The Japanese 18th Regiment on the south side of the 1st Division also advanced to the Shenjiazhai front line. The 1st Division and the 18th Brigade retreated steadily and completely withdrew from the Wusong Baoshan area.
The Japanese army completely took control of the Wusong area.
The sky in September is like a child's face. She cries sometimes and laughs sometimes. Heavy raindrops hit the boundary of Wusong. The battles in the past few days have filled the ground with dust, smoke and sand everywhere, and there is a thick layer of rain floating in the air.
The smell of smoke.
As a heavy rain falls, all the mixed smells disappear, followed by the aroma of earth.
A dilapidated house has not yet collapsed. The courtyard was shattered by Japanese artillery shells. Half of the earthen wall was lifted, leaving only half of the thatch and a few raindrops exposed.
The scholar huddled in the quilt and had a high fever. Zheng Dayong squatted next to him and built a simple 'stove' with three stones, with a helmet on top and a bonfire burning below.
Xia Yuan put on his raincoat, got some rainwater from the outside, poured it into the helmet, looked at the scholar's condition, and frowned. The battle yesterday was fierce and the Japanese attack was fierce. He couldn't buy him much time at all. He could only go all the way.
As the defeated troops retreated all the way to this village, many of the 18th Brigade's defeated troops were chaotically concentrated in nearby villages of various sizes, without any organization at all. From time to time, the Japanese army came over with cold artillery fire, booming, and rumbling.
The sound spread under the crackling rain curtain.
The Wusong area was completely occupied.
When the water was poured into the helmet, it began to boil in a short while. Zheng Dayong took out half a can from his pocket, opened the can with a bayonet, took out the food inside and poured it into the pot. He carefully pinched a corner and scooped out some hot soup.
Shake it in the can and rinse it evenly. When the water boils, a fragrance will float out.
"The steel helmet that blocks bullets ends up being used as a pot. Not to mention, it can't block bullets, so it's quite suitable to be used as a pot."
Zheng Dayong laughed, scooped some soup out of an empty can, came to the scholar, and said, "Scholar, come and drink some hot soup to warm yourself up."
The scholar's hands were trembling a little as he took the hot soup. Zheng Dayong reminded: "It's a bit hot, drink it slowly."
The scholar then drank in small sips.
Xia Yuan sat on a mound with a fallen wall, looking at the world outside in trance.
"Brother Yuan, what are you thinking about? Come here and have some soup." Zheng Dayong found a half-broken earthen pot that looked a bit like a ladle, and filled some soup for Xia Yuan.
"You and Xiaoliu drink first, and I'll think about how to deal with the Japanese."
Xia Yuan waved his hand.
"Okay." Zheng Dayong shouted: "Xiao Liu, come back."
The yard was destroyed by the explosion, and the wooden gate fell down to form an angle. Xiaoliu was wearing a raincoat, holding a gun and leaning inside. Hearing the sound of Da Yong behind him, he responded and came to the dilapidated room holding the gun.
He took the broken earthen jar that Dayong handed him and started drinking it in small sips.
Zheng Dayong said: "Xiao Liu, the Japanese devils can't attack them for the time being. If they really want to attack them, they won't shoot them with cannons every now and then. There's no need for you to waste that time on reconnaissance. Besides,
, there are broken troops around here, the Japanese are coming, they are more panicked than you, what are you afraid of."
Xiao Liu said nothing and helped several people keep vigil. Subconsciously, he believed that staying with Lao Lei in the Third Company was tantamount to betraying them. This was an act of atonement.
"Dayong is right, there is no need to keep vigil tonight, just rest quietly. The Japanese have been fighting all day, so they also need to rest."
When Xia Yuan spoke, Xiao Liu naturally agreed without saying anything.
After they all drank, Xia Yuan boiled some water with the bottom of the pot to warm his stomach. He didn't feel full yet, and there wasn't much food left on him. The Japanese army's mattress had long been thrown away, and the food inside
Most things are used up.
Several people huddled together and fell asleep peacefully.
In the second half of the night, the rain suddenly became heavier, it was pounding hard, the wind was blowing hard, and the raindrops were blown in through half of the collapsed house. Zheng Dayong was so cold that the scholar and Xiaoliu kept shaking. In this scene, Xia Yuan
I have long been used to it. When I was at Changjin Lake, the weather was even worse, the environment was even worse, the temperature was so low that the spit turned into ice before it even hit the ground.
This change in the weather did not have a great impact on Xia Yuan, so he covered the scholar with his shawl to keep out the cold.
The pain from the wound made the scholar unable to sleep. He looked at Xia Yuan and twitched the corners of his mouth, "Brother Yuan, you're not asleep yet."
"Sleep, I can't sleep anymore." Xia Yuan looked at him and sighed: "It's a mess outside. The situation along the Sitang River is probably even worse. I don't worry about putting you in the hospital. It won't be good for Japan.
When the Japanese attack, they cannot escape and will leave the wounded behind."
"Brother Yuan, I have burdened you." The scholar felt a little sad.
"Don't say that. If it weren't for you, the Japanese machine gun firepower wouldn't be able to hit it. How can you say it's a drag?" Xia Yuan waved his hand, feeling a little depressed. He took out a cigarette from his pocket and found a cigarette in the embers of the campfire.
He lit the charcoal, put it to his mouth and took a puff. Looking at the crackling rain outside, his mood sank and sank with the heavy rain.
He is a human being and his mood does not fluctuate, which is strange.
The situation on the Songhu battlefield was much worse than expected. Too many people died. At Wusongkou alone, in just one week from the Japanese landing to the present, the Sixth Division's defense line collapsed and the troops were routed.
of the retreat, the 18th Brigade was just a tiny microcosm of it.
The battle in the Luodian direction is expected to be more difficult. The time for the Japanese counterattack is getting closer and the real cruelty may be coming.
More than 300,000 people died on the Songhu battlefield, and corpses were scattered all over the place.
At the beginning of the Battle of Songhu, and even for a period of time after it ended, some people thought that it was a wrong decision to send elite soldiers and generals to attack Shanghai.
The most intuitive basis is the number of casualties in the Battle of Songhu. Bald Head assembled 700,000 elite troops, including his Central Army and warlord troops. The Japanese army had a strength of 250,000, while the final number of casualties in the Chinese army reached 300,000.
Hundreds of thousands of people were killed directly in battle.
In addition to the huge number of casualties, these people are almost all elite divisions of the Kuomintang army. Among them are Hu Zongnan's First Army, Wang Yaowu's 51st Division, Li Yutang's Third Division, Li Yannian's Ninth Division, and the Sichuan Army's Yang Sen.
The Twentieth Army, as well as the main force of the Guangxi warlords and the elite divisions of the Kuomintang army, were severely damaged, which directly affected the situation of the subsequent Anti-Japanese War.
The casualty rate of Hu Zongnan's direct Central Army is as high as 80%. A regiment may only have a few people left in a battle, and a battalion can last up to ten minutes under the enemy's crazy artillery fire...
During the Battle of Songhu, rivers of blood flowed in Shanghai, and the bodies of martyrs were everywhere. The Kuomintang army was almost fighting a war of attrition. One group of people fell, and the next group continued to rise.
Let’s look at the situation in Shanghai. First of all, from a strategic point of view at the time, Shanghai’s geographical location was not as good as that of Xuzhou, Wuhan and other places. Because it was only a coastal city and had no hub status, it made little sense to spend so many troops attacking Shanghai.
It would be fine if Shanghai could be defeated quickly, but Shanghai's geographical location determines that it is a city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. In addition, the coastline is too long, and the Japanese army's naval superiority will be maximized, which will be very detrimental to the Kuomintang army.
After the "December 28th" Incident in 1932, Japanese troops were already stationed in Shanghai. They not only built a military defense base here, but also stockpiled troops and weapons here to coordinate with the air force and navy in operations at any time.
Part of the reason for the Battle of Songhu was that Baldhead wanted to gain international attention, so that the world could mediate the war. On the other hand, it was because he wanted to drag out the Anti-Japanese War into a protracted war.
Unfortunately, things turned out to be the opposite.