There were not many Japanese troops who chased the defeated troops and arrived at Jiangqiao. There was only a small group of the 101st Division. Their main force went straight to the Nanxiang Station in the north along the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.
Although there were not many Japanese soldiers arriving in Jiangqiao Town, they still had powerful firepower. After testing the defenders with firepower, the lieutenant officer of this unit had already made a preliminary judgment on the defenders of the town.
.
The number of defenders was small, only a battalion-level, with the focus placed on the north and east. The firepower on the south was very weak. Lieutenant Jaap felt that he could completely eat up the defenders with his current strength.
The Japanese lieutenant was very arrogant and arrogant, and did not take the defenders seriously at all. However, they had the capital to be arrogant and arrogant because they kept advancing, while the Chinese defenders were at the end of their strength and were retreating steadily. Their victory was only a matter of time.
"Akita-kun, lead your men to attack the north." The Japanese Lieutenant decided to attack immediately and capture the town in front of him before dawn.
"Ha Yi!" A Japanese second lieutenant lowered his head heavily.
"Tokugawa-kun, lead your troops to attack the east side."
"Hayi!"
The two Japs second lieutenants immediately took action, leading dozens of Japs towards their respective targets.
The Japanese lieutenant himself took the remaining about forty Japanese soldiers to prepare to attack the south side, where the defense was weakest. However, the Japanese lieutenant in the west did not send anyone to attack, but deliberately left a gap for the Chinese defenders to escape when they could not resist.
This was not because the Japanese Lieutenant had a conscience and was ready to let the defenders go, but because he did not want to surround the town and cause the defenders to fight hard and cause greater casualties to them.
Counting from the day of landing, they had repeatedly fought bloody battles with the Chinese defenders on this battlefield for nearly three months. His unit lost more than 30 veterans. Although more soldiers were quickly added, this was very difficult for the Japanese lieutenant.
He said that the new recruits who came in were still inferior compared to the experienced veterans.
He deliberately left an opening in the west for the defenders to escape. The purpose was to weaken the defenders' confidence in resistance and force the defenders to flee, because pursuit is much easier and the casualties are much smaller than fighting a tough battle. This is what the Chinese call siege.
Three towers and one tower.
The Japanese attack from the north and east soon began again. The crackling sound of gunfire mixed with the roar of machine guns made the night a noisy one.
Lieutenant Japs led more than 40 Japs wearing steel helmets to the front of Yangling's position in the south. The bright bayonets on the 38 rifles penetrated especially in the dark night.
The Japanese did not attack recklessly. The Japanese artillery squad was busy assembling mortars. Although it was dark, they were still very familiar with it. Soon the three 97th mortars were assembled and aimed at Yang Ling and the others who set up in the town.
The trenches outside.
The Japanese already knew the location of the trenches through the initial fire test and knew where the few defenders were, so their mortars were directly aimed at the trenches.
"Company Commander, why haven't the Japanese made any move yet?" Lao Wangtou and the others had already retreated to the barricade trenches under Yang Ling's order, directly abandoning the outer trenches. Looking at the quiet outside, Lao Wangtou was a little impatient waiting.
"Just wait, it's coming soon."
Yang Ling was becoming more and more calm at this moment. The Japanese attacks from the north and east had already begun. Unlike before, where they fired a few shots to test the firepower and then withdrew, this time the gunfire never stopped. There was no reason for them to be spared in the south.
As for why the Japanese did not attack for a long time, Yang Ling could only guess that the Japanese were preparing for artillery fire. After all, their infantry tactics were so simple. The artillery bombarded the infantry and charged. Before Yang Ling and the others could finish their words, the Japanese attack began.
boom!
A 90mm Type 97 mortar shell roared into the trench set up by Yang Ling outside the town. With a boom, the shell exploded and a mud rain fell from the sky, but Yang Ling and the others had already withdrawn.
From the back, it was just like setting off fireworks for them.
As the first artillery shell fell into the trench, one after another other artillery shells hit the trench. The rumbling sound was endless, artillery fire continued, and gunpowder smoke filled the sky. The entire trench was blown to pieces by Japanese mortars.
"My dear, if we hadn't retreated, we wouldn't have blown it to pieces!" Lao Wangtou looked at the trenches in front covered by artillery fire, with cold sweat breaking out on his forehead and lingering fear in his heart.
Lao Wangtou was originally just a cook squad leader and was not even assigned a gun. Now he was promoted to platoon leader and thought he was an officer. However, he suddenly found that compared with Yang Ling, he was still far behind.
Yang Ling, who was lying quietly next to him, was even more impressed.
The trench outside the town had been completely destroyed, and Yang Ling did not expect it to be of much use. The simple civil structure trench was not made of reinforced concrete, so it would be strange if it was not blown to pieces.
He was now somewhat grateful that he had withdrawn the two squads of soldiers in the trenches outside, otherwise they would have been blown to pieces.
In fact, this is Yang Ling's experience gained from fighting on the battlefield these days. When he was guarding Yunzaobang, many brothers were not killed by the Japs' guns, but most of them were killed by artillery bombs. It was too tragic to watch.
It's a bit ridiculous to say that in the face of the Japanese heavy artillery bombardment, some people were shocked to death on the battlefield, and no one could tell them about their helplessness.
The sound of the artillery stopped, but the gunpowder smoke was still spreading wantonly around. The Japanese lieutenant waved his hand, and more than twenty Japanese soldiers cheering, holding guns in a skirmish line, rushed towards the defenders' trenches.
"No shooting without orders." Yang Ling ordered in a low voice. The soldiers next to him passed the order down one by one, and Yang Ling prepared to make a surprise attack on the Japanese.
More than twenty Japanese soldiers were well-trained and charged upward in a skirmish line. The infantry did not forget to alternate cover when charging. Three machine guns were placed on both wings, ready to fire at any time.
When the Japanese were still more than twenty meters away from the trench, just to be on the safe side, several smoking grenades flew through the air and flew into the exploded trench, causing another burst of gravel and soil to fly.
"Kill, kaigai!" the Japanese soldiers roared and rushed into the trenches with shining bayonets in hand, preparing to kill the defenders who had not yet been killed by the explosion.
But after rushing into the trenches, they found that there was no one there, only the trenches that were bombed into a mess, and they were suddenly confused.
Bang!
One of the Japanese soldiers' helmet was hit by a flying black object. The helmet was smashed crookedly, and he lay down subconsciously.
Boom!
The Japanese soldier who was about to lie down on the ground was thrown away by the violent explosion, and then fell heavily to the ground. The gravel and soil fell like rain, sprinkling on the sticky face of the Japanese soldier, and became a mess.
Blurred, the Japanese soldier opened his eyes wide, and before he could understand what was going on, he turned his head to the side and died.
Yang Ling and the others' five remaining wooden-handled grenades were smashed out by them. The Japanese had various cannons, but they did not, but this did not prevent them from blowing up the Japanese.
Smoke and darkness mixed together and enveloped the position, and nearly half of the Japanese soldiers were enveloped in the explosions and rubble that spewed out in all directions.
Half of the more than 20 Japanese soldiers who were still very aggressive just now were swept down by the air wave, five or six of them died immediately, and the rest were all bruised and bloody, and were squirming and howling in the place.
The remaining Japanese soldiers were very frightened, but it was not safe to stay in this trench, and there was no chance that grenades would be thrown in. The Japanese soldiers gritted their teeth and roared, preparing to charge into the town.
More than a dozen Japanese soldiers who were still able to move jumped out of the trenches with screams and rushed down the streets into the dark town, charging and firing without forgetting to pull the bolts of their guns.
The Lieutenant of the Explosive Japs in the front trench saw it, and he also saw the survivors launching a charge, but he felt something was wrong, but it was too late to stop it at this moment.
"Hit!" The Japs had already rushed over. Yang Ling shouted loudly while pulling the trigger.
A row of guns fired directly at the Japanese.
The Czech-style light machine guns placed in the two houses behind also sprayed out strings of flames at the same time. Lines of fire were flying in the air, and together with the riflemen, they built a cross fire network, covering the more than ten charging Japanese.
Got in.
The Japanese soldiers knew that there must be Chinese defenders in front. They had also tested the opponent's weak firepower before, but they did not expect it to be so strong. They were immediately blinded. Those who rushed in front were beaten directly into a sieve, one after another.
The blood mist is splashing.
After just one round of fire, all the more than ten Japanese soldiers who rushed over were knocked to the ground, and those who were still alive were struggling and wailing in pain.
"Brothers! Come on!" a platoon leader yelled excitedly and charged forward with his men.
"Come back! Come back!" Yang Ling saw a row of people rushing out without orders. He was caught off guard and shouted at the top of his lungs.