The Japanese 106th Division was a newly formed ad hoc division. After successfully attacking Jiujiang, it did not stop and quickly launched a murderous attack on the Chinese garrison position at Jinguanqiao in front of the Nanxun Line.
"Quick victory! Defeat the China Army!"
The commander of the 106th Division, Junroku Matsuura, has the momentum of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, and wants to lead his division to establish his own merits on the Chinese battlefield.
According to past experience, although the Chinese army has a numerical advantage most of the time, as long as they launch a fierce attack, the Chinese army will be quickly defeated.
This time Junroku Matsuura led the 106th Division to attack and advance along the Nanxun Line in the direction of De'an, arrogantly wanting to implement central breakthrough tactics to defeat the Chinese army.
As long as they eliminate the Chinese army on the south bank of the Yangtze River, cut off the Guangdong-Hankou Railway, and encircle Wuhan, the fall of Wuhan will be just around the corner.
But what Matsuura Junrokuro didn't expect was that what he encountered this time was the First Corps commanded by General Xue Yue, whose subordinates were all elite troops from the battlefield.
"Those who retreat without permission and are disadvantaged in the battle will be shot on the spot!"
Facing the menacing Japanese 106th Division, General Xue Yue also went all out and prepared to fight to the end with the full strength of his entire corps.
Guarding the main position of Jinguan Bridge on the front line is General Li Jue's 70th Army under General Xue Yue's First Corps. They were originally the foundation of the Hunan Army, but now they are pushed to the forefront.
The combat effectiveness of the 70th Army was neither as good as that of the Cantonese Army nor the 74th Army, but in the face of General Xue Yue's strict orders, they could only hold on.
"The 128th Division's incompetent battle in Poyang Lake was revoked by the Central Military Commission! This is a shame for our 70th Army! It is a shame for me, Li Jue! It is a shame for a soldier!"
General Li Jue stood on the smoke-filled position and shouted loudly: "It is a shame that the 128th Division's designation has been withdrawn. Our 19th Division must put on a good show to avenge the shame of our 70th Army!"
"I don't care how many people the Japs rush towards, but you can't take a step back! My gun is behind you, and Commander Xue's gun is behind me! If you die, I can't live, but as long as you live! Then
It’s time for us to wash away our shame!”
"Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"
Amid General Li Jue's roar, the officers and soldiers of the 19th Division under the 70th Army let out an earth-shattering cry and decided to fight to the end.
However, Matsuura Junrokuro did not pay attention to the 70th Army guarding the main position of Jinguanqiao. Under the indiscriminate bombardment of the aviation troops, he launched a fierce offensive.
Earth-shaking explosions rang out one after another at the main position of Jinguan Bridge, and large mushroom clouds mixed with sand and gunpowder smoke rose into the sky.
The sky was soon shrouded in thick black smoke, and the main position of Jinguan Bridge was like a ship rocking in the rough waves, which could capsize at any time.
Although the Japanese 106th Division was newly formed, the soldiers inherited their unit's consistent fierce and powerful fighting style, stepping on explosive points and swarming towards the Chinese defenders' positions.
Facing the Japanese troops coming like a tide, the cold steel helmets made people shudder, but the troops guarding the position did not flinch at all.
"Kill the Japanese!" The soldiers who survived the bombing roared with their swords in hand and started a bloody battle with the Japanese who broke into the position.
The Japanese 106th Division's offensive was fierce, but the Chinese troops guarding the main position of Jinguan Bridge showed no sign of weakness. One position was exhausted, and the next position continued to be fought.
The Japanese troops kept pushing forward, stepping on broken meat and blood, but the further they advanced, the slower they pushed.
Because the Chinese army's positions were all built on hilly hills, after they captured one hilltop, they had to launch an attack on another hilltop.
When fighting in this hilly area, the roads had long been bombed into chaos by the Chinese army. Their artillery units could not keep up, so they could only rely on infantry to move forward, and the attack was weak.
"The Chinese army resisted tenaciously and it was difficult for our brigade to advance."
"The entire Third Squadron was shattered, and the Jiwo Ridge position was recaptured by the Chinese Army's night attack!"
...
The 106th Division advanced less than ten kilometers, and it was difficult for the frontline troops to move in. This made Lieutenant General Matsuura Junrokuro, who wanted to achieve great feats, very crazy.
"Call the aviation force for an air strike! Flatten the mountain to the ground!" Junrokuro Matsuura, who looked ferocious, looked a little angry.
Soon, more than 30 Japanese bombing groups carried out indiscriminate bombing on the hilltop of the Chinese defenders, turning the vegetation, soil and rocks on the entire hilltop into scorched earth.
However, this did not destroy the Chinese army's will to resist. After one regiment was defeated, another regiment was sent, and corpses were strewn in the mountains and river valleys. They refused to retreat even if they fought to the death. This made Matsuura Junrokuro realize that he had encountered a strong opponent.
The failure of the frontal attack made Matsuura Junrokuro frustrated, but the urging call from the commander of the 11th Army Okamura Neiji forced him to cheer up and launch the attack again.
"Deploy four squadrons to form a suicide squad!" The 106th Division, which was not going well in the offensive, had to form a suicide squad to break through the position.
On a foggy morning, hundreds of Japanese death squads launched a surprise attack on the Chinese positions at Jinguanqiao and once broke through several positions.
"Fight back! Even if all the people are dead, you still have to take back the position!"
At this critical moment, Army Commander Li Jue gathered the surviving soldiers again and launched a counterattack against the Japanese death squads.
Nearly a thousand people from both sides engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat in the mountains and forests. Broken limbs flew everywhere and blood splattered everywhere. After more than an hour of fighting, hundreds of Japanese death squads were finally wiped out.
The tenacious resistance of the Chinese army exceeded the expectations of the 106th Division, and the newly formed division was defeated in the first battle.
While the troops of the 70th Army were fighting for every inch with the Japanese 106th Division on the frontal battlefield of Jinguan Bridge, the friendly 4th Army and the 64th Army were also fighting bloody battles with the Japanese on the flanks.
The Japanese 106th Division was beaten black and blue by the First Corps commanded by General Xue Yue on the Nanxun Line and was unable to move. Commander Okamura Neiji had to deploy more aviation units and artillery units to strengthen the battle.
While the Chinese army and the Japanese army on the south bank of the Yangtze River were fighting fiercely, in the vast area on the north bank of the Yangtze River, the Chinese army and the Japanese army exchanged fire.
Yang Ling's 74th Army was also deployed behind the Nanxun Line. On the one hand, they were building strong fortifications and on the other hand, they were evacuating the people, ready to replace the frontline troops at any time.
The mountains and forests are shrouded in clouds and mist. The 301st Regiment to which Yang Ling and his team belong has been hiding in the woods for two weeks, feeling restless.
Wounded soldiers from the front line continued to be sent down, and reports of battlefield conditions continued to come back. The 70th Army fought fiercely on the front line, and positions were constantly being breached. However, there was also news from time to time that the Japanese army's battalion commander and squadron leader were killed on the battlefield.
Every time news of success came, the brothers would be excited and ready to go out and do something big. But they were waiting impatiently for the order to attack.
"Tour members, when are we going to come? It's our turn now, right?"
The brothers were eager to go to the front line, and the officers were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, surrounding the regiment leader Zhang Handuo to inquire about the news.
"You ask me, who am I going to ask? Just wait patiently."
The regiment leader Zhang Handuo never wanted to drag his troops up to fight the Japanese, but there was no order from the top, so he could only wait in the sweltering forest.
"Then how long do we have to wait? We can't just stay in the woods and watch the fun."
Yang Ling looked at the restless officers and stood up to persuade them: "Everyone, please be patient. The theater headquarters has their own considerations. We must obey the overall situation and act according to orders."
"Go back and let the brothers polish their guns and load the bullets so that they can set off immediately when the order comes. If anyone breaks the chain by then, I will never spare him."
Yang Ling looked at these officers who were eager to fight and issued an order to expel them.
After the officers left, the regiment leader Zhang Handuo called the division headquarters again and asked the division commander to be transferred up, but as before, he asked them to wait.
"How long will this take?" Zhang Handuo, the leader of the group, paced back and forth in the tent after hanging up the phone, sighing constantly.