Xicheng has become the main attack direction of the Sixth Division. Almost 60% of the artillery fire was concentrated on Xicheng. The Songjiang City Wall, which was more than 4 meters thick, was blasted with four or five large holes, but three of them were in Xicheng.
on the city wall.
Xicheng, where thousands of Japanese soldiers were buried, suffered several rounds of shelling and was personally ordered by the army lieutenant general to set fire to the enemy. After hundreds of houses were burned, more than 75% of the houses were completely burned and bombed.
It was in ruins.
Due to the addition of more than two infantry brigades, Sakai Tokutaro once again has the infantry strength of nearly two infantry regiments. If placed in the field, backed by the heavy artillery brigade and the Sixth Division Artillery Regiment,
Not to mention the 43rd Army, which numbered no more than 10,000 people, and even the 62nd Division with the addition of Tao Guang of the Jinshan Guards, Sakai Tokutaro would definitely be able to defeat it.
Using two infantry brigades as a reserve, Sakai Tokutaro gathered three infantry brigades in this area, preparing to capture the city wall and enter the city in one go.
Hisao Tani, who had long seen the city wall being blasted through his telescope, believed that Tokutaro Sakai would never let him down this time. In order to witness the bravery of his Sixth Division, he also specially invited Suematsu, the commander of the 114th Division.
Shigeji came together to watch the battle.
Suematsu Shigeharu originally didn't want to give "Tani Short Legs" a chance to quarrel, but he was still somewhat concerned about the reputation of "the strongest division on the surface". Even though the two of them are now Army Lieutenant Generals, they exchanged a few words with each other.
Hisao couldn't do anything to him, but according to the tradition of the Japanese Army, the first to be promoted with the same rank must be the division commanders of the standing divisions. For example, the unlucky guy Juichi Terauchi was promoted from the position of commander of the Fourth Division to
Army general's.
Everyone can understand why you are quarreling with each other when you are blowing your beard, but if you have to put on airs when someone invites you, it will not be good for you in the future when they are promoted and become your immediate boss. Shigeharu Suematsu is still very good.
Reasonably, he took one of his brigade commanders to the temporary headquarters located 1,000 meters from the front line to watch the battle.
Of course, Hisao Tani was not stupid. 1,000 meters was also within the range of Chinese artillery. More than 100 engineers worked for more than an hour to build underground fortifications that could withstand 75-caliber artillery before leading the group in.
Pretending is a science, and it also requires a good platform. Gu Duanji knows this well.
High-powered telescopes specially prepared for the two Japanese army lieutenant generals have also been prepared, enough to allow them to see clearly everything happening on the battlefield from a distance of 1,000 meters.
Sakai Tokutaro set up his brigade headquarters 200 meters away, which was considered a relatively forward position. Following his order, 4 infantry squadrons, totaling more than 700 people, started from a position nearly 2,000 meters away.
An attack was launched on the city wall.
The 9th Infantry Battalion became the first wave to participate in the attack on the city wall. Before Tokutaro Sakai issued the attack order, as the captain of the 9th Infantry Battalion, Sato Rokuro had already made the final mobilization for his subordinates.
"The empire will not be stingy with rewards for the infantry squadron that is the first to put the general's flag on the wall of Songjiang. At the same time, the division commander is watching us from behind..." Sato Rokuro not only encouraged his subordinates with words.
Mobilize and practice it personally.
He took off his military uniform and wore only a white shirt, with a white cloth strip wrapped around his head. He looked like a dead father. He waved his command knife and roared "Kill him!" after Tokutaro Sakai gave the order to attack.
The Japanese army rushed towards the city wall 400 meters away like a tide, and more than 30 heavy machine guns deployed within the fortifications roared. They were heavy machine gun squadrons of three infantry brigades.
Even the Japanese army rarely used heavy machine guns of this size for cover shooting. Bullets hit the city wall like raindrops, and the arc-shaped city wall was covered with dust.
There were no mortars, but the Japanese army had grenade launchers, and I don’t know how many grenade launchers began to test-fire at the city wall. Anyway, clouds of smoke continued to explode from the top of the city wall. From the beginning of the battle, the Japanese army was uncharacteristically uncharacteristic, and did not even
Testing the firepower point meant launching an attack on the Songjiang West City defenses with crushing firepower.
If the Songjiang Chinese garrison headquarters had not excavated the city wall from the beginning and placed the firepower points inside the city wall, the firepower points placed on the top of the city would have suffered heavy losses in this wave of attacks, even if they had not been ravaged by Japanese artillery fire.
Even so, the soldiers hiding in the firepower points of the city wall lowered their heads involuntarily. The Japanese army's firepower was too exaggerated. How big was the shooting hole? But there were still bullets shooting in through the shooting hole. That did not mean that the Japanese were at all.
Hitting accurately and completely is a matter of probability.
The more than 700 Japanese troops responsible for the attack were in a skirmishing formation and were divided into two waves. The distance between each soldier was at least more than 5 meters. This could avoid being hit by Chinese machine guns and causing mass casualties.
.
From a distance of 1,000 meters, although the formation was a bit chaotic, the march was extremely fast. In just four or five minutes, the attack reached the moat. Obviously, this was a sign of firm will of the Japanese soldiers of the Sixth Division during the attack.
, even Suematsu Shigeharu, who was unhappy with Tani's short legs, had to admit that the Sixth Division, known as the "strongest division on the surface", indeed had bragging rights, even if there was no Chinese counterattack on the city wall.
Just how awesome is the "Strongest Division on the Surface"? To be honest, when Suematsu Shigeharu saw a major-level officer jumping into the cold moat first while waving his command sword, he had to be a little nervous about the short legs of the valley.
I want to be subdued and call you big brother.
In the November weather, facing a moat of more than 30 meters wide, and facing bullets that could be fired at any time by the enemy who had been hiding, a major led the "black skin and bright red blood" people who jumped without hesitation.
Entering the river and heading towards the goal, what kind of spirit is this?
This is a spirit of daring to devote oneself to the emperor and the empire. And how terrifying it must be for a unit with such a spirit! Anyway, Suematsu Shigeharu is sure that the 114th Division under his command cannot find such a major.
Even if there are captains, there are not so many soldiers with the same determination.
"Yo Xi!" Hisao Tani's face was very calm as he watched all this, but the smile that curved at the corner of his mouth still revealed the pride in his heart.
There is no general who can see his soldiers charging toward the target with determination and fearlessness.
He didn't even bother to look at the little Zhazha next to him, and he knew that the little Zhazha must have a look of shock on his face.
It was Major Sato who personally requested that engineers not be required to build tools for crossing the river. It was not because he did not take his own life seriously, nor because he thought it would be more comfortable to take a cold bath before fighting.
In fact, it's just the opposite. For Sato Rokuro, who was born in a minor aristocracy, his experience of almost being drowned in a bathhouse when he was a child gave him a natural fear of water. However, he is now the captain of the infantry brigade, and he
You must set an example.
Of course, the most important reason for him to make this decision was that he led his team to conquer the battle of Cangcheng yesterday, and the 20-meter-wide moat outside Cangcheng left a deep impression on him.
The green water surface looked unfathomable, but in fact, it was only 1 meter deep. Even though he was not tall, it only covered his waist. Chinese people like to do face-saving projects.
Therefore, at his signal, a few soldiers jumped down first to explore the depth of the moat outside Songjiang City, but it was only a little more than one meter later. The Japanese Major gave an order for the entire army to cross the river, and then he took the lead and jumped
Enter the river.
Of course, Major Sato is not stupid. Jumping in front of the whole army does not mean that he has to lead the charge forward. What if the Chinese shoot at him? The one who rushes to the front must be the first bird, so he still waits until more than halfway
People start to move forward after walking forward in the river.
As a result, the biggest own incident of the Sixth Division in the Battle of Songjiang occurred.
Sato Rokuro first made a mistake about one thing. Although Cangcheng also has walls and moats, Cangcheng is not a city. Perhaps since the Ming Dynasty, without the harassment of Japanese pirates, Cangcheng has broken away from the concept of a city and become a large city.
Warehouse, where a large number of goods that are not destined for Songjiang City are unloaded and transshipped. The moat of Warehouse has long been separated from the concept of a defensive city. It is more than one meter deep and is enough for sailing ships.
But Songjiang City is a real city, and before there was Shanghai, Songjiang City was the largest city in this area and the seat of the city. The moat here is really not shallow. Even in the future, it will be more than 2 meters deep.
At this time, although I have not measured it specifically, but... it can reach over the head of an adult man, no problem! As for the Japanese, the average height at this time should not be as high as a junior high school student in the future Republic.
Born in the first grade of junior high school. (The author has conclusive evidence for this. My daughter is in the first grade of junior high school this year and is already 1.62 meters tall. The average height of the Japanese army during World War II was 1.57 meters)
As for why several of Major Sato's top scouts jumped into the river and determined that the depth at the edge of the river was only a little more than one meter, that's nonsense! Have you ever seen a river as deep as the middle of the river? That's not called a river.
Call him!
Anyway, when the Japanese army reached the middle of the river, they finally realized something was wrong. The river was so deep that they needed to drink water.
As soldiers of the Sixth Division, most of whom were fishermen from Kumamoto Prefecture, knowing how to swim is not a strange skill, but that does not mean that everyone is a fisherman, like Sato Rokuro, who drank the water from the bathhouse when he was a child.
Quite a few!
As a result, more than 20% of the Japanese troops began to struggle in the river. Some people who knew how to swim took a look and hurried over to rescue. It was really lively. A drowning person would have to hold on to even a straw, let alone a human being.
, and when he was drowning in water, who did he care about to save him? Even if it was his biological father, he had to hold on tightly.
Yes, drag me to death!
Of the more than 700 Japanese troops who entered the moat, more than 200 of them were struggling in the water. No one thought the green moat water was dirty, so they drank it in big gulps! They seemed to be unwilling to stop until they drank themselves up to the point of floating.
Suematsu Shigeharu looked stunned. This didn't seem to be brave, but a bit stupid!
Hisao Tani's face was ashen.
The Chinese soldiers watching all this through the observation port in the city wall were also a little dumbfounded. How could Gouri be drowned without firing?
"Gua Wazi, you are just looking at a hammer. The officer said you were halfway across and struck. Now you can do it. Shoot for me!" followed by the infantry squad leader in charge of the firepower point roared.
At least eight fire points fired at Japanese machine guns.