The soldier's intuition told him that this residential area was extremely dangerous.
Any commander with some military literacy would not abandon this geographically complex residential area and let the opponent's army directly arrive at the city to launch an attack.
They will definitely try their best to deploy troops in this area and fight for every inch of territory to delay as much time as possible.
As for street fighting, it was obviously not an ideal battlefield for him and his men, and superior artillery fire had no way of exerting its advantages.
Junichi Watanabe had a headache.
But he also knew that there was not much time left for him.
It will be dark in at most an hour. If we launch an attack at that time, we will undoubtedly give up all our advantages. It will be like a blind man fighting a blind man. Even if his combat effectiveness is much better than that of the Chinese, so what?
What ultimately determines life and death depends more on luck.
But soon, Watanabe Junichi's eyes were attracted by a corner located in a residential area.
There is actually a small castle there.
In the field of vision of the telescope, figures in blue and black military uniforms flashed from time to time.
There are positions of Chinese soldiers there.
Soon, the Japanese major, who had extensive combat experience, gained insight into the intentions of the Chinese defenders.
This small 'castle', which is located in a residential area and hangs alone outside the city, can form an angle with the two city walls. Enemies who want to attack the east and west walls will be hit by fire from the city walls and the castle.
Whether it is close-range infantry artillery or rapid-fire artillery, they will all be within their fire range. For the attacking side, it will definitely be an enemy position that is like a chokehold.
However, in order to achieve this goal, this 'castle' must be strong enough to withstand the opponent's more ferocious attacks.
This is the most threatening position to the enemy, but it is also the most dangerous position to yourself.
The most dangerous position that Jun Watanabe saw at a glance was the important defensive position selected by Tang Dao and Lieutenant General Guo during their inspection outside the city - Cangcheng.
This is a small castle located at the junction of the west and east of Songjiang Ancient City. The surrounding walls are well preserved and surrounded by water. Why is it called Cangcheng? As the name suggests, this place originally existed as a warehouse. Songjiang Rice in the Ming Dynasty
The water transport fleet that paid tribute to the capital departed from here.
Although in modern times, due to the emergence of roads and railways, the term water transportation has become a thing of the past, and the original role of Cangcheng in storing and transferring goods has been completely lost. But perhaps the Chinese are nostalgic. This building was built 400 years ago.
The small castle is still preserved.
Wang Gongyu, who accompanied Lieutenant General Guo and Tang Dao at that time, also talked about this historical building with great fondness: "The city wall of Cangcheng is about 1,000 meters long, 5 meters high and 3 meters wide, and the four gates in the east, west, north and south are also well preserved.
, surrounded by water on both sides, it is convenient for transportation and security. There are 233 original residents in Cangcheng, with a population of 1,028."
The number of people living there is not important. What is important is that the city wall with a total length of 1,000 meters ensures that the internal diameter of Cangcheng is more than 300 meters, which ensures sufficient strategic depth. More than 50,000 square meters is equivalent to seven or eight football fields.
The area is so large that the Japanese army will not let the defenders here lose their vitality with artillery alone.
Tang Dao and Lieutenant General Guo both keenly realized the importance of this small city to the defense of Songjiang's two walls, and decided to garrison here.
However, this place is more than 800 meters away from the main city. Even if you complete the task of blocking the enemy and want to retreat, you still have to pass through a battlefield of more than 800 meters before you have a chance to return to the main city defense area. Under the Japanese artillery fire, the chance of survival is extremely low.
What's even more terrifying is that if the Japanese army completely occupied the residential area around Cangcheng, Cangcheng would really become an isolated island, an island trapped in a tight siege by the Japanese army.
That would be a situation where the whole army would be annihilated.
Not everyone without enough courage can accept this military order with a combat fatality rate as high as 95%.
After arriving, Lieutenant General Wu was a little hesitant. They were all his soldiers, and he had the authority to let them go to death, just like he led more than 30,000 troops to the death place of Songjiang. However, Songjiang's defense
The military order given by Zhan Shangfeng was to hold off the enemy for 72 hours. Looking at it this way, the entire army still had a glimmer of hope.
But entering Cangcheng will almost take the initiative to cut off all the vitality of the defenders. Once the residential areas outside the city are lost, the defenders of Cangcheng will be doomed and will have no way to escape.
The main force of the army is in Songjiang City. Even if there are troops such as the Songjiang Security Group in the residential areas outside the city, they are mainly to delay time. It will be a matter of time to give up.
After all, the garrison in Cangcheng was destined to be abandoned almost from the beginning, a chess piece that exchanged life for time.
Therefore, Lieutenant General Wu, who had always had a strong personality, did not give the order directly. Instead, he summoned his two division commanders and eight infantry regiment commanders and let them decide for themselves.
Those who can rush to Songjiang are brave enough, but when faced with such a position that is likely to be completely unable to retreat even if they can't hold on for a day, more than two-thirds of the army colonels still hesitate in their eyes.
There, at least one infantry battalion must be thrown in. No one wants their five or six hundred people to be wiped out in front of their eyes.
Eventually, someone braver took over.
Colonel Wang Xirui, a famous tiger general in the 67th Army and commander of the 644th Regiment of the 322nd Brigade of the 108th Division, took the initiative to accept this almost certain death mission.
He will personally lead his battalion to garrison Cangcheng.
Although he couldn't bear to let his tiger generals take the initiative to die like this, as the top commander of Songjiang, Lieutenant General Wu could only nod his head and agreed.
How can you get your subordinates to do something that the superior himself does not dare to do?
Just like him as the commander of the 67th Army, according to wartime regulations, the military headquarters can be placed 20 kilometers away from the front line, but if he does not come, he is sure that morale will drop by half.
Therefore, the bravery of Captain Wang is not just the bravery of accepting military orders for his subordinates, but also the bravery of facing death himself.
Facing such a general and such a colonel, Tang Dao once again felt that he was so lucky to be able to come to this time and space to work side by side with these outstanding people. His choice to come to Songjiang was not wrong.
Just because I was lucky enough to meet them.
However, Tang Dao still did not let this brave colonel stand out.
He stood up and took the credit.
Tang Dao took the initiative to replace Colonel Wang as the supreme commander of Cangcheng. His reason was very simple. He was currently the only representative of the Central Army here.
Because the unexpected addition of the Sixing Battalion was actually an unexpected surprise for some big shots, it meant that the Central Army also had troops participating in the Battle of Songjiang. It was not as rumored that the 67th Army was sent to Songjiang to eliminate dissidents.
, in order to stop talking, they took the opportunity to catch up with the 43rd Army, which had been reduced to a broken army.
Now, the tough guys from the Four Lines Battalion directly under the theater headquarters have also gone. In fact, many big shots smiled knowingly.
It's a nice ending that not only makes the thorns disappear, but also makes the thorns disappear.
But in terms of face, Tang Dao and Si Xing Ying represent the face of certain people.
How could a place like Cangcheng be a place of death without the presence of the Central Army?
Tang Dao’s reasons are sufficient.
No one can refuse.
Even Lieutenant Generals Wu and Guo, who admired Tang Dao very much, could not refuse Tang Dao's invitation to fight in front of eight colonels. They could only ask Tang Dao to fulfill his role as deputy director of the headquarters staff before the battle began.
Tang Dao was appointed as the supreme commander of the Cangcheng garrison.
Moreover, not only Tang Dao will participate.
The four walls of Cangcheng alone are 1,000 meters long, and the entire area is more than 50,000 square meters. The defense of one infantry battalion seems to be insufficient, but two infantry battalions are too many.
The 67th Army cannot be allowed to rush to the front, even for the sake of face. Before Tang Dao stepped forward to take the credit, Lieutenant General Guo, as the deputy commander-in-chief, had already stepped forward and took the initiative to add another infantry company to Cangcheng.
Battalion Commander Liu, who is 'fearful of death', will lead his infantry company to coordinate the defense of Cangcheng.
The so-called fear of death is just that I want to go back and see my relatives, but if I really want to die, just like the Northeast Army soldier whom Tantai Mingyue held captive said, then go die!
Battalion Commander Liu, who received the order, did not even hesitate and led the soldiers who were sleeping soundly two minutes ago to move into Cangcheng.
Tang Dao, a lieutenant colonel of the Central Army, took the initiative to ask for a fight. He had already filled five infantry companies into the "Fire Pit". He didn't care about more manpower. In order to separate Cangcheng from the main city and have enough counterattack capabilities, Lieutenant General Wu bit the back.
Haoya, assigned an additional fire support company to Cangcheng.
A fire support company with four mortars, 160 rounds of artillery shells, 4 heavy machine guns and 5,000 rounds of ammunition, two Oerlikon machine guns, and 300 rounds of artillery shells.
With a force of 750 people, it has a total of 26 light machine guns, 24 grenade launchers, 10 heavy machine guns, 4 mortars, and two machine guns with a light and heavy firepower configuration, let alone the current Chinese army.
Calling it luxurious is not untrue even when compared to a Japanese infantry brigade.
After Cangcheng was selected as a mandatory garrison position on the afternoon of the 5th, construction of various firepower fortifications and gun shelters began.
That is to say, Tang Dao, as the supreme commander, is not in Cangcheng. Instead, the second commander, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 644th Regiment of the 67th Army, acts as his deputy and is responsible for commanding the entire army and the civilians assigned to them according to the various fortifications given by Tang Dao.
Click on the drawings to proceed with construction.
After nearly 1,200 people worked frantically for a day and night, the blast shelter holes, which were 2 meters deep into the ground and used logs as support columns, gradually took shape, and then the trenches led to various fortifications.
As long as they did not encounter a frontal bombardment from large-caliber heavy artillery or aerial bombs, even if the Japanese army had surrounded them and wanted to kill them all, they would still have to pay a sufficient price.
Junichi Watanabe, who was trapped by military orders and had to fight the Chinese first, was now eyeing such a target.
An infantry battalion?
Inside Cangcheng, in the fortifications behind the walls.
Battalion Commander Liu, who was afraid of death, took the binoculars handed over from Commander Liu Yuqing and looked at the Japanese troops who were about to move 800 meters away. He could only say...
