Chapter 368 The decisive battle is the decisive battle
Captain Toba Hatoyama never set foot on this land again in his life.
In the past, it was he who led his men to shoot and kill Chinese soldiers in the river, causing thousands of Chinese soldiers who had no power to resist to die in the river.
But in this era, everything is reversed.
The Japanese infantrymen wearing heavy leather boots and military uniforms struggled hard in the waves of the river. The proficiency in water skills they had practiced at the sea made them more powerful than the Chinese soldiers in that time and space, carrying rifles weighing several kilograms.
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But what's the use of it? A gun can't be used as a ship.
Leng Feng, who was ordered to station on the north bank, led two air defense positions and all the soldiers carried various guns and artillery to set up defenses along the river bank. The constantly rising flares clearly illuminated the heads in the water.
It's not a battle, it's a shooting game.
The Japanese were simply unable to shoot a bullet in the water; bleeding and drinking water were the two things they could do.
The panicked Japanese troops were in a dilemma in the water. They were reluctant to abandon their equipment and were exhausted after swimming across the 300-meter-wide river. There was no way they could swim back or dive into the water and escape downstream.
It's really exhausting to keep diving down to avoid bullets and then surface for air.
So, almost all of them died.
Only twenty-three out of ten Japanese soldiers died from the bullets of Leng Feng and others. Most of them drank enough river water and became "submarines", including Captain Toba Hatoyama who chose the wrong direction to break out.
The Japanese army captain who drank too much water became a fat bait for the fish in the Suzhou River. Even his feet were gnawed clean, and naturally he would never have the chance to set foot on land again.
The 30 Japanese soldiers who were left behind by Toba Hatoyama's "Strong Man's Broken Arm" to block the attack did not last long. They were overwhelmed by bullets and grenades in just over 10 minutes.
As the battlefield gradually became quiet, with only the excited shouts of the Chinese soldiers remaining, this head-to-head confrontation that was not an ambush finally came to an end.
The flashlight left by the Japanese army became a trophy that pleased the Chinese soldiers. It was not very convenient to use this to find the remaining Japanese soldiers.
As for what to do if you find it?
Naturally, the old rules are still the same. Not to mention that the veterans who originally belonged to the Sixing Battalion are already familiar with this routine. The soldiers of the 67th Army and the 43rd Army are now also familiar with Commander Lei's favorite method.
Only dead Japs are good Japs.
There is no need to bother digging a hole to bury the person, just throw the body into the river. Anyway, Songhu downstream has been occupied by the Japanese, so just let them drink more corpse soaking water. China has just finished fighting with them.
Soldiers have no psychological burden at all.
In the end, the 400-man task force sent by Yanagawa Heisuke and its two commanders were nearly wiped out and became the missing persons list of the 18th Division.
The reason why I say it was close is because the Japanese task force still had a single seedling left behind.
A senior soldier named Momotaro had a bad stomach after eating raw rice balls. He had to find a place to solve his internal problems every ten minutes. This made him fall behind. The Japanese senior soldier, who was a full 300 meters away from the main team, heard the sound of gunshots.
After that, he originally ran 20 meters towards the main force, but when his own flares were fired and he unexpectedly saw two machine guns that began to spit out artillery fire, the smart Momotaro immediately made a drift and turned around.
The Japanese superior soldier who turned around and ran wildly became the only survivor of this task force. Later, the main force of the Japanese army, which arrived ten kilometers away from the Baihe Port Bridge, found the already exhausted superior soldier in a bush.
When he learned that he and all his colleagues were on the missing list, Private Momotaro's originally extremely depressed mental state improved a lot.
Ushijima Sadao heard his version of the heroic battle of his task force.
Due to the unfortunate exposure, Major Nishikawa led the entire task force to fight bravely against the Chinese, but the number of Chinese who besieged them was as high as an infantry regiment or even an infantry brigade.
Not only did the Chinese have a large number of people, but what was even more exaggerated was that they also had heavy firearms such as machine guns and mortars. The battle lasted until late at night, and as a member of the rescue team sent by Toba Hatoyama, he was ill due to illness.
Instead, he was ordered to hide and wait for help, while the rest of his colleagues were missing.
The craters hit by mortars on the river bank and the horrific impact points after the machine gun fire all proved the heroic past of the imperial warriors described by Momotaro. Ushijima Sadao could only choose to believe it even if he had doubts.
Or even if he doesn't believe it, the honor of the 18th Division still makes him choose to believe it.
Momotaro, who suffered a "serious" mental injury, never set foot on the battlefield again, and returned home to tell the people how the brave army soldiers of the empire fought against the Chinese with an outnumbered enemy.
Maybe it was because he had been telling it for so long that even he believed it. Anyway, he was the only Japanese who survived the scene, wasn't he?
Therefore, even if China announces its results in the future, the battle report that the more than 300 Chinese officers and soldiers responsible for guarding the bridge took advantage of the terrain to wait for work and annihilated 400 Japanese invaders was firmly denied by the Japanese Army, believing that the Chinese military that dispatched an infantry brigade was trying to give itself a pat on the back.
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China and Japan, which had invested nearly a million troops in a fierce battle, actually had a long verbal war over a mere 400 people. This was considered one of the strange things on that battle-level battlefield.
However, the Chinese military strength fabricated by Momotaro caused Ushijima Sadao and Yanagawa Heisuke to make wrong judgments after learning the news. They believed that the Chinese had sent at least one infantry division in order to defend the Shirakawa Port Bridge.
If the remnants of the army that retreated from Matsue are included, the number of troops will still remain at more than 30,000. After learning the news, Yanagawa Heisuke immediately ordered the pursuing Sixth Division and Kunizaki Detachment to slow down the pursuit speed to avoid being chased.
The Chinese army came to recall the carbine, causing unnecessary losses.
This slowdown added another two hours of extremely precious time to the retreating Songjiang defenders.
Yes, on the night of November 9, Lei Xiong and his men had just finished their first ground battle when they received a secret message from the Songjiang headquarters.
The Songjiang defenders had completed the military order issued by the theater headquarters in the early morning of November 5 to resist the Japanese Tenth Army for three days and nights.
To be more precise, not only did he successfully complete the military order, but he also held on for an extra 24 hours, giving the retreating army in the west of Shanghai enough time to retreat.
At about 7 p.m., Wu and Guo from the Songjiang headquarters jointly sent a secret telegram to the theater headquarters. The telegram stated that the entire Songjiang army would defend Songjiang to the death. As long as one soldier of the Huxi garrison did not complete the evacuation, even if the entire Songjiang garrison was
Even if you are overwhelmed, you will never take a step back.
The big bosses at the theater headquarters were moved to tears. At least more than ten lieutenant generals and above, including deputy commander Gu, jointly called back, saying that the entire Songjiang army is a model for Chinese soldiers, and they will definitely serve Songjiang as a model.
The entire army set an example and fought the Japanese aggressors to the bitter end, leaving their bodies wrapped in horse leather and gone.
Were it not just the Chinese generals on the battlefield who were moved?
The important generals of Japan's Tenth Army also had complex feelings.
Within three hours, the general content of this secret message, which was transferred to the Military and Political Ministry, was placed on the desk of Yanagawa Heisuke, who arrived at the front line in person to supervise the battle.
A group of major generals of the Tenth Army frowned tightly and almost vomited blood from the stubborn Songjiang defenders.
This has been going on for four days. The Chinese suffered huge losses, but their Tenth Army suffered a lot as well. They lost more than 10,000 infantrymen, not to mention the auxiliary troops, and even the lieutenant general commander of the 'strongest division on the surface'
They all died here.
But no matter how much blood is vomited, looking at the desperate attitude of the Chinese people, this battle will still have to be fought.
The Chinese are not stingy about sacrifice, so how could the Imperial Japanese soldiers not do the same?
In the frontline headquarters of the Tenth Army, which was brightly lit almost all night, a group of important generals of the Japanese Tenth Army gritted their teeth and discussed the information sent by the spy No. 3 who was hiding in the Chinese government and had a high position within the Chinese government.
The tactics after dawn.
The 18th Division, which has been on standby on the banks of the Huangpu River, also mobilized an infantry brigade to the Songjiang front line. The 10th Army will launch a larger-scale attack at dawn on the 10th.
This time, the attack will be from all sides. The heavy artillery brigade and the naval bombers coming to assist will completely destroy the four walls. More than 20,000 infantry will enter the city and use human sea tactics to submerge the remaining Chinese defenders in various ruins.
Nook and corner.
God dawns.
"Gentlemen, this attack on Songjiang will be our Tenth Army's entry into southeastern China for a full-scale battle. Your Majesty is waiting for the news of our victory in the palace. I hope you will not spare your life!"
In addition, anyone who quits this battle will die!" When Yanagawa Heisuke made his final concluding remarks, he folded his hands on the desk and stared at the major generals and lieutenant generals in front of him with sinister eyes.
"May the Empire be prosperous in military affairs!" Two rows of Japanese generals stood up and stood at attention.
Looking at this situation, today's battle is a decisive battle.
